¸·´¯`·._.·´¯`·._.·´¯`·._.·´¯`·._.·´¯`·
>>The biggest band in the world<< (1971–1975)
¸·´¯`·._.·´¯`·._.·´¯`·._.·´¯`·._.·´¯`·
Led Zeppelin's fourth album was released on November 8, 1971. There was no indication of the band's name on the original packaging, and the title of the album was given as four symbols - . It is variously referred to as The Unnamed Album, Untitled, Led Zeppelin IV, Zoso, Runes, Sticks or Four Symbols. In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine in 2005, Plant said that it is simply called the fourth album.
¸·´¯`·._.·´¯`·._.·´¯`·._.·´¯`·._.·´¯`·
The album included hard rock, such as "Black Dog" (supposedly titled in tribute to a dog which loitered around the recording studio) along with gentler, acoustic folk-style tracks such as "Going to California" (a tribute to Joni Mitchell). These genres are fused together in the lengthy, suite-like "Stairway to Heaven", which became a massive album-oriented rock FM radio hit even though it was never released as a single.
¸·´¯`·._.·´¯`·._.·´¯`·._.·´¯`·._.·´¯`·
"The Battle of Evermore" (with some of its lyrics based on J. R. R. Tolkien's high fantasy novel, The Lord of the Rings) is the only Led Zeppelin song to feature a guest vocalist, Sandy Denny. concludes with a radically altered version of a Memphis Minnie/Kansas Joe McCoy blues song, "When the Levee Breaks". Led Zeppelin's version opens with a distinctive, pounding drum beat, which has been sampled for use in many modern rock and rap releases.
As of May 4, 2006, has sold 23 million copies in the US, making it one of the top four best selling albums in the history of the US music industry.
¸·´¯`·._.·´¯`·._.·´¯`·._.·´¯`·._.·´¯`·
Their next studio record, 1973's Houses of the Holy, featured further experimentation: powerful melodies, longer tracks and expanded use of synthesisers and Mellotron orchestration. With "The Song Remains the Same", "No Quarter" and "D'yer Mak'er", Led Zeppelin was again expanding the limits which defined their music. Their 1973 tour of the U.S. again broke records for attendance: at Tampa Stadium, Florida, they played to 56,800 fans (more than The Beatles' 1965 concert at Shea Stadium), and grossed $309,000 (more than the Beatles at the same concert). Three sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden in New York were filmed for a motion picture, but the theatrical release of this project would be delayed until 1976.
¸·´¯`·._.·´¯`·._.·´¯`·._.·´¯`·._.·´¯`·
In 1974, Led Zeppelin launched their own record label, named Swan Song after one of only five Led Zeppelin songs which the band never released commercially (Page later re-worked the song with his band, The Firm, and it appears as "Midnight Moonlight" on their first album). The record label's logo, based on a painting called Evening: Fall of Day (1869) by William Rimmer, features a picture of Apollo (although it is often misinterpreted as a picture of Icarus, Lucifer, Satan, or Daedelus). The logo can be found on much Led Zeppelin memorabilia. In addition to using it as a vehicle to promote their own albums, the band expanded the label's roster, signing artists such as Bad Company, Pretty Things, Maggie Bell, Detective, Dave Edmunds, Midnight Flyer, Sad Cafe and Wildlife.
¸·´¯`·._.·´¯`·._.·´¯`·._.·´¯`·._.·´¯`·
February 24, 1975 saw the release of Physical Graffiti, Led Zeppelin's first double-album, on the Swan Song label. The band again showed its impressive range with songs such as the complex "Ten Years Gone", the acoustic "Black Country Woman", the driving "Trampled Under Foot" and the thundering, Indian/Arabic-tinged "Kashmir". A review in Rolling Stone magazine referred to the album as Led Zeppelin's "bid for artistic respectability", adding that the only competition the band had for the title of 'World's best rock band' were the Rolling Stones and The Who.
¸·´¯`·._.·´¯`·._.·´¯`·._.·´¯`·._.·´¯`·
Shortly after the release of Physical Graffiti, all previous Led Zeppelin albums simultaneously re-entered the top-200 album chart.The band embarked on another U.S. tour, again playing to record-breaking crowds. In May 1975, Led Zeppelin played five sold-out nights at the Earls Court Exhibition Centre in London (footage from these concerts was released in 2003, on the Led Zeppelin DVD). This series of concerts is widely considered by fans to be amongst the best of the band's career.
¸·´¯`·._.·´¯`·._.·´¯`·._.·´¯`·._.·´¯`·
If the band's popularity on stage and record was impressive, so too was its reputation for excess and off-stage wildness. Led Zeppelin traveled in a private jet airliner (nicknamed The Starship),rented out entire sections of hotels (most notably the Continental Hyatt House in Los Angeles), and became the subject of many of rock's most famous stories of debauchery. Tales of trashed hotel rooms and groupies have become more extraordinary with each passing year. Several people associated with the band, such as tour manager Richard Cole, would later write books about the wild escapades of the group.
¸·´¯`·._.·´¯`·._.·´¯`·._.·´¯`·._.·´¯`·
