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Hard Rock & Metal |
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Led Zeppelin IV (aka ZOSO)
Participated by Led Zeppelin
Studio : Atlantic / Wea
by Atlantic / Wea
Release Date : 1994-07-19
Publisher : Atlantic / Wea
Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days
EAN : 0075678263828
UPC : 075678263828
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 990 reviews)
List Price : $18.98
Our Price : $6.49
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Album Description |
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2005 Japanese standard jewel case pressing of Led Zeppelin's 1971 album. Features the same tracks and mastering as the US edition but includes an OBI and Japanese/English insert. Warner. 2005. |
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Americancivilwar.com essential recording |
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Also known as the "rune" album or Zoso because of the medieval symbols adorning the inner sleeve, Led Zeppelin's fourth album, released in 1971, turned them from mere superstars into giant behemoths of the rock world. On tracks like "Black Dog," "Misty Mountain Hop," and "Rock and Roll," the combination of Robert Plant's banshee wails and Jimmy Page's frenetic guitar playing forever altered the stylistic bent of hard rock music. And the foreboding "When the Levee Breaks" demonstrated that Zeppelin could indeed play the blues fairly straight if they so desired. Still, everything here ultimately took a back seat to the album's (and, ultimately, the band's) magnum opus--the expertly constructed and deftly executed classic, "Stairway to Heaven." --Billy Altman |
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Americancivilwar.com |
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Jimmy Page was a top London studio guitarist before he got rich and famous as the musical leader of Led Zeppelin. The group's fourth--and arguably their finest--album is as much a tribute to his technique as a monument to his versatility. Page produced the album, co-wrote all eight songs, and played mandolin as well as all the guitars. Musically, this 1971 disc ranges from acoustic English folke ("Goin' to California" and "The Battle of Evermore," the latter featuring the late Fairport Convention frontwoman Sandy Denny) to bone-crushing, bluesy riff-slinging. On the album's centerpiece, "Stairway to Heaven," these light and dark strains are dramatically intertwined. The chiming "Four Sticks" aside, it's the Little Richard-inspired "Rock and Roll" and the tricky time changes--a Zeppelin trademark--of the fast-and-furious "Black Dog" that elevate this album into more than just a bustle in aspiring guitarists' hedgerows. --Don Waller |
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The kids just don't get it |
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It's amazing to me how the kids react to the music which is the foundation of their own. The younger generations just don't get it. If you place this music in the context and period which is was created then you may understand the greatness of this record. It still shines today as being innovative and provocative. These guys invented heavy metal. Their would be no mosh pits hadn't it been for Led Zeppelin. Youngsters, keep listening so that your ears may evolve beyond the barrage of marketing tactics of today which have you all in the pockets of capitalists. |
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This is rock? LOL! |
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I can't believe you people think this is good music. Led Zeppelin were just a bunch of druggies who made music to get with groupies. All of their songs sound exactly the same, too. Try some REAL rock, like Limp Bizkit. They created hard rock! |
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Like it needs to be said again. |
Classic rock and roll at it's all time greatest. Including songs that many would say are the best ever recorded,including my self.
A timeless masterpiece that I will enjoy until I die. |
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MP3 Album NOT The Remastered Version! |
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Beware that the MP3 album for sale here is NOT the remastered version, even though it's linked to the remastered CD version on the amazon site. I discovered this after purchasing and listening to it. The audio is muddy and full of dropouts, and basically sounds like an old audio cassette. This is why it's only $8. |
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Hey, when I'm wrong, I'm wrong... |
It took me forever, but I'm just finally learning to appreciate Zeppelin's most famous album right now. I won't say it's my favorite - I, II and III are just as good, and Houses of the Holy is better. But I now like it. In fact, I think I liked it all the while, but I refused to admit it. See, this marks the point where "Led Zeppelin the band" and "Led Zeppelin the cultural phenomenon" become the same thing. And while I'm definitely a fan of Led Zep the band, I'm kinda shaky on Led Zeppelin the cultural phenomenon. And, I mean, this is the BIG one. The pride and joy of fans, critics, and DJ's everywhere. That and it's got "Stairway to Heaven," a cultural phenomenon within a cultural phenomenon within a cultural phenomenon. Sort of a Russian nesting doll deal there.
Methinks the problem I had with this for so long is because I listened to it expecting it to be the great masterpiece so many people say it is, and I never really heard it that way. But recently, I did the smart thing: I let my defenses down, and listened to the album for what it was. And I found that it was quite good.
Let me be up-front about why I'm only giving this four stars. First off, I don't really like "Four Sticks." Parts of it are nice, and parts of it aren't. Secondly, there's the issue of Robert Plant. I've never been his biggest fan, but here he's too much for me, almost ruining a couple of his songs with his "vocal acrobatics." He nearly kills the stop-start, riff-filled "Black Dog" entirely for me with his moans, groans, and grunts behind the guitar solo. Yeah, so it fits with the song's lyrics. But it still sounds bad. And "Battle of Evermore," despite being genuinely gorgeous, also showcases Plant right up in the front. He makes his voice turn somersaults, backflips, and cartwheels, and it just annoys me. Every phrase he gets, he oversings somehow. And then he pulls that crap with an echo effect near the end. It really annoys me. 'Tis a shame they didn't just let ex-Fairport Convention member Sandy Denny sing lead on the whole track, because she's got a beautiful voice. Not only that, but she's also got an authentic English folk voice, and "Evermore" is an English folk song. With a fantastic mandolin part.
Okay, now I can get to the really good parts. First off, I almost hate to admit it because I'm sick of everyone saying it's the best song ever (gimme a break, it isn't even Zeppelin's best!), but I really, really like "Stairway to Heaven." I won't dwell too much on it, because everyone is probably familiar with it at this point, but it's earned its reputation as one of the greatest guitar tracks in history, and it's definitely a great rock epic. The Hendrix maniac in me thinks "All Along the Watchtower" is the best, the Beatlemaniac in me puts "Hey Jude" in second, and the Who freak in me would rank "Won't Get Fooled Again" as third. But number four (or maybe number five or six, because I can never allow myself to forget "You Can't Always Get What You Want" or "Jungleland") is certainly nothing to sneeze at, especially considering how many genuinely wretched "rock epics" there are out there. Great song, even though I'd take "Over the Hills and Far Away," "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You," and "Ramble On" over it in the Zeppelin catalog. That's just me, though. No "serious" person likes "Misty Mountain Hop," but I think it's fun. Yeah, the lyrics are dumb, but in the harmless, "'70s pothead who says words like 'dude' and 'cosmic' a lot, laughs at absolutely nothing, and eats ten bags of Cheetos a day" sense, not in the "offensively stupid or ignorant" sense. In other words, harmless, and kinda funny. Actually, all the lyrics in Led Zeppelin's entire history that aren't about sex are like that. Plus it's so bouncy! It's the only Zeppelin song you can dance to! How about that? It's a guilty pleasure for me, but I still enjoy it immensely. "Rock and Roll" does just what it promises, and it's my favorite of Zeppelin's short, punchy rockers. Bonzo's rhythm is unbeatable, and there's a multi-tracked guitar solo. Despite my seeming lack of manliness (yeah, I'm a guy), I do have some testosterone, and it really gets what little of it there is pounding. By the opposite token, "Going to California" is one of the prettiest, most quaint, folksy, and downright cute things in Zeppelin's catalog. Despite me not being much of a Robert Plant fan, I still love the way he sings, "La-la-la-la-la" after one of the verses. It's just so damn adorable! And I know that every Zeppelin fan who wasn't theoretically stabbing my hypothetical picture already is doing so now, but hey. Adorable is good. And you want a searing musical interpretation of a hurricane? Check out "When the Levee Breaks," a very successful mood piece and arguably the best song on the record. Bonzo's drums thunder - his intro is justly one of the most famous of all time - Page's guitars sting, burn, and all kinds of other stuff, and Plant's harmonica wails away. John Paul Jones doesn't do much, which is a shame, because he's my favorite member of the band. But hey, you can't have it all.
If you were to cut out "Four Sticks," and give Robert Plant a bit less time at the mike, this would be a better album. But it's fine the way it is. I still refuse to admit it or anything else Zeppelin ever made is a masterpiece. If that's the way you roll, more power to you. But it's not the way I roll. So no power for me. Oh well. Still, this is probably my second, third, fourth, fifth, or whatever Zeppelin album. It's tough to decide between those first four. They're all very worthy four-star records, and I actually think they're of the exact same quality, more or less. Whatever. Zep's first five all are great. |
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