Unsung: Bring It On Home

Unsung is an occasional feature in which I take a look at a pop culture phenomenon (be it music, TV, literary, whatever) that has been forgotten or underappreciated.

I know what you're thinking: How can Led Zeppelin be unsung? Zep was one of the biggest bands in the history of rock. Just massive. The band was only together from 1968-1980, releasing eight studio albums and a live album in that time. Anybody's who's listened to rock radio over the past 40 years has heard their fill of Zeppelin. Songs like "Stairway to Heaven," "Whole Lotta Love," "Rock and Roll," "The Immigrant Song," "Heartbreaker," and many more are staples of classic rock stations. I can't even listen to some of them any more because I've heard them so many times. Zep wasn't a singles band, but as album-oriented radio took hold in the '70s and then gave way to the rock formats we know today, programmers knew that Zep was a go-to act that would always resonate with listeners.

But even a band as huge as Zeppelin has songs that don't get a lot of exposure for whatever reason. Sure, you'll hear them from time to time, but they're nowhere near as overplayed as the aforementioned songs. So here's a list of some of my favorite unsung Zep songs.

10. In the Evening

From 1979's In Through the Out Door, the band's final studio album and a lesser work than the previous efforts. But this song captured the mystical feel of some of their best work, incorporating the Middle Eastern sound Zep used successfully on songs like "Kashmir."

9. Achilles Last Stand

This mind-blowing epic is off 1976's Presence, an album that is very underrated and pretty much devoid of anything played on radio. The song is relentless and uncompromising. Great driving song.

8. Down By the Seaside

Off 1975's Physical Graffiti, the 15-song double album that is my favorite Zep release. Other than "Kashmir," this is another record that went pretty much unheralded. But there are so many killer tracks, including this sleepy summer-sounding favorite.

7. That's the Way

After the blues-powered stomp of their first two albums, Led Zep III took a lighter, folk-influenced approach. "The Immigrant Song" aside, it was a new sound for the band. "Tangerine" was featured in the movie Almost Famous, but "That's the Way" is another terrific song in that acoustic vein.

6. When the Levee Breaks

Zeppelin's fourth album, IV or Runes or whatever the hell you want to call it, was immensely popular. It featured "Stairway to Heaven" and many other songs that have been ingrained into the rock consciousness. This one is familiar more for the common hip-hop sampling of Bonzo's thunderous drums. Awesome song.

5. Ten Years Gone

This song was the inspiration for this post. Heard it on the radio last weekend and was struck by how great it is and how rarely I hear it. Another slow-build burner off Physical Graffiti that seems tailor made for lazy day listening.

4. No Quarter

I remember getting Houses of the Holy on vinyl back in '82 or so from Columbia House and listening to it a lot. Songs like "The Ocean" and "Over the Hills and Far Away" and even "Dyer Maker" jump out at you, but this song is a spooky Nordic tale that gives you shivers down your spine.

3. Bring It On Home

The first Zep album I ever picked up was Led Zeppelin II. A kid in my school got the bright idea to sell all his older brother's stuff while the poor bastard was away at college. I believe I traded some old hockey cards (doubles, of course) for Zep II, Rush's Fly By Night and Triumph's Just a Game. Highway robbery. This album especially was the one that turned me from a pop fan into a full-on rocker. This particular song starts off as a old-school blues ditty before transforming into a ferocious hard rock classic.

2. We're Gonna Groove

After the brother of my aforementioned classmate returned home from college, he gave his idiot kid brother a beating and made the kid get all his stuff back. This unfortunately meant the albums I had swindled out of this kid, including Zep II. I sold them back for $2 each. Eventually, I traded my Saturday Night Fever soundtrack at a local record store for In Through the Out Door. Not long after, John Bonham died and the band broke up. Their final release was Coda, a B-sides collection that included this ripping cover of an old Ben E. King song. Holy rockness. And the live version below is Zep at its finest. Just devastating.

1. Custard Pie

Another Physical Graffiti track with a riff so damn heavy and groove so deep, it's guaranteed to stick to your brain. I had this riff as my ringtone on my old phone for a few years. I was shocked that I couldn't find any live footage of this song on the YouTubeses, just the alternate take below. Still, a barn-burner with Robert Plant at his mid-70s loverman peak. Drop down, indeed.

Honorable mentions include "Out on the Tiles," "Four Sticks," "The Rover," "Sick Again," "Hots on for Nowhere," "Tea for One," and "Wearing and Tearing."