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Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham formed Led Zeppelin in 1968. The rock band disbanded in 1980 following Bonham’s death. While Led Zeppelin stopped releasing new music after their last studio album In Through the Out Door, the band has remained timeless and popular with music fans. For potential new fans looking to get into Led Zeppelin’s music, current fans of the band have advice about what albums to start with.

A black-and-white photo of John Bonham, Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, and John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin | Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

What are the Led Zeppelin albums in order?

In total, Led Zeppelin released eight studio albums. Following the group’s disbandment, a compilation album called Coda was released in 1982.

The group’s first three albums were named Led Zeppelin I, Led Zeppelin II, and Led Zeppelin III. When Led Zeppelin released their fourth album, it was purposefully released without a title.

Instead, Page, Plant, Bonham, and Jones each chose a symbol to represent themselves in place of a title. While the album was released untitled, it is commonly referred to as Led Zeppelin IV.

List of Led Zeppelin studio albums in chronological order:

  1. Led Zeppelin I, released in January 1969
  2. Led Zeppelin II, released in October 1969
  3. Led Zeppelin III, released in October 1970
  4. Led Zeppelin IV, released in November 1971
  5. Houses of the Holy, released in March 1973
  6. Physical Graffiti, released in February 1975
  7. Presence, released in March 1976
  8. In Through the Out Door, released in August 1979

Led Zeppelin fans recommend albums for new listeners

While Led Zeppelin’s music is beloved by fans and critics nowadays, the group’s first few albums are generally considered the band’s best work.

When it comes to recommendations, some Led Zeppelin fans recommend that new fans listen to the albums in order of release date.

“To go deeper you simply listen to the albums in chronological order. This way you take the journey like they did. How can you really appreciate In Through The Out Door if you have never heard III? Don’t skip around song to song. Just listen the same way they were released,” a fan wrote on Reddit.

“I’d highly recommend chronological order for all the albums, they’re all very different and make for a seriously amazing time,” another fan wrote on Reddit.

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“Stairway to Heaven” is widely considered to be one of Led Zeppelin’s most popular songs, if not the most popular. The song was released on Led Zeppelin IV, along with another popular song called “Black Dog.”

For this reason, some fans of Led Zeppelin recommend Led Zeppelin IV as a solid introductory listen to the group’s sound.

“I found that Zep IV was the best introduction for me personally as it’s the easiest album to listen to and certainly one of the most famous/popular ones. As people have said, starting from any of the first 4 albums is a good idea (perhaps not III),” a fan wrote on Reddit.

“Down By the Seaside and Kashmir are amazing, although i’d say the live version of kashmir is better,” a Reddit user wrote.

Besides “Stairway to Heaven,” “Immigrant Song” is another popular song released by Led Zeppelin, and it is found on the band’s third album Led Zeppelin III. Meanwhile, “Kashmir” is on one of the band’s later albums, Physical Graffiti.

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