Editing Led Zeppelin (album) (section)

==Artwork==
[[File:Hindenburg disaster.jpg|thumb|The image of the zeppelin ''[[LZ 129 Hindenburg|Hindenburg]]'', seconds after [[Hindenburg disaster|catching fire on 6 May 1937]], was cropped and used as basis for the ''Led Zeppelin'' album cover.]]
''Led Zeppelin''{{'}}s front cover, which was chosen by Page, is based on a black-and-white image of the German zeppelin ''[[LZ 129 Hindenburg|Hindenburg]]'' photographed by Sam Shere on 6 May 1937, when the [[Hindenburg disaster|airship burst into flames]] while landing at [[Lakehurst, New Jersey]].{{sfn|Lewis|2012|p=33}} The image refers to the origin of the band's name itself: When Page, Beck and [[the Who]]'s [[Keith Moon]] and [[John Entwistle]] were discussing the idea of forming a group, Moon joked, "It would probably go over like a lead balloon", and Entwistle reportedly replied, "a lead zeppelin!"<ref name="RS2006"/>

The back cover features a photograph of the band taken by Dreja. The entire design of the album's sleeve was coordinated by [[George Hardie (artist)|George Hardie]], with whom the band would continue to collaborate for future sleeves.{{sfn|Lewis|1990|p=45}} Hardie himself also created the front cover illustration, cropping and rendering the famous original black-and-white photograph in ink using a [[Rapidograph]] technical pen and a [[mezzotint]] technique.{{sfn|Lewis|2012|p=33}}

Hardie recalled that he originally offered the band a design based on an old club sign in San Francisco{{snd}}a multi-sequential image of a zeppelin airship up in the clouds. Page declined but it was retained as the logo for the back cover of Led Zeppelin's first two albums and a number of early press advertisements.{{sfn|Lewis|2012|p=33}} The first UK pressing featured the band name and the Atlantic logo in turquoise. When it was switched to the orange print later that year, the turquoise-printed sleeve became a collector's item, known to be sold for thousands of pounds.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Original turquoise Led Zeppelin album pricing |url=https://www.discogs.com/release/1218217-Led-Zeppelin-Led-Zeppelin |access-date=2025-05-05 |website=login.discogs.com}}</ref>{{sfn|Lewis|1990|p=45}}

The album cover gained further widespread attention when, at a February 1970 gig in Copenhagen, the band were billed as "the Nobs" as the result of a legal threat from aristocrat Eva von Zeppelin (a relative of the creator of the [[Zeppelin]] aircraft). Von Zeppelin, upon seeing the logo of the ''Hindenburg'' crashing in flames, threatened legal action over the concert taking place.{{sfn|Lewis|1990|p=88}}<ref name="Billboard Magazine">{{cite magazine |url=http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/bookshelf/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001958757 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061009071749/http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/bookshelf/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001958757 |first=Keith |last=Shadwick |title=Led Zeppelin 1968–1980: The Story of a Band and Their Music |magazine=Billboard |archive-date=9 October 2006}}</ref> In 2001, [[Greg Kot]] wrote in ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' that "The cover of ''Led Zeppelin''{{nbsp}}… shows the ''Hindenburg'' airship, in all its phallic glory, going down in flames. The image did a pretty good job of encapsulating the music inside: sex, catastrophe and things blowing up."<ref name="rsreview">{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/104932/led_zeppelin |title=''Led Zeppelin'' review |access-date=4 January 2008 |author=Kot, Greg |date=13 September 2001 |magazine=Rolling Stone |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060901021701/https://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/104932/led_zeppelin |archive-date=1 September 2006}}</ref>