Topic: Led Zeppelin Album Discussion

[metaldams]

      On to LED ZEPPELIN III which I will say upfront is my second favorite Led Zeppelin album.  Like all Zeppelin albums, this one is multi times platinum and hit number one in most parts of the world, but at the time it was also greeted with some controversy.  The first side of this album is relatively heavy while side two is mostly acoustic, a formula The Rolling Stones would use one year later on their STICKY FINGERS album - my favorite from them.  I think it was best Zeppelin expanded their sound for their longevity, legacy and artistry.  The blues rock of their first two albums was real cool, but the formula could be a bit limiting to sustain a career and interest.  There were bands at the time like Cactus who did that.  What, you never heard of Cactus?  Exactly my point - and nothing against Cactus if you like old heavy blues rock, but their catalog is short lived compared to Zeppelin.

      I like every Led Zeppelin album, but most of them have maybe a song or two I’m not that crazy about or feel just so-so about.  LED ZEPPELIN III?  I like every song.  I also think the album sounds incredible production wise and highly suggest, if you own a good pair of headphones, to listen to this album with them.  It’s always fun hearing those Jimmy Page guitar parts swirl into different parts of your brain.  On to the track by track.

      “Immigrant Song.”  The guys in Zeppelin want nothing to do with heavy metal.  It’s to the point where Jimmy Page, allegedly, refused to appear as a guest on Eddie Trunk’s “That Metal Show.”  Fair enough, the catalog as a whole is not metal.  But nothing to do with metal?  You wrote “Immigrant Song.”  It has a heavy, octave jumping riff that has nothing to do with the blues and was highly uncommon for 1970, soaring vocals, sped up bass in the chorus and you’re singing about friggin’ Vikings.  Guys, you wrote a metal song and a damn good one at that.  Next.

      “Friends” A really beautiful, atmospheric song.  The guitar riff is really rhythmic and sounds like it should be on an electric, yet Jimmy Page is playing it on acoustic, which is real cool.  The ominous violins give the song a distinct Eastern feel, a great track.  Heavy acoustic rock.

      “Celebration Day.”  The rhythm section is so in the pocket on this track, another one impossible for me not to shake my butt to.  This track is always linked with “Friends” to me.  When Jimmy Page made that four CD box set in the nineties and rearranged song orders (the way a lot of Zep fans my age were introduced to Zeppelin), he still put these two songs together.

       “Since I’ve Been Loving You.”  Again, pool room, one in the morning, cigarette smoke, beer, girl with a bad perm chewing gum with a voice like Fran Drescher by your side and no one else - that’s the image this song conjures in my head.  A slow blues track that is miles ahead of anything on the first two albums.  The whole band is on fire, with Jonesy on the organ, Bonham pounding away, Plant pouring out tons of emotion and Page’s guitar playing is from another planet.  Total classic.

      “Out On the Tiles.”  An underrated Zeppelin song that is a fun rocker.  The highlight for me is that note heavy riff which is so cool.  Cool enough for Dave Mustaine and Megadeth to cover this song as a bonus track on some editions of UNITED ABOMINATIONS.

      “Gallows Pole.”  Now we’re onto side two, which is mostly mellower stuff.  “Gallows Pole” starts out mellower but as the song moves on more and more gets added to it production wise.  I love the way the rhythm section slowly builds up and how solid it is once it gets going.  Another favorite of mine.

      “Tangerine.”  I don’t have the words other than to say this is probably my favorite song on the album and one of my favorite Zeppelin songs ever.  Plant’s vocals and melodies are so beautiful here and the tone and phrasing of Jimmy Page’s brief guitar solo get me every time.  Love this song!

      “That’s the Way.”  Not so much of a pool room song.  More so sitting on the porch on a sunny day and relaxing in nature.  I don’t smoke weed, but if I did, I imagine this song would work.  A real chill, beautiful acoustic song.  In Zeppelin concerts they would always have an acoustic part where they get out the stools and “That’s the Way” would be a staple of that part of the show.

      “Bron-Y-Aur Stomp.”  Another acoustic song that works for the sitting on the stool and chilling out concert moments.  Love tapping my foot to Bonzo’s bass drum here - I guess that’s where the “stomp” comes from.

      “Hats Off to (Roy) Harper”. A really interesting closing track.  Some crazy echo or reverb effect going on here yet at the same time, giving off the atmosphere of some blues song recorded in a shack in Mississippi in 1935.  Definitely an atmospheric way to end the album.

      I’m a really big fan of LED ZEPPELIN III and think it’s better than a few albums that get more praise than it, though like I said, the first six albums tend to be considered classics on some level.  The next album is the big seller of a group of big sellers and I imagine you guys who don’t know too much Zeppelin know a few songs on that one.

[Shemp_Diesel]

This album has come in for some knocks by critics and fans, because, I guess if you bought the original vinyl, side 2 was too acoustic laden for their tastes. I don't share those sentiments, and like you stated Metal, if Zeppelin had stuck to being just a blues heavy band, their career might have flamed out early like Cream--nothing against Cream...

Of course, I think every Zeppelin album has a little bit of blues somewhere and the masterpiece for this record is Since I've Been Lovin You. And it remained one of their live staples right until the very end in 1980.

My personal favorite track is Out on the Tiles. Maybe an often overlooked track that I believe they only performed the complete rendition of in 1970 on the Blueberry Hill bootleg that's still up on YouTube. The killer intro itself would be later used to segway into Black Dog....

As for the second half of the album, I've enjoyed the acoustic side of Zeppelin's career almost as much as the electric, so suffice to say, I love all the songs.

Hats off to Roy Harper was definitely a curious choice to close with--although, I guess if you take it as a sort of joke or playful song, like some from future albums (The Crunge), it serves it purpose...

9.5/10....

[metaldams]

I never did put two and two together, but you’re right Diesel, the intro to “Out On the Tiles” is used live for “Black Dog.”

As far as Cream, listen to the studio stuff on WHEELS OF FIRE and GOODBYE.  They were definitely expanding their sound.  Cream’s problem is they had three huge egos who could not work together as well as Zeppelin.

[HomokHarcos]

I've heard that this album is more acoustic, but I'm surprised by the amount of guitar rock driven songs. There are quite a few considering the album's reputation.

"Immigrant Song" is definitely the most popular track on this album, and one of their most played songs in general. It's probably the song that follows the typical hit style they did. "Friends" does have a sort of Middle Eastern influenced feeling to the song. I happen to like acoustic guitar songs a lot when they are backed up by other instruments like with Days of the New. "Celebration Day" is another electric based song that appears on this album. I don't see why a Led Zeppelin fan would have been terribly disappointed by this release, it's got classic style songs like this. "Since I've Been Loving You" reminds me of the type of music they were making on the first album, it's a jam session-styled blues song. Funny you mention pool room, because that is what my thoughts are when hearing this song. "Out on the Tiles" is probably the catchiest song on the album. I like the guitar riff here.

Hey metaldams, I think you're getting the exact same impression I do from some of these songs. My thought when hearing "Gallows Pole" is I like that it starts slowly but then builds up to a louder ending. It's amazing when the drums are playing. "Tangerine" is kind of interesting in that it has an acoustic guitar, an electric guitar and a pedal steel guitar. That gives it a sort of country feel. I happened to be fishing when listening to this album, "That's the Way" is a fitting song for that. I tend to associate acoustic music with the forest and nature, it goes along well with campfires and so on. "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp" is another campfire style song. "Hats Off to Roy Harper" is another acoustic song that sounds like they used affects to give a loop sounding song with the guitar and vocals. This is a more traditional acoustic, as in there is just the guitar and vocals.

I feel like as a whole this album doesn't get too much airplay, aside from "Immigrant Song". It probably was a big influence for a lot of the folk-inspired bands.

[Umbrella Sam]

I must admit, I was skeptical when you guys told me about LED ZEPPELIN III, because I looked up the track listing and saw that the first song was “Immigrant Song”. This is the Zeppelin song I’m most familiar with and was the reason I was hesitant to take part at all. Sorry, I know a lot of people really liked this song, and when it changes key, I think it kind of works. But the main melody has always annoyed me. Maybe it’s from being overplayed, but I don’t remember liking it as far back as I can remember.

Luckily, after checking the rest of this out, I can confirm that I really enjoyed the rest of it outside of “Hats Off To (Roy) Harper”, which seemed a bit too much like it was trying to be some psychedelic thing without actually being interesting. “Friends” was more like what I expected; very acoustic-focused and even featuring an orchestra, which I appreciate. The orchestra kind of captures that distorted sound that I liked from the orchestra in “I Am the Walrus”. “Celebration Day” is a cool, country rock-style number and I thought the bass especially stood out on this song.

Hearing the title “Since I’ve Been Loving You” immediately made me think of Elton John’s “I’ve Been Loving You”, but thankfully there are no similarities. Instead, it actually reminded me a lot of Elton’s “Have Mercy on the Criminal”, with its epic, dark feel and a long-form guitar solo. I don’t really see them ever linked, but I’m almost certain Elton would have heard this album, given the massive record fan he’s always been.

“Our on the Tiles” probably feels the most in line with the previous albums, and it works. But it’s completely overshadowed by the next three tracks. “Gallows Pole” is another country-sounding track. I agree, metaldams, I like hearing it build up too, and I like how the electric guitar sounds when it comes in; when I first heard it, I actually thought it was a saxophone. “Tangerine” and “That’s the Way” are my two favorites. The acoustic tone is so beautiful on both, and “That’s the Way” turns it into a fantastic, short form riff that, while short and constant, never gets repetitive. The vocals are great on both and they both have atmospheric feelings to them; I agree HomokHarcos, I think of forests and nature too with both of these songs. In my WHITE ALBUM review, I mentioned how much I loved the three-way sequence of “Bungalow Bill”, “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” and “Happiness Is a Warm Gun”. This three-way sequence of “Gallows Pole”, “Tangerine”, and “That’s the Way” are like the Zeppelin equivalent of this. They flow so naturally and create such a great sound that I feel like listening to them all together like this is how they truly are supposed to be heard. The following song, “Bron-Y-Aur Stomp”, is good, but has the unfortunate task of following that amazing sequence and is a bit less impressive as a result.

So, overall, some of the best stuff I’ve heard yet from Zeppelin. Yeah, I think it starts and ends badly, but what’s good is really, really good and shows the side of Zeppelin that I’ve been more than happy to discover through this journey. Sure, I like heavy rock and love many electric guitar-heavy songs, but I think it’s more impressive when a rock band can do something with an acoustic focus because it’s not inherently a rock instrument in the same way an electric is. Electric is the image of rock, while acoustic is like the underdog, and I find it more impressive when you can use the acoustic right in this case; it’s the same reason I think so highly of “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You”. I’m really glad I checked this out.

[metaldams]

I agree with you on that three song run, Sam.  My favorite part of the album too.  Glad you guys are enjoying this.  The next Sabbath album I’m looking forward to your reactions more than anything and the next Zeppelin album there’s gotta be songs you guys know, just like the next Elton album.

[HomokHarcos]

I forgot to mention this before, but my dad was such a big Zeppelin fan that he named me after Karac Plant (Robert Plant’s son) so there’s my own personal connection.

My personal favorite Led Zeppelin song is on the next album, one I listened to over and over again and never got sick of and is the first song I associate with Led Zeppelin.

[metaldams]

I forgot to mention this before, but my dad was such a big Zeppelin fan that he named me after Karac Plant (Robert Plant’s son) so there’s my own personal connection.

My personal favorite Led Zeppelin song is on the next album, one I listened to over and over again and never got sick of and is the first song I associate with Led Zeppelin.

That’s awesome!  So Karac is your real name.  Yeah, unfortunately, he’ll play a part in the story in a bit, so sad what happened.

My favorite Zeppelin song is on a later album.  My two favorite Elton tunes are on the next one.

[Shemp_Diesel]

My favorite 1-2-3 punch from Zeppelin comes in about 2 albums from now.

I have to admit, I haven't actually listened to the studio version of Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp in a long time--I just think that is one of those tunes that has much more life when performed live...

[metaldams]

      Led Zeppelin’s fourth album officially had no title.  Sometimes called Zoso, sometimes Untitled, I will refer to it as Led Zeppelin IV.  The official Led Zeppelin website now gives this album that title, so good enough for me.  This album is proof titling your album and putting the band name on it is overrated.  36 million copies sold worldwide, 23 million of them in the U.S.  Yes, 23 times platinum, one of the best sellers of all time.  I would imagine at least three of these songs you guys know and would just about bet my life on one of them.

      Zeppelin were on top of the world at this point and materialistically would remain so until their break up.  Artistically, well, like I said, the first six albums are all considered classics but Led Zeppelin IV just a tad more so.  So yeah, by composite, their best album.  Is it my favorite?  No.  I do enjoy it very much, but there’s an album ahead I like more.  I even prefer the previous album. 

      Very much like Black Sabbath’s PARANOID, this is an eight track album and tracks one, two and four have been played into the ground.  All great songs but man, very much a part of the culture to the point where they’re hard to escape.  My one complaint about this album is that the three heavier songs on side two have these great riffs that are not mixed up front and center like they should be to my ears and the mix has too much treble and not enough bass - the frequency, I mean, not the instrument.  There are times when it doesn’t bother me and I love this album during those listens.  When it does bother me, I’ll put in some Sabbath or some other Zeppelin album.  Just me bitching, this is a great album worthy of your attention.  Onto the track by track.

      “Black Dog” Real famous song and the first Zeppelin track I ever heard.  Classic stop and start vocal and band interaction and that John Paul Jones penned riff is a killer.  Listening to this album in headphones this week, I finally heard a little rim shot from Bonham about a half beat before the band kicks back in each time.  Real helpful as a cue playing along to this, as the timing has always been tricky for me.  Great song overall.

      “Rock and Roll” Fantastic John Bonham drum intro again with a bit of tricky timing. Zeppelin had a fantastic rhythm section and really show it off here the way they drive the song and again, do those stops and starts.  A fun Plant vocal, nice playing from Jimmy, some rock piano at the end.  A fun song overall and another real famous one.

      “The Battle of Evermore” When I first heard this at age 11, I did not get it at all.  Now I love this song, which shows how tastes change.  Jimmy Page on acoustic and the mandolin, adding so much color to this song.  That said, this is a Robert Plant tour de force, perhaps my favorite vocal performance from him.  The vocal harmonies are mesmerizing and he does get great help from Sandy Denny of Fairport Convention.  The female voice on some of these lines is her and she also does a wonderful job.  Fantastic song, one of my favorites.

      “Stairway to Heaven.”  I feel the same way now as when it was time for me to comment on “Hey Jude” or “Yesterday.”  What more is there to say that hasn’t been said by a million others?  Of course it’s a great song, a total classic.  You’ve heard it, you know it.

      “Misty Mountain Hop”  Fantastic riff done on both keyboards and guitar, killer Bonham groove and Jonesy is in Motown mode with his bass playing in a few parts.  Plant’s vocal is real sing songy and catchy and this is another deservedly fan favorite.

      “Four Sticks” The title of this song derives from the fact that John Bonham has two drumsticks in each hand here.  Again, a fantastic riff I wish was recorded a little heavier, but a great song nonetheless.  Some real fat bass chords before the stops, another great groove and my favorite part is that psychedelic sounding bridge with those high Plant vocals.

      “Going to California”  Inspired by Joni Mitchell, this is another unbelievably beautiful acoustic song, this time with John Paul Jones handling the mandolin duties.  I love the lyrics to this song the way it paints a good story and imagery and I love Plant’s vocals.  Yeah, call me a big fan of the acoustic side of Zeppelin for sure.

      “When the Levee Breaks”  Dat groove!  It sucks me so much I have to admit there have been plenty of listens where I barely know what’s going on top of it and I sometimes fall asleep.  This song really rolls along and when I am able to focus my attention to what’s on top, quite rewarding.  But it goes back to the production thing.  This is the song, more than any other, where I really wish that guitar riff was more upfront.  I guess Zeppelin were trying to be more than a hard rock band, but some of their songs call for that sound.

      So yeah, a good album overall with some obvious classics.  I’m not ranking this above LED ZEPPELIN III and another one, possibly two ahead.  But no matter what I say, Led Zeppelin IV is like RUMOURS, DARK SIDE OF THE MOON, ABBEY ROAD, BACK IN BLACK and a select few other albums.  So part of our culture it’s above any criticism, even if the criticism in my eyes isn’t outweighed by the greatness on display here.

[Shemp_Diesel]

I might keep my comments about this album a bit short, since it's so well known from beginning to end. I think the only track from Zeppelin IV that didn't become a live staple is Four Sticks, and WTLB got a limited run early in the 1975 tour.

I imagine those are both 2 tunes that were difficult to replicate in a live setting. Stairway is a song that has never gotten old for me due to listening to various live performances & when I do come back to the studio version, it's always a welcome listen.

Best album so far, but the greatness of IV doesn't overshadow future albums ahead--in fact, I would say they're even better...

10/10....

[metaldams]

On the four CD box set released in 1990, “Four Sticks” was the only track not to make the cut.  Like all the others not on the first set, it was in the second set.  Zeppelin IV had the biggest ratio of cuts in that first box.

[HomokHarcos]

This song is also hit heavy like Led Zeppelin II, but overall I prefer the previous album over this one. This album can be divided for me into two categories: the more hard rock, electric based songs and the acoustic folk-like songs.

"Black Dog" is the first Led Zeppelin song I knew, and the the main song I associate with Led Zeppelin. I love the guitar riff, particularly the one that ends the song. It fades out, but if it didn't I could hear it go on forever. "Rock and Roll" as the title indicates, is a little big of a throwback to 1950s style rock, but with a much heavier sound. Does a good job at that. "Misty Mountain Hop", "Four Sticks" and "When the Levee Breaks" are rock songs that I'm not as familiar with, but have the Led Zeppelin sound I usually associate with the band.

On to the acoustic songs, "The Battle of Evermore" resonating with me a lot more when I listened to it today then the other times I heard it. Definitely a song I overlooked previously. "Stairway to Heaven" actually feels like a precursor to the power ballads that bands like Metallica would later do. It starts out slower and moody, before transitioning into a heavier, fast paced section (think "One"). "Going to California" is a perfectly acceptable bridge between the more rock based songs.

[metaldams]

I would never think to put “Stairway to Heaven” and “One” in the same sentence, but I get the point you’re making.  I’ve always associated Scorpions “We’ll Burn the Sky” and Judas Priest “Beyond the Realms of Death” as more direct influences on the 80’s Metallica ballads.

[Shemp_Diesel]

This is something that popped into my head while listening to Whole Lotta Love of all things, but I'm assuming this thread will include CODA at some point in time or does that not count, since it was just an assemblage of leftover tracks Jimmy Page put together after Zeppelin disbanded?

[metaldams]

This is something that popped into my head while listening to Whole Lotta Love of all things, but I'm assuming this thread will include CODA at some point in time or does that not count, since it was just an assemblage of leftover tracks Jimmy Page put together after Zeppelin disbanded?

Coda will be discussed.  There will also be an all encompassing thread for live albums.

[metaldams]

      On to the next Led Zeppelin album, the eclectic HOUSES OF THE HOLY.  This albums falls into a weird place as it’s sandwiched between the biggest seller and the big statement double studio album.  Those two albums have this big aura to them while HOUSES OF THE HOLY is simply just another great album.

      I can totally respect somebody calling this the best Led Zeppelin album.  They were mature, confident and not afraid to take risks at this point.  I don’t personally because there is one song I flat out don’t like on here and another that has some iffy elements to my ears.  The rest of it I really dig.  But if you’re not like me and enjoy all these things, this album must be a slice of Heaven.  I think the overall production sounds a lot stronger than Led Zeppelin IV, so that’s definitely a plus in this album’s favor.  The album also reached immortality because Bill and Ted said in their school project that when they visited Socrates in their time machine, Greece looked like the cover of HOUSES OF THE HOLY.  Party on dude!  Onto the track by track.

      “The Song Remains the Same”  What a strange opening track.  This is the song that is iffy in parts for me.  That part is Robert Plant, but onto the good stuff first.  Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones both have some of their best playing here, really on fire.  Instrumentally this is an awesome song.  It’s like they forgot to write a song around it all and it would’ve been better served as an instrumental.  It’s the vocals I’m not into, especially towards the end.  Plant is singing baby talk.  He sounds like Thelma Todd in HORSE FEATHERS when she’s doing baby talk with Groucho in the canoe.  What’s more mind boggling to me is after Plant summons Thelma, he ends this song with this really awesome a cappella harmonized vocal chord.  After all that gibberish, he ends it with a note of awesomeness.  If there was ever a song to separate the good and bad, it’s this one.  Next.

      “The Rain Song”  A direct response to George Harrison saying Zeppelin can’t write ballads.  They responded with a classic.  As questionable as Plant was in the previous song, he’s great here.  Page is playing these wonderfully atmospheric guitar parts and beautiful melodies throughout and John Paul Jones adding color with the mellotron.  Geezer played the mellotron for Sabbath during ballads too, must be a bass player thing.  Anyway, a beautiful song that reminds me of a girl I once knew because it was one of her favorite songs.

      “Over the Hills and Far Away”  A really catchy and iconic opening guitar lick and a really good song.  What striking about this song to me is that it’s light on the electric guitar side yet the rhythm section is playing it all pretty heavy.  It’s a cool mix and I think done more successfully than some of those side two tracks on the previous album which I think would have benefitted more from the heavier guitar tone.

       “The Crunge”  I think a lot of people hate this song but I’m not one of them.  I totally get what they’re doing here and that’s paying tribute to James Brown with bits of humor thrown in.  Bonzo and Jonesy are both killing it here in the rhythm section and I can listen to them all day.  Plant going on about finding that bridge that never comes - James Brown would always shout orders to his band to take him to the bridge mid song, so I appreciate the joke.

      “Dancing Days”  A real simple but awesome guitar riff and rhythm pulse in this song and I absolutely love it.  I love Plant’s cool and casual vocal delivery and the smart pop hooks throughout.  Just a fun, simple, enjoyable song.

      “D’yer Mak’er”  My most hated Led Zeppelin song ever.  Most British rock bands attempting reggae falls flat with me.  Just doesn’t feel right, though like I said in the Elton thread, he was one of the few to pull it off.  Not here.  I hate that guitar riff, I hate Plant’s vocals during the verses, the bridge is the best part but not enough to save this song for me.  The song is pronounced “Jamaica” like some British Cockney way of saying the country.  I just read John Paul Jones said he’s not a fan of this song either.  My respect for him has gone up further.  Speaking of respecting him…..

      “No Quarter”  After the travesty that preceded this, we’re given a John Paul Jones masterpiece in “No Quarter.”  My favorite song on the album and one of my favorite Led Zeppelin songs ever.  Jones’ keyboard playing is stunning here.  Very tasteful and atmospheric which adds so much to the mood.  Plant’s vocals are also among his best and Page’s guitar playing is from another planet come solo time.  I don’t drop acid but if I did, I’d do so while listening to this song.  Very cool stuff.

      “The Ocean”  The album ends on a classic.  Classic John Bonham groove and backing vocals!  Yes, backing vocals.  One of my favorite Zeppelin riffs ever that is so fun to play.  A cool heavy rock track with great vocal hooks that includes a great a capella part and some swinging rock with a cool walking bass line to end it.  Love it.

      A very good album overall which would be great if Plant laid off the helium balloon for one song and they substituted something better for the reggae song.  What’s coming next is the mighty double album opus, PHYSICAL GRAFITTI.  Black Sabbath was not the only band to release my favorite album of theirs in 1975, so I can’t wait to discuss that one.

 

[Umbrella Sam]

Alright, I was finally able to get to LED ZEPPELIN IV, and once again, I liked the overall result. Funny enough, “Black Dog” is a song I’ve always heard about, yet never actually heard, despite being such a famous Zeppelin number. The riff is cool and I really like the recurring “Oh yeah” vocals Plant does throughout. “Rock and Roll” is pretty much what you expect from the title; just the band rocking out and doing some throwbacks to the ‘50s with the riffs and piano playing. It’s not a spectacular song, but it flows well.

“The Battle of Evermore” was really cool. An excellent folk song that makes great use of the mandolin. One of my favorite movies growing up was the 1978 version of THE LORD OF THE RINGS. I remember I once read that director Ralph Bakshi wanted to use Led Zeppelin songs for the soundtrack, and based on what I’d heard from Zeppelin, I never really understood why. Well, with this song, I get it; this definitely feels more in line with the adventurous score that did ultimately end up in the film.

Time really does change opinions sometimes; I remember hearing “Stairway to Heaven” many years ago and not being particularly impressed especially after all the hype. Well, listening again, I now understand why. It truly feels like an epic from start to finish, varying flawlessly between folk and hard rock; I can imagine this one playing really well live.

The next two tracks, “Misty Mountain Hop” and “Four Sticks” are more along the style I expect from Zeppelin. “Four Sticks” actually gave me some “Sympathy For the Devil” vibes, which is always a good thing, and I especially liked the electric piano on “Misty Mountain Hop”. “Going to California” isn’t nearly as good as the acoustic numbers on LED ZEPPELIN III, but it still works in the context of the album and Plant’s more laid back than usual vocal style is quite effective. “When the Levee Breaks” is more of a jam-type song than “Stairway to Heaven”, but it does manages to capture the epic feel in some of the instrumental sections and as such is still a good closer. The harmonica was an especially nice addition.

So, how does LED ZEPPELIN IV compare to LED ZEPPELIN III? Honestly, I don’t dislike a single song on IV, whereas I dislike the first and last of III. At the same time, though, the rest of III’s material is so great and flows so well that I still have to give that the edge, especially since I still prefer the tracks on there to the majority of the tracks on here. Still, that doesn’t take away from what is a pretty solid collection of songs on IV, and even outside of the obvious big hits like “Stairway to Heaven” and “Black Dog” (which are indeed great), there also were some really good surprises like “The Battle of Evermore”. Another really good album, and I think I am beginning to understand Led Zeppelin’s legacy much better after listening to these first four albums.

[metaldams]

The lyrics to “Battle of Evermore” as I understand are inspired by LORD OF THE RINGS.  I’m going to have to check that 1978 movie out, I never even knew it existed.

[HomokHarcos]

It may not be their best album, but it's a pretty strong one. Most of the tracks are pretty good.

"The Song Remains the Same", now that you mention, I agree would have been better as an instrumental. It's a pretty killer opening and I can mostly the instruments in it. "The Rain Song" is a very good ballad, which can often be hit or miss for me, but this one is definitely a better one. Led Zeppelin's mellow songs are often some of the highlights of their albums. "Over the Hills and Far Away" is like "Ramble On" for me. It's a song I heard a lot before but never realized how good it was. I like the folk opening, and really enjoy the rockier section when the electric guitars take over. Might be one of my favorite Led Zeppelin songs. It's a case where after I finished the album I had to hear it again. I immediately noticed that "The Crunge" was inspired by funk music. I actually really like 1970s funk bands, (it's one of my mom's favorite genres) so it was cool to hear Led Zeppelin doing it. Admittedly, it still doesn't match up to the greater funk bands.

"Dancing Days" is one of those songs that are catchy and good, but not exactly great. It sounds like a song that was made for radio airplay. "D'yer Mak'er" is a song that surprisingly gets a lot of airplay on classic rock stations where I live. I admit I'm not anywhere near an expert in reggae, but it must have been popular in the 1970s considering how many rock bands made songs inspired by reggae. It's an OK song for me, not one I would have ever put as on their greatest. "No Quarter" is a song that reminds me of a band called Porcupine Tree. Not sure how mainstream they are, but they were one of my most listened to bands growing up. Definitely atmospheric and the vocals are used much better here than in the opening track. "The Ocean" is a very good rocker. Along with "Black Dog", this is one of the songs I always think of when I hear the worlds Led Zeppelin mentioned. I did try to learn this on bass before, the very end is pretty difficult.

[metaldams]

The “No Quarter” Porcupine Tree comparison is an interesting one. I can see it.   Steve Wilson of that band has done remixes for tons of 70’s prog albums and even recently did one for Black Sabbath’s TECHNICAL ECSTASY, so he’s very inspired by 70’s stuff like this.

[Shemp_Diesel]

I think I mentioned previously, my favorite 1-2-3 punch on a Led Zeppelin album and this is it. TSRTS, The Rain Song, and Over the Hills. I can't think of a better opening to any album & the next one on PG has some damn good openers as well. I think I can understand some of the criticisms about Plant's sped up vocals, but it never bothered me in the slightest. I don't think Zeppelin ever did instrumentals, & one story I remember is that Walter's Walk--an outtake from this album--was supposed to be a rare one from Zep, until Plant laid down some vocals for it in 1982.

The Rain Song is just beauty personified, don't know what else I can say about it & Over the Hills is my all-time favorite song, period. I guess after that killer 1-2-3 punch, maybe this album falls off for some fans because of the more light-hearted material--or maybe some would call it the "joke" songs--The Crunge and D'yer Mak'er. I've always enjoyed Jonesy's bass on the Crunge and the James Brown style throwback.

D'yer Mak'er on the other hand--if I had to be honest--that's one I usually skip when listening to this album, but when I do listen on rare occasions, I seem to get through it without pulling my hair out. 

The rest of the album, NQ, Dancing Days, and The Ocean round out the album nicely & even with the somewhat of a misfire with the reggae blend, I still rate this as my favorite Zeppelin album....

10/10....

[metaldams]

I had no idea Zeppelin recorded individual parts for anything on CODA in 1982.  I’ll have to research that album more when we get to it, my relationship with it is a strange one.

[Umbrella Sam]

Yeah, I think I’m kind of with Shemp_Diesel on this one. I found this to be a really consistent album and I think it may surpass LED ZEPPELIN III as my favorite.

“The Song Remains the Same” is a great opener. The guitar and drumming from Page and Bonham is really awesome throughout and I’m actually fine with the vocals on this, though I will admit that Plant does start to sound a bit like a chipmunk towards the end. “The Rain Song”...phenomenal. I love the orchestral effect they managed to create, along with the piano and the very unique guitar sound. It’s such a beautiful song and possibly my favorite by Zeppelin so far. “Over the Hills and Far Away” is a really cool song that makes good use of the acoustic guitar in the opening. What I like is that even when it goes more electric heavy, the acoustic is still obviously there and you can still clearly make it out. It’s funny, I didn’t recognize the majority of this song, but there’s one part near the end where the electric guitar and bass are perfectly in sync which I did recognize, so I must have heard this song at some point. “The Crunge” isn’t quite as good as the first three songs, but I really like the bass playing on it and still find it catchy.

I agree that “Dancing Days” sounds like a song made for radio airplay, but I see that in a good way. It sounds like the kind of song that would be awesome to have playing in your car driving; it’s definitely a road trip type song, very cool. “D’yer Mak’er”...I can see people not liking it, and, yeah, of all the songs on here I’d say it’s my least favorite too. But I don’t dislike it; I actually do like the guitar playing near the end. It works fine for me, I didn’t find it annoying. “No Quarter” is very futuristic sounding. The combination of the piano and that guitar compression they’re doing really does create this very atmospheric sound. “The Ocean” kind of calls back to the blues with that guitar riff, but again shows how much Zeppelin has evolved since then, and that a cappella part was especially awesome.

The only thing I don’t like about this album is the atrocious album cover. But from a musical perspective, I found I really enjoyed this album and, yeah, I think it is probably my favorite so far, as much as I love the triple combination of “Gallows Pole”, “Tangerine” and “That’s the Way” on LED ZEPPELIN III.

[Shemp_Diesel]

I guess this ties into the album discussion, the opinion of a lot of fans that 1973 was the zenith for Zeppelin as far as being at the height of their creative powers, both in the studio and touring & that the dropoff started in 1975--not so much with PG, but the whole '75 tour.

I don't agree with that prevailing thought, but it has made for good discussion over the years & when the excesses of rock and roll life actually derailed the Mighty Zeppelin....