{"id":11809,"date":"1971-11-08T00:00:36","date_gmt":"1971-11-08T00:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=11809"},"modified":"2013-06-01T15:00:19","modified_gmt":"2013-06-01T15:00:19","slug":"album-review-led-zeppelin-led-zeppelin-iv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-led-zeppelin-led-zeppelin-iv\/","title":{"rendered":"LED ZEPPELIN – Led Zeppelin IV (1971) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

LED ZEPPELIN
Led Zeppelin IV<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nAtlantic (1971)<\/span>
Rating: 8.5\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Although technically untitled, but often referred to as Led Zeppelin IV<\/em>, Four Symbols<\/em> or ZoSo<\/em>, among a number of titles, the fourth album from Brit rockers Led Zeppelin<\/a> is another mystical affair drenched in esoteric folklore, if you believe the rumours.<\/p>\n

The quartet resort back to eight tracks, adding more punch, and even punk to proceedings with the clout of album opener \u2018Black Dog\u2019 and straight-up rocker \u2018Rock And Roll\u2019. These tracks are Zep at their most direct since \u2018Whole Lotta Love\u2019 and \u2018Heartbreaker\u2019 from 1969\u2019s Led Zeppelin II<\/em><\/a> opus.<\/p>\n

\u2018Black Dog\u2019 is a swaggering leviathan of a track that rolls into view on a tidal wave of a riff as Robert Plant barks, \u201cHey mama say the way you move, gonna make you sweat, gonna make you groove\u201d<\/em>, amid the crescendo of John Bonham drums. It\u2019s Zeppelin at their most potent and flailing, with brute force engaging the listener who in turn is battered by the bombastic bass from John Paul Jones and Plant\u2019s ecstatic vocals.<\/p>\n

As a brace of tracks, \u2018Black Dog\u2019 and \u2018Rock And Roll\u2019 are the epitome of heavy rock, and yet where Led Zeppelin truly rise into heavenly quarters are on the breath-taking strum of \u2018The Battle Of Evermore\u2019, which features Sandy Denny on vocals. Again, it\u2019s Zeppelin exploring folky avenues, featuring a sprightly mandolin and Bonham\u2019s subtle percussion.<\/p>\n

But those bewitched by such a track would have found themselves dumbfounded by the absorbing \u2018Stairway To Heaven\u2019, an eight-minute (although it often seems longer!) folk ballad featuring misty flute and gentle acoustic sway. As rock songs go, it\u2019s up there with the greatest, a sprawling landscape that evokes images of foggy valleys and medieval villages as Plant\u2019s vocals merely caress the strumming guitar of Jimmy Page. Slowly the track builds from graceful whisper to its plodding drum, before eventually transforming into a driving heavy rock anthem of swirling guitar and juddering drums.<\/p>\n

From here on the rest of the album, however moving, seems to pale in comparison, the listener spending the next 20 or so minutes recovering. Side two opener \u2018Misty Mountain Hop\u2019 is a bouncy mid-tempo rocker featuring electric piano, keyboards and layered guitars. It\u2019s one of Zep\u2019s most underrated tracks, infectious with its tinkering of the ivories and Plant\u2019s soaring vocals.<\/p>\n

Of any rock album released, Led Zeppelin\u2019s fourth opus arguably boasts four of the greatest songs in succession, and so after \u2018Misty Mountain Hop\u2019 side two does tend to suffer, but only slightly.<\/p>\n

\u2018Four Sticks\u2019 rattles along like a tractor on even ground, with the drums providing the backbeat chug; no wonder considering Bonham actually played the track with four drumsticks \u2013 two in each hand! The use of synthesizer gives the album a layered quality, but apart from Plant\u2019s gritty vocal sneer and Page\u2019s riff it\u2019s not a track that get its hooks in immediately, and it could be argued that eventually Plant\u2019s warble has all the effects of a whimpering witch!<\/p>\n

For me, track seven, \u2018Going To California\u2019 seems out of place on the album. It\u2019s still a dreamy affair featuring the sprinkles of a mandolin, but it leaves us aching for more punch, and thankfully that comes in the form of seven-minute stomper \u2018When The Levee Breaks\u2019, which introduces itself by way of Bonham\u2019s heavy-handed percussion and a whining harmonica. It\u2019s as simple as it gets; an elephantine trudge that rattles on throughout despite Plant\u2019s harmonies and Page\u2019s blues-enshrouded guitar plod.<\/p>\n

Again, hard to knock the selection of tracks on offer, and the proof is in the pudding, because a batch of these cuts have become embedded into our minds over the last few decades, and while I\u2019m sick to death of hearing \u2018Stairway To Heaven\u2019 and at times the abrasive ramble of \u2018Rock And Roll\u2019, one cannot doubt the orgasmic pleasure these tracks first brought.<\/p>\n

Led Zeppelin\u2019s fourth affair moves me far greater than the previous<\/a> opus, and for that I take my hat off to them.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LED ZEPPELINLed Zeppelin IV Atlantic (1971)Rating: 8.5\/10 Although technically untitled, but often referred to as Led Zeppelin IV, Four Symbols or ZoSo, among a number of titles, the fourth album from Brit rockers Led Zeppelin is another mystical affair drenched in esoteric folklore, if you believe the rumours. The quartet resort back to eight tracks, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[587],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-led-zeppelin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11809"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11809\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12124,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11809\/revisions\/12124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}