When Led Zeppelin set out to record their fourth album in 1970, they deliberately stripped away expectations, no official title, no band name on the cover, just music. Recording sessions took place primarily at the rustic Headley Grange, where the band used a mobile studio to capture a raw, atmospheric sound that became part of the album’s identity. The result, often referred to as Led Zeppelin IV, blended hard rock, folk, and blues into something timeless, and ultimately became one of the most iconic and best-selling albums in rock history.

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Kip: This is an album that suffers a bit from over saturation, but is, in my mind, the greatest classic rock album of all time. Whether it's radio, actual ownership, pre-concert tapes, or the internet, I think it would be difficult to find even a casual music fan over 40 who isn't familiar with several tunes on this album. Mark made a statement in our listening session that really hit home for me. From the odd guitar effect before “Black Dog,” to the lyrical content of the vast majority of the songs, there is a mystical vibe throughout that bordered on unsettling to my 10-year-old ears. It was love at first listen for me, but there was something that bordered on “forbidden” on it, that was both attractive and a little frightening.

   Jeff and I have talked extensively about the impact of song order choices on albums, both positively and negatively. Despite my opinion that this is a near perfect album, I always felt that reversing “Rock and Roll” and “Black Dog” would have been an improvement. I laughed yesterday when thinking the same thing and hearing my inner voice saying, “that's why you were an English teacher.” It's amazing how much of an “ear worm” “Black Dog” is, considering its constantly changing time signature and lack of any verse/chorus pattern. Conversely, “Rock and Roll” is a classic, almost 50's, bouncy rocker. That feel was heightened, as Jeff played Page's remixed version of the album, which significantly brought the boogie-woogie, Little Richard sounding, Ian Stewart manned piano much more forward in the mix. (“Rock an Roll” was my early favorite tune from the album, partly BECAUSE of it's lack of the dark lyrical and musical content. I think I was initially more comfortable with that.)  I also was made aware of how my listening to Heart's covers of both “The Battle of Evermore” and “Misty Mountain Hop” had become my “right” version of both songs. To paraphrase Jeff upon listening to “Stairway to Heaven,” even upon hearing it for the nth time, I'm always struck by just how amazing and era-defining a song it is. Just absolute compositional perfection. And as my son Kelly would be quick to say, it might not even be the best song on the album. “When the Levee Breaks” is an absolute monster of a song and one of the greatest concluding songs ever. While Zeppelin has been repeatedly accused of plagiarism, look up the original “When the Levee Breaks” on YouTube. How they made the leap to this version is absolutely astonishing. From front to back, this is one of the albums that will always define the 70's.

 

   Side note: As I was writing this, I had a baseball game on in the background. Just as I wrote the concluding statement, the stadium organist just randomly played the lick from “Kashmir.” They're still everywhere.

A+

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Mark: It’s kind of a mental squeegee for me to critique or maybe observe such a renowned record such as Led Zeppelin IV in that it’s such a corner stone of rock music that my take on it is superfluous. Not to say I don’t love this, because I do! There is for me a bit of a disconnect to this era of music. Jeff had mentioned this when we did the play back, and I’m like yeah, Led Zeppelin is really not my band. For me they’re from the last generation so to speak. Music that spoke to me were the more contemporary at the time. You know like Kiss, Rush, Aerosmith and the like. Led Zeppelin VI was what my big brother liked (if I had a big brother that is). Now believe me when I say I’m not disrespecting this album or Led Zeppelin. Great band and great music. I just preferred the bands me and my friends were digging at the time.

A

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Jeff: Listening to Led Zeppelin IV decades after its release, it’s hard not to feel like you’re hearing the blueprint for so much of what came next. Even without having been old enough and into music when this first came out, I clearly understand the album’s impact to the DNA of future favorite songs of mine. It's obvious this is where hard rock started to stretch out, get heavier, and still stay deeply musical. Deeply musical because of this band’s incredible talent! This album manages to balance raw power with acoustic depth in a way that still feels surprisingly modern.

   Listening to this again I was reminded of how much this album has attitude. “Black Dog” just struts, and “Rock and Roll” feels like it could’ve come out in almost any decade and still worked. As a fan of bands like Kiss and Aerosmith, I couldn’t help but hear and be reminded where some of that swagger and groove came from. It’s not that Zeppelin sounds like them, it’s more like those bands picked up on this energy and ran with it in their own way. Then there’s “Stairway to Heaven,” which still feels like a defining moment in rock history. Even now, it comes across as ambitious without being overblown, gradually building from something delicate into something powerful and unforgettable. It’s the kind of song that makes you realize how far a band could push the boundaries of what rock music was supposed to be.

   While I enjoyed this the other day with Kip and Mark, I thought Led Zeppelin IV didn’t feel old, it felt foundational. It’s the kind of album that didn’t just define its moment, but quietly shaped the sound and attitude of rock for years after.

A

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