Best Led Zep LP opener

[ChrisB]

Achilles for me. Never really bothered with them until my obsession with solo Plant, but they were brilliant. Plant and Zepplin been on heavy rotation for the past few weeks.

[bobzilla77]

Immigrant Song is a shot of pure adrenaline. As Emeril would say, Time to kick it up a notch BAMM!!

They did have some real good ones though huh? All of those are quite fine. So is the unlisted We're Gonna Groove, which opens Coda.

[Fonz]

Achilles, but GT,BT a great way to kick it all off.

[trans-chigley express]

These are all top notch. They knew how to open an album with a bang. I’ll have to have a long think, too hard to choose, everytime I go to pick one I’m immediately drawn to another one

[fange]

'GT, BT' for me. Breathtakingly good start to a record.

[trans-chigley express]

In ascending TotPs style chart rundown ascending order (cue Whole Lotta Love riff):

8 - Custard Pie
an often overlooked opener perhaps but it kick starts PG off in a funky manner
7- Black Dog
As great as it is it's one of two songs in the list I'm a little worn out on so lower on the list than it probably deserves
6 - Whole Lotta Love
The other one that I'm a little worn out on but back in the day when it sounded fresh this may have been near the top of the list
5 - In The Evening
A bit of an attempt to repeat the magic of Achilles from the previous album but it works just fine for me and I've always liked the use of keyboards throughout ITTOD
4 - Good Times Bad Times
Still a kick arse way to open your debut
3- Immigrant Song
A short and sweet piece of Viking-inspired magic
2- Achilles Last Stand
Long and sprawling, in stark contrast to Immigrant Song but I adore it's expansiveness. It's needs to be BIG and neverending
1- The Song Remains The Same
Probably the most complex and Proggish sounding of their openers. Great twists and turns throughout and lots of opportunities for air-drumming.

[The Slider]

The best opener is on the live album.
'Rock n Roll' is a better opener than Black Dog
"Okaaay, here we go...."

The studio version of the Song Remains the Same is weak
If Houses started with a stronger arrangement/mix, such as the one on the Live album then that would be my pick of the options here.
Ditto Immigrant Song, which even on the remasters sounds like a wasp in a tin can

It's probably Achilles, isn't it?

[Belle Lettre]

Oh, Immigrant Song. Ah-ah-aahh-aahh!

[Canis lupus]

That's my vote in!

...? Give us a clue please do

[echolalia]

I was larking around, partly. I'm not a massive fan of Led Zeppelin but I do love In Through the Out Door, so I voted for In the Evening.

[Diamond Dog]

Christ that is tough...... the only two I ruled out straight away were "Custard Pie" and "In The Evening". The others are pretty much magnificent throughout.

In the end, I went with "Good Times Bad Times". Not because it's the best song (that's either "Achilles.." or "TSRTS") but because those opening bars - with that ridiculous bass drum work by Bonzo- really set the template and announced to the world "All change!".

[pcqgod]

"Immigrant Song," then "GTBT."

[Diamond Dog]

As set openers, the only two of those that were used were "Immigrant Song" and "TSRTS". As The Slider says, the live versions of the latter were wondrous. But my favourite era Live Zep is really 70-72, and the set opener for most of that was "Immigrant Song" which was fucking blistering. The version from Hampton in Sept 1971 contains, for me, Jimmy's greatest ever solo....live or in the studio.

Here it is - cuts in at the start, Robert is a bit 'wobbly', the panning is harsh...but - by christ- listen to the three headed juggernaut during the solo..



I seriously love the part where Plant tries to re-enter and the band completely ignore him......

[sloopjohnc]

The best opener is on the live album.
'Rock n Roll' is a better opener than Black Dog
"Okaaay, here we go...."

The studio version of the Song Remains the Same is weak
If Houses started with a stronger arrangement/mix, such as the one on the Live album then that would be my pick of the options here.
Ditto Immigrant Song, which even on the remasters sounds like a wasp in a tin can

It's probably Achilles, isn't it?

Good points. I always thought the Ocean would've been a good opener for Houses of the Holy.

[Canis lupus]

Good points. I always thought the Ocean would've been a good opener for Houses of the Holy.

Oh no, no way

[Count Machuki]

Definitely GTBT, which also has the benefit of being a "soundcheck song" like 'Hello' by Cheap Trick or maybe 'Can't Explain'
You know, where the instruments fire up one by one, the sound guy can get the levels right, the band can hear how the mix is, etc.

course, now I say that I see Pete has confirmed that this was never a set opener, but it's sure a great career opener!

[Minnie the Minx]

Custard Pie arseholes!

[joels344]

“Immigrant Song” is pretty hard to top, but that’s closely followed by “Custard Pie.”

[Diamond Dog]

Definitely GTBT, which also has the benefit of being a "soundcheck song" like 'Hello' by Cheap Trick or maybe 'Can't Explain'
You know, where the instruments fire up one by one, the sound guy can get the levels right, the band can hear how the mix is, etc.

course, now I say that I see Pete has confirmed that this was never a set opener, but it's sure a great career opener!

It was once.... at the O2 in 07.

I went - were you aware of this?

[Count Machuki]

Definitely GTBT, which also has the benefit of being a "soundcheck song" like 'Hello' by Cheap Trick or maybe 'Can't Explain'
You know, where the instruments fire up one by one, the sound guy can get the levels right, the band can hear how the mix is, etc.

course, now I say that I see Pete has confirmed that this was never a set opener, but it's sure a great career opener!

It was once.... at the O2 in 07.

I went - were you aware of this?

Do tell!