Led Zeppelin: The Essential Album-By-Album Guide

LED ZEPPELIN II (1969)
Key Tracks: "Whole Lotta Love," "Heartbreaker"
Quick Take: Released a mere nine months after their debut and recorded hit-and-run-style on the road, their follow-up is practically a riff encyclopedia, and the template for hard rock even now. There's still a lot of Chicago blues in here (Willie Dixon and Howlin' Wolf ended up with songwriting credits after lawsuits), but Page's guitar freakout on "Whole Lotta Love" sounds more like Martian blues.