It was on this day in 1971 Led Zeppelin released it’s fourth album.  The 8 song album came unnamed, but soon became known as Led Zeppelin Four, ZOSO, or Zep IV.

If you were growing up in the early 70’s, the importance of this album cannot be understated.  It would be hard to argue against “Stairway to Heaven” being the greatest rock song of all time.  You would also be hard pressed to find an album with the plethora mix of songs.  From the hard driving “Rock n’ Roll”, to the mystical “Battle of Evermore”; Led Zeppelin Four captures the brilliance and diversity of one of the all time great bands.

Did radio over play many of the songs found on the album?  You bet, but don’t blame the band for that.  That was more a result of radio researching songs to death and then shoving the most popular down the consumers throat.  It should not diminish or take away from the greatness of what Led Zeppelin Four was and still is.

The album was released at a time when FM radio was just taking off and many stations went to the Rock Format.  Imagine DJ’s picking the songs they wanted to play.  What an amazing rush it must have been for DJ’s to cue up “Stairway to Heaven” for the first time.

Some records are called great because record labels market them as such, others are called great because they stand the test of time.  ZOSO falls into the later category.