The Brown Bomber

Nicknamed after the airship that looms in the brown background over the band, Led Zeppelin II was released in 1969. For many, it was the album that brought them to love Led Zep. To some critics, this is the album that invented heavy metal, thus the double meaning to Brown Bomber since that was heavyweight boxer Joe Louis's nickname and this album packs a pretty big punch. But it's pretty amazing that the album even got made at all.

II was written and recorded while the band was doing a huge tour in the US in 1969. They used random studios located in London, New York, and even Vancouver whenever they had to time to record. Lyrics were written and songs built in hotel hallways after hours. Jimmy Page was flying all over the country during the tour to produce the album when he had time. This album should have been an absolute disaster, but somehow, Led Zep managed to bring the energy of a live performance into an awesome album.

The Brown Bomber

The album had 400,000 pre-orders and became a #1 album in the US. The album starts off with "Whole Lotta Love," a song that would become Led Zep's anthem. The brass and raunchiness of the song can still take you by surprise. This tune also set the structure for future dance songs with a relentless riff, a breakdown, a build, and then a final drop. And this song is a hard to one to follow. One of my personal favorites off the album is "Living Loving Maid (She's Just a Woman)." It's got a sweet riff throughout and its a great song to just listen to.


The album ended up outselling Abbey Road (Beatles) and Let It Bleed (Rolling Stones) but was the subject of many lawsuits. "The Lemon Song" started as an honest cover of Howlin' Wolf's "Killing Floor," but Led Zep ended up getting sued for forgetting to give credit where it was due. They were also sued by Willie Dixon when they borrowed some lyrics from Sonny Boy Williamson's "Bring It on Home" for their own song of the same name (which the band maintains was supposed to be a small tribute to him). Despite these lawsuits, the success of Led Zeppelin II showed that Led Zep could pay any price and were a force to be reckoned with in the world of rock.