Led Zeppelin II

相比起Led Zeppelin后来那张雅俗共赏的IV来，同样被誉为乐队代表作的这张II显然要更加“前卫”一些，因为它的编曲要晦涩许多，有时会在一首本来是硬摇滚的歌曲里加上几段细声细气的blues（如What Is And What Should Never Be），有时又会在歌曲中间加一段即兴般的鼓和贝司独奏（如Whole Lotta Love），或者干脆就是以乐器演奏为主（如The Lemon Song），完全不象IV里面那种流畅明快的曲风和民谣气质。从整体音效来看，虽然这张专辑或许是LED ZEPPELIN最重的专辑，但是从音乐上来看，这张II的风格则更像是正宗的60年代摇滚乐，和The WHO、The DOORS、CREAM、SANTANA等乐队差不太多，带有很浓的布鲁斯味道，而且歌曲编排很随意，更像是即兴演奏，这种风格显然离重金属所体现出的那种建筑式构架有一定距离，那时他们还不知道（也许是不屑于去做），其实一个riff可以反复很多次而不至于让人心烦，所以只有加入大量即兴内容才能将歌曲延长到4分多钟，这种音乐观点上的革命还是要靠BLACK SABBATH来完成。整张专辑只有最短的两首歌，即Heartbreaker和Living Loving Maid，可以称的上是比较成熟的重金属作品，riff＋solo，而且有足够强烈的失真和足够快的速度。尽管不能算是一张重金属专辑，但是LED ZEPPELIN带给你的享受却也是一般重金属乐队所无法达到的。他们始终带有60年代那种诗人般的忧伤气质，在你聆听专辑的时候，总会不由自主地被他们带着到处跑，可能在听Ramble On的时候你已经忧郁不堪了，但下一首乐曲Moby Dick开头那活泼的吉他riff却能让你一下子变得轻松愉快。我始终不知道他们是如何做到这一点的，或许仅仅是因为LED ZEPPELIN从来就不刻意追求什么效果，所有的一切都是内心的自然流露？

这张专辑在滚石杂志选出的500张历代最强专辑中排名第75位。

Recorded quickly during Led Zeppelin's first American tours, Led Zeppelin II provided the blueprint for all the heavy metal bands that followed it. Since the group could only enter the studio for brief amounts of time, most of the songs that compose II are reworked blues and rock & roll standards that the band was performing on-stage at the time. Not only did the short amount of time result in a lack of original material, it made the sound more direct. Jimmy Page still provided layers of guitar overdubs, but the overall sound of the album is heavy and hard, brutal and direct. "Whole Lotta Love," "The Lemon Song," and "Bring It on Home" are all based on classic blues songs -- only, the riffs are simpler and louder and each song has an extended section for instrumental solos. Of the remaining six songs, two sport light acoustic touches ("Thank You," "Ramble On"), but the other four are straight-ahead heavy rock that follows the formula of the revamped blues songs. While Led Zeppelin II doesn't have the eclecticism of the group's debut, it's arguably more influential. After all, nearly every one of the hundreds of Zeppelin imitators used this record, with its lack of dynamics and its pummeling riffs, as a blueprint.