This album is a prime example of why Bonham, Jones, Page, & Plant are legends in the Rock & Roll industry. It has everything a R & R fan could possibly want. A bluesy feel, tight Guitar riffs, solos from the soul, well constructed songs, layers of music, & passionate vocals. For me the true cohesion comes from the rythym section. Bonham's drums drives the band ever forward while JPJones is ethereal on the keyboards & perfect on the bass Guitar. There are no duds on this their Sophmore album.

These are my seven favorites in no particular order. "Heartbreaker," opens with a classic riff. The midsection flows to an improvisational section with a fine Guitar solo. Here the lyrics & music blend easily. I have always liked this one more than the more publized "Whole Lotta Love." "Moby Dick," is a fine instrumental with Bonham's drum midsection carrying it. "Living Loving Maid," is often paired in direct succession with "Heartbreaker." It's an upbeat rocker with a memorable riff & a contagious melody. "The Lemon Song," has one great bass line as JPJones moves smoothly throughout as the crescendo than picks up & takes flight. "What Is And What Should Never Be," is a very different type of song that is hard to classify. I have been told by musicians that this is one of the harder Zeppelin songs to learn. Here the interesting lyrics play as a melodic counterpoint to Plant's vocals. "Ramble On," is the driving other side of the latter song representing moving on from the angst of love. This is one of the most underated of Led Zeppelin's songs. "Thank You," clearly is the bands best ballad until "In Through The Outdoor's All My Love." This one is smooth & brings out the romantic in the listener. This is one of their three best albums. Buy it, you won't be disappointed.

After their ground breaking debut album, Led Zeppelin quickly followed the album up with Led Zeppelin II. Whereas their debut contained a few blues covers and longer jams, II is a much tighter affair. Jimmy Page was a master at coming up with memorable guitar riffs and they abound throughout II. "Whole Lotta Love" opens the album with a earth moving riff and then guitars soar and come crashing down throughout the song that is marked by a glass shattering vocal from Robert Plant. The song became a big hit and their only top ten single peaking at number 4 in early 1970. "The Lemon Song" is a bluesy jam that finds Mr. Plant scatting along with some memorable lyrics. "Ramble On" is perfectly titled as the song just kind of scuffles around with a chooglin guitar riff as its backbone. John Bonham gets to show off why they call him Bonzo on the drum workout "Moby Dick". "Thank You" has to rank as one of the prettiest songs in rock and probably the most tender number the band has ever recorded. Mr. Plant provides an almost whisper like vocal that is framed by ethereal keyboards from John Paul Jones. The song's quiet beauty merges into the stinging guitars of "Heartbreaker" which merges seamlessly into the rollicking "Living Loving Maid". Led Zeppelin II became the band's first number one album.

As stated in other reviews that I have written on Led Zeppelin, I am NOT a fan of their music. However, this recording features Jimmy Page at his absolute best. On Whote Lotta Love, Lemon Song,Hearbreaker, and Moby Dick, Page plays some very memorable guitar licks. In addition, his guitar tone is quite pleasant and supports Robert Plants passionate vocals on the mellow ballad Thank You. Then there is What Is And What Should Never Be. Page plays an interesting rhythm which even shows that he may have some jazz chops in his soul. Ramble On also has some interesting guitar embellishments as well. Whereas I doubt if I could ever become a major fan of this band(mostly due to Robert Plants vocal style, I would recommend this and Houses Of The Holy as two purchases for anyone who likes or is interested in Led Zeppelin. For those people who only want to read good things about Led Zeppelin, I suggest that you open your minds to different perspectives. In this review I have tried to state what I like and dislike about this record and the band as a whole. I may not be a fan of the band, but ask those who cast as vote here to understand that I am trying to be objective. This would be a pretty boring world if we all thought the same way.

Anyone who does not give this album five stars has serious issues. The fact that some of these songs are overplayed on the radio is not a reason to give this album a low rating. If anything that should say something about the quality of the songs on the album.

This album is brilliant. LZII offers a mix of styles, mostly hard rock with persistent melodies. "Ramble on" is my fav, but they're all really good. "Heartbreaker" and then "Living Loving Maid" is an amazing combo and reminds me of Yes's "All Good People." "Thank You" is incredible. Plant can do anything with that voice of his. "What Is and What Should Never Be" is classic LZ. I'm not the biggest fan of "Whole Lotta Love," because it's a little repetitive, but the messed up part in the middle is great. "Bring It on Home" is really great and bluesy.

This is one of those albums where every track is really good. The only problem with Led Zeppelin is that they did not produce a bad song. I would actually say that this album ranks 4th out of the 9 studio albums they released, but every album has a different sound and feel, so choose for yourself.

Ever hear someone describe an album as "seamless" (the Beatle's Abbey Road is a usual candidate)? Do you know what that means? I didn't either, until I heard this.

The songs flow into each other as though by a perverse kind of logic; slow gears, fast gears, up, down, you hardly notice the track changes unless you're watching the counter on your stereo. Only the bookends, the thrashing "Whole Lotta Love" and the smooth "Bring it on home" (which makes not completely invalid a freind's contention that Zep, and not the Stones, are the masters of blues) remove themselves from the continuum sufficiently to "stand out" in any way.

I have many freinds of varied, often clashing musical tastes, but the one band we all agree on is Led Zeppelin. Zep was a chameleon, refusing to be any other than what they wanted at that particular millisecond. II doesn't have my favorite Zeppelin song. That honor belongs to the beautiful "Rock and Roll" (I believe it to be the perfect Zeppelin song, if not the perfect rock song) from IV, but II gets the extra half-star because of it's cohesive groove.