Released: 1971
Tracks: Black Dog; Rock and Roll; The Battle of Evermore; Stairway to Heaven; Misty Mountain Hop; Four Sticks: Going to California; When the Levee Breaks
Best track: Stairway to Heaven
Track to skip: none
The album starts out pretty damn rockin’, even if these two songs are SO overplayed on commercial radio. It’s almost like the band was combating idea that they had gone soft by having side 2 of Led Zep III be completely acoustic. Two absolute rockers right off the bat. Battle of Evermore heads back into the acoustic territory and is an absolute masterpiece. It’s powerful and seductive, even if the lyrics are pretty cheesy (Look! I’ve read Tolkien!). Then we get to the Led Zeppelin song that basically shattered every pre-conceived notion about the band. I think that Stairway to Heaven is still probably the band’s best “epic” and for all its popularity, it’s still a tremendous song. Honestly, the rest of the album could have been absolute crap, but it would still be hugely popular solely for this song. Stairway is such a beautifully composed song. It’s not just a song with a long guitar solo/jam/psychedelic bit in the middle. It’s a tightly composed, multi-sectional truly epic song. What can I say, I love it.
Side two comes into being with the great groove of Misty Mountain Hop. Jeez, Bonham’s drums sound fantastic on this song! What a great, fun song. That 2nd section of Four Sticks is definitely one of the coolest things the band ever composed. Another fantastic groove on this song. I love how we get another reprise of the acoustic stuff with Going to California (gorgeous song!) before ending the album with When the Levee Breaks. We get more Bonham greatness here. Man, he just doesn’t quit. To me this song seems like a redefining of blues-rock. It’s relentless and heavy and absolutely intense. What a perfect way to end this album.
Jeez, I mean, there’s not a bad song on this entire thing! Everything on both sides of Led Zep IV is stellar. They may not head into as many uncharted areas here, but what they came up with was soooooo good. Absolute top-of-their-game material. Every song is a classic; every song is brimming with a confidence that comes from 4 guys who are true experts of their craft. Man, I’m blown away by this album. True excellence – best one so far.
Rating: 97
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