On 8 Nov 1971, Led Zeppelin released their fourth album "Led Zeppelin IV". With no title printed on the album, and generally referred to as Four Symbols, The Fourth Album or Led Zeppelin IV it has gone on to sell over 37 million copies worldwide. The 19th century rustic oil painting on the front of the album was purchased by Robert Plant from an antique shop in Reading, Berkshire, England. The 20th century urban tower block on the back of the full gatefold LP cover is Butterfield Court in Eves Hill, Dudley, England.
In 2000, Led Zeppelin IV was named the 26th-greatest British album in a list by Q magazine. In 2002, Spin magazine's Chuck Klosterman named it the second-greatest metal album of all time and said that it was "the most famous hard-rock album ever recorded" as well as an album that unintentionally created metal—"the origin of everything that sounds, feels, or even tastes vaguely metallic". In 2000 it was voted number 42 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums. In 2003, the album was ranked number 66 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time", then re-ranked number 69 in a 2012 revised list, and re-ranked 58 in a 2020 revised list. It was also named the seventh-best album of the 1970s in a list by Pitchfork. In 2016, Classic Rock magazine ranked Led Zeppelin IV as the greatest of all Zeppelin albums.