November 8, 1971 - Led Zeppelin IV

A week since my last release and a little over a year after "Led Zeppelin III", Led Zeppelin released their untitled fourth album on November 8, 1971, commonly referred to as "Led Zeppelin IV". Similar to their last album they recorded this one out in the country and enjoyed having less distractions than working in London. This album has one blues cover, as Zeppelin love to do as well as a couple guest musicians, which was a rarity for them. Let's see how it sounds!

Side one begins with "Black Dog" which is carried by a wicked guitar riff by Jimmy Page. Robert Plant's singing is loud, passionate and great as always as he and Page go back and forth throughout the whole song. Page plays a great guitar solo to close out the track and the next song is another upbeat track, simply called "Rock And Roll". "Led Zeppelin III" was a much more acoustic album, but the first two tracks on this one sound much more like their first two albums. John Bonham opens the song with a cool drum bit and plays some great stuff throughout this song. Page plays a simple, but great-sounding riff and Plant's singing fits the rock and roll style very well. Page delivers another fantastic guitar solo and we also hear some rockin' piano played by Ian Stewart of The Rolling Stones. Track 3 is titled "The Battle Of Evermore" and has the other guest musician on the album, featuring singer Sandy Denny of the folk group Fairport Convention. Page and John Paul Jones play mandolin on this track, and it has no drums at all, sounding much more like their last album. Denny's singing is very high-pitched and actually sounds similar to Plant's. They harmonize well together and she certainly adds something to the mix. It's lyrics once again reference Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, just as in "Ramble On". The final song on side one is "Stairway To Heaven", which some consider to be the greatest song ever written. That is some very high praise I'm not willing to echo, but not surprisingly it is a fantastic song. Page opens the song with some epic acoustic guitar and Jones adds another instrument to his repertoire with some cool recorder playing. Plant's singing is slow and precise, but also very emotional in what is definitely one of his best vocal performances. Page plays electric as well as acoustic guitars as they slowly increase the pace of the song. Jones plays organ on this one and Bonham's drums eventually join the mix. Once everyone is playing the song becomes a full-blown rock song and Page takes off for an epic guitar solo with lots of great stuff. Plant is yelling after the solo which sounds fantastic as they jam out a new part for a minute, before Page slows it down for Plant's epic final line.

Side two opens with another Tolkien reference in "Misty Mountain Hop". Jones plays some catchy piano and Bonham does some great drumming throughout the song. I really like Plant's high parts in this one, he is just so good at hitting those notes. It's a cool song but for a Zeppelin song the guitar was rather tame. Page's guitar carries the next song, titled "Four Sticks". It was named this because Bonham held two drumsticks in each hand when he played it. Jones plays some cool bass in the background and not that Plant's singing is bad the rest of the time, but he is at his best when he's yelling and hitting those high note. It's not a bad guitar riff that carries the song, but it does get a little repetitive by the end. Track 7 is an acoustic song called "Going To California". Jones plays mandolin again on this one and Page plays some really beautiful acoustic guitar. The two of them together sound really good, and Plant's singing fits the mood perfectly. It's really nicely done with lots of good stuff by Page. The final track on the record is "When The Levee Breaks", a cover of blues artist Memphis Minnie. Bonham plays a fantastic drum beat throughout the song and it's carried by another catchy guitar riff by Page. Plant plays some harmonica that sounds really fantastic, it doesn't sound like a typical harmonica and is used to really nice effect in this song. Plant's blues-style singing is fantastic as always and he is having himself a really great album. Page plays some great electric guitar on top of the acoustic and Plant plays a harmonica solo! Page follows with a guitar solo and this song is easily the best one on side two. A fine way to end the record.

That is the end of "Led Zeppelin IV" and it certainly sounded like fine blend between the hard blues-rock of the first two albums and the more laid-back acoustic third album. "Stairway To Heaven" is my favourite song off the album, but side one is all really great. How does it compare to the albums that shaped it? I think it was definitely a step up from "Led Zeppelin III", but is it better than their fantastic debut album "Led Zeppelin"? I think "IV" is a great album without question, so when I say that it is their third best release so far, you know how good those first two albums were, with "Led Zeppelin II" remaining their best effort, in my opinion. Only 4 days until my next two albums come out, that's right two!