Led Zeppelin IV

For many the classic Zeppelin album, now newly Remastered and sounding better than ever. I have already reviewed the first batch of Re-releases at length (see Led Zep II), and both this and 'Houses of the Holy' (the two new releases) continue the excellent work done by Jimmy Page.This, the fourth Zeppelin album is so well known that discussing the tracks in great detail is not needed. Suffice to say, yes it has 'Stairway to Heaven' on it which accounts for its worldwide popularity but it has so much more to recommend as well.Every track is a winner, even the often maligned 'Four Sticks' (a killer Page riff), and the seperation between the instruments on this Remaster is superb. The huge drum sound on 'When the Levee Breaks' is better defined in amongst everything else around it, particularly towards the end (on previous releases Bonhams' fabulous fills sounded a little mushy - not now).Again, the companion disc is a slight disappointment. The majority of the 'alternate' mixes are not radically different enough to be of that much interest to anyone other than die-hard fans, but that's not to say its all a waste of time. For instance, the Sunset Sound Mix of 'Stairway to Heaven' is excellent - added reverb on the acoustic guitar and drums - and most interesting of all, the final verse (that starts with the line "And as we wind on down the road.."), features Robert Plant only single-tracked. For the finished mix he added a second vocal track of course.The best alternate mix, however, is that of 'Four Sticks'. Engineer Andy Johns has spoken many times of the difficulties he had trying to get a decent mix of this track and has never been happy with the finished version. The final album version sounds slightly constipated for sure and despite Johns' claim that it was the best of "five or six" attempts, I think this unreleased mix knocks it into a cocked hat. (no blame attached to Andy Johns by the way, who is a brilliant engineer). I can see why it wouldn't have got on the album - its a bit rough around the edges - but the guitar on this mix simply roars out of the speakers and suits the ferocious riff far better in my opinion. Of course, there may have been some modern re-mixing going on here to enhance it but either way its great.A quick comment on the other new release 'Houses of the Holy'. Excellent sound on the original album. Companion disc again not great but the 'rough mix' of 'Dancing Days' included as an extra sounds way better than the slightly muddy mix and boxy drum sound that ended up on the album. Quite a revelation and well worth the investment.

If Led Zep I was the big bold blues album, Zep II the rambunctious rock album, and Zep III a pastoral pearl, then the mighty, magnificent IV - with its iconic cover, old bearded bent-backed hermit framed on a peeling wall - is the apotheosis of what Led Zep were all about and capable of.To me, this rapturously exultant album sounds as good if not better now than it did forty years ago. It sounded pretty good to me on its release eight days before my twenty-first birthday, and it just seems to grow in wonder and splendour.Black Dog - well, what can I say? `Hey hey, Mama, said the way you move, gonna make you sweat, gonna make you groove` We have now. What a fantastic opener. Rock And Roll is too good to be true, and then Sandy Denny - Sandy Denny! - joins Plant, both on their best behaviour, for the glorious Battle Of Evermore, Sandy echoing Plant in her most haunting tones: a marriage made in folk-rock heaven.Then that intro, which must be one of the most instantly recognisable in all rock music. 'There`s a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold...' I love the later caterwauling, and Page giving it welly. And listen out for Plant`s intriguing lyric about 'a bustle in your hedgerow' - Page asked him about that, RP apparently giving him a gnomic answer along the lines of "Well, that`ll get people thinking". It did.Misty Mountain Hop is incredible. It takes me to the shrouded peak of the title, but what grabs and stuns is some of the most nail-biting, spine-tingling drumming ever heard on a rock album - step up and take a bow, the late great John Bonham - especially near the end, where Bonzo does superhuman things on his drumkit. If I had hair left on my head, it would stand on end.Four Sticks works if you're paying attention and not expecting too much from it.Going To California is just lovely: '...with an achin' in my heart' so tenderly sung by Plant, who's proved (to Alison Krauss and Patty Griffin, among others) that he can sing almost anything.The phenomenal When The Levee Breaks is the boys in long, slow, Deep South blues mode, Plant chewing on a moody harmonica (surely a much more evocative word than the slightly affected 'harp') and squeezing out a vocal over seven luxurious minutes of ominous churning rootsiness.This is one hell of a great album. I think it`s the best rock album ever made.

Excellent LP