The Vinyl Word: Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin. Photo/ file

It's amazing what a name change can do for a band.

Back in early 1968, English band the New Yardbirds experienced moderate success, but when guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bass player and keyboardist John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham signed to Atlantic Records and changed their name to Led Zeppelin their careers took off, although it did take a while for the critics to warm to them.

Over the course of 11 years and nine studio albums Led Zeppelin became absolute legends. Many critics consider Led Zeppelin to be one of the most successful, innovative and influential groups in the history of rock music.

They have sold over 300 million albums worldwide and each of their nine studio albums have placed in the top 10 of the Billboard album chart and six have reached the number one spot.

In the UK, they achieved eight consecutive UK number one albums, with Rolling Stone magazine describing them as "the heaviest band of all time", "the biggest band of the 70s" and "unquestionably one of the most enduring bands in rock history".

Of all their studio albums, the untitled fourth album, simply called Led Zeppelin IV, probably became the most enduring. The original cover featured no band name, as the group wanted to be anonymous.

The album sold 37 million copies worldwide and became one of the best-selling albums in history, and its massive popularity cemented Led Zeppelin as 70s superstars.

Stairway to Heaven was the most requested and most played song on rock radio in the 1970s, and to this day continues to receive a lot of airplay, even on Coast. Funnily enough it was never released as a single.

The album was recorded between December 1970 and February 1971 in the country house Headley Grange.

Jimmy Page produced the entire album.

A bunch of guest musicians joined the band for the sessions including Fairport Convention singer Sandy Denny and Rolling Stones pianist Ian Stewart.

In 2014 a remastered version of the album was released in six different formats including a deluxe two CD set and a deluxe two album set along with a hardback book and a high res digital download.

The band has just published a 400-page book telling the story of the history of the band with many photographs. Titled Led Zeppelin by Led Zeppelin, many of the photos are previously unpublished. For any Led Zeppelin fan, it's a must.