I’m continuing with my attempt to listen to albums from Rolling Stone’s list of 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Here’s an update of albums I’ve listened to in their entirety since I embarked on the “list challenge” several days ago and does not include albums that I’ve owned in the past and have already listened to/enjoyed:

Revolver, The Beatles, Highway 61 Revisited, Bob Dylan, What’s Going On, Marvin Gaye; Exile on Main Street, The Rolling Stones; Born to Run, Bruce Springsteen (this was a re-listen since I have heard this album in the past), Innervisions, Stevie Wonder; Led Zeppelin (self-titled, II, IV, and Houses of the Holy); Tapestry, Carole King; Greatest Hits, Al Green; Catch a Fire, The Wailers; Remain in Light, Talking Heads; Aja, Steely Dan, Paranoid, Black Sabbath; Odelay, Beck.

Wednesday evening, my husband and I were going to play some board games in the basement, so I thought I’d kill two birds with one stone and make the ambient music part of the “list challenge!” So I looked up Led Zeppelin on Spotify, and began playing the playlist that includes “Albums 1-4.” One of those is actually Houses of the Holy. My husband likes this group quite a bit (and so do I), though I had no idea the direction the night’s music listening would take! Later that night, I would end up having wild dreams about a former classmate of mine who was out hunting human-sized pangolins! Armadillos were also in the dream – there was a cabin in the woods, then for some strange reason we went spelunking in a cave that backed up to an indoor shopping mall. Whom else but Led Zeppelin could achieve this subconscious feat? Maybe Pink Floyd?

Rather than do an album-by-album review, I’m just going to focus on a few of the tracks. One of them is among my favorite Led Zeppelin songs, even if critics at the time didn’t agree – and that song is “No Quarter.” Don’t let this song fool you. The references to Thor, wolves, steel and all of that nerd boy stuff – (they even mention Gollum in one of their songs) – despite all of that – I say this song really is all about sex. Yeah, yeah, I know…you could say just about any rock song is about sex, drugs or any combination thereof, but just give this a listen and you’ll see. Specifically, queue it up until just a few seconds shy of the four minute mark. Yep, that is pure sex music right there! Don’t try to convince me otherwise. It gets into a serious groove there, and the rhythm is all about providing a backbeat for the mattress mambo.

There are really too many great songs on these albums! I asked my husband to turn off the lights when we listened to “No Quarter” (no, no – not for the reason you think)! It really is just better with the lights off.

“The Battle of Evermore” is another of my favorite Led Zep songs, and the ONLY one of their songs to feature a guest vocalist (Sandy Denny from Fairport Convention, who died in a very odd and untimely way).

As I type this, I’m enjoying a cocktail and the mellow stylings of Al Green’s Greatest Hits. He has definitely grown on me…every single track would not sound of place in a Quentin Tarantino film. Yes, even Django Unchained. They would find a way to make one of his songs work in the movie, I mean why not? Jim Croce’s “I Have a Name” wound up in the film, didn’t it?

I have a virtual trivia game to log into in just a bit, so this will have to be all she wrote (for now)!