Led Zeppelin Albums Ranked (rated from worst to best)

Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group members were Robert Plant (vocals), Jimmy Page (guitar), John Paul Jones (bass, keyboard) and John Bonham (drums). Although they drew their style from many influences including folk and blues, they created a heavy guitar driven sound and they are often cited as one of the founders of the heavy metal genre.

Led Zeppelin were among the first bands to develop album-oriented rock and stadium rock. Led Zeppelin were originally called the “New Yardbirds”. They signed a deal with Atlantic Records that gave them unprecedented artistic freedom. Sadly after only 10 years of production, Led Zeppelin came to an end with the death of drummer John Bonham.

Best Led Zeppelin Albums Of All Time

Led Zeppelin released 8 studio albums over a period of 10 years and as always we will rank them as we see them from the rest to the best. In all honesty, this has to be the most difficult “albums ranked” page we’ve ever had to do, but we have to start somewhere so here goes…

8. In Through The Out Door (1979)

This was their 8th and final studio album and it was recorded over a 3 week period during November-December 1978 and released on August 15th the following year. It was the last album released by Led Zeppelin before John Bonham died in 1980. “In Through The Out Door” was a huge commercial success topping the album charts in many countries including the UK, US, Canada and New Zealand. It was recorded after the death of Robert Plant’s son Karac and in all fairness this could be why this is the weakest album Led Zeppelin ever made.

7. Presence (1976)

This was their 7th studio album and while it made number 1 in both the UK and the US and was commercially successful, it was their lowest selling studio album. During the recording of this album Robert Plant was recovering from some pretty serious injuries sustained earlier in that year in a car accident. The band couldn’t capitalise on the success of this album by touring due to Plant’s poor physical health. The best track on the album for us is “Achilles Last Stand” and incidentally the track “For Your Life” features the first time Jimmy Page played a Fender Stratocaster on any recording with Led Zeppelin.

6. Houses Of The Holy (1973)

This was Zeppelin’s 5th studio album and the album that gave us “The Song Remains The Same”, “The Rain Song” and “No Quarter”, all of which became almost permanent fixtures on their live shows. “Houses Of The Holy” was the band’s last studio release on Atlantic Records before they formed their own label Swan Song Records in 1974. It was also the only Led Zeppelin album to contain complete printed lyrics for each song. The original album cover, which showed a tennis court with a tennis racket on it was rejected by the band and the designer, Storm Thorgerson was fired for visually implying their music sounded like a racket. He was replaced by Hipgnosis and the cover photo was shot at the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland.

5. Led Zeppelin III (1970)

“Led Zeppelin III” was their 3rd studio album and marked a departure from the straightforward rock of the previous 2 albums to a more folksy, acoustic musical feel. Whilst the hard rock influences were still present as is evident from “The Immigrant Song”, acoustic based songs like “That’s The Way” and “Gallows Pole” showed there was far more to Led Zeppelin than just hard rock. On release, “Led Zeppelin III” became an instant chart success, topping both the US and the UK charts. However, it did confuse many music critics due to the change in musical style, but has since been recognised as a pivotal point in the history of the band and the progression of their musical development.

4. Physical Graffiti (1975)

This was their 6th studio album and was released as a double album on February 24th 1975. The original material they accumulated for this album took up just under 3 album sides. So they decided to expand it to a double album by including tracks previously unreleased from sessions for earlier albums. Tracks that were originally intended for “Led Zeppelin III”, “Led Zeppelin IV” and “Houses Of The Holy” were all included to create a full double album. On release “Physical GraffitI” debuted at number 1 in the UK and number 3 in the US. 

3. Led Zeppelin IV (1971)

The untitled 4th album, commonly referred to as “Led Zeppelin IV” was their 4th studio album which was released on November 8th 1971. The most memorable track to come from this album is “Stairway To Heaven”, which is often described as their signature song. Vocalist Sandy Denny features on “The Battle Of Evermore” and pianist Ian Stewart features on “Rock And Roll” and the album contains one cover track “When The Levee Breaks” (Memphis Minnie). The album was a commercial success reaching number 1 in the album charts in the UK, The US, Holland and Canada and selling more than 37 million copies worldwide.

2. Led Zeppelin (1969)

This was their debut album which was released on January 12th 1969 in the US and March 31st in the UK. It was an immediate success reaching the top 10 in a number of countries including the UK and the US and reaching number 1 on the Spanish album charts. The album is a mix of original material and rearrangements of contemporary blues and folk songs. The majority of the tracks on this album were too long for single release with only “Good Times Bad Times”backed with “Communication Breakdown” released outside of the UK. But due to album tracks being played by album-oriented rock radio stations, many of the tracks became classic rock favourites.

1. Led Zeppelin II (1969)

This was their 2nd studio album which was released on October 22nd 1969 in the US and 9 days later in the UK. “Led Zeppelin II” has been described as their heaviest album and was a commercial success being their 1st album to reach number 1 in both the UK and the US. Out of the 9 songs on the album, 6 were written by the band with the other 3 rearrangements of  Chicago blues tracks by Willie Dixon, and Howlin’ Wolf. They released one single “Whole Lotta Love” (not in the UK, they never released any singles in the UK) which made the top 10 in many countries. In the years since its release, many music critics have said that “Led Zeppelin II” is one of the greatest and most influential albums of all time.

All Led Zeppelin Albums In Chronological Order

Album	Date
Led Zeppelin	1969
Led Zeppelin II	1969
Led Zeppelin III	1970
Led Zeppelin IV (Actually Untitled)	1971
Houses Of The Holy	1973
Physical Graffiti	1975
Presence	1976
In Through The Out Door	1979

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