Editing Led Zeppelin (album) (section)

==Critical reception==
The album was advertised in selected music papers under the slogan "Led Zeppelin{{snd}}the only way to fly".{{sfn|Lewis|1990|p=45}} It initially received poor reviews. In a stinging assessment, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine asserted that the band offered "little that its twin, [[the Jeff Beck Group]], didn't say as well or better three months ago{{nbsp}}… to fill the void created by the demise of [[Cream (band)|Cream]], they will have to find a producer, editor and some material worthy of their collective talents", calling Page a "limited producer" and criticizing his writing skills. It also called Plant "as [[fop]]pish as [[Rod Stewart]], but nowhere near so exciting".<ref name=Mendelsohn>{{cite magazine |author=John Mendelsohn |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/led-zeppelin-i-19690315 |title=Led Zeppelin I |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=15 March 1969 |access-date=1 January 2012 |archive-date=23 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111223014507/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/led-zeppelin-i-19690315 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/10-classic-albums-rolling-stone-originally-panned-101316/led-zeppelin-led-zeppelin-1969-101461/ |title=10 Classic Albums Rolling Stone Originally Panned |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=24 October 2018 |archive-date=21 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210521203314/https://sync.adkernel.com/user-sync?zone=123928&r=https://demand.catapultx.com/sync?akuid=https://www.rollingstone.com%7C{UID} |url-status=live }}</ref> Because of the bad press, Led Zeppelin avoided talking to them throughout their career. Eventually, their reputation as a good live band recovered by word-of-mouth.<ref name="Snow1990">{{cite magazine |first=Mat |last=Snow |title=Apocalypse Then |magazine=[[Q (magazine)|Q]] |date=December 1990 |pages=74–82}}</ref>

Rock journalist [[Cameron Crowe]] noted years later: "It was a time of 'super-groups', of furiously hyped bands who could barely cut it, and Led Zeppelin initially found themselves fighting upstream to prove their authenticity."<ref name="complete2">Liner notes by [[Cameron Crowe]] for ''[[The Complete Studio Recordings (Led Zeppelin album)|The Complete Studio Recordings]]''</ref> 

However, press reaction to the album was not entirely negative. In Britain the album received a glowing review in ''[[Melody Maker]]''. [[Chris Welch]] wrote, in a review titled "Jimmy Page triumphs{{snd}}Led Zeppelin is a gas!": "Their material does not rely on obvious blues riffs, although when they do play them, they avoid the emaciated feebleness of most so-called British blues bands".{{sfn|Welch|1994|p=37}} In ''[[Oz (magazine)|Oz]]'', [[Felix Dennis]] regarded it as one of those rare albums that "defies immediate classification or description, simply because it's so obviously a turning point in rock music that only time proves capable of shifting it into eventual perspective".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rocksbackpages.com/article.html?ArticleID=9592 |title=Oz Review |publisher=Rocksbackpages.com |access-date=1 January 2012 |archive-date=28 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121028062954/http://www.rocksbackpages.com/article.html?ArticleID=9592 |url-status=live }}</ref> In comparing the record to their follow-up ''[[Led Zeppelin II]]'', [[Robert Christgau]] wrote in ''[[The Village Voice]]'' that the debut was "subtler and more ambitious musically", and not as good, "because subtlety defeated the effect. Musicianship, in other words, was really incidental to such music, but the music did have real strength and validity: a combination of showmanship and overwhelming physical force."<ref>{{cite news|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|date=12 February 1970|url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/rock/delaney-70.php|title=Delaney & Bonnie & Friends Featuring Eric Clapton|newspaper=[[The Village Voice]]|access-date=21 April 2017|archive-date=14 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170614222133/http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/rock/delaney-70.php|url-status=live}}</ref>

The album was a commercial success. It was initially released in the US on 13 January 1969 to capitalise on the band's [[Led Zeppelin North American Tour 1968–1969|first North American concert tour]]. Before that, Atlantic Records had distributed a few hundred advance white label copies to key radio stations and reviewers. A positive reaction to its contents, coupled with a good reaction to the band's opening concerts, resulted in the album generating 50,000 advance orders.{{sfn|Lewis|2012|p=34}} The album reached number 10 on the ''Billboard'' chart.{{sfn|Lewis|1990|p=95}} The album earned its US gold certification in July 1969.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/led-zeppelin-ii-how-band-came-into-its-own-on-raunchy-1969-classic-121246/|title='Led Zeppelin II': How Band Came Into Its Own on Raunchy 1969 Classic|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=20 October 2016|access-date=2 September 2018|archive-date=3 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180903013434/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/led-zeppelin-ii-how-band-came-into-its-own-on-raunchy-1969-classic-121246/|url-status=live}}</ref>