Formed by the unlikely alliance of two ace London studio musicians and two bar-band bumpkins, Led Zeppelin went on to create the template for the marauding modern rock 'n' roll band. Often described as "heavy," any true fan will tell you that the band's 9 studio albums and 81 tracks thereon are actually a complex amalgam of blues, psychedelia, rock, folk, and country that reveal the influences of Led Zeppelin's four members. Veteran music journalist Martin Popoff picks apart each of these 81 tracks in exquisite detail, and for the first time ever, you can come along for the ride. Popoff analyzes the circumstances that led to their creation, the recording processes, the historical contexts, and more. Included as a special bonus, he also offers an introductory essay on each of the band's nine studio albums, and sidebar features that explore influences on the band as well as song details, such as running time, instruments played, engineers, and studios.

Author Biography

At approximately 7,900 (with over 7,000 appearing in his books), Martin Popoff has unofficially written more record reviews than anybody in the history of music writing across all genres. Additionally, Martin has penned 57 books on hard rock, heavy metal, classic rock, and record collecting, including 2004's Contents Under Pressure: 30 Years of Rush at Home and Away, Rush: The Illustrated History, and Rush: Album by Album. He was Editor In Chief of the now retired Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles, Canada's foremost heavy metal publication in print for 14 years, and has also contributed to Revolver,Guitar World, Goldmine, Record Collector, bravewords.com, lollipop.com and hardradio.com. Martin has been a regular contractor to Banger Films, having worked on the award-wining documentary Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage, the 11-episode Metal Evolution, and the 10-episode Rock Icons, both for VH1 Classic. Martin currently resides in Toronto and can be reached through martinp@inforamp.net or www.martinpopoff.com.