[pullquote quote="Stairway covers a lot of ground... I mean the whole dynamic thing, the whole map of the song is just very Led Zeppelin." credit="John Paul Jones on Stairway to Heaven"] Today, November 8th, marks the 40th anniversary of [mp3com-artist]Led Zeppelin[/mp3com-artist]‘s fourth album, also known as Led Zeppelin Four.

Released in 1971, the untitled album’s cover features an old man hunched over with sticks strapped to his back. “There was a lot of pressure to have the name of the band on it,” says Jimmy Page adding that they did it on purpose because “there was such a negative flow going against us from press, it was just totally uncalled for.” John Paul Jones says it “really annoyed a lot of people. Retailers were scrawling the name on the record.”

Peaking at #2 in Billboard, the album showcases several Zeppelin standards like “Stairway to Heaven,” “Rock and Roll,” “Black Dog,” “Misty Mountain Hop,” “Going to California” and “When the Levee Breaks.” To date, it has sold more than 32-million copies worldwide, 23-million in the U.S., making it the third-best-selling album ever behind Michael Jackson’s Thriller and the Eagles’ Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975).

Led Zeppelin IV track listing:

Side one:
1. “Black Dog”
2. “Rock and Roll”
3. “The Battle of Evermore”
4. “Stairway to Heaven”

Side two:
5. “Misty Mountain Hop”
6. “Four Sticks”
7. “Going to California”
8. “When the Levee Breaks”

[metrolyrics artist="led zeppelin" song="black dog"]