Led Zeppelin
IV

THE REVIEW

I had left home for a walk around the city. As I was walking, I saw someone along a sidewalk, and I thought it was a gypsy. As soon as he saw me, he burst into tears. He was an elderly hermit who cried and begged me to help him. I sat down, calmed him down, and he explained to me that his little house was destroyed. He only had a bundle of wood, and nothing more. I pitied him. I couldn't just stand by doing nothing. So I thought of helping him build a decent home. After a very, very long time, we finished, and I said goodbye to him. I was about to leave the path when suddenly he stopped me. He wanted to give me a reward, and I accepted. It looked like a disk, and indeed it was. So, I returned home, turned on the record player, and as if by magic, before I put the record on, I heard "hey, hey, mama, said the way you move, gonna make you sweat, gonna make you groove".

This is how the legendary, epic "IV" begins, with one of the best dreams of the dirigible, "Black Dog". The title of this song comes from the fact that during the recordings at Headley Grange studios, there was a little black dog (from its position it resembled the hermit!!). Thus, the song launches into over 4 minutes on a balanced yet powerful musical fabric. In the next song, "Rock and Roll", we find as a guest Ian Stewart, a collaborator of the Rolling Stones, on the piano. The track is a cheerful and pyrotechnic rock & roll, as the title says, characterized by Plant's reverberated voice and the fiery guitar of James Patrick. One, two, three, and it all makes history. "The Battle of Evermore" is a splendid ballad where we find guest Sandy Denny, from Fairport Convention. The track has a fascinating and sweet arrangement, and it certainly helps make this song a milestone.
I was amazed when I played "Stairway to Heaven": suddenly, when it played for the first time, I fell asleep and dreamed that I was the hermit I had met. The world I lived in was made of fairy tales, of birds singing happily, of pipers, and more. Perhaps other tracks (like Achilles Last Stand) are better executed, but this beautiful song holds its own unique magic.

All of a sudden, when a bird is about to end, I wake up and find myself in the tired reality in which I live, and I think: "the hermit, blessed him". With great sadness, I listen to the next track, "Misty Mountain Hop", which immediately puts me in a cheerful mood with its carefree and joyful melody. "Four Sticks" stands out for its complicated rhythm and Plant's voice (never so high throughout the entire record) and, above all, for Jones's keyboards. "Going to California" talks about the ideal woman everyone would want, built on a soft carpet of guitar and voice. Quite different is the concluding track, "When the Levee Breaks", a great hard blues with imposing and gloomy tones that highlight the gloominess of a great and glorious record.
Then I step down to go out again, and I find the hermit dead, lying on the ground. I was deeply moved.
A few days ago, I went to the beautiful cemetery where he is buried, and I placed his "IV" on the grave. That record is his. In fact, that masterpiece is his.