LED ZEPPELIN IV

A Truly Progressive Band!

Oops .!! You might have started complaining about the above title as - I think - you are pretty damn sure that Led Zeppelin is a heavy rock band with virtually straight forward compositions in any song they have written. I fully agree with that. What I do mean with "progressive" term is on the way they approach their creative process to write and compose their music. Remember when I wrote that on the third album Led Zeppelin III they wrote and composed their music in suburb area closed themselves to the nature - so that their most compositions were acoustic based. This time, the band took different approach: they brought the Rolling Stone mobile studio and recorded the material for the upcoming album Led Zeppelin IV in the way they wanted done. By moving into Headley Grange for the whole period of recording, many of the tracks were made up almost on the spot and committed to tape almost there and then. It's a progressive act, I would say.

And .. who had ever predicted that even with "on the spot" kind of things where all impulsive emotions and creativities came out during the album making - it later turned out to be a great success and it contained a legendary hit that has proved sustainable since then until now: "Stairway To Heaven". The album was released on November 12, 1971 - one day after a British tour that began November 11. In terms of album appearance there was significant change in terms of what information presented at the album cover. Nothing was there but a picture of an old man bent double under a bundle of rods but no other information - no band name, no album title, no record number - it was just nothing but the picture. "We decided that on the fourth album, we would deliberately downplay the group name," said Page. "What matters is our music. We said we just wanted to rely purely on our music." The record company initially thought that it was definitely a commercial suicide. The band then threatened not to turn over the master tapes until they finally got their way. And you know it by now that the band proved it that the other way round happened: the album reached dramatic commercial success! The rest is history ..

All tracks featured in this album are great ones. It opens "Black Dog" with an ambient nuance followed with pondering vocal "Hey hey mama ." and jaw dropping drum work of Bonzo and Page powerful riffs. The song was named after a black dog seen roaming round the studio. See ho "on the spot" the process was? And the result? No one would dare to challenge to the powerful and stunning composition of this track. Marvelous. The next track "Rock 'n' Roll" has proven to be a song where many bands take the reference from in terms of how they should compose a rock music. No wonder that powerful song has been chosen as anthem for the recently established rock organization that I have involved in so far in my country: i-Rock! *. You might say that "The Battle of Evermore" is a spill over from the previous album because it's an acoustic-driven music. Whatever you think, this is a great track.

After the legendary "Stairway To Heaven", the band continues with a track with great drumming "Misty Mountain Hop". Nit just the drumming part is so interesting but also the song has an excellent groove that makes you pulse races at faster speed. "Four Sticks" was titled that way because Bonzo played the drums with two pairs of drum sticks - four sticks.

Overall, it's an excellent album that is very hard for others to compete with. Keep on rockin' ..!

"Even if you are on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there!"

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