Album of the Week #27 - Led Zeppelin IV
Wednesday, September 30, 2009 at 12:46AM | RyanSilb “Craze, baby, the rainbow's end” - “Four Sticks”
If any album truly is representative of a “classic rock,” the fourth Led Zeppelin album is it. At least half of the album are staple songs on FM radio, and one is the purported to be the song with the most FM spins ever.
The release of this album, including the symbols, the lack of title, and the sleeve design, was a reaction by the band to the negative and somewhat dismissive critical reception of Led Zeppelin III. It may have been the unfortunate timing in the wake of the overnight sensation that were Crosby, Stills and Nash. Led Zeppelin’s third album was criticized for being a departure from the raw, hard, rock of their first two albums for an embracing more folksy and acoustic sound. Jimmy Page had this to say in an interview with Cameron Crowe:
That LP had just come out and because acoustic guitars had come to the forefront all of a sudden: LED ZEPPELIN GO ACOUSTIC! I thought, Christ, where are their heads and ears? There were three acoustic songs on the first album and two on the second.
The album was recorded in several stages, with a bulk of it done at Headley Grange, a house in East Hampshire, using the pioneering “mobile studio.”
I will definitely say that this is my favorite Led Zeppelin album, with each traffic building on the sound and the themes of the album: women and Lord of the Rings. This doesn’t exactly make it distinct from the rest of the catalogue, but to me this marks the high point of sheer creativity from the band.
It opens with one of the best Side One, Track Ones in the history of pop music: “Black Dog.” Lyrically simple, the whole song is built around an idea for a rolling bass line by John Paul Jones. It also features a relatively simple drum pattern, however the music is all written in a series of shifting and complex time signatures, making it difficult to reproduce live without alteration. A rousing tour-de-force of a hard-driving rock song, it’s a perfect way to open the album.
Following this is a fast-paced song built on the traditional 12-bar blues structure: “Rock and Roll.” First, I love two things about this song: one, the drum pickup by John Bonham that opens and song, and two, the fact that this sounds like pretty much the most amazing jam session ever recorded. The song feels organic and raw, and full of the energy of a live band.
“The Battle of Evermore” follows, and this comes from the ‘acoustic’ side of Zeppelin. Essentially coming from Jimmy Page messing around on John Paul Jones’ mandolin. It’s an epic, sprawling song, detailing either a battle from Olde England or Tolkien. I would love to go back in time to teach this to medieval minstrels. Accompanying Robert Plant on vocals was Sandy Denny, who is the only additional vocalist ever on a Led Zeppelin track. All the voices come together nicely, and I think it’s my second favorite song on the album.
Ahh, “Stairway to Heaven.” The only lyrics printed in the album jacket (and in a cool medieval font Plant found), it is truly Led Zeppelin’s signature song. It’s also possibly the most popular song never released as a single, as it was too long and the band refused to edit it down. Other than that, I’m not sure what else to say other than that it’s pretty obvious why this song is so epic.
Kicking off Side Two is “Misty Mountain Hop,” which has some of my favorite drums on any Led Zeppelin song, and this combined with the sheer fun of this song makes it my favorite. It’s a tour-de-force of rock featuring not only Bonham’s drums, but very nice and melodic play between the guitars and keyboards. If/when the Zep ever comes to Rock Band, this is the top of my list.
“Four Sticks” is an abstract of a song, rhythmically complex and rich it sound. It was notoriously difficult to record, with the title of the song coming from the four drumsticks Bonham used during the song. Also, the lead guitar riff from “Rock and Roll” was born out of frustration of recording this song.
The penultimate track on the album is also a personal favorite of mine. “Going to California” was reportedly written about Joni Mitchell. It also features the mandolin, and musically recalls the surf rock and folk rock movements, and certainly captures the feeling of California as a land of dreams, a place that could represent anything it needs to.
The album closer is a cover of the Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie song “When the Levee Breaks,” written about the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927. It’s actually my least favorite song on the album. I appreciate the structure, but I think (sadly) the recording and slowing it down makes it feel overly muddy.
Overall, this is obviously one of the best albums of all time, and when it comes down to it, the reason why is because each song is great, and how they fit together is even greater. Also on the list of things everyone should experience listening to on vinyl.
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