Four Symbols (original) (raw)

The fourth album released by the British blues/rock band Led Zeppelin is variously referred to as Four Symbols, Runes, Zoso (after the approximate shape of the symbols used as a title) or simply IV, although none of these were its official title. After using Roman numeration for their second and third albums, the band members specifically did not wish the next album release to be called Led Zeppelin IV, in order to confuse critics who predicted it would be called that. The original pressing did not have a readable title or the name Led Zeppelin anywhere on the outside, instead featuring four hand-drawn symbols (one designed by and representing each band member). These symbols inspired the various informal names used for the album. However, in subsequent press interviews since the album's release, both Jimmy Page and Robert Plant have referred to the album as Four Symbols.

The album remains a perennial favorite on classic rock radio, and features "Stairway to Heaven", widely recognized as one of the greatest rock music songs ever recorded.

Released on November 8, 1971 by Atlantic Records

Track Listing

1. "Black Dog" (Page/Plant/Jones) - 4:54
2. "Rock and Roll" (Page/Plant/Jones/Bonham) - 3:40
3. "The Battle of Evermore" (Page/Plant) - 5:51
4. "Stairway to Heaven" (Page/Plant) - 8:00
5. "Misty Mountain Hop" (Page/Plant/Jones) - 4:38
6. "Four Sticks" (Page/Plant) - 4:44
7. "Going to California" (Page/Plant) - 3:31
8. "When the Levee Breaks" (Page/Plant/Jones/Bonham/Minnie) - 7:07

Total album length: 42:38 minutes

Personnel

• Jimmy Page - Acoustic guitar, electric guitar, producer, remastering, digital remastering
• Robert Plant - Vocals, harmonica
• John Paul Jones - Synthesizer, bass guitar, keyboards
• John Bonham - Drums
• Sandy Denny - Vocals (Track 3)
• Peter Grant - Executive producer
• George Chkiantz - Mixing
• Andy Johns - Engineer, mixing
• George Marino - Digital remastering
• Graphreaks - Design coordinator
• Barrington Colby Mom - Inside illustration - The Hermit
• All songs produced by Jimmy Page

Chart positions

Billboard Music Charts (North America) - album

1971 Four Symbols The Billboard 200 No. 2

Billboard (North America) - singles

1972 Black Dog Pop Singles No. 15 1972 Rock and Roll Pop Singles No. 47

Additional notes

• Recorded between December 1970 and August 1971 at Headley Grange, Hampshire, with The Rolling Stones Mobile Studio; Island Studios, London. Mixed at Island Studios, London; Olympic Studios, London
• Catalogue: Atlantic SD 7208
• Despite the immense popularity of "Stairway to Heaven", which received heavy AOR radio rotation in the early 1970s, and remains one of the most popular rock songs of all time, the song was never officially released as a single and thus it was never seen on the Billboard charts.
• Although the symbols that form its title (and the album itself) are sometimes referred to as "Runes", only two of the middle symbols (for John Paul Jones and John Bonham) are in fact runes. The symbols for Robert Plant, Maàt's feather of Truth encapsulated by an unbroken circle representing life, and Jimmy Page, a stylised Capricorn ruled by Saturn, are called sigla. Although looking almost like the word "ZoSo" it is not intended to be written or pronounced as such. Page's symbol is remarkably similar to other sigils of hermetist J. Cardan and magician Austin Osman Spare found in: Gettings, Fred (1982) Dictionary of Occult, Hermetic and Alchemical Sigils, ISBN 0-7100-0095-2.