Led Zeppelin was already one of the biggest bands in the world by the time the group caught the plane back from their first U.S. tour. Each new release and series of concerts only cemented their reputation. Even so, their fourth album, known to fans as “Led Zeppelin IV” or “Zoso,” was seen as a colossal step forward.
But is the album merely remembered this way because of the inclusion of “Stairway to Heaven”? And, was Led Zeppelin the real deal, or just some British lads stealing blues licks from the American masters? Today, I will try to answer that question as best and objectively as I can as I review “Led Zeppelin IV.”
The Road to Making Led Zeppelin’s “Zoso”
Upon being formed by Jimmy Page in 1968, Led Zeppelin launched a veritable blitzkrieg on the music world. It wasn’t merely that they were picking up fans everywhere. In the early days, the group operated at an incredible pace, putting out an album approximately every 12-18 months and touring the world constantly.
Fatigue had not yet set in by 1971 as the group prepared their fourth release. And, despite their status, they had something to prove now and a bone to pick with the established and influential music press of the time.
Their debut album had received lukewarm reviews from some magazines and was even compared negatively to The Jeff Group. “Led Zeppelin II” was a colossal commercial success, but critics weren’t pleased. And the same writers used “Led Zeppelin III,” an album where acoustic compositions abounded, as target practice.
The ever-ambitious Jimmy Page, the band’s leader, and early in their career their financier, was determined to stick to the critics.
He would do it by stretching out artistically even further. Led Zeppelin’s music had always blended styles. For this one, however, the blues, folk, country, pop and the group’s hard-rock touch were all going to come together.
Page was working better than ever before with the other three musicians as well. Lead singer Robert Plant had, in particular, become a true songwriting partner. Experienced session man John Paul Jones possessed the technical ability to translate any of their ideas into viable song concepts. John Bonham was, simply, the best drummer of his generation.
They wrote songs in a tiny 18th-century cottage called Bron-Yr-Aur in Wales and later moved into a country house named Hadley Grange to record the songs. It was not the typical way for a professional rock band to work. But, as history would show, Led Zeppelin was far from typical.
Dynamics and Texture
Led Zeppelin is one of the few monstrously famous rock bands that is not overhyped. Like The Beatles, a new listener of the band’s music won’t need any preparation, any history course, or even a drink.
The beauty about Led Zeppelin, in particular the “Zoso” album, is that the music’s vitality and beauty charge at you like a TGV train rushing from Berlin to Paris. However, unlike pop hits of the 1970s, Zep’s music also rewards dedicated listeners looking for texture.
And, like the Beatles before them, Led Zeppelin is a highly versatile group. “IV” proves this the best. This is the work of the fiercest rock n’ roll band on the planet, who will, at the drop of a hat, play folk and country ballads or Chicago blues tunes.
Review of “Led Zeppelin IV”
“Black Dog” is said to have been born, like other Zeppelin songs, by trying to recreate someone else’s work. Page was trying to figure out “Oh Well” by Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac. What he got instead was the present of another of rock’s most famous guitar riffs. The band knows exactly what to do with it. Plant vamps confidently on the lyrics, the ultimate bravado-powered singer in rock.
“Rock and Roll” in the hands of nearly any other band would simply be a Jerry Lee Lewis ripoff. However, it’s the pure energy of the group, the excellent production courtesy of Page, and the inspired orchestration that turn it into another memorable addition to the Led Zeppelin catalog.
With hot, hard-rocking numbers on the way, for now, Page sets about in his sonic exploration. The first stop is British folk music. “The Battle of Evermore” was written on a mandolin. It was the first time that Jimmy Page had played the instrument, but you wouldn’t be able to tell.
Plant uses “Lord of Rings” as inspiration for the lyrics and smartly brings in Sandy Denny, former singer with the legendary Fairport Convention, to add her witchy vocals. How did they make such an inspired choice for a guest vocalist? Led Zeppelin’s musicians, and Robert Plant in particular, were colossal record collectors and great fans of British folk music.
“Stairway to Heaven”
Next, Led Zeppelin tackles the song that, for better or worse, would define their entire career. “Stairway to Heaven” wasn’t just a prototypical power ballad. It was the culmination of Page’s dream of having long compositions that grew and grew in intensity.
“Stairway to Heaven” may have been destined for immortality in high-school dance halls and on FM radio. But it was written almost as a piece of classical music. It’s no wonder many future guitarists would be barred from playing the iconic intro or the solo that closes the song.
“Misty Moutain Hop” allows Robert Plant to let his curly hair down. He delivers a manic, jump-for-joy retelling of a hippie love-in broken up by the police.
There’s a similar energy to the most underrated song on the album, “Four Sticks,” where Zeppelin proves that they are the hard-rock masters of groove, something that most of their many imitators would never understand.
In one of the most tender and beautiful moments in the Led Zeppelin discography, the band returns to their love of folk and of Joni Mitchell, the two things that had inspired the previous album. “Going to California” is a gorgeous song about the hope and illusion of the U.S.A., aka the Promised Land of Modern Music.
Finally, Jimmy Page turns Hadley Grange into an instrument. Recording John Bonham’s drums under the large staircase and managing to bring the atmosphere of the old mansion into a song, “When the Levee Breaks” sounds chilling and ghostly. The song is inspired by an old blues song (something that the band would have to defend later in court), by an old flood, and by Page’s desire to sound larger than every other rock sound caught on record.
Legacy of “Led Zeppelin IV”
“Led Zeppelin IV” is a standard in the age of recorded music. There are likely no greatest albums on the all-time list that do not include. There’s never a year when it doesn’t sell a colossal amount of copies. And every compilation that Zeppelin has released contains at least half of the songs on “Zoso.”
The album also proved that the band was right to be confident to the point of arrogance. The album did not feature the group’s name. Instead, Page opted for four symbols meant to define the essence of each of the members. “Zoso,” likely an alchemical symbol chosen by Page, ended up being the unofficial name of the album.
The use of symbols and self-mythology has often been copied. So has the formula of songs like “Black Dog” or “Stairway to Heaven.”
On the strength of these songs, Led Zeppelin toured to sold arenas across the world and played for three hours at a time. The pacing, energy, and setlists practically helped to create the modern concert industry.
Led Zeppelin is hyped but not overhyped. Plant and the rest of the colleagues were arrogant and cocky. But they were the real deal. And “Led Zeppelin IV” is the set of songs that can prove this quickest to anyone who is not yet a believer.
