Led Zeppelin – Untitled

The club pressings often get mixed reviews however I have two different club versions of this album, one of which is this RI pressing, and they both sound great! I don’t know if it’s because there were so many of the regular pressings done at the main plants that they smoked the stampers and these might be fresher than some, but they are pretty damn good.

What more can you say about this fourth album from Led Zeppelin? It is by no doubt a classic. In fact it was the first Zeppelin album I bought on vinyl once I started high school as the seventies drew to a close. But of course I first this album back in the early seventies when my sister borrowed it from a friend not to mention hearing the songs "Black Dog", "Rock And Roll" and, of course, "Stairway To Heaven" on the radio constantly back in the day. Originally I was going to get the deluxe CD copy of this but then upon discovering the second disc was merely the same set of songs but with different mixes involved as part of head Zep man Jimmy Page's remasters not to mention the altering of the cover so I decided to stick with the standard version as I know it. You have eight great songs on here which is just right[That's four songs per side on vinyl] and much of them classic in their own right. Half of these selections are credited to guitarist Jimmy Page and lead vocalist Robert Plant. Two songs("Black Dog" and "Misty Mountain Hop")has Page and Plant co-credited with bassist John Paul Jones. All four of the group[The fourth member being drummer John Bonham]collaborate on "Rock And Roll", which is considered a drummer's favorite amongst aspiring rock drummers everywhere. The album's concluding track "When The Levee Breaks" find the entire band co-credited to Memphis Minnie(!) when in actually the song dates back to 1927 as recorded by the artist herself with the help of another blues guitarist. This version makes it a rock classic within itself with its recorded set-up involving a single mike for Bonham's drums, the fantastic harmonica wailing from Robert Plant and Jimmy Page's use of slide guitar with John Paul Jones' bass anchoring the bottom. There are two guest appearances on this album. The first is the piano playing talents of original Rolling Stones co-founder Ian Stewart on "Rock And Roll"[The Zeppelin song "Boogie With Stu" from Physical Graffiti was recorded in the same session reportedly. "Stu" was the nickname of Stewart for those who still don't know]. The second is Fairport Convention vocalist Sandy Denny on "The Battle Of Evermore", the first of two acoustic songs on the album. The other acoustic song is "Going To California" in homage to the Joni Mitchell song "California". Both of these acoustic songs feature mandolin playing by either Jimmy Page or John Paul Jones. The only other track featured on this fourth Zeppelin effort is "Four Sticks" with its barrage of riffs any guitarist and bassist could use. Supposedly the title was literally due to the use of four drumsticks used by John Bonham when recording the piece. Arguably, the best song on here is "Stairway To Heaven" and is considered an anthem for AOR[Album Oriented Rock]and always tends to top the lists of various FM station countdowns with Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Freebird" coming in second. The arrangement itself is crafted out well-the acoustic beginning supplied with double-tracked recorders by John Paul Jones; the middle section half acoustic/half electric featuring electric piano, 12-string electric guitar, bass guitar and drums; the electrifying conclusion including a guitar solo that has force to be reckoned with. Finally, the title of this album has many people puzzled. Even though this was Led Zeppelin's fourth album they never had an appropriate title for it and each member of the band chose his own symbol or rune and they each appeared on the label next to their group name. Many people assumed it was titled after Page's rune Zoso[A 1527 meaning for Saturn reportedly], while Plant's was the feather within a circle, Jones' was the trilateral interlocking within a circle and Bonham's was the interlocking circles meaning man, woman and child which bears striking resemblance to the Ballentine beer logo. Sandy Denny also had a rune for herself which was the three downpointing triangles that looked almost similar to the Fallout Shelter design. Other nicknames for this album were: The Hermit[The front cover design], Runes, The Stairway To Heaven Album[The songs' lyrics were printed inside the inner sleeve plus it showed an illustration of a man carrying a lantern atop of a high hill], The Fourth Album and, of course, Zoso. If you don't have this album in your collection, then you don't know what you're missing. This is one Led Zeppelin album no one should be without. If you want to get the Led out, get it out with this one and you won't go wrong. Rock And Roll!