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11:26 · 1,762 words of transcript · watch on YouTube
- After the lukewarm reception to the third album, with their success being written off as hype and marketing, they left the fourth record untitled with no band name on the sleeve.
▶ 00:00:36
- Jimmy Page's stated position was that this album would be their best, and if it was not, they would retire.
▶ 00:00:57
- Andy Johns suggested the Rolling Stones mobile studio so they could record anywhere, and Fleetwood Mac suggested a remote country house, which is how they ended up at Headley Grange with no deadlines.
▶ 00:01:18
- The cover image is a 19th-century painting of an old man carrying sticks, found in an antique shop, which also resembles the Ten of Wands tarot card, a figure carrying a burden.
▶ 00:02:01
- Each member chose a symbol instead of a credit: a feather of Ma'at in a circle for Plant, Borromean rings for Bonham, a Celtic knot for Jones, and Page's own design whose meaning is still unknown.
▶ 00:03:00
- The drum sound that became one of the most sampled in music was engineered physically, with Bonham's kit set up in the lobby and microphones placed high above the stone stairwell.
▶ 00:03:46
- Almost everything except the vocal was recorded slightly fast and then slowed down, which is where the sludgy weight of the guitar and bass comes from.
▶ 00:04:06
- The harmonica was recorded, reversed and then given echo, so played forward the echo arrives before the note.
▶ 00:04:30
- Several parts came from accidents or play: a riff built after listening to Howlin' Wolf, three guitar tracks synced for a thicker tone, and a song that only worked once Bonham picked up two pairs of sticks, which also gave it its name.
▶ 00:05:16
- Page rejected a first take of the album's most famous song that everyone else thought was perfect, Bonham attacked the kit out of irritation on the second, and that is the take on the record.
▶ 00:06:40