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Biography

Upon its release, Led Zeppelin IV was a commercial and critical success. The album is one of the List of best-selling albums worldwide|best-selling albums worldwide at 32 million units. It has shipped over 23 million units in the United States alone, making it the List of best-selling albums in the United States|third-best-selling album ever in the US . In 2003, the album was ranked 66th on Rolling Stone magazine's list of " The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time ".

Recording sessions

The album was initially recorded at Island Records 's newly opened Basing Street Studios , London, at the same time as Jethro Tull (band)|Jethro Tull 's Aqualung (Jethro Tull album)|Aqualung in December 1970.
Upon the suggestion of Fleetwood Mac ,Michael Leonard, "Heaven Sent", Q (magazine)|Q Led Zeppelin Special Edition, 2003. the band then moved to Headley Grange , a remote Victorian era|Victorian house in East Hampshire , England, to conduct additional recordings. Here they used the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio . Jimmy Page later recalled: "We needed the sort of facilities where we could have a cup of tea and wander around the garden and go in and do what we had to do." This relaxed, atmospheric environment at Headley Grange also provided other advantages for the band. As is explained by Dave Lewis, "By moving into Headley Grange for the whole period of recording, many of the tracks were made up on the spot and committed to tape almost there and then."
Once the basic tracks had been recorded, the band later added overdubs at Island Studios , and then took the completed master tapes to Sunset Sound in Los Angeles for mixing. However, the mix ultimately proved to be less than satisfactory, creating an unwanted delay in the album's release. Further mixing had to be undertaken in London, pushing the final release date back by some months.

Three other songs from the sessions, " Down by the Seaside ", " Night Flight (song)|Night Flight " and " Boogie with Stu " (featuring The Rolling Stones|Rolling Stones cofounder/collaborator Ian Stewart (musician)|Ian Stewart on piano), did not appear on the album, but were included four years later on the double album Physical Graffiti .

Album title

After the lukewarm, if not confused and sometimes dismissive, critical reaction Led Zeppelin III had received in late 1970, Page decided that the next Led Zeppelin album would not have a title, but would instead feature four hand-drawn symbols on the inner sleeve and record label, each one chosen by the band member it represents. "We decided that on the fourth album, we would deliberately play down the group name, and there wouldn't be any information whatsoever on the outer jacket", Page explained. "Names, titles and things like that do not mean a thing."

Page has also stated that the decision to release the album without any written information on the album sleeve was contrary to strong advice given to him by a press agent, who said that after a year's absence from both records and touring, the move would be akin to "professional suicide". In his words: "We just happened to have a lot of faith in what we were doing." In an interview he gave to The Times in 2010, he elaborated:

Owing to the lack of an official title, Atlantic initially distributed graphics of the symbols in many sizes to the press for inclusion in charts and articles. The album was one of the first to be produced without conventional identification, and this communicated an anti-commercial stance that was controversial at the time (especially among certain executives at Atlantic Records).

Releasing the album without an official title has made it difficult to consistently identify. While most commonly called Led Zeppelin IV, Atlantic Records catalogues have used the names Four Symbols and The Fourth Album . It has also been referred to as ZoSo (which, as noted under, Page's symbol appears to spell), Untitled and Runes .Dave Lewis (1994), The Complete Guide to the Music of Led Zeppelin , Omnibus Press, ISBN 0-7119-3528-9. Page frequently refers to the album in interviews as "the fourth album" and "Led Zeppelin IV",Dave Schulps, , Trouser Press , October 1977., Guitar World magazine, 1993 and Plant thinks of it as "the fourth album, that's it". Austin Scaggs , , Rolling Stone , 5 May 2005. Not only does the album have no title, but there is no writing anywhere on the front or back cover, or even a catalogue number on the spine (at least on the original LP release).

The four symbols

The idea for each member of the band to choose a personal emblem for the cover was Page's. In an interview he gave in 1977, he recalled:

After all this crap that we'd had with the critics, I put it to everybody else that it'd be a good idea to put out something totally anonymous. At first I wanted just one symbol on it, but then it was decided that since it was our fourth album and there were four of us, we could each choose our own symbol. I designed mine and everyone else had their own reasons for using the symbols that they used.

Page stated that he designed his own symbol and has never publicly disclosed any reasoning behind it. However, it has been argued that his symbol appeared as early as 1557 to represent Saturn (astrology)#Saturn|Saturn .

The symbol is sometimes referred to as "ZoSo", though Page has explained that it was not in fact intended to be a word at all.

Bassist John Paul Jones (musician)|John Paul Jones ' symbol, which he chose from Rudolf Koch 's Book of Signs , is a single circle intersecting three Vesica piscis|vesica pisces (a triquetra ). It is intended to symbolise a person who possesses both confidence and competence.

Drummer John Bonham 's symbol, the three interlocking rings, was picked by the drummer from the same book. It represents the triad of mother, father and child. In the 1990 Bonham tribute radio special, "It's Been a Long Time", son Jason Bonham confirmed that the symbol was chosen as a representation of man, woman and child, but also happens -- inverted -- to be the logo for Ballantine (brewery)|Ballantine beer.

Singer Robert Plant 's symbol of a feather within a circle was his own design, being based on the sign of the supposed Mu (lost continent)|Mu civilisation.

There is also a fifth, smaller symbol chosen by guest vocalist Sandy Denny representing her contribution to the track " The Battle of Evermore "; it appears in the credits list on the inner sleeve of the LP, serving as an asterisk and is shaped like three triangles touching at their points.

During Led Zeppelin's Led Zeppelin United Kingdom Tour Winter 1971|tour of the United Kingdom in winter 1971, which took place shortly following the release of the album, the band visually projected the four symbols on their stage equipment. Page's symbol was put onto one of his Marshall amplifiers , Bonham's three interlinked circles adorned the outer face of his bass drum , Jones had his symbol stencilled onto material which was draped across his Fender Rhodes keyboard, and Plant's feather symbol was painted onto a side speaker PA cabinet. Only Page's and Bonham's symbols were retained for subsequent Led Zeppelin concerts|Led Zeppelin concert tours .

Album cover and inside sleeve

The 19th century rustic oil painting on the front of the album was purchased from an antique shop in Reading, Berkshire by Plant. The painting was then juxtaposed and affixed to the internal, papered wall of the partly demolished suburban house for the photograph to be taken.

Page has explained that the cover of the fourth album was intended to bring out a city/country dichotomy that had initially surfaced on Led Zeppelin III :

It represented the change in the balance which was going on. There was the old countryman and the blocks of flats being knocked down. It was just a way of saying that we should look after the earth, not rape and pillage it.

However, regarding the meaning of the album cover, he has also stated:

The cover was supposed to be something that was for other people to savour rather than for me to actually spell everything out, which would make the whole thing rather disappointing on that level of your own personal adventure into the music.James Jackson, , The Times , 8 January 2010 .

The album cover was among the ten chosen by the Royal Mail for a set of "Classic Album Cover" postage stamps issued in January 2010.

The inside illustration, entitled "The Hermit" and credited to Barrington Colby MOM, was influenced by the design of The Hermit|the card of the same name in the Rider-Waite tarot deck . This character was later portrayed by Page himself in Led Zeppelin's concert film, The Song Remains the Same (film)|The Song Remains the Same (1976). The inner painting is also referred to as View in Half or Varying Light and was sold at auction under that name in 1981.

Varied versions of the artwork within the album exist. Some versions depict a longhaired and bearded supplicant climbing at the base of the mountain, while some others do not show the six pointed star within the hermit's lantern. If the inside cover of the album is held vertically against a mirror, a man's face can be seen hidden in the rocks below the hermit. Speculation exists that the face is actually that of a black dog.

The typeface for the lyrics to "Stairway to Heaven", printed on the inside sleeve of the album, was Page's contribution. He found it in an old arts and crafts magazine called The_Studio_(magazine)|The Studio which dated from the late 19th century. He thought the lettering was interesting and arranged for someone to work up a whole alphabet.

Release and critical reaction

Album reviews| rev1 = Allmusic
|rev1Score =
| rev2 = BBC
|rev2Score = (favourable)
| rev4 = Blender (magazine)|Blender
|rev4Score =
| rev3 = Billboard (magazine)|Billboard
|rev3Score = (favourable)
| rev6 = Entertainment Weekly
|rev6Score = (A+)
| rev7 = MSN Music
|rev7Score =
| rev8 = Q (magazine)|Q
|rev8Score =
| rev5 = Robert Christgau
|rev5Score = (A)
| rev9 = Rolling Stone
|rev9Score = (favourable)
| rev10 = Rolling Stone Album Guide
|rev10Score =

The album was released on 8 November 1971. In the lead-up to its release, a series of teaser advertisements depicting each symbol was placed in the music press.

The album was a massive instant seller. It entered the UK chart at No. 1 and stayed on the chart for 62 weeks. In the US it stayed on the charts longer than any other Led Zeppelin album and became the biggest selling album in the US not to top the charts (peaking at #2). "Ultimately," writes Lewis, "the fourth Zeppelin album would be the most durable seller in their catalogue and the most impressive critical and commercial success of their career".

Accolades

In 1998, Q (magazine)| Q magazine readers voted Led Zeppelin IV the 26th greatest album of all time; in 2000 Q placed it at No. 26 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. In 2003, the album was ranked number 66 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time|the 500 greatest albums of all time . It is ranked at No. 7 on Pitchfork Media 's Top 100 Albums of the 1970s.

In 2006, the album was rated No. 1 on magazine's 100 Greatest British Albums poll; that same year it was voted No. 1 in Guitar World 100 Greatest Albums readers' poll and was ranked No. 7 in ABC media's top ten albums.

Publication	Country	Accolade	Year	Rank
Mojo	United Kingdom		1996	24
Grammy Awards	United States		1999	*
The Guitar	United States		1999	2
Classic Rock	United Kingdom		2001	1
Rolling Stone	United States		2003	66
Pitchfork Media	United States		2004	7
Q	United Kingdom		2004	*
Robert Dimery	United States	1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die Dimery, Robert – 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die ; page 856	2005	*
Q	United Kingdom		2006	21
Classic Rock	United Kingdom		2006	1
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame	United States		2007	4

(*) designates unordered lists.

Track listing

Sales chart performance

;Album

Chart (1971–1972)	Peak Position
	2
	3
	1
Billboard 200 cite web	2
	9
	2
	1
	1
	1
	8
	2

;Singles

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1971	"Black Dog"	Billboard Hot 100 cite web	15
1972	"Rock and Roll"	Billboard Hot 100cite web	47

Sales certifications

;Album

Personnel

;Led Zeppelin

John Bonham & nbsp;– drum kit|drums

John Paul Jones (musician)|John Paul Jones & nbsp;– bass guitar , electric piano , mandolin , recorder s, synthesiser, acoustic guitar on "The Battle of Evermore"

Jimmy Page & nbsp;– acoustic and electric guitar|electric guitar, mandolin, record producer|production , Audio mastering|mastering , digital remastering

Robert Plant & nbsp;– lead vocals , harmonica , tambourine

;Additional musicians

Sandy Denny & nbsp;– vocals on "The Battle of Evermore"

Ian Stewart (musician)|Ian Stewart & nbsp;– piano on "Rock and Roll"

;Production

Barrington Colby MOM& nbsp;– The Hermit illustration

George Chkiantz & nbsp;– Audio mixing (recorded music)|mixing

Peter Grant (music manager)|Peter Grant & nbsp;– music executive|executive producer

Graphreaks& nbsp;– design coordination

Andy Johns & nbsp;– Audio engineering|engineering , mixing

George Marino& nbsp;– remastering (1990 Compact Disc re-release)

Joe Sidore& nbsp;– mastering (original Compact Disc release)

Copyright Citations

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