This was the 4th album of LED ZEP & was untitled. So popularly known as Led Zepplin-IV or ZOSO.
This album is to Led Zep what Dark Side... is to Floyd , what Sgt. Pepper is to BEATLES. Yeah this is the bands most popular album ever. An album which took the bands appeal to gargantuan proportions. And in the proces also becoming a over rated album compared to Led Zep’s other albums which r equally good & sometimes even better.
Here’s the track listing:
Black Dog
Rock And Roll
The Battle of Evermore
Stairway to Heaven
Misty Mountain Hop
Four Sticks
Going To California
When The Levee Breaks
The album starts with two 70s rock anthems, ’’Black Dog’’ and ’’Rock And Roll’’ - two songs which gave birth to the entire genre of 70s mainstream rock - just a bit heavy riff repeated over and over again.
BLACK DOG is the perfect song to start a album & this ones a classic for these very reasons I guess. It starts perfectly Half way through it takes you ’’through a stairway to heaven’’ & ends with a bang -the best song in this album When The Levee Breaks. Black Dog has a orgasmic lead(from 3:38 mins to end of the song) which ends the song.
And ROCK AND ROLL is really catchy with some phenomenal drumming from Bonham. This is the Led Zep song which I have heard in most rock , maybe ’coz this is the only Led Zep song they find playable ’coz of its straightforward riffs. This songs become an anthem of rockers now. There r a very few songs of Led Zep u will see any local band playing & this is one of them . The reason being its not easy to play Led Zep.
Next comes THE BATTLE OF EVERMORE - a very folkie song with Page carrasing a mandolin this time. Its a beautiful song with a very exotic eastern feel to it. Check out the No Quarter version -its got a indian babe on supporting vocals making this song sound almost indian.
Then comes the monster- STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN. Don’t get me wrong here but when I say this song is gruesomely, terribly, incredibly overrated one has to agree.It’s one of the most played tracks in radio history. I also agree its a classic song & one of their best songs but certainly hugely over rated. But despite of all this, the song is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!!:) . And there is something rare about this led zep song- great lyrics, something Led Zep is very infamous is for their weird meaningless https://lyrics. But not this song-
Your head is humming and it won’t go
In case you don’t know,
The piper’s calling you to join him,
Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow, And did you know
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind.
And as we wind on down the road
Our shadows taller than our soul.
There walks a lady we all know
Who shines white light and wants to show How ev’rything still turns to gold. And
if you listen very hard
The tune will come to you at last. When all are one and one is all
To be a rock and not to rollllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllaaaaaallllllllllllll.
Next 2 songs are not as great as the rest. MISTY MOUNTAIN HOP is still a better OK song. The guitar tune is cool but Plants vocals get irritating & the backing vocals r equally irritating.
FOUR STICKS is my least favourite song in this album. Being in the company of the other monster songs 4 Sticks just doesnt impress.
GOING TO CALIFORNIA is acoustic, peaceful, serene & lovely. Page’s acoustic guitar playing is not only lovely but also intensely impressive. And the lyrics r also really nice -
Spent my days with a woman unkind,
Smoked my stuff and drank all my wine. Made up my mind to make a new start,
Going To California with an aching in my heart.
Someone told me there’s a girl out there, With love in her eyes and flowers in her hair.
Took my chances on a big jet plane,
Never let them tell you that they’re all the same.
Infact its the lyrics which make me like this song so much.
now the last song of the album & my fav song of this album- WHEN THE LEVEE BREAKS. The start is absolutely fantastic . Infact its one of the best Led Zep song. I’m listening to it right now & it rules even after listening to it so much in last 3 years. In the movie ALMOST FAMOUS the band Stillwaters start a gig with a tune which is almost a xerox of this song & that part of the movie is one of the best. This song is the perfect synchronisation of Bonham’s lyrical drumming , Pages exotic guitaring & Paul Jones (most under rated bass player in history) perfect basslines.
This album is recommended to every one...from the kid who just came back from the SCORPIONS concert & asking others to suggest him some great rock albums....the the 45 year old executive who likes Daler mehendi in his car stereo. Its a classic album not for nothing. Everybody loves this album & the ones who hate it r Pseudo Prententious Snobbish bastards who think Rolling Stones should give them a job as a music critic...get a life guys...Rolling Stones sux anyway....