Led Zeppelin IV (1971)-February
Led Zeppelin were the original shaggy-haired rock gods. With their private jet and sports socks-in-pants antics, they exuded a very potent rock and roll image indeed. And while they were certainly able to fill stadiums to capacity, at least they retained a harder edge to their early music.
When I was younger, a teenager in Connecticut, I didn't like this album much. It seemed to be constantly playing (especially Stairway to Heaven which is arguably up there in the top 20 of most overplayed and arguably overrated songs of all time). This album always seemed to be on heavy rotation, playing in the background, on the radio, spinning on turntables or cranking out of the cassette player.
What was going on here? Basically, you had four English dudes playing heavy rock-folk infused blues music. The Rolling Stones did this as well, looking 'over the pond' to America for their inspiration. The Album Led Zeppelin IV has 8 songs, four on each side. It is a relatively small album (running at a mere 46 minutes in length) but is generally considered the peak of the band's output. These 8 songs tell a pretty expansive story covering things such as druid mysticism, the fading counter-cultural (hippie) experience, sex, a staircase going up to heaven and a levee that was going to break.
I think you'll agree, these songs definitely have swagger and attitude. They were a distilled rock and roll fantasy transmitted directly into the suburban teenage experience. As I say, I never really sort this music out. I never bought a copy on cassette or on vinyl. I never had a poster on my wall. Unlike many of my classmates, I never wore a ripped denim jacket with the band's logo stitched onto the back panel. The album was just always there, playing in the background, endlessly. Nevertheless, it has become quite a nostalgic sound for me. It certainly taught me something important about memory: at the time, you never really know what is going to end up becoming nostalgic for you in the future.
Also, maybe this speaks to the differences between the analogue world and the digital world. There was less variety in the analogue world. Albums tended to hang around for months and years. Unlike digital files, albums were physical objects. Chances were your friends and their brothers would have the same five or six cassettes kicking around in the glove compartment of their parent's Volvo station waggon. And one of those cassettes would inevitably be this album. For sure.
As I have already mentioned, for me, a good album should be varied in terms of the songs and it should tell a bit of a story or give you the sense of a different kind of world (15 songs that all sound the same usually doesn't make for such an interesting listening experience). This album delivers on the variety, with atmospheric songs containing folk elements (The Battle of Evermore) and heavy songs with intricate precision patterns and legendary guitar riffs (Misty Mountain Hop).
Lyrically you had allusions to burning out on the stadium rock and roll lifestyle (Going to California), the blues (which, lyrically speaking, usually deals with women gone astray. Black Dog) and J.R. Tolkien imagery mixed in for good measure. All of it belted out with obvious vocal power by Robert Plant.
As I say, it was a staple in the cars, the basement hangouts, the high school quad, the video game parlours of my youth in Connecticut. Led Zeppelin was another band that were seldom matched in terms of power and swagger. They were also a band whose posturing meant they would eventually become a parody of themselves. Their albums would get longer and baggier. The mysticism would get wackier. When they brought in the synthesisers....well, it was probably time to call it a day.
Anyway, enjoy this album.
http://consequenceofsound.net/2014/11/album-review-led-zeppelin-led-zeppelin-iv-reissue/
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