LED ZEPPELIN : LED ZEPPELIN IV

 

  1. Black Dog
  2. Rock and Roll
  3. The Battle of Evermore (with Sandy Denny)
  4. Stairway to Heaven
  5. Misty Mountain Hop
  6. Four Sticks
  7. Going to California
  8. When the Levee Breaks
    Bonus Tracks :
  9. Black Dog
  10. Rock and Roll
  11. The Battle of Evermore
  12. Stairway to Heaven
  13. Misty Mountain Hop
  14. Four Sticks
  15. Going to California
  16. When the Levee Breaks

Label : Atlantic

Time : 84:55

Release Date : November 8th, 1971 / October 27th, 2014 (Deluxe Edition)

Review (AllMusic) : Encompassing heavy metal, folk, pure rock & roll, and blues, Led Zeppelin's untitled fourth album is a monolithic record, defining not only Led Zeppelin but the sound and style of '70s hard rock. Expanding on the breakthroughs of III, Zeppelin fuse their majestic hard rock with a mystical, rural English folk that gives the record epic scope. Even at its most basic - the muscular, tradtionalist "Rock and Roll" - the album has a grand sense of drama, which is deepened by Robert Plant's burgeoning obsession with mythology and mysticism. These obsessions come to a head on the eerie folk ballad "The Battle of Evermore," a mandolin-driven song with haunting vocals from Sandy Denny, and on the epic "Stairway to Heaven," which encapsulates the entire album in one song.

Deluxe Edition Review (American Songwriter) : Jimmy Page, never one to miss an opportunity, continues his Led Zeppelin reissue series with these two titles, just in time for Christmas season 2014. As with the first batch released earlier this year, these feature remastered audio of the original tracks on one disc and add, in the deluxe version, a second with remixes and alternate takes although notably no previously unreleased songs. The passage of time (IV was released in 1971, Houses . in 1973), provides the luxury to reassess these albums, examining them through the looking glass of history and within the broader scope of the group's overall output. That makes the opening two explosions from IV, the taut "Black Dog" and the irrepressible "Rock and Roll," seem like a strutting response to the relatively unenthusiastic reception Zeppelin initially received with the largely acoustic III. There are only two completely unplugged tracks here, although both are terrific and remain high water marks in the Zeppelin catalog. The lovely "Going to California" might be singer Robert Plant's most reflective and plaintive moment in the Zeppelin oeuvre. It also foreshadowed his more recent delve into Americana roots music with Buddy Miller and Alison Krauss. Adding the wonderful Sandy Denny from Fairport Convention on interwoven lead vocals-tellingly the only woman to assist on a Zeppelin album- helped create the mysterious shroud of "The Battle of Evermore." The vocal-free version of the latter on the second disc displays Page's considerable touch on mandolin. The band combined their acoustic and electric sides on the epic "Stairway to Heaven" with results that were, to put it mildly, wildly successful even with clunky, at times cringe-worthy, mystical lyrics. Page's much heralded patented riffage is in full display on "Misty Mountain Hop" and the driving rhythm of the swampy, minor key "Four Sticks" can be considered one of the set's hidden gems.