Their watershed album solidified them as the biggest rock stars on the planet

By 1971’s IV, Led Zeppelin had mastered thumping blues, gentle acoustical folk, hard rock, and even pop. Producer/guitarist Jimmy Page had a real ear for sonic textures (like the soaring orchestral crescendo here on “When the Levee Breaks") that changed forever how hard rock would be heard and recorded. Loose-limbed anthems like “Rock ’n’ Roll” dovetail with lilting epics like “Stairway to Heaven," revealing a band at the height of their musical and rock-mystical powers.