That's Four Led Zeppelins in a Row!
Overall Album Score: 8.5 out of 10 THERE'S A LADY WHO'S SURE ALL THAT GLITTERS IS GOLD AND SHE'S BUUUYYYYYYYYING A STAIRWAAAAAAY TO HEAAAAVEN! (That sounds like a pretty good entrepreneuristic idea ... she could charge admission, and she would make a bundle! ... That is, until Microsoft comes out with an elevator ...) And so Led Zeppelin's fourth album (that doesn't have a name, but we'll call it Led Zeppelin IV) has what's Led Zeppelin's most famous songs in it ("Stairway to Heaven"), which is also considered by a lot of people to be one of rock's greatest landmarks. I don't always agree with that (see the track review), but that's why this album is so highly regarded by everybody and their pet puppy dogs. There are also some other good songs in here, most notably the hard rockin' "Rock & Roll" and all of its car-commercial glory. "Black Dog" is a pretty decent hard rock song, and "Going to California" is pretty good. I also like the somewhat overly-disheveled "When the Levee Breaks." The rest of the songs, however, cannot be confused as classic rock'n'roll more than your average Rod Stewart album can! So, I don't think this really ought to be considered a true rock-and-roll classic. Just the same, this is a rather essential album for all rock fans, basically because it has "Stairway to Heaven" in it ... and that is such a famous song. Yes, I'm saying 'listen to this album because of the hype!' Overall Album Score: 8.5 out of 10 (This is a good, entertaining album. Again, Led Zeppelin doesn't give me something that, overall, I can get overly excited over. But this is a strong and entertaining album.) Average Song Score: 8.6 (For all the hype this one gets, an 8.6 is a fairly low score! But this album does have its fair share of classics in it.) Album Tilt: 8.5 (Even though Led Zeppelin are often found with having the title as "the most coolest heavy metal band on the planet," this album isn't all that exciting.) Artist Rating: 8.5 (Well ... they're far from being your average, banal hard rock outfit. They continue trying to do mystical folk, even though it doesn't work all the time.) Track Reviews Black Dog 8.5/10 This one's a radio classic ... I'm not sure I really like the army chant aura of this song. (You know, the "I don't know what I've been told...") That's probably not really something that's valid for me to hold against the song, but that's really my impression of it whenever I hear it. Just the same, though, the melody is not really that great. What's better is the great instrument playing, and even the singing. Other than that, it ain't really that special of a song. Rock & Roll 10/10 YES!!!!!! Now this is a purely good rock-and-roll song equipped with everything from a menacing beat, great riff, and even a good melody! It's so good, even, that we get to hear it on automobile commercials. This is a Led Zeppelin classic if there ever was one. (Well, there's "Stairway to Heaven," too, but we'll talk about that one when I get to it.) This is a classic "HARD ROCK" Led Zepplin song! The Battle of Evermore 8/10 This is a mystical, acoustic song that manages to work only because I think Led Zeppelin weren't taking themselves too seriously with it (and the only reason I say that is because the chorus has easily the most goofy vocals I've ever seen from this band). Also, the song is far from being unentertaining. I still say that Led Zeppelin ought to stick with hard rock, and let T. Rex or Fairport Convention or somebody worry about the British Folk. But ... this is entertaining, so ... whatever. (I'm going to mention that mystic British Folk is a genre that I'm normally quite fascinated with ... and I'd never know that by listening to this!!) Stairway to Heaven 10/10 To tell you the utter truth, I've spent the past three or so years (since I've been listening to Led Zeppelin) wondering why "Stairway to Heaven" was such a great song! Don't get me wrong ... it is a good song. But why is it one of the most famous and popular song in all of rock-and-roll? I can listen to it and enjoy it the first time sitting through it ... but if I listen to it again within the same day, I can't say that I'd be all too willing to receive it. I also thought that it was a bit too overlong and overbearing. Just the same, though, there is a legitimate reason for this song's ultimate popularity. It's a song that's heavily inspired by medieval and folk music. It starts out slowly, and then, as I'm sure you all know, it gradually gets quicker and more dramatic as it reaches its tremendous conclusion ... eight minutes later. (It doesn't get tedious in the least bit ... it's just overbearing.) Medieval folk has certainly been done better (although, the British folk bands could never rock out like Led Zeppelin does at the end) ... but ... this song is a rock classic, and so there's no touching it! Misty Mountain Hop 7/10 This is one of the album's more throwaway moments. (But ... I don't think I would really want to throw this away.) Here, though, the melody, the riff ... everything, really, is unimaginative. Hmm hmm. It's not awful, though ... I don't want to press the skip button or anything. It manages to still be entertaining. (Songs like this and "The Battle of Evermore" and, further on, "Four Sticks" is really what keeps Led Zeppelin IV from becoming one of rock's greatest albums ... How can a GREAT album have a 7-scoring song in it? There are a few exceptions, of course, but ... really ...) Four Sticks 7.5/10 This isn't bad ... it just doesn't do anything to me. The melody/instrumentation/singing is a bit better this time. But, the song really fails to catch fire here. Is it supposed to? Oh, well. Going to California 9/10 This is a pretty good mystical folk song if I do say so! I wish that Led Zeppelin would have been able to actually breathe some mystical life into it, but what am I complaining about? This is an entertaining song with a nice melody, nice harmonies ... yep ... this is definitely a good one. When the Levee Breaks 8.5/10 Actually, even though this is blues-rock and stuff (stuff that I don't typically enough) AND it's very long, I think this is a pretty good and entertaining song. Zeppelin were nothing but great instrumentalists ... that's why this song is so cool. Is life getting you down like a Led Zeppelin? If so, leave your comments about this album here and be happy! slb23@shaw.ca (Simon B.) received July 22, 2004 This is probably my favourite Led Zeppelin album, and IMO,
their most consistently great album. (ie. no filler like "Hat's Off to
Roy Harper" or "Boogie With Stu").
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All reviews are copyrighted by the author, Michael Lawrence. He's happy.
