On November 8th, 1971 the biggest band in the world released one of the greatest additions to their catalog with the launch of Led Zeppelin IV. The band’s previous album, Led Zeppelin III focused on the group’s skill with acoustic tunes which displayed one of the best attributes of Zeppelin. However, IV takes listeners back to the band’s heavier tone portrayed in their first two albums while covering many sub-genres and nailing each one.
The opening song, Black Dog, is a track that intentionally divides Robert Plant’s soaring vocals and the rest of Zeppelin’s members in order to represent the two entities within the group. Plant starts the chorus with his echoed voice before Page, Jones and Bonham carry it into a powerhouse jam. The next number, Rock And Roll continues the album’s momentum for a hard rock theme ending with a thunderous drum beat and a final lick from Page, later becoming a future staple for rock and roll as a whole. What follows is the first taste of diversity on IV, The Battle Of Evermore is the band’s delightful mastery of a folk song as shown in past tunes like Friends and That’s The Way.
Stairway To Heaven is a new level of elevation for Zeppelin and they conquered this unforeseen method of song construction with the most dynamic collaborative effort ever seen in a rock band. Beginning with a beautiful acoustic segment and building into a vigorous bridge with Bonham and Page raising the tempo higher and higher before Jimmy breaks into a solo that will forever baffle countless learning guitarists. The track ends slowly and eloquently, creating one of music’s most prominent production.
Side two is a more varied assortment of tracks, starting with Misty Mountain Hop which features Jones on an electric piano setting the mood for a melodic sound that’s complimented by Plant’s high tempo singing. IV even makes room for an experimental piece, Four Sticks, beginning with a repetitive riff but ultimately carried by Plant’s larger-than-life vocals. This tune also includes Jones using a VCS3 synthesizer during the Page’s solo. Going To California is another folk number performed proficiently with Plant’s voice amplified in order to breathe more life into the track.
The closer is Zeppelin’s efficient shot at a blues tone. When The Levee Breaks is the band’s best cover since Dazed And Confused, reinventing the original song in its entirety using a technique that they excelled at in their debut album. The final tune opens with Bonham’s powerful drumming followed by the one of many harmonica solos while Page’s distinct riff plays in the background. The composition behind this track, surrounding Page recording the harmonica bits backwards and putting the echo ahead of the playing makes for a unique sound that adds a great filter onto the number.
The reason why Zeppelin IV is such a timeless album 45 years past its release date is due to the variation throughout the list of songs. IV ranges from its hard rock depth shown in Black Dog and Rock And Roll to the dominance of other music genres with The Battle Of Evermore and Misty Mountain Hop. However the most appreciative quality of IV is the band’s capability to make poetically satisfying tunes such as Stairway To Heaven and Going To California, influencing just as many generations of people as the rest of the rest of Zeppelin’s classics.
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