LED ZEPPELIN IV LP SD-7208 Gatefold 1971 PORKY PECKO DUCK Edition Jimmy Page
LED ZEPPELIN IV LP SD-7208 Gatefold 1971 PORKY PECKO DUCK Edition Jimmy Page Robert Plant ESSENCIAL
This early pressing has superb detail and dynamics, due in no small part to the mastering job by . Highly recommended Pressing variation, pressed by as indicated by 'CSM' in label matrix numbers and runout etchings. Matrix / Runout (Variant 2 Side A, etched): ST-A-712285-C AT/GP PR PORKY Matrix / Runout (Variant 2 Side B, etched): ST-A-712286-F CSM PECKO DUCK AT/GP PR (CO)SM
The untitled fourth studio album by the English band , commonly known as Led Zeppelin IV, was released on 8 November 1971 by . It was produced by guitarist and recorded between December 1970 and February 1971, mostly in the country house . The album contains the band's most well-known recording, the eight-minute-long "".
The informal recording environment inspired the band, allowing them to try different arrangements of material and create songs in various styles. After the band's previous album (1970) received lukewarm reviews from critics, they decided their fourth album would officially be untitled and represented instead by four symbols – one chosen by each band member – without featuring the name or any other details on the cover. Unlike the prior two albums, the band was joined by guest musicians: vocalist on "", and pianist on "". As with prior albums, most of the material was written by the band, though there was one cover song, a hard rock re-interpretation of the blues song "".
The album was an instant critical and commercial success and is Led Zeppelin's best-selling album, having shipped over 37 million copies worldwide. It is one of the and in general, while critics have regularly placed it highly on lists of the greatest albums of all time.
In a retrospective review for , credited the album for "defining not only Led Zeppelin but the sound and style of '70s hard rock", while "encompassing heavy metal, folk, pure rock & roll, and blues". In his album guide to heavy metal, magazine's Joe Gross cited Led Zeppelin IV as a "monolithic cornerstone" of the genre. 's Daryl Easlea said that the album made the band a global success and effectively combined their third album's folk ideas with their second album's hard rock style, while Katherine Flynn and Julian Ring of felt it featured their debut's , along with the other styles from their second and third albums. Led Zeppelin's biography described the album as "a fully realized hybrid of the folk and hard-rock directions". journalist AJ Ramirez regarded it as one of the greatest heavy metal albums ever, while named it the number one metal album of all time in his 1991 book Stairway to Hell: The 500 Best Heavy Metal Albums in the Universe. According to rock scholar Mablen Jones, Led Zeppelin IV and particularly "Stairway to Heaven" reflected heavy metal's presence in trends of the early 1970s, as the album "blended post-hippie mysticism, mythological preoccupations, and hard rock".
