Maps of Music

Led Zeppelin IV (1971)

Where the lyrics of Led Zeppelin IV take you, and where it was really made.

This album has no title. Four symbols chosen by the band members stand in for one, and the cover picture was bought in a Reading antique shop.

Key places

Recording begins on Basing Street (1970)

Recording site Sarm West Studios — Sessions for the album began at Island Records' new studios on Basing Street in London on 5 December 1970, with the recording of Black Dog. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Most of the album recorded at Headley Grange (1971)

Recording site Headley Grange — Most of the album was recorded at this country house in Hampshire between December 1970 and February 1971, after the band moved from Basing Street. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Overdubs added at Island Studios (1971)

Recording site Island Studios — After the basic tracks were recorded, the band added overdubs at Island Studios in February and spent five days there before the mixing work began. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Block of flats on the cover (1971)

Album cover Salisbury Tower — The block of flats on the album cover is Salisbury Tower in Birmingham's Ladywood district, and Page said the cover was meant to bring out a city and country dichotomy. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Fourth studio album by English rock band Led Zeppelin, commonly known as Led Zeppelin IV
• Released 8 November 1971 by Atlantic Records
• Produced by guitarist Jimmy Page
• Contains the eight-minute Stairway to Heaven, one of the band's best-known recordings
• Officially untitled; four symbols chosen by each band member represent it on the cover
• Led Zeppelin's best-selling album

Background

• Followed Led Zeppelin III (1970), which received lukewarm reviews from critics
• After III's release in October 1970, the band took a break from live performances and turned down all touring offers
• Guest musicians Sandy Denny and Ian Stewart joined the sessions; most material was written by the band
• One cover song: a hard rock re-interpretation of the Memphis Minnie blues song When the Levee Breaks

Recording

• Recorded between December 1970 and February 1971, mostly at the country house Headley Grange
• Sessions began at Island Records' new studios on Basing Street, London, on 5 December 1970
• Band moved to Headley Grange using the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio, with engineer Andy Johns
• Overdubs added at Island Studios in February; mixing at Sunset Sound in Los Angeles
• Band disliked the results of a playback; Page remixed the whole album in July

Cover

• Front picture of an old man with a bundle of sticks was bought by Plant in an antique shop in Reading, Berkshire
• Block of flats seen on the cover is Salisbury Tower in Birmingham's Ladywood district
• Royal Mail chose the cover for its 2010 Classic Album Cover postage stamps

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Formed in London in 1968 from the remnants of the Yardbirds, originally as the New Yardbirds.
• Jimmy Page recruited Robert Plant, John Bonham and John Paul Jones; the first full performance was in Denmark in September 1968.
• The name was changed to Led Zeppelin after a cease and desist letter from Chris Dreja, with the 'a' dropped from 'lead' at Peter Grant's suggestion.
• Atlantic Records signed them with a large advance and gave the band artistic and publishing autonomy.

Members

• Robert Plant on vocals and harmonica; Jimmy Page on guitar; John Paul Jones on bass and keyboards; John Bonham on drums.
• Page wrote most of the music and Plant most of the lyrics; Jones often originated keyboard-based songs.

Career

• Released eight studio albums in ten years, achieving eight consecutive UK number-one albums and six US Billboard 200 number ones.
• Led Zeppelin IV, with 37 million copies sold, is among the best-selling albums in history.
• Set attendance records on tours in the 1970s, including 56,800 fans at Tampa Stadium in 1973.
• Disbanded in December 1980 after John Bonham's death; surviving members reunited only sporadically, including the 2007 Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert.
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995; estimated to have sold 200 to 300 million records.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• In a contemporary review for Rolling Stone, Lenny Kaye called it the band's most consistently good album yet, praising how no track steps on another's toes
• Billboard magazine called it a powerhouse album with the commercial potential of the band's previous three albums

Reappraisal

• In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine credited the album with defining Led Zeppelin and the sound of 70s hard rock, encompassing heavy metal, folk, rock and roll and blues
• Robert Christgau originally gave a lukewarm review in The Village Voice, but later called it a masterpiece of heavy rock
• In his heavy metal album guide, Spin magazine's Joe Gross cited it as a monolithic cornerstone of the genre
• BBC Music's Daryl Easlea said it effectively combined the folk ideas of the third album with the hard rock style of the second
• Steven Hyden observed in 2018 that the album's popularity had produced a reflexive bias against it from both fans and critics

Records

• Entered the UK chart at No. 10, rose to No. 1 the following week, and spent 90 weeks on the chart in total
• In the US it was Led Zeppelin's best-selling album, peaking at No. 2 on the Billboard album chart
• More than 37 million copies sold worldwide as of 2014
• As of 2021, tied for fifth-highest-certified album in the US with 24x Platinum from the RIAA
• Ranked number 66 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list in 2003
• Named the 26th-greatest British album by Q magazine in 2000

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The album has no title; Atlantic catalogues used the names Four Symbols and The Fourth Album, and it has also been called ZoSo, Untitled and Runes
• Page went ahead with the untitled sleeve despite a press agent warning that the move would be professional suicide
• Plant bought the cover picture in an antique shop; 2023 research dates the photograph to 1892, previously described as an oil painting
• The inside painting The Hermit by Barrington Coleby was later portrayed by Page himself in the concert film The Song Remains the Same (1976)
• Black Dog is named after a dog that hung around Headley Grange during recording
• Sandy Denny provided the only female voice heard on a Led Zeppelin recording, on The Battle of Evermore

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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