It was never my favorite Zeppelin album --- a hesher cliché blighted by the hackneyed warhorse of epic-length, baroque wankery that is "Stairway to Heaven" -- but after reading Erik Davis' hugely entertaining book for Continnum's 33 1/3 series on Led Zeppelin IV (or, if you prefer, Four Symbols, Untitled, Runes, Zoso, or That One with "Stairway to Heaven" On It) over my tryptophan-addled Thanksgiving break, I have a newfound appreciation for the majestically mysterious dollop of dinosaur dung that is the fourth album by Led Zeppelin.
Prompting the exact response a book of this sort ought to, Davis' engaging overview treats the lauded Zep opus with reverance, but never takes it or itself too seriously (especially when dwelling on Jimmy Page's dabblings in the occult and/or Robert Plant's strenuously ridicule-worthy preoccupation with Tolkienesque tomfoolery). While, once again, IV was never my first choice when it came to them Zepsters, Davis' comical and informative dissection of the album has vaulted my copy of the disc from its ageless slumber on my shelves and into my disc player for repeated airrings and re-evaluation. The highest compliment I can pay to this book is that it has forever altered how I will hear the record in question. And for that, I cannot recommend it highly enough. Go fetch!
Oh, and also be sure to check out Davis' own website, Techgnosis.
*ADDENDUM* One infamous aspect of Led Zeppelin IV concerns guitarist Jimmy Page's afore-mentioned fascination with the occult, specifically the the life and work of Aleister Crowley, the notorious founder of Thelema whose grim house on the shores of Loch Ness, Boleskine, Page famously purchased. Many have suggested, and Davis covers this in the book, that "Stairway to Heaven," when played backwards, boasts several creepy invokations to "my sweet Satan." I stumbled across this handy website, which features forwards and backwards snippets of the passages in question. Please enjoy.
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