Led Zeppelin was the definitive heavy metal band. It wasn't just their crushingly loud interpretation of the blues -- it was how they incorporated mythology, mysticism, and a variety of other genres (most notably world music and British folk) -- into their sound. Led Zeppelin had mystique. They rarely gave interviews, since the music press detested the band. Consequently, the only connection the audience had with the band was through the records and the concerts. More than any other band, Led Zeppelin established the concept of album-oriented rock, refusing to release popular songs from their albums as singles. In doing so, they established the dominant format for heavy metal, as well as the genre's actual sound.

Led Zeppelin formed out of the ashes of the Yardbirds. Jimmy Page had joined the band in its final days, playing a pivotal role on their final album, 1967's Little Games, which also featured string arrangements from John Paul Jones. During 1967, the Yardbirds were fairly inactive. While the Yardbirds decided their future, Page returned to session work in 1967. In the spring of 1968, he played on Jones' arrangement of Donovan's "Hurdy Gurdy Man." During the sessions, Jones requested to be part of any future project Page would develop. Page would have to assemble a band sooner than he had planned. In the summer of 1968, the Yardbirds' Keith Relf and James McCarty left the band, leaving Page and bassist Chris Dreja with the rights to the name, as well as the obligation of fulfilling an upcoming fall tour. Page set out to find a replacement vocalist and drummer. Initially, he wanted to enlist singer Terry Reid and Procol Harum's drummer B.J. Wilson, but neither musician was able to join the group. Reid suggested that Page contact Robert Plant, who was singing with a band called Hobbstweedle.

After hearing him sing, Page asked Plant to join the band in August of 1968, the same month Chris Dreja dropped out of the new project. Following Dreja's departure, John Paul Jones joined the group as its bassist. Plant recommended that Page hire John Bonham, the drummer for Plant's old band, the Band of Joy. Bonham had to be persuaded to join the group, as he was being courted by other artists who offered the drummer considerably more money. By September, Bonham agreed to join the band. Performing under the name the New Yardbirds, the band fulfilled the Yardbirds' previously booked engagements in late September 1968. The following month, they recorded their debut album in just under 30 hours. Also in October, the group switched its name to Led Zeppelin. The band secured a contract with Atlantic Records in the United States before the end of the year. Early in 1969, Led Zeppelin set out on their first American tour, which helped set the stage for the January release of their eponymous debut album. Two months after its release, Led Zeppelin had climbed into the U.S. Top Ten. Throughout 1969, the band toured relentlessly, playing dates in America and England. While they were on the road, they recorded their second album, Led Zeppelin II, which was released in October of 1969. Like its predecessor, Led Zeppelin II was an immediate hit, topping the American charts two months after its release and spending seven weeks at number one. The album helped establish Led Zeppelin as an international concert attraction, and for the next year, the group continued to tour relentlessly. Led Zeppelin's sound began to deepen with Led Zeppelin III. Released in October of 1970, the album featured an overt British folk influence. The group's infatuation with folk and mythology would reach a fruition on the group's untitled fourth album, which was released in November of 1971. Led Zeppelin IV was the band's most musically diverse effort to date, featuring everything from the crunching rock of "Black Dog" to the folk of "The Battle of Evermore," as well as "Stairway to Heaven," which found the bridge between the two genres. "Stairway to Heaven" was an immediate radio hit, eventually becoming the most played song in the history of album-oriented radio; the song was never released as a single. Despite the fact that the album never reached number one in America, Led Zeppelin IV was their biggest album ever, selling well over 16 million copies over the next two and a half decades.

Much of Who's Next derives from Lifehouse, an ambitious sci-fi rock opera Pete Townshend abandoned after suffering a nervous breakdown, caused in part from working on the sequel to Tommy. There's no discernable theme behind these songs, yet this album is stronger than Tommy, falling just behind Who Sell Out as the finest record the Who ever cut. Townshend developed an infatuation with synthesizers during the recording of the album, and they're all over this album, adding texture where needed and amplifying the force, which is already at a fever pitch. Apart from Live at Leeds, the Who have never sounded as LOUD and unhinged as they do here, yet that's balanced by ballads, both lovely ("The Song Is Over") and scathing ("Behind Blue Eyes"). That's the key to Who's Next -- there's anger and sorrow, humor and regret, passion and tumult, all wrapped up in a blistering package where the rage is as affecting as the heartbreak. This is a retreat from the '60s, as Townshend declares the "Song Is Over," scorns the teenage wasteland, and bitterly declares that we "Won't Get Fooled Again." For all the sorrow and heartbreak that runs beneath the surface, this is an invigorating record, not just because Keith Moon runs rampant or because Roger Daltrey has never sung better or because John Entwistle spins out manic basslines that are as captivating as his "My Wife" is funny. This is invigorating because it has all of that, plus Townshend laying his soul bare in ways that are funny, painful, and utterly life-affirming. That is what the Who was about, not the rock operas, and that's why Who's Next is truer than Tommy or the abandoned Lifehouse. Those were art -- this, even with its pretensions, is rock & roll.

After Ten Years After found commercial success with a new record label, Columbia, and the hit single "I'd Love to Change the World," the band's former label released this collection of outtakes from earlier recording sessions. One listen shows why these tracks were not included on album releases at the time of their recording.

When Mushroomhead signed with Universal in 2001, fans' reactions ranged from elation to knee-jerk pessimism. Some followers were thrilled that Cleveland's best-kept alternative metal secret had hooked up with a major label and hoped that the headbangers would finally receive the sort of national success they deserved; pessimists feared that a corporate powerhouse like Universal would neuter Mushroomhead and try to take away their risk-taking spirit. On a creative level, XIII is the first album that really tests Mushroomhead's relationship with Universal; it's the first album they actually recorded for Universal, whereas their previous album, XX, was originally an indie release before Universal remastered and re-released it. As it turns out, the pessimists had nothing to worry about; XIII is no less adventurous than Mushroomhead's pre-Universal output. XIII sounds quite focused but never comes across as contrived, and longtime followers will be happy to know that this 2003 release is state-of-the-art Mushroomhead -- forceful, loud, and in your face, but melodic and intricate as well. Bombast is still an important part of the picture, although not at the expense of musicality. And true to form, Mushroomhead continues to find inspiration in a variety of music. Metal remains the foundation -- they're an alt-metal band first and foremost -- but punk, rap, industrial, techno, and goth are still effective, tastefully applied ingredients. XIII to has inspired a variety of interesting comparisons; reviewers have mentioned everyone from Marilyn MansonEvanescence to Slipknot and Sevendust when describing XIII. But truth be told, Mushroomhead had a distinctive, recognizable sound (and a devoted cult following in Cleveland) long before Evanescence, Slipknot, or Sevendust broke through commercially -- and it would be a huge mistake to think that Mushroomhead is actually trying to emulate any other artists. XIII is the work of metalheads who have never been afraid to be original -- a band that, creatively, doesn't lose a thing on this Universal disc.

While the Deftones still rely more on form than content, they have noticeably improved on their second album, Around the Fur. Their sound has hardened into a blunt, aggressive slab of metallic guitars and hammering drums, giving the album a visceral force. The Deftones tap into the same alternative metal vibe as Korn and L7, and while they don't have catchy riffs or a fully developed sound, Around the Fur suggests they're about to come into their own.

Its nods to post-grunge melodic accessibility and generally workmanlike sound hurt DevilDriver's 2003 debut, and the murkiness of frontman Dez Fafara's relationship with his previous group Coal Chamber didn't necessarily help. There was promise amidst DevilDriver's riffs and runs, but harnessing it was the problem. 2005's Fury of Our Maker's Hand is the solution. DevilDriver has amplified every facet of their sound. They've turned their backs on the kind of plodding melodic obviousness that kills credibility on the raging metal side, instead hardwiring a vicious catchiness right into the guitar lines and Fafara's esophageal grind. Drummer John Boecklin slays on "Bear Witness Unto" and in the furious time-shifts of opener "End of the Line"; actually, Boecklin pretty much slays throughout Fury. "Grinf**cked," besides having the best name on the record, also exemplifies DevilDriver's union of black melody to razor-sharp playing. "Pale Horse Apocalypse" is a traditionalist thrash workout, and "Before the Hangman's Noose" approaches the hard-tack American metal of Lamb of God. The slower pace, spiritualism, and double bass tussles of "Sin & Sacrifice" seem like a tribute to European metal. Fury of Our Maker's Hand is such a severe turn away from the falter of their first album -- and a turn toward something hungry, focused, and ready to be devoured by metal faithful everywhere -- that DevilDriver may have made their true debut the second time around.

From the outside looking in, without having heard the music, it seems like Erlend Øye's intent with Unrest was to make an album that defined the antithesis of cohesion. First, there's the title. Second, there's the way this album came together: ten songs from ten cities -- from Berlin to Brooklyn to Barcelona -- with as many producers. And yet, Unrest is as uniform as an album can be, made up of three- to four-minute songs full of somber hooks that can be loosely categorized as very modern synth pop. Everything fits together so ideally that each of the producers (including Prefuse 73, Soviet, Morgan Geist, Schneider TM, and Mr. Velcro Fastener) must have been guided in some form by Øye, who lends his melancholy but confident voice to every song. Most everything is soft focus, slightly downcast, and heavily reliant upon mid-tempo rhythms that are danceable; however, this is definitely a home-listening album, or one that would also work well during a plane or train trip. The amount of time Øye spent traveling from city to city fosters that dimension of the album. He certainly owes a debt his producers, because each one seems to use a similar set of guidelines to come up with tracks that have distinct personalities. The opening "Ghost Trains," produced by Metro Area's Morgan Geist, has a half-Depeche Mode/half-D Train synth hook that stays imbedded in your memory; Mr. Velcro Fastener's turn on "Symptom of Disease" is based on a deep, melodic, adroit rhythm; "The Talk," recorded with Björn Torske, features elements of Chicago house (that lovely piano skip) and Dayton funk (the zapping synth bass), along with the type of vocal turn that wins over those who value a good collision of songcraft and dance-pop. Save for the unfortunate hip-hop slip-up of "Prego Amore," this is an excellent set of mellow electronic pop.