# Led Zeppelin IV **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 14, 2011, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-iv/592652 "2011-08-14T03:58:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-iv/592652/41 "2011-08-15T01:55:32Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I think people who say Zep 4, aren’t really hardcore Zep fans, and they say that because it has “Stairway,” and because they think that’s what they’re supposed to say. Ah, the same people who go to Rush concerts and just sort of stand there until they hear that opening synth of _Tom Sawyer_… ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-iv/592652/42 "2011-08-15T11:33:51Z")
> [@Cliffy](#): > > IV’s the best IMO b/c it has the best balance between blues and rock and it’s a tighter album than some of their later stuff (I’m looking at you Physical Graffiti) which is occasionally sloppy. Like **mr. jp** says, it’s the same problem The White Album has, although to a less significant degree. > > –Cliffy Be aware that much of _Physical_ – I think about half – was recorded during the period of the earlier albums. So, the “sloppy” songs \*might \*be “rejects” from sessions well before 1974-75, and not a reflection of their entering a sloppy period then. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-iv/592652/43 "2011-08-15T11:36:39Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > _In Through the Out Door_ is an underrated album too. And _Coda_! I’m serious! I love most of that album (pretty much all of it except “Darlene”). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-iv/592652/44 "2011-08-15T20:37:27Z")
I like all of the songs on LZ4 but “Black Dog,” Mangosteen, but I think LZ2 and _In the Houses of the Holy_ are better albums. ---
**Author:** ![CJJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecc23a/32.png) [@CJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CJJ)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-iv/592652/45 "2011-08-15T20:57:55Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > _In Through the Out Door_ is an underrated album too. Agreed; the keyboard experiment worked and indicated a potential new direction for the band if JB hadn’t died. However, “Hot Dog” is by far my least favorite LZ song–a real failure IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-iv/592652/46 "2011-08-15T20:59:35Z")
> [@mr.jp](#): > > IV is consistently strong. The weak song is 4 sticks, other than that all the songs are strong and distinct. Stairway to Heaven and When the Levee Breaks are both epic. > > Physical Graffiti, like the white album, has too many mediocre song to be viewed as the best. > > Led Zeppelin I also only has one weak song: You Shook Me. But it is more raw and bluesy, and less mainstream. It’s my favorite Led Zeppelin album though, so I preserve my fan status. The weakest song is Four Sticks, yet it is still a really good song on its own. That’s why Led Zeppelin IV was such a great album. ---
**Author:** ![ScatteredFrog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8c91f0/32.png) [@ScatteredFrog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ScatteredFrog)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-iv/592652/47 "2011-08-15T21:06:38Z")
Why do they always list the non-existent _Led Zeppelin IV_?? (There’s no such album. I’m sure they mean the fourth album that does not have a title written in standard Roman characters.) I have no idea. It’s boring. It’s hackneyed. It’s right around the time when they started getting all…mystical, I guess. Give me _Led Zeppelin_ and _Led Zeppelin II_. Screw the high school crowd-pleasing fourth album. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-iv/592652/48 "2011-08-15T21:12:57Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > The funny thing is, while Led Zeppelin IV is, all things considered, my favorite Zeppelin album, “Stairway to Heaven” is not even in the top half of my favorite tracks from that album. I like IV because it’s a tight album (there’s not a single track I don’t like) Well godammit, me too. “Stairway to Heaven” is not what comes to mind when LZ IV (or whatever you want to call it) is mentioned. It’s more "Black Dog’ and “Rock and Roll”. There are good songs to be had on other albums, but compared to IV their quality is a lot more variable. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-iv/592652/49 "2011-08-16T01:43:00Z")
I too am a big In Through the Out Door fan. But I love “Hot Dog”; I think it’s funny. Many years ago in high school I had a thing for this girl who didn’t know I existed. But somehow I ended up giving her a ride back to school from an outing a huge group of us had taken. As we got in the car, visions of me impressing her with my charm and wit evaporated as soon as I turned on the ignition and “Hot Dog” began blasting through the speakers. “Uh, who **is** this?” she asked incredulously. “No, it’s OK, it’s Led Zepplin!” I stammered out, but the damage was done. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Moonchild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@Moonchild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonchild)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-iv/592652/50 "2011-08-16T01:52:25Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > _In Through the Out Door_ is an underrated album too. Yeah, I really played this one out… more than a few times. And what about the album that has “Hey Hey, What Can I Do?” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-iv/592652/51 "2011-08-16T02:01:12Z")
> [@ScatteredFrog](#): > > Screw the high school crowd-pleasing fourth album. But I was IN high school! ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-iv/592652/52 "2011-08-16T02:06:34Z")
I like “Hot Dog” because I think it’s amusing, and like Jimmy’s sloppy honky-tonk guitar playing on it. Way back in the day, when I first bought _In Through the Out Door_, I was a little disappointed at the amount of keyboard, and what seemed to be the guitar taking a back seat (which is kind of true. JPJ and Plant were doing the bulk of the writing on that album. Page was strung out on heroin at the time), but over the years, the songs have really grown on me. “In the Evening,” “Fool in the Rain,” and “All My Love,” especially. The album was recorded shortly after Robert Plant’s young son had died (“All My Love” is about him), and Plant said he just hadn’t felt in the mood to do a swaggering, cock rock album after that, so it was softer and more plaintive. When I was young, I thought it sounded too poppy, but I’ve really come to appreciate it. “All My Love” is one of their best songs, in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-iv/592652/53 "2011-08-16T18:55:13Z")
I like all the songs on IV. (The one that doesn’t fit in with the others, IMHO, is “Battle of Evermore”–still a damn good song.) Housed of the Holy has two songs I actually dislike and wish they hadn’t been included–or recorded–“The Crunge” and “D’yer Maker.” ---
**Author:** ![Wakinyan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wakinyan/32/352_2.png) [@Wakinyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wakinyan)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-iv/592652/54 "2011-08-16T20:24:18Z")
An album which has _Black Dog_, _Rock and roll_, _Misty Mountain Hop_, and _When the Levee Breaks_ is pretty damn good with or without _Stairway to Heaven_. There are also other great tracks on it. Was never my favourite though. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-iv/592652/55 "2011-08-16T20:48:47Z")
I think IV is good because of the fantasy vibe it has, without being lame. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-iv/592652.md?page=2)