20 Best Led Zeppelin Songs To Turn Up To Eleven

Feature Photo: Bruce Alan Bennett / Shutterstock.com

In 1977, I saw Led Zeppelin perform at New York’s Madison Square Garden. As a 16-year-old rock and roll fan, seeing Led Zeppelin live on stage was a religious experience. I’ve written about this many times on this site because this is a rock and roll history site, and there’s no band bigger than Led Zeppelin if you were a rock fan growing up as a teenager in the 1970s. Nobody was bigger.

Getting the chance to see this band live wasn’t easy because they didn’t tour often, and when they did, tickets were almost impossible to get. I can’t stand when I see people on social media arguing about how Led Zeppelin didn’t sound good on some night or Jimmy Page was this or that, you’re missing the whole freaking point, man. Rock and roll isn’t about perfection; it’s about feeling, being in the moment, escape, hope, sex, drugs, and all the other stuff that goes with it. Led Zeppelin is my favorite band of all time, so if there ever was a group whose music I turn up to 11 every time I play it, it’s them. These are the songs that sound best when you crank the stereo to the roof.

# 20 – Good Times Bad Times – Led Zeppelin

It only makes sense to open this list with the song that opened Led Zeppelin’s 1969 debut album. “Good Times Bad Times” announced the band in less than three minutes with Jimmy Page’s guitar, John Paul Jones’ bass, Robert Plant’s voice, and John Bonham playing drums like nobody had heard before. Bonham’s bass-drum work alone made young drummers sit up and wonder what the hell they had just heard. The song is compact, explosive, and still sounds like the start of something enormous. Turn this one up and the whole Led Zeppelin story begins again.

# 19 – Ramble On – Led Zeppelin II

“Ramble On” is one of the songs that proves Led Zeppelin could be heavy without staying loud every second. Released on Led Zeppelin II in 1969, the track moves between acoustic passages and a chorus that opens up with the full band. Robert Plant slips Tolkien imagery into a lyric about moving on, while John Paul Jones and John Bonham keep the groove underneath. Jimmy Page’s arrangement makes the quiet parts feel just as important as the big ones. This is one of those Zeppelin songs that gets better the louder the chorus hits.

# 18 – Communication Breakdown – Led Zeppelin

“Communication Breakdown” is Led Zeppelin hitting the gas and refusing to let up. The song appeared on the band’s 1969 debut album and became one of their earliest live weapons. Jimmy Page’s down-picked riff is fast, nasty, and years ahead of the hard rock and punk guitar that would follow. Robert Plant attacks the vocal while Bonham and Jones keep the song moving with almost no wasted space. If you want Led Zeppelin in pure short-form attack mode, this is the one.

# 17 – Immigrant Song – Led Zeppelin III

Led Zeppelin opened Led Zeppelin III with a song that sounds like it was designed to kick down a door. “Immigrant Song” grew out of the band’s 1970 visit to Iceland, and Robert Plant turned that experience into Viking imagery and one of rock’s most recognizable opening cries. Jimmy Page’s riff is brutally simple, while Bonham and Jones make the whole track feel like it is charging forward. The song became one of Zeppelin’s signature live numbers and one of their most instantly recognizable recordings. There is no sensible volume for “Immigrant Song” except loud.

# 16 – Celebration Day – Led Zeppelin III

“Celebration Day” is one of the hardest-driving songs on Led Zeppelin III, an album too often remembered only for its acoustic side. The guitars grind forward while John Bonham pushes the track with the kind of swing that kept Zeppelin from ever sounding mechanical. Robert Plant sounds loose and joyous, which gives the song a different energy from the darker material surrounding it. It became a powerful live number because the band could stretch that groove without losing its punch. This is a deep cut that deserves to be cranked every single time.

# 15 – Achilles Last Stand – Presence

“Achilles Last Stand” is ten minutes of Led Zeppelin sounding absolutely possessed. Recorded for Presence and released in 1976, the song is built around layers of Jimmy Page guitars, a relentless John Paul Jones bass line, and one of John Bonham’s greatest drum performances. Robert Plant’s vocal rides over the top of it all while the track keeps changing shape without ever losing momentum. The official album history describes Presence as an 18-day recording sprint, and you can hear that pressure and urgency in this song. When “Achilles Last Stand” is turned up loud, it feels less like a track and more like weather.

# 14 – Since I’ve Been Loving You – Led Zeppelin III

“Since I’ve Been Loving You” is Led Zeppelin proving they could play the blues without sounding like anybody else. The song sits at the heart of Led Zeppelin III, with Jimmy Page delivering one of his most emotional studio solos and Robert Plant singing like the relationship in the lyric is killing him in real time. John Paul Jones’ organ gives the track a dark churchlike atmosphere while John Bonham plays with tremendous restraint before opening up. This became one of the band’s greatest live vehicles because the song gave every member room to breathe. Play it loud enough and you can feel every bend in Page’s guitar.

# 13 – Living Loving Maid (She’s Just A Woman) – Led Zeppelin II

“Living Loving Maid (She’s Just a Woman)” follows “Heartbreaker” on Led Zeppelin II so perfectly that generations of rock-radio listeners learned to expect the two songs together. It is short, sharp, and built around another Jimmy Page riff that immediately tells you who the band is. Robert Plant tears through the vocal while Bonham and Jones keep the rhythm section tight and aggressive. The song does not need a long arrangement or an epic structure because the riff does almost all the work. Sometimes three minutes of Led Zeppelin is enough to blow the room apart.

# 12 – Custard Pie – Physical Graffiti

“Custard Pie” opens Physical Graffiti with the band sounding dirty, confident, and completely in control. Jimmy Page built the track around a brutal riff while John Paul Jones adds clavinet and Bonham pounds away underneath it. Robert Plant pulls from old blues language and turns the whole thing into classic Led Zeppelin innuendo. The 1975 double album needed an opener big enough to announce how wide the record would be, and “Custard Pie” does exactly that. This song should hit you in the chest when the volume is right.

# 11 – Rock And Roll – Led Zeppelin IV

Led Zeppelin called this one “Rock and Roll,” and they backed up that title with everything they had. The song grew from a studio jam built around John Bonham’s Little Richard-inspired drum pattern, with Ian Stewart adding piano and the rest of the band jumping in. Released on the untitled fourth album in 1971, it became one of Zeppelin’s greatest concert songs because there was no need to explain anything once that opening beat started. Page’s riff, Plant’s vocal, Jones’ bass, and Bonham’s drums are all locked together at full speed. This is rock and roll stripped down to its reason for existing.

# 10 – Dancing Days – Houses Of The Holy

Houses Of The Holy (Remastered Original CD) by Led Zeppelin (2014-10-27)

“Dancing Days” has one of those Jimmy Page riffs that sounds twisted the first time you hear it and completely natural by the second. The song appeared on Houses of the Holy in 1973, an album where Led Zeppelin kept pushing away from whatever people thought the band was supposed to sound like. Robert Plant sounds playful, while Bonham and Jones give the riff a swagger that keeps the whole track moving. It is strange, catchy, heavy, and loose all at once. Turn it up and that opening guitar line takes over the room.

# 9 – Hey Hey What Can I Do – B-Side To “Immigrant Song”

“Hey Hey What Can I Do” shocked a lot of fans because it sounded so different from the heavy Zeppelin everybody expected. First released in 1970 as the B-side of “Immigrant Song,” it did not appear on one of the band’s original studio albums during their lifetime. The acoustic guitars and mandolin give the track a country-folk feel, but Plant’s vocal keeps it unmistakably Led Zeppelin. For years the song was difficult to own unless you had the single, which only added to its mystique. I was completely blown away the first time I heard that opening, and it still sounds fantastic turned up loud.

# 8 – Heartbreaker – Led Zeppelin II

“Heartbreaker” is one of the songs that made Jimmy Page a guitar hero for an entire generation. The track appeared on Led Zeppelin II in 1969 and is built around a riff that sounds enormous before Page even reaches the famous unaccompanied solo. That solo feels almost like the band disappears and Page grabs the room by himself before everybody crashes back in. Plant, Jones, and Bonham make the song hit just as hard as the guitar, which is easy to forget when people focus only on Page. If you play guitar, “Heartbreaker” is one of those records that makes you want to turn the amp up immediately.

# 7 – Black Dog – Led Zeppelin IV

“Black Dog” opens Led Zeppelin’s fourth album with one of the strangest great riffs in classic rock. John Paul Jones came up with the main figure, and the way the band drops in and out around Robert Plant’s vocal makes the song feel dangerous every time it starts again. Page’s guitars sound huge, Bonham hits like a truck, and Plant turns the call-and-response structure into pure swagger. The rhythm is complicated, but the song never sounds like the band is showing off. It just sounds like Led Zeppelin being untouchable.

# 6 – The Song Remains The Same – Houses Of The Holy

“The Song Remains the Same” opens Houses of the Holy with Jimmy Page stacking guitars until the whole track seems to fly. The piece began as an instrumental idea before Robert Plant added lyrics, and you can still hear that instrumental energy driving everything forward. Bonham attacks the rhythm while Jones keeps the bottom solid underneath Page’s layers. The song became a major live showcase because the band could make it even more explosive onstage. Crank it up and those guitars seem to come from every direction.

# 5 – The Rover – Physical Graffiti

“The Rover” began during the Houses of the Holy period but finally found its home on Physical Graffiti in 1975. Jimmy Page’s main riff has that heavy, dragging feel Zeppelin did better than almost anybody, while Plant sounds completely comfortable riding over it. The band kept developing older material for the double album, and “The Rover” is a perfect example of why nothing in their vault felt disposable. It has the weight of the early records and the confidence of the mid-1970s band at the same time. This is one of the best Zeppelin songs to play when you want the guitars to shake the room.

# 4 – The Ocean – Houses Of The Holy

“The Ocean” closes Houses of the Holy with a riff that sounds like it was carved out of concrete. The title refers to the sea of fans Led Zeppelin faced from the stage, and the song feels like a celebration of the relationship between the band and that audience. Bonham’s count-in, Page’s riff, Jones’ bass, and Plant’s vocal all have the loose feel of musicians who know exactly how powerful they are together. Then the song shifts into that joyful final section and somehow gets even better. This is the kind of track that makes you understand why people stood in line all night for Zeppelin tickets.

# 3 – When The Levee Breaks – Led Zeppelin IV

“When the Levee Breaks” closes Led Zeppelin’s fourth album with one of the greatest drum sounds ever put on a rock record. The song reworks the blues written and recorded by Memphis Minnie and Kansas Joe McCoy, but Zeppelin transformed it into something massive and almost apocalyptic. John Bonham’s drums were recorded in the stairwell at Headley Grange, creating that enormous echo that has been sampled and copied for decades. Page’s production, Plant’s harmonica and vocal, and the grinding guitar parts make the whole record feel like a storm rolling in. There is no such thing as playing “When the Levee Breaks” too loud.

# 2 – Kashmir – Physical Graffiti

“Kashmir” sounds bigger than rock and roll itself. Released on Physical Graffiti in 1975, the song grew from Jimmy Page’s massive repeating guitar figure and Robert Plant’s imagery inspired by travel through North Africa. John Bonham’s drums move against the riff with incredible force while John Paul Jones helps turn the arrangement into something orchestral and almost cinematic. Plant has often described the song as one of the band’s defining achievements, and it is easy to see why. When “Kashmir” is playing at full volume, the room is no longer big enough.

# 1 – Whole Lotta Love – Led Zeppelin II

“Whole Lotta Love” has to sit at number one because that opening Jimmy Page riff is practically the sound of Led Zeppelin taking over the world. The song opens Led Zeppelin II and became the band’s biggest U.S. single, reaching number four on the Billboard Hot 100. Plant’s vocal, Bonham’s drums, Jones’ bass, and Page’s production turn the middle section into a psychedelic explosion before the riff comes crashing back. It is sexy, heavy, strange, dangerous, and completely impossible to ignore. If there is one Led Zeppelin song made to turn up to 11, this is it.