Classic Albums #13 - Led Zeppelin - IV (1971)

[raliverpool]

This was the third album I bought on CD in 1987 (after Sgt. Peppers ...; and Dark Side Of The Moon). On the 8th November 1971 this album appeared in record stores and to radio stations across the world, unannounced, lacking an album title (leading to the album being referred to variously as the Four Symbols logo, Four Symbols, The Fourth Album, Untitled, Runes, The Hermit, and ZoSo), the original album cover featured no band name, as the group wished to be anonymous and let the music make the ultimate statement:



Side one
1. "Black Dog" John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant 4:54
2. "Rock and Roll" John Bonham, Jones, Page, Plant 3:40
3. "The Battle of Evermore" Page, Plant 5:51
4. "Stairway to Heaven" Page, Plant 8:02

Side two
5. "Misty Mountain Hop" Jones, Page, Plant 4:38
6. "Four Sticks" Page, Plant 4:44
7. "Going to California" Page, Plant 3:31
8. "When the Levee Breaks" Bonham, Jones, Memphis Minnie, Page, Plant 7:07

If you want to listen to it:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-1ZgSEceOQ&list=PLb5fDBMRs3owCPzAvQjhEcvL_pkCjhOCz

www.dailymotion.com/video/x1bi44n_led-zeppelin-iv-full-album_music



play.google.com/store/music/album/Led_Zeppelin_IV?id=Bbxy3zdincfe365267vavwy62lq&hl=en_GB

[vastar iner]

Dear Mr Liverpool (if that is your real name)

Thank you for choosing that one. Because that's the one I was going to choose...but with a somewhat heavy heart as I thought that it might be a bit similar to whatever you were choosing for this month.

Back to the drawing board then. A pleasurable chore.

[Shireblogger]

Oh crikey. I have to write a review for "Stairway To Heaven". That's not a task for the faint hearted.

I didn't get Led Zeppelin when I was young, but now I'm growing up, they're growing on me. It will be interesting to see how this review pans out.

[o]

I borrowed this album off a mate some time ago, and loved Black Dog, When the levee breaks and obviously Stairway to heaven, cant remember the rest, but looking forward to it.

[Deleted]

Stairway to Heaven has a kind of mythology to it.
I worked with someone in the late 1980's who was adamant that it had been a number 1 single; when of course it was never actually even a hit. But then, later, Rolf Harris covered it of course. I'm not sure if Harris ever performed it at a concert, maybe there wasn't time if he was doing 2 little boys.

Black Dog is tremendous, best outright rock song on the album.

[wonderwall]

Led zep 4 widely known as the biggest selling studio album is it the best album they made maybe ?.I would say this or 2 is the probably the best one they released though physical graffiti is awesome although my personal favourite is presence.I think when the levee breaks is one of the best things they ever recorded and obviously everyone knows stairway to heaven.One of the few bands that never really made a bad album you could take any of there albums and consider them rock classic a great band only second to the Beatles in my opinion id give the album 9/10 classic still love to play it now.

[smokeyb]

Led Zeppelin - IV (1971)

I never really liked Led Zep in the 70’s if I was being honest, it’s easy to just lie and say “Yeah I always loved their music”, but that just wouldn’t be true. Apart from “Stairway to Heaven “, which was always the last song at the discos I used to frequent, well that and “Freebird” I didn’t know very much about them as I preferred Pink Floyd.

But as the years go by, I gradually got more into their music.

Side one
1. "Black Dog" – Very recognisable as a Zeppelin song, as Robert Plant’s vocals sound great, one of their best 8/10
2. "Rock and Roll" – Another track I like a lot, pretty straightforward rock n roll song 8/10
3. "The Battle of Evermore" – This was a new song for me, still has that Led Zep sound 6/10
4. "Stairway to Heaven" – Wonderful, superb, brilliant, stupendous, what more can I say about this song, an epic track, still sounds good today even if it’s over 40 years old, love the way it slowly builds and builds to a crescendo 10/10

Side two
5. "Misty Mountain Hop" – If it wasn’t for the vocals this might pass as a song by another artist, but the vocals tell you who it is by 6/10
6. "Four Sticks" – solid album track if nothing special 6/10
7. "Going to California" – quite different from all the other tracks on the album 7/10
8. "When the Levee Breaks" – great track to close the album 8/10

Total 7.5/10

[vastar iner]

OK. Led Zeppelin IV. Bit like Karl Marx, heard a lot about them, but never really gone back to the source to explore. So let’s give it a go.

Sounds like a BBC2 science programme start. Then, wow, Plant with a very blues voice and a hard blues sting. Am I alone in hearing a touch of glam in there? Sweet at their heaviest? And cowbell? Whatever, it makes you want to rawk out. Presumably, being called “Black Dog”, it’s about depression. It doesn’t have a chorus; there’s a bit of the Smiley Smile thing of it being a repeated theme. Almost a callback song, Plant vs Page. It is a track of undoubted quality. A palpable cut above what goes on nowadays. There’s something of the event about it. Rock monolith. How much of that is me relying on reputation - and how much is it down to the track itself? Listening hard, I can’t really detect anything but a couple of overdub guitars, bass and drums. So I am going on with the monolith interpretation. It’s stripped down and sheer power. Wow.

“Rock ’n’ Roll”. Actually sounds a bit less rock & rolly, there’s a hint of country in there. Very Southern. Very rapid. Bit more mundane because it’s more like an ordinary song. Albeit one up to 11. I’m hearing Motorhead in there as well. Would it work in the Grease soundtrack? The dance-off? Reckon it would.

“Battle Of Evermore”. Title looks Hobbitish. Starts off mandolinish. Autocorrect hates me making new words. “The queen of light took a bow…” It’s the third song, and the third different sound. Some sort of plainsong harmonies. I quite lyk this one. It’s like acid folk. Hippies with machetes. I have no idea what the hell is going on.

And now the big one. “Stairway To Heaven”. I liked Rolf’s version. Not likely to get much airplay. First time though I’ve heard it in the album context. And again it’s a different sound to the above three. I wonder how many other contemporary acts could carry that sort of thing off. It keeps trying to break away from its theme, and then going back to it, this time with the instrumentation stepped up a notch. It’s an astonishing contrast to Dire bloody Straits boring the arse off even accountants. What a way to close off a side.

So we open the second side with more rawk, but again with harmonies, this time slightly warped. This is very glam. I could definitely see Sweet doing this sort of thing. Or T. Rex if they slowed it down. There’s even a hint of Monkees in there when it changes key and tempo. Throwback to the late sixties. “Baby, baby, baby, do you like it?” Was I the only one thinking Plant was channelling Nod? This is an excellent track, it changes imperceptibly because the backing is so grinding and regular, until you realize some time after it’s changed.

Back to the dirty blues. This time with major concentration on the drumbeat. Indeed this is more a drum solo with guitars than a guitar song with drums. Just relentless, pounding, hallucinogenic. Until it sort of fuzzes out with a Remington shaver buzzing all over it for a while. I feel like I’m in a cannibal’s pot.

Back to the country picking. Weakest track so far. To be fair, the only real dud.

And then the Top Of The Pops theme. Eh? That was before IV. Seems the playlist jumped. OK, right track. Hm. Hard blues-rock, but with an apocalyptic tinge. 71 seconds in it kicks up a tone and interrupts itself. Great moment. This actually reminds me of The Who, circa Who’s Next. It’s epic. Most bands would be happy with turning the twists and turns of this track alone into an album; Zep can stick it all together in one song - because they’ve got loads of other material to go on it.

So, overall, how do I mark it? Hm. One duff track, most of them very good, and topped and tailed each side with stormers. Still prefer Pet Sounds, but it’s difficult to split this from Kate Bush. And unlike Pink Floyd, which spawned a run of imitators, I don’t think anyone’s been able to imitate this since. Different approaches, yet recognisably Zep; never overly adventurous in isolation, but the juxtaposition is startling. And they make it look easy. 9 out of 10. Boffo.

[raliverpool]

Whilst I did not know it at the time, I timed selecting this, as album of the month very well:

www.rollingstone.com/music/news/led-zeppelin-continue-reissues-with-iv-and-houses-of-the-holy-20140729


(#. "Track" - Rating out of 10):

Side one
1. "Black Dog" 4:54 - 10.0 Inspired by a black Labrador Retriever that wandered around the Headley Grange studios during recording of the album. The intro has to be one of the most famous intros of all time. Even if it was inspired by Fleetwood Mac's Oh Well", and ripped off by Whitesnake's "Still of the Night". A fantastic call and response Page v Plant epic. "Oh Yeahhh, Oh Yeahhh, Oh, Oh, Ohhh"

2. "Rock and Roll" 3:40 - 10.0 This quite literally does what it says on the tin. Featuring the Rolling Stones pianist Ian Stewart, this track takes Little Richard's "Keep a Knockin'", drags it a decade plus into the future and turns the dial up to 11, whilst Percy Plant name checks a load of semi obscure Rock 'n' Roll lyrics.

3. "The Battle of Evermore" 5:51 - 9.5 Going back to their folk influences which shone so brightly on III. This features the late great vocals of ex-Fairport Convention's Sandy Denny, over some typically Lord of The Rings inspired lyrics, whilst Jimmy Page plays the Mandolin two decades before REM's Losing My Religion.

4. "Stairway to Heaven" 8:02 - 10.0 Some say this is the work of the devil, or did I just mishear someone talking about Rolf Harris' cover version! It starts as a slow acoustic-based folk melody accompanied by recorders before introducing electric guitar, bass & drums instrumentation. The final section is an uptempo hard rock arrangement highlighted by Page's intricate guitar solo accompanying Plant's vocals that end with the plaintive a cappella line: "And she's buying a Stairway to Heaven". Better than Bo Rhap; Layla; Freebird; etc (IMHO).... they are just a "Tribute". As per the old saying where there is a hit, there is a writ. Forget about that quite laughable Spirit "Taurus" copyright infringement lawsuit 43 years late .... as ever guess who did it first .... lol


Side two
5. "Misty Mountain Hop" 4:38 - 9.0 It is fair to say that Led Zeppelin fans and Queen fans don't get on. Anyone who listens to this can understand why Queen fans have a chip on their shoulder, and why Led Zep fans have a superiority complex, as this is Queen before Queen.

6. "Four Sticks" 4:44 - 7.0 The title came from the fact that drummer John Bonham played with two sets of two drumsticks, totalling four due to its unusual time signature of the song, featuring riffs in a mixture of 5/8 and 6/8 time due to its jazz Gene Krupa style influence over an exotic folk, blues riffage.

7. "Going to California" 3:31 - 7.0 Basically a homage to Plant's failed attempt to cop off with Joni Mitchell. "To find a queen without a king, They say she plays guitar and cries and sings."

8. "When the Levee Breaks" 7:07 - 10.0 is a pimped up reworking of the blues song written and first recorded by husband and wife Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie in 1929, turning it into a truly apocalyptic slice of blues rock, leading to an epic finish of an album.

In under 45 minutes, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, Robert Plant, & Robert Plant produced as perfect an advert for an album perfect to fill one side of a C-90 cassette as you could wish for. As this was the perfect distillation of their first three albums influences.


Overall 10 (72.5 / 8 = 90.63% (86%+ category).

My recommendation for a similar album is ..... just get Led Zeppelin's studio album back catalogue, or at the very least Led Zeppelin - Mothership www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBI_Av00_Fo&list=PLcczbZmM_knqhGzrtO8H1VeSpoEz77pq8&index=24

The Led Zeppelin Studio album rates:

I (1969) 9
II (1969) 8
III (1970) 7
IV (1971) 10
Houses Of The Holy (1973) 9
Physical Graffiti (1975) 10
Presence (1976) 7
In Through The Outdoor (1979) 8

Quite simply I regard Led Zeppelin as the second greatest band (behind The Beatles) in the history of popular music due to their diverse musical pallet across their albums; musicanship which was second to none; and the fact they called it a day after a member of the band died (coughs: Queen, Rolling Stones, The Who, ....) before they ran out of ideas to become mediocre, as they surely would have done in the 1980s, just as The Beatles surely would have done by 1978 when song wise they would have been upstaged by ELO ....

The way they came back for those O2 concerts in 2007 to prove how brilliant they were, with Bonham's drummer son Jason playing with the likes of Black Country Communion, Foreigner, Heart ...., then disappeared to put the Rolling Stones, U2, Metallica, AC/DC ... firmly in their places just showed their greatness.

[o]

I'm one track away from finishing this, cant remember who's next for August's album?

[vastar iner]

Me, although given the lack of response to Led Zep, not sure how many would review what I have in mind...

[Shireblogger]

I'll be posting my review next week.

[Deleted]

Jul 30, 2014 22:28:43 GMT 1 o said:

I'm one track away from finishing this, cant remember who's next for August's album?

"Who's Next" would indeed be a good choice........

[o]

Jul 30, 2014 22:47:45 GMT 1 vastar iner said:

Me, although given the lack of response to Led Zep, not sure how many would review what I have in mind...

There's a core of us that are still doing this, up to you if you want to pick something a bit leftfield or mainstream, you'll get another chance to pick again in 5 months anyway

[vastar iner]

True enough. I'm glad these things though are forcing me to listen to things I've never bothered getting around to.

Who's Next would indeed be a good choice, but I'm not intending to go for another rock album...

[o]

Side one
1. "Black Dog" John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant 4:54 - Good solid opener, 6/10. I have this on jukebox 7"
2. "Rock and Roll" John Bonham, Jones, Page, Plant 3:40 I think he's having a lonely, lonely time, 6/10
3. "The Battle of Evermore" Page, Plant 5:51 Bit dull and overlong, 4/10
4. "Stairway to Heaven" Page, Plant 8:02 What can you say, you either love it or hate it, and it's a classic, which I grew up knowing and loving. 9/10

Side two
5. "Misty Mountain Hop" Jones, Page, Plant 4:38 4/10, hmmmm
6. "Four Sticks" Page, Plant 4:44 5/10 waffly.
7. "Going to California" Page, Plant 3:31 Starts okay, then a bit dull, 4/10
8. "When the Levee Breaks" Bonham, Jones, Memphis Minnie, Page, Plant 7:07 I have this on my ipod, probably my fave track by them, because it doesn't suffer from overplay that STH suffers from. 9/10
= 6

[Shireblogger]

Led Zeppelin – IV

Context
Led Zep were well past their prime when I started listening to music. The fact that they didn’t release singles meant I never heard them on the radio, and so, unlike the Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel or Motown, for example, it was a long time before I backtracked in their direction. Indeed, my first awareness of the band’s existence was from seeing their logo carved into the desk I sat at for history lessons.
2/10

General Overview
This is a very strong album. The Rolling Stones were the first band to successfully marry blues and rock, but Zep created a wholly new, much heavier version. And, although they’ve had many imitators since, this album has never been bettered in that genre.
8/10

Intro & Outro
A really strong opening. Robert Plant wailing “Hey hey mama, said the way you move...”, before the instruments kick in, it is breathtaking. And when the band does strike up, wow, what a sound. “When The Levee Breaks” is also one of my favourite tracks on the album, taking a Howlin’ Wolf or Muddy Waters style lyric in a really powerful, fresh direction.
9/10

Music
Lots of power. Lots of variety. Tempo changes, between and within tracks. Electric guitars, but also mandolins and acoustic guitars. Blues, folk, rock’n’roll, heavy metal. It’s all here. And it works together, harmoniously. Very, very good.
9/10

Lyrics
There are 3 types of Zep lyrics. Type 1 involves Plant wailing unintelligibly in different ways, as demonstrated on “Four Sticks”. Type 2 is highly derivative, taking someone else’s ideas and putting them to music, such as “When The Levee Breaks”, or “Going To California”. And Type 3 is the quasi-mystical hogwash (e.g. “Stairway To Heaven” or “The Battle Of Evermore”), that, alongside Marc Bolan, kicked-off the whole prog rock wizards and mythology nonsense. My point is that lyrics aren’t the band's forte, and listening too closely actually diminishes the impact of the music.
3/10

Production & Sound
I know the album dates from 1971, but the production sounds very ordinary to me. Given the talent of the musicians, Page’s legendary attention to sonic detail, and the shear majesty of the songs, there are few moments when I sit up, and think, wow that was impressive. But as a piece to go out and tour, it is probably unsurpassed in the history of rock music.
5/10

High Points
For me “Rock And Roll” is the album’s best track. A great song, with guitar that would have made Chuck Berry proud, and piano (played by the Stones’ Ian Stewart) that matches Jerry Lee Lewis at his best. AC/DC have built a very long and lucrative career from re-releasing this track time and time again. And, of course, “Stairway To Heaven”. The only problem with this number, just like the equally epic “Bohemian Rhapsody”, is its familiarity and frequent abuse. If I’d heard this fresh, in 1971, I think it would be one of those songs with which I feel an emotional connection.
10/10

Low Points
There aren’t any low points on Led Zeppelin IV. The first two tracks on Side 2 are a little dull, but only in comparison to the rest.
7/10

Packaging
I have a fundamental problem with the fact that they named their first four albums “Led Zeppelin”, leaving everyone else to figure out what to call them. A misguided decision. And the cover artwork, on the gatefold sleeve, may be original, but it's also pretty horrible, and bears no resemblance to the music contained within. The album sleeve may now be iconic, but it isn’t for the artwork, it’s because of the music in the grooves of the record.
3/10

On balance
Probably the best hard rock album ever released. If I haven’t played it for a while, I usually wonder why I don’t play it more often. And, if I play it on repeat, I keep discovering new elements that I hadn’t appreciated before. I just wish there was a blanket ban on anyone other than Led Zeppelin playing “Stairway To Heaven”.
8/10

TOTAL SCORE
Ooh, it makes me wonder.
64/100.

For Haven:
6.5/10