“I know Pagey made me mix the outro section half a dozen times: ‘Not enough of me, dear boy! Not enough of me, make me louder!’” – Andy Johns on the challenges of engineering Led Zeppelin's Rock And Roll

Led Zeppelin IV cover art.

Led Zeppelin’s first two albums rocked, rolled and downright blues-boogied the band to the point of greatness, establishing them as the true kings of heavy. Then came 1970’s Led Zeppelin III, which raised more than a few eyebrows for its reliance on folk rock, mystical fantasy and acoustic balladry. 

But when Zep’s fourth record hit the world’s turntables in November 1971, all was promptly forgiven. “I suppose there’d been a bit of a backlash about the Zep III album being more of an acoustic-type thing,” legendary engineer Andy Johns told Total Guitar magazine in 2011. “The album sold well, but there were some complaints about what had happened to Led Zeppelin... like ‘Where’s the meat?’ So I guess when we went back to do the fourth one, that must’ve been on Jimmy [Page]’s mind.”