"Thank You" is from Led Zeppelin II, released in 1969. The innocence and passion of young love combined with a rich musical backdrop make this evocative of a simpler time. No, everything wasn't simple in 1969. Yes, there were many problems. But like much great art, this song creates a historic fantasy, and it's nice to get lost there sometimes.
In 1970 the band released their third album, Led Zeppelin III, which contains the pure '70s-sounding ballad "Tangerine." The melancholy opening is what does it for me.
That album also gives us the pure delight of "That's The Way." Not sure why, but this one calls up images of long hair, bell-bottom jeans, and walking barefoot along the sand as the sun gets ready to start its descent on the horizon. Dig it!
1971's Led Zeppelin IV is dominated by the most-played song in radio history, "Stairway To Heaven," yet "The Battle Of Evermore" is the quintessence of British rock to me. The layered instrumentals provide the perfect tapestry on which a tale worthy of Tolkien is woven. Page, Plant, Jones, and Bonham are bards here, and it does not take much to imagine them strolling through a medieval festival playing for the good folk gathered there.
This classic album also gives us "Going To California," whose opening nearly makes me weep with its beauty. I think of the innocent dreams of so many in those days, and while there was much that was bad to mar those dreams, they still remain in the delightful reverie of this song.
1973 brought forth Houses Of The Holy, the fifth Zeppelin album, and one of the most evocative songs in "The Rain Song." For me it could have been on the soundtrack for some '70s romantic movie. Don't listen to this one while doing something else. Take seven minutes and thirty-nine seconds and let it just wash over you. This is music, my friends.
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