10 Perfect Rock Albums For Guitar Players

Looking through most of Led Zeppelin's back catalog, Jimmy Page might not be on the same level as someone like Van Halen or Hendrix. Hell, there's a case to be made that some of his more celebrated guitar moments are a little bit sloppy, like the chaotic guitar solo to Heartbreaker going off the rails more than a few times. When it comes to the exposure of rock guitar though, Zeppelin IV is where the guitar riff started to turn a corner.

Although Jimmy was not the first person to use riffs in his music, hearing him play off of John Bonham on every one of these songs gave him that certain rock and roll swagger that no one else can copy. Even when you try to learn some of these songs on guitar, there are more than a few times where you get thrown for a loop, like the unusual picking style on Going to California or the way that the riff to Black Dog shifts around but always lands on the beat.

Part of the appeal of the record comes from that disjointed energy, as Bonzo plays right behind the beat and Jimmy plays in front of it and never making it feel all that disorienting. Years before Physical Graffiti brought out the more extravagant side of the band, Zeppelin IV captured the kind of spontaneity that you only get a few times in rock and roll. It shouldn't be possible that a human being is hitting all those notes, and yet Jimmy managed to get away with it anyway.