This is pretty much the order I'd put 'em in, too, though I'd probably reverse II and ITtOD.

Our high school dances were lame, because nobody went—we were too cool by then. But junior high dances were the shit, & if you had your shit together, you had a decent chance of junior-high-level hooking up. "Open Arms" was the standard slow song. "Stairway to Heaven" was always last, so you know you had to make…

When I first saw Fast Times, I thought it was just a mistake, but knowing Crowe's career, it's not a mistake he would have made. I think the interpretation that Rat did it wrong is the correct interpretation.

"Royal Orleans" is probably my favorite song on that album, though "For Your Life" is a close second. Of the two stop-start-stop classics on Presence, for my money "Hots on for Nowhere" trumps "Nobody's Fault".

"Fool in the Rain" has a perfect half-time shuffle beat, which alone elevates the track. Seriously, just listen: https://www.youtube.com/wat…

Collins played on a couple songs from Pictures at Eleven, too.

I saw him in '88, touring behind Now and Zen, with Stevie Ray Vaughan opening. Sadly, I was a recent high school graduate, so I got too drunk to enjoy the show. I barely remember any of it, even whether it was any good or not. On the upside, I learned a valuable lesson, & I have never gotten drunk for a show since…

You forgot "God Only Knows".

But the point of this article is to get beyond just the radio classics. Anybody who references a deep cut from Fly By Night should know this.

I used to religiously learn track names. So going back to the records of my youth, I still know 'em all. But most of the bands I've come to as a grown up, not so much. It's occasionally frustrating, but more often than not I find it doesn't make much difference.

My thoughts exactly. I think I might have even said, "Huh?" out loud when I read that. Maybe—maybe—"The Crunge" doesn't fit in especially well, but apart from that it feels very much like a cohesive album.

Hear, hear! Led Zeppelin III is one of my favorites, for all its quirkiness.

Yes—it was the B-side of the Japanese import "Immigrant Song", & for years that was the only way to get it (so it was rare & expensive—only one guy I knew had it). In the late 80s (or early 90s, I forget), Atlantic reprinted that 45, so that's the version I got. I still have it somewhere, though now of course I've…

I find that I can still listen to the overplayed songs & really appreciate them, but it does take some work, some real conscious effort. I'm on the older side, as AV Clubbers go (44), but still not old enough to have heard "Stairway to Heaven" at its freshest. It really is a great song, but it must have been a real…

I agree that HotH is better, but nowhere near "infinitely" so. Me, I'd put I as the least essential, but what do I know.

Me, too. I decided, in junior high, that I should give Zeppelin a shot (i mean beyond what you got on the radio back in the early '80s), so I asked the biggest Zeppelin fan I knew, & he suggested I start with II & III & go from there. Went out & got 'em—on cassette!—and the rest is history, as they say.

Consider going back & giving Presence & In Through the Out Door another chance—they're both really great.

"South Bound Suarez" & "Royal Orleans" leap to mind for me, though there are many. The only Zeppelin song I actively dislike, though, is "Hats Off To Roy Harper". When I plunked my Zeppelin CDs on iTunes, I just left that one off the playlist.

Meanwhile, The Neverending Story? Wrapped up YEARS ago.

That was another really early one for me, too. In fact, I can't say with 100% certainty that that WASN'T the first I saw, but my memory is that it was "So. Central Rain", so I'm sticking with my story.