The official site for Tim's legendary Zeppelin reviews
Led Zeppelin IV
In a bold move that went much better than Roseanne’s ill-advised decision to call Valerie Jarrett a product of the planet of the apes...... there is not officially a title to this album. This was all part of the Led Zep mystique and aura that was meticulously conceived by Jimmy Page. Another topic for debate that added to the allure of the mysteriousness of the Almighty Zepp was the issue of devil worship. Did they or didn’t they? I will address that in a later album. Anyone that knows anything about rock music cannot deny that this is one of the greatest rock achievements of all time. Someone please point out a bad song on this album. That's what I thought....you cant. The worse song in my opinion is Four Sticks and that is a very good song that rated an 8! This album lives up to the hype and will be enjoyed by generations to come long after we all take a dirt nap.
Black Dog
What a fantastic opening song to an album. Page got a bit different with a metallic sounding guitar tone here that is unique and harsh but sounds great. Love Plants scream that leads up to the solo. More monster drums by Bonzo. Plant at the top of his game vocally here .this is a true titan of a song in the classic rock pantheon.
Rock N Roll
Fairly simple blues song that is sped up, the drums are huge in this song and sound great. There is also so simple but good keyboard work in this song. Another rip roaring solo by Page leading into Plants vocals. I should probably deduct a point or two though for Led Zep selling out and allowing Cadillac to use this in a commercial though. Indeed an odd pairing that was stranger than that Snoop Dogg / Marsha Stewart Pot Luck TV Dinner show pairing that was on for awhile.
Battle of Evermore
This is a very underrated Zep tune. Who knew mandolin was so cool? What other hard rock band was putting music out like this. This song mixes Zep's influences of British folk, middle eastern, country etc. with Plant singing about hobbits and trolls and shit. I believe this is the only Led Zeppelin song to feature a guest vocalist. Her name is Sandy Danny and she did a great job on this track. The intro is fantastic as it slowly builds tension until the vocals come in. The acoustic solo is great, the vocal harmonies, the outro is great the way Plants vocals answer the mandolin. Man I am obtaining a chubby just thinking and writing about this song. This an absolute top notch song from beginning to end. Although this is an acoustic song make no mistake this song is heavy AF. Maybe even deserving of a 10.
Stairway to Heaven
Alright I know I am going to get killed here but hear me out.......first of all when was the last time you "listened" to this song? Not heard this song but actually listened to it? You probably heard it yesterday on your drive in to work but that doesn't count. Before you bash me and/or the song I challenge you to listen to the song alone in a room with the volume turned up.What you will find is a brilliantly crafted song from beginning to end (although there is debate on whether Page stole the intro from a band called Spirit song called Taurus ). Actually, there is no debate they stole the intro from Spirit (take a listen for yourselves to see). Before you knee jerk reaction me and bash me for the 10 rating do what I told you to do above. After doing so and you still disagree then you have permission to bash my 10 rating. Page wanted to write songs that contrasted light and dark soft and loud, light and hard and this song was the epitome of that and does it perfectly. If you can put aside the fact that you are sick of hearing it ....I think you can see that it has to be considered one of the greatest rock songs of all time. Think about it ...nearly 50 years after its release it is still hugely popular. Why? Because it is a fantastic song it has arguably one of the greatest and most memorable guitar solos ever. The way it builds from slow moving stream to a class 5 rapids at the end is tremendous. Yes some of the lyrics do not make sense but so what? I mean some of the meanings of these lyrics seem to be more hidden than Chuck Berry‘s toilet cam. But again, before you bash. Give it a real "listen" first and then you can bash if you still feel the need to.
Misty Mountain Hop
What a groove in this song.......love how the keyboards, guitar and vocal line all mirror each other to create a big combined sound. Extremely simple riff but again, sometimes those are the best. There is more than you realize going on in this song then you think. listen to this song through headphones and you will see what I mean.
Four Sticks
Interesting , different sounding song with unique percussion going on in it. Again a great groove here with an almost tribal percussion and vibe. This song is sneaky good but kind of gets overshadowed by the other classic rock giants on this album.
Going to California
This song is absolute ear candy that takes you on a melodic journey beginning to end. The vocals and lyrics are understated and great. This song takes me back to a simpler time of riding in the back seat of my parents car excited to get to whatever destination we were seeking .. great intro, great mandolin, great acoustic guitar, great outro, what did I miss ? I cant say this song is underrated as I believe most people give it the respect that it deserves. This song was inspired by Joni Mitchell and the California music scene at the time this is a candidate for my favorite Zep tune of all time which I will rate once all albums have been reviewed.
When the Levee Breaks
This song has some more of Plants underrated harmonica playing and good use of slide guitar that is dirtier than a Bourbon street side street. Drums are huge. Page got this huge drum sound by setting Bonham up in a big empty mansion (Hedley Grange) and allowing the sound of the drums to just reverberate down the hallways and bounce off the walls with Microphones they hung from the stairway entrance ceiling. Like they were known to do, they found a simple riff and just repeated it ad nauseum. However, when a riff is great you can get away with that and the listener does not get bored (although they stole this song from an old black bluesman, surprise, surprise).