Led Zeppelin: Worst to Best - Albums Ranked 

This is a great video!! I like the reference to “Spirit” near the end. Very sly... I feel this is an accurate ranking.

To me Physical Graffiti is their best album. It is my go to album when I just want to rock.

Zep changed it up every album...never got boring or repetitive. It’s why all their albums were great!

Their debut is definitely my favorite & the remastered bonus live tracks is awesome. They were raw & bluesy.

Beyond the first album having great tracks, it was also groundbreaking. And for those who experienced that first hand, it's a powerful influence.

The guitar work in Presence it's just amazing. Maybe the most particular and innovative he ever did.

I love the way you explain things rather than just ranking the album. Your love of music shows in every episode.

Seeing Led Zep II down at number five hurt big time lol!!

A wonderful breakdown and ranking of the Zeppelin catalog. The still-greatest thing about the Internet is finding people who really know their stuff.

The first album will always be my fav, the raw power and the lack of studio production give the songs that live feel. After that it was off to the races with the studio production...

Led Zeppelin (1) has always been my favorite due to that face punching impact when it came out that just couldn’t be repeated.

I remember hearing Led Zep 4 for the first time when it came out. The sound on this is absolutely amazing, way ahead of its time. I played it about 10 times on that first day.

Unlike most reviewers I have always put Presence on the top of my list. I know that band went through a serious issues during preparing and recording material for Presence, bur for me there's something very unique and magical about this LP. There's really no weak track for me on this album and everything flows together very well.

You sir have away with words. I just found you on RU-vid, and I am staying as long as you are going to be doing this channel. Cheers and thanks for a great channel!

Fast becoming my fav reviewer around these parts. Keep up the great work.

Enjoyed the reviews. But really, I listened more to Led Zeppelin I and II more than almost any album I have, for the past 50 years. I love all Zeppelin's stuff, but really - the first two albums should be at the top! When I heard "You Shook Me", at age 15, it was a revelation. I had never heard anything like that before! These two albums were the precedent for all the hard rock (and blues) to come, through the 70's and through today.

LZ IV is basically perfect, I remember just playing the vinyl until it turned into ashes. Curiously though, with the years LZ III went up and up and up in my consideration, you don’t need volume to sound powerful.

This is easily the finest review of Led Zeppelin's catalog that I have ever experienced. Your eloquence and richness in the details reflect my views and feelings on the individual songs quite closely. Thank you for doing such a great job.

1. Houses of the holy 2. Physical graffitti 3. Zep II 4. Zep IV 5. Zep III 6. Zep I 7. In through the out door 8. Presence

Zeppelin never put out a bad album. Not many other bands can say that. Their albums ranged from good to incredible. For me it's definitely Physical Graffiti, my favorite album ever by anyone..

Very good, interesting and thoughtful list. There is a case for ranking all the studio albums as #1. ITTOD was my introduction to Zeppelin. I still love it. Very future-looking while being consistent with their sound. Never understood why it wouldn't rank above Presence, which is fine and good, but very interesting compared to the rest.

Great video, keep them up

Interesting summation of the Led Zeppelin studio albums. Physical Graffiti is my number one. Just so eclectic and. impactful. Interesting views on Presence. Fans seem to be split on that one. For me its number 3 after LZ II Love the immediacy of Presence, it almost sounds like a live album with some great guitar work and drumming especially on Achilles Last Stand, Nobody's Fault But Mine and Tea For One. I always thought that Plant's harmonica playing was underrated. It certainly added to the songs it featured on.

I think the trio: LZ1, LZ3 and Physical Graffiti rises above the rest. LZ1: Freshness, raw, blues-based, the expression of deep emotions. LZ3: A band at the peak of their skills. My choice as 'objectively the best'. PG: mature singing, great riffs, good sound. The LZ album I have listened to the most.

Amazing appreciation, Barry! I started delving into some of your earlier videos and came upon this masterpiece. My own ranked Zep list would be similar, although I'd put Physical at #1, and move Zep I and II up past Zep III. Led Zeppelin is my all-time favorite band, and I thoroughly enjoyed this!!

Hi, great ! review, I'm a huge Led Zeppelin fan but I'm also a huge Santana fan ( love your shirt! ) been fallowing both bands since album 1, glad you mentioned the rain song it's my no. 2 favorite Zeppelin tune, stairway to heaven was my no.1 until they played to death hear in the U.S. unfortunately the classic rock radio stations in the U.S. play only certain Zeppelin songs and that's it. I can't believe that out of the whole Physical Graffiti album they only play Kashmir, It's an epidemic all over the country and it's very frustrating.

Great video, I always think it's Ian Anderson here speaking, which is meant to be a great compliment. Thank you - I enjoy your reviews so much and became a Marillion fan too ;-)

Another excellent review! I would only switch your 3 with your 1. Simply because IV has been played to death and I think III will always be my favorite for the very reasons you stated and because its one that hasn't been played to death and I can always return to it and enjoy it. Rock on, mate. Cheers!

I think the reason LZIII was a disappointment was everyone was expecting a LZII Part 2, me included as a teenager. However, that album grew on me as I got older.

When Zep called it a day shortly after Bonzo's death, they still contractually owed Atlantic Records 1 more album. Page cobbled together leftovers, and 'Coda' was the result. It wasn't bad, but hardly great either. It still sold a million copies largely off the Zeppelin name. Don't know why Page didn't include 'Traveling Riverside Blues', and 'Hey Hey What Can I Do' - that would have made Coda a cut above average.

An enjoyable trip through the Zeppelin catalogue. I’d match you man for man on the ranking apart from putting Physical Graffiti over LZ4. Side 3 of PG is my favourite sequence of songs by LZ, with Ten Years Gone delivering more and more detail and nuance every time I listen to it.

This made me think about the level of self reflection it would take to compose such a list. These were the soundtracks of my life growing up. Never could have imagined how music would just fail to put out anything as perfect in quality as the years went by. We were going up, up, up. Progress. Evolution. These albums and others of the late 60's-70's were the apex of music. No one is more surprised than I.

A very fair and thoughtful review. I have been into Zep since 1976 and I have never got tired of listening to them. Graffiti has always been my favourite but I listen to most of the others often. Lately I just cant get enough of LZ3!

Agree with Ole Rocker, 'Since I've been loving you' is an amazing song with a killer guitar solo.

Superb overview that Barry and a fascinating analysis. The quality and consistency of their albums is second to none and your ranking is pretty much my own, apart from the number one slot. For me that's the second album - a rock masterpiece from start to finish.

Liked your commentary on Presence. I remember reading somewhere that Page said he thought it was the most accurate or authentic representation of the band's sound out of all of their records.

There's no wrong order. But I'd shift a couple of them around. I like that you rated #4 as your top album. Too many folks automatically downplay this record simply because one or two songs have been overplayed. Only because its too popular. My list would be 1. LZ 4 2. Houses of the Holy 3. LZ 3 4. Physical Graffiti 5, LZ 2 6. LZ 1 7. In through the out door 8. Presence 9. Coda

As a teeny, I listened Physical Graphity many times over headphones from start to end, and I always came back from another planet

Very well spoken analysis as usual! I really wish I could listen to LZ4 all the way through and appreciate it for what it is, but I've just been oversaturated with about half of the album's songs. I think one reason why Physical Graffiti is a perennial fan fave is that it's so generous with "secret" gems in the Led Zep catalog, wonderful songs that were never put in 'eternal heavy rotation' on FM radio.

Fabulous background note explanations of my favourite Zep albums. I was never disappointed by Led Zep III.

What a pleasure to listen to your extremely intelligent critiques.

Ooh, so so close to my worst to best ranking. Agree with all, but I would switch the order (w-t-b) LZ 111, LZ 11 then HOTH. 4 just pipping PG? Absolutely spot on! Great video mate 👍

Very lucid and articulate reviews. And I like the high ranking you give to Physical Graffiti.

Good to see Tea For One getting some love. I think it is an absolute gem that is somehow overlooked. I couldn't do a vid like this......I would have to redo it on regular basis as my favorite changes so often.

Wonderful ranking! For me, Physical Graphite is No.1. Page had the time, the technology to layer riff upon riff. Ten Years Gone, with 14 guitar overdubs, might be his production masterpiece. In The Light also presents more riffs within a single song, than most guitarists can muster in their entire career!

Just for the record, Robert Plant's favourite is Led Zeppelin 3 and Jimmy Page rates ' Physical Graffiti ' as being the best album that he ever worked on. I would also like to add that ' In Through the Outdoor' contains several of my favourite Zeppelin songs including 'In The Evening' and 'Carouselambra' !

I got into Zeppelin quite late. All I really knew was the riff to Whole Lotta Love, and a few titles, with no sonic experience to back them up. So, when I bought Presence, not long after it's release, I had no knowledge of the classic Zep - that would start a few months later, with the release of The Song Remains the Same, movie and soundtrack album. To be confronted from the outset with the beast that is Achilles Last Stand, at the age I was then, had the sort of impact you would recognise in yourself when discussing Court of the Crimson King. I bought Physical Graffiti, not long after. But, by the end of '77, I'd been lured into Punk (the Clash) and New Wave (Television - Marquee Moon) and Presence, seemed a distant lifetime ago. That said, the album still holds a weird hold on my psyche, and stands out because of that period, and I agree, it's well worth a revisit. It's better than many remember

Our list would differ but you sure know how to string those words together for your reviews. Good job. 👍🏻

Excellent analysis...

I love your analysis. Excellent job. My ranking was similar, but not exact. I had III a little lower in the ranking, and I flip flopped IV and Physical Graffiti. I ranked them this way: 1. Physical Graffiti 2. IV 3. Houses of the Holy 4. II 5. I 6. III 7. Presence 8. In Through the Out Door 9. Coda

very good video and I agree with your list!

My sense is that the Led Zeppelin catalog lends itself to exactly the ordering that you presented. I would rank the albums exactly as you did. On a personal note, I saw Zeppelin in concert twice, once in 1973 (about 6 weeks after Houses of the Holy was released) and again in 1977. The first concert was a transcendent experience; the second seemed more about technical proficiency than spell weaving. Regardless, unforgettable events.

When The Levee Breaks is near perfect. Technically & technologically complex. Perfect rock n roll pedigree traceable back to blues roots. And those opening bars. I remember the moment - where I was, who I was with, what we were doing - when I first heard that Bonham riff 50 years ago, at 11yo. A watershed moment in contemporary music and in my life. Oh, and it makes the perfect ring-tone, too. I’ve had it since you could set your own ring tone.

My favourites are Zep 2, Zep 3 and Zep 4. I always struggle to split them because perfection warrants no ranking. I will say that Zep are the best band of all time, in the best genre and that 'Since I've been loving you' is the best track of all time. IMHO of course.

I understand Jimmy Page rates Presence very highly. Maybe this is due to the circumstance surrounding the recording sessions? For me this is Zep's most back to basics in terms of instrumentation but is the one i return to more than their more celebrated releases.

Could have sworn you said “Ruins” instead of “Runes” when naming Led Zep IV! Mystique - now there’s a word for Led Zeppelin; and they, especially Jimmy Page, certainly played up to it. More than a hint of mystery and magic. A massive dose of it, in fact! Oh and the drugs… in an interview, Page said they were an intrinsic part of the band/the experience and could not be separated from the music. Fair enough! Also, read somewhere that for adolescent boys, the combination of Led Zeppelin and Tolkien was a very powerful one. How true!

Surely "Misty Mountain Hop" is about getting busted in a park and not "Going To California"?

Hey there Interesting and eloquent ranking of the Zep discography .30 odd years ago, I first got into Zep through a friend who discovered OG albums owned by his considerably older brother. Physical Graffiti was the first I listened to in it's entirety and is still probably my favourite. Houses, 4, 3 and 2 all tie in second place.Debut next, then Presence, in through and CODA last.I never really liked the soundtrack live album, although the LP packaging was nice!.

No reference to the magical track thats the way. Acoustic masterclass of a song.

I like all of these and wouldn't skip anything, but here's my list: 9) Coda (but still a really good album!) 8) Presence 7) Led Zeppelin III (never really clicked for me) 6) In Through the Out Door (this holds a nostalgic place for me and ranks a bit higher for me than most would put it) 5) Physical Graffiti 4) Led Zeppelin 3) Led Zeppelin II 2) Houses of the Holy ("No Quarter" and "Over The Hills..." are two of my favorite songs of theirs) 1) Led Zeppelin IV (the second half of this one is one of the best sides of music ever recorded) Nothing really seperates my top 4. Any of them could be #1 on any given day depending on my mood. Thanks for your list. I always enjoy your content!

You REALLY know your stuff. Total kudos

My Ranking 1 Zep II 2 Physical Graffiti 3 Zep IV 4 Houses Of The Holy 5 In Through The Out Door 6 Zep I 7 Zep III 8 Presence 9 CODA

Nice work. Well thought out. Personally I would rank In Through The Out Door higher. Carouselambra is the most underrated Zeppelin Song. Fool In The Rain, All My Love and In The Evening are masterpieces. I'm Gonna Crawl is excellent. Stunning cover. Ranks #4 for me.

Great video! Like the way, the albums are presented. I agree with the ranking too, except for two minor changes - I like "Houses of the Holy" a bit more than LZ III and my favorite album is "Physical Graffiti" closely followed by IV (untitled). Anyway, there is no bad album by LZ, just less great ones 😉

You’ve prompted me to revisit Prescence. Thank you

I am amazed to see Zeppelin II appear so low. I get that these rankings were probably very close but side 2 for me competes with Zeppelin 4 side 1 for my all time favorite side of vinyl, All 5 traks are outstanding. Also I don't quite get the hype behind Physical graffiti, I've played to it many times and I've never viewed it as particularly special, at lest compared to the rest of Zeppelin's catalogue that is.

Led Zeppelin the 'magpies' of rock/blues/folk music.

Thank you for chosing FOUR as the best LED album. So much , I was 14 when it was a hit, I am 64 next week, I am privileged to have grown up on Led 4, Uriah Heep : Gypsy, Elton John : Goodybe Yellow Brick Road, David Bowie : Alladin Sane, Jethro Tulll: Acqualung ,, and the list goes on.......... great times even in Boring Switzerland back then

Roy Harper sang the lead vocal on The Floyd's "Have a Cigar"

Sunday i bought the first four albums of LZ, still have a few to go to complete the collection. I am seriously blown away by there music

I appreciate your take on the albums, but having Zep 2 fifth on the list is a joke! In my humble opinion, its the best rock album ever. But like you said at the beginning of the video, its your opinion. This is my ranking: 2, 4, PG, 1, HotH, 3, ITTOD, Presence, and CODA.

Another great ranking. However my top few: III / I / II / in order ! Thank you.

1. Led 2 2. Led 4 3. Graffiti 4. Houses 5. Led 1 6. Led 3 7. Presence 8. In out

I remember listening to Zep 4 for the first time aged 17, I was absolutely blown away for the whole 8 tracks, so instant. Though not my pick for 1 I respect your opinion (Zep 1 for me ).

As a 40+ year Zeppelin fan it's really hard to argue against this bottom to top ranking.

8: In Through the out Door 7: Led Zeppelin II 6: Presence 5: Led Zeppelin I 4: Led Zeppelin IV 3: Led Zeppelin III 2: Physical Graffiti 1: Houses of the Holy

Love your shirt!

They are all so good. Right now my favorites are 1, presence, houses, 3, 2, 4, graffiti. This could change the next time I hear any of them. Graffiti is a very great album, it's just that I haven't heard the songs from 1 as much lately. I keep editing the order of this list.

A great list, I think that No Quarter is one of their best songs it really shows how good the band was.

Awesome video, Led Zeppelin is my favourite band of all times! My list changes everytime, but for now, that's it: 9- CODA 8- Through the Out Door 7- Led Zeppelin I 6- Presence 5- Led Zeppelin III 4- Led Zeppelin II 3- Houses of the Holy 2- Led Zeppelin IV 1- Physical Graffiti

Surprised to see II so low. It's impossible to do this but came up with: 1. IV 2. II 3. Houses 4. I 5. In Through The Out Door 6. III 7. Physical Graffiti 8. Presence

Their debut was stunning. Several individual tracks (often around 6 minutes long) had more raw emotional power than most other other bands could even imagine And what other album by ANY band features a voice as powerful as the young Robert Plant had

I've seen a lot of these lists and the one thing that always comes back to me is that I am pretty alone liking in through the out door a lot!

Good job. It’s all personal. I agree with your assessment of LZ3 and I think I would put PG below HOTH. Also , I think Out Door was amazing. This is a tough list...much like pulling molecules apart with pliers! 😊

Saying "worst" to "best" really doesn't work with Zep. I certainly have my favorites, but with a bad Zep tune being such a rarity, it just comes down to a subjective feel. Personally, I never listen to "Tea for One," "Thank You," nor am I a fan of "Down by the Seaside" or "In the Light," but for some Zep fans, I've just ignored their favorite songs. Oh well. My favs: 1. Houses of the Holy 2. Physical Grsffitti 3. Zep III 4. Presence 5. Zep IV

i agree with your ranking and i will comment that coda as a collection of left overs from previous albums is their worst album tatoo you on the other hand is a very good album in the stones catalogue

Wading into this debate is dicey at best. So many valid opinions, so much emotion. At the end of the day you like what you like...That being said, here's yet another list: -Coda -In Through the Out Door -Houses of the Holy -II -III -I -IV -Phys Graf -Presence

Their first four albums are my favorites. Great commentary.

Because I am just listening to a number of your old ranking videos I am commenting on several of them on the same day! At the age of 19 I bought Led Zeppelin I. And as far as musical appreciation is concerned, my life changed at that point....Previously heavy music was the Pretty Things! Perhaps for that reason I have always preferred that disc to all their others including Led Zeppelin 4. While I respected and admired their exploring of every genre possible over the next 10 albums, the first two were always my favourites because they were blues based and because they changed popular music forever. Of course we all have different preferences but the one comment of yours I will challenge is on the recording quality of Led Zepp I. Classic Records in the US released a special addition of all Zeppelin's music, recorded on 180 g vinyl at 45 rpm. Each disc was only cut on one side to ensure it remained completely flat. This meant on some discs there was only one track! For example the absolutely monumental In my Time of Dying. On an excellent vinyl system, the drums on this track exceed anything I have ever heard in terms of sonic power. But my point of mentioning this edition is that the tracks from Led Zeppelin I sound absolutely fantastic and certainly equal to anything on Led Zeppelin II. (Communication Breakdown excepted which I never much liked.) I would argue that the three greatest debut albums in rock have been LZI, In the Court of the Crimson King, and Texas Flood by Stevie Ray. And the first and the third of these at least were recorded in a very short time for not much money. Perhaps that tells us something

1. Physical Graffiti 2. Houses of the Holy 3. III 4. IV 5. II 6. I 7. In Through the Out Door 8. Presence 9. Coda

Fantastic understanding of the band. The fourth album that's it! Great ending. Please listen to Wire and talk about it. The first four albums are so brilliant and influential. Cheers

I quite liked your 'Who' ranking but I had to tune out here when 'Presence' was rated No.7. It's my fave Zeppelin album because it is SO intense, no acoustic guitars, no keyboards. Of course I love all that on the earlier albums but 'Presence' is Zeppelin stripped down to the raw essence with some KILLER grooves. I also don't agree with you about 'Coda'. Yes it was outtakes and obviously not a proper album because the band was history by then. But it really was done as a tribute to John Bonham. And if you listen to it from that perspective it is really amazing. Honestly I only realized that recently but it totally changed my perception. I mean they just paid tribute to him and gave him center stage like with 'Bonzo's Montreux'. And that's why the live version of 'I can't quit you baby' was included. Listen to those drums, holy mackerel!! I VASTLY prefer 'Coda' over 'In through the out door'

Coda was released to honor contractual commitments to Atlantic Records, seeing how the band decided not to continue because of John Bonham's death it was the only option to fulfill their contractual agreement. It wasn't released because somebody wanted to make a bit of extra money off of the Led Zeppelin name as you seem to think. Speaking of the left-over songs used to make up the CODA album you stated that the majority of them were from Presence and In Through The Out Door, not one song on the album is from the Presence sessions. Also, the name itself is quite fitting, CODA is a passage that brings a piece or a movement to an end, in which it was the end of Zeppelin. 1. Physical Graffiti 2. Led Zeppelin IV 3. Led Zeppelin II 4. Led Zeppelin I 5. In Through The Out Door 6. Led Zeppelin III 7. Houses Of The Holy 8. Coda 9. Presence

Agree with many of your comments, I'd switch 1 with 3, move 2 down to 6 and Presence up 1, and flip PG and 4, part of your comments about the mysticism of 4 is actually what limits it compared to PG. But overall I'm such a Zep fan my slightly different listing other than my drastic switch of 1, 2 and 3 isn't a criticism of their catalog because they'd also rank as my top 8 albums of all time. Also thought you shouldn't have left our Wearing and Tearing from your comments, its epic and yet different, Zep's response to Punk

Great video. Mine would be the same top 4 every time you ask me but in a different order every time you ask me. 1 - Physical Graffiti 2 - II (My first Zeppelin album) 3 - IV 4 - III 5 - I 6 - Houses of the Holy 7 - Presence 8 - In through the out door 9 - Coda

nicely done sir.

Very very good video of my favorite band

Nice to see Visage get a mention here - you might have done that in the Rush worst to best, because Geddy Lee stated that the New Romantic groups were an influence around the time of Signals, and The Weapon is a rehash of Fade to Grey.

A fine review, to be sure. One aspect that I am sure would be hard to value - ITTOD and Presence ( and Coda) were the albums that were released IN my ( and many others ) aware lifetime- and as such were very relevant to us. This was LZs music for us, as opposed to the historic landmarks that came before I (us)could comprehend. It all means so much to me (us). Forever Side note - after I had a better understanding of where LZs power resided, I only listened to,and collected bootleg live performances- forsaking the studio work for decades. All the events that I had missed- it hurt some

I really like the caricature of Robert on the thumbnail.