10 Greatest Classic Rock Led Zeppelin Songs
3. Kashmir
By the time they reached Physical Graffiti, Zeppelin already had 5 albums under their belt. With each record marking a bold new direction into uncharted territory, the time was right for the band to go even bigger, with a double album that incorporated every influence that suited their muse.
On the surface, there is so much to dissect on this record, from the blues storm of "In My Time of Dying" to the more delicate interludes like the luscious "Bron Y Aur." However, if there's one song that signaled that Zeppelin were up to new and unusual things, "Kashmir" outshines everything else in its path.
Written in 7/4 time, the entire track hinges on the riff from Jimmy Page, which has an almost James-Bond-theme level of bravado. Speaking of more orchestral material, the entire track is made even more epic thanks to the strings that were orchestrated by John Paul Jones. Since the bed track hits incredibly hard, Plant's lyrics certainly live up to the music, as he tells of walking through the lush fields of India.
He may have been in Morocco when writing the lyrics, but they have the same impact regardless of location. Standing at a colossal 8 minutes, this is one of Zeppelin's true epics that managed to perferctly marry hard rock's groove with classical music's scope.