LED ZEPPELIN IV

Even though having achieved supreme rock`n roll eminence by 1971, Led Zeppelin decides that since their name didn`t mean much then folks shouldn`t be buying their records for their name but rather for their music. So, frontman Robert Plant acquires a photo of an old hermit with a load of branches on his back from a junk shop and juxtaposes it with a mundane urban sprawl for the cover of their new album which is devoid of anything indicitive of it`s content much to the shock and horror of Atlantic Records who liken it to professional suicide . To further confound both the media and fans alike the band substitutes a set of transcedental symbols for thier christian names on the record dust cover as well as the vinyl label bringing rock `n roll pretentions to new plateaus et le voila ! One of rock music`s tour de forces is carved into solid white granite forever and ever.

Fortunately, the music stood by itself and record executives could sleep again, although at times it contained as much ambiguity and psuedo-mysticism as the death-or-glory packaging which coincided with an era when rock album covers were becoming more and more artistic endeavours within themselves.

After the folky deviations heard on the previous Led Zeppelin III which was recieved with mixed criticisms Led Zep IV blasts off with two riff oriented tracks Black Dog and Rock `n Roll which also bring Robert Plant`s power vocals into the fore demonstrating to the world just how heavy a rock band could get in 1971, silencing critics and sending kids everywhere into air guitar heaven. At the same time they continued to delve deeper into English folk musings with several pieces drenched in everything from Celtic folklore to the works of J.R. Tolkien whose Middle Earth imagery also becomes the setting for the catchy hard rocking hippie anthem Misty Mountain Hop . Two other pieces which also draw from folky sources also capture the spirit of the flower power movement of the `60s. Going To California with it`s alluring acoustics reflect vocalist Robert Plant`s forlorn affections for Canadian folk chick Joni Mitchell while the darker mandolin- led The Battle For Evermore conjures up images of the Scottish Wars from Lewis Spence`s Magic Arts In Celtic Britain , a shcolarly account of that period which Plant was absorbed with at the time. Sandy Denny ( formerly of the Strawbs and Fairport Convention ) lends her supple voicings which adds to the piece`s epic proportions in addition to foreshadowing Plant`s 2007 collaboration with blues songstress Allison Kraus. Evocative of romance, sacrifice and bygone traditions The Battle Of Evermore , although rarely performed live, became one of Led Zeppelin`s most resonating compositions and was recieved passionately by their fans including Ann Wilson of Heart who would comment in a Rolling Stone Magazine interview years later that she always thought that the song could be heard down through the ages .

The album`s exquisite sound production is also a testament to guitarist Jimmy Page`s experience as a session man despite a number of problems which were encountered during the album`s final mixdown. Unfortunately, the superb depth and balance achieved on the album could never be recreated by the band on the live stage where the band was a completely different creature anyway, relying on showmanship and resourceful improvisational abilities which could often double the running times of songs. The track which perhaps demostrates Page`s knack for creating the right effects which would add to the overall moods of Led Zeppelin songs in the studio was arguably the pulsating When The Levee Breaks . A modern reinvention of a 1928 Memphis Minnie composition it is perhaps the heaviest interpretation of the delta blues ever attempted by a rock band with microphone tweaks that make John Bonham`s drums sound like controlled nuclear explosions. Backwards echo tape effects dating from Page`s Yardbird days add an even more soul wrenching feel to the track which drones on heartfully for over 7 minutes.

Ironically the album`s pitfall is the seemingly timeless Stairway To Heaven which is deeply rooted in 16th century renaissance music with a dramatic crescendo and a modern twists in the second heavier section. Lamentably, it`s compositional brilliance is generally overshadowed by almost four decades of indiscriminate radio play earning it the dubious distinction of most frequently played song in North American radio history. While not the band`s fault, this disfeaturing has been widely aknowledged by Robert Plant`s aversion to playing the song on the live stage.

However high on the grandeloquent scale, Led Zeppelin IV, Zoso, The Four Symbols, The Runes or whatever other moniker one wishes to attach to it, Led Zeppelin`s fourth album remains a masterpiece of modern popular music. If one can ignore the band`s dated psuedo-mystical delusions, which admittedly, gave the record buying public at the time another accessory to pander to while at the same time elevating the band to neo-mythological status, then the album does hit the mark with the band`s true intentions being realized ten-fold. Without a doubt, this agglomeration of eight rock songs effectuate an uncanny harmony with one another, a chemistry perhaps only achieved elsewhere on Fleetwood Mac`s Rumours. An album which has inspired legions of artists from jazzman Stanley Jordan to 3 Non Blondes, Led Zeppelin IV is a command performance that even explorers from other planets will want to hear upon their subastral arrival. What else, 5 stars.

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