Editing Led Zeppelin IV (section)

==Writing and recording==
[[File:Headley Grange - geograph.org.uk - 29789.jpg|thumb|Most of the album was recorded at [[Headley Grange]] in Hampshire.]]

Following the release of ''[[Led Zeppelin III]]'' in October 1970, the group took a break from live performances to concentrate on recording a follow-up. They turned down all touring offers, including a proposed New Year's Eve gig that would have been broadcast on television. They returned to [[Bron-Yr-Aur]], a country house in [[Snowdonia]], Wales, to write new material.{{sfn|Lewis|2010|p=67}}

Recording sessions for the album began at [[Island Studios|Island Records' new studios]] on Basing Street in London on 5 December 1970, with the recording of "Black Dog".<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Guesdon |first=Jean-Michel |title=Led Zeppelin All The Songs |publisher=Running Press |others=Co-written by Philippe Margotin |year=2018 |isbn=9780316418034}}</ref><ref name="theirtime">{{Cite news| title = Their Time is Gonna Come| newspaper = [[Classic Rock Magazine]]|date=December 2007}}</ref> The group had considered [[Mick Jagger]]'s home, [[Stargroves]] as a recording location, but decided it was too expensive.{{sfn|Lewis|2010|p=73}} They subsequently moved the following month to [[Headley Grange]], a [[country house]] in [[Hampshire]], England, using the [[Rolling Stones Mobile Studio]] and engineer [[Andy Johns]], with the Stones' [[Ian Stewart (musician)|Ian Stewart]] assisting. Johns had just worked on engineering ''[[Sticky Fingers]]'' and recommended the mobile studio.{{sfn|Lewis|2010|p=73}} Guitarist and producer [[Jimmy Page]] later recalled: "We needed the sort of facilities where we could have a cup of tea and wander around the garden and go in and do what we had to do."{{sfn|Lewis|1990|p=16}} This relaxed, atmospheric environment at Headley Grange also provided other advantages for the band, as they were able to capture spontaneous performances immediately, with some tracks arising from the communal jamming.{{sfn|Lewis|1990|p=16}} Bassist and keyboardist [[John Paul Jones (musician)|John Paul Jones]] remembered there was no bar or leisure facilities, but this helped focus the group on the music without being distracted.{{sfn|Lewis|2010|p=73}}

Once the basic tracks had been recorded, the band added overdubs at Island Studios in February. The band spent five days at Island, before Page then took the multitrack tapes to [[Sunset Sound Recorders|Sunset Sound]] in Los Angeles for mixing on 9 February, on Johns' recommendation, with a plan for an April 1971 release.{{sfn|Lewis|2010|p=91}}{{sfn|Lewis|1990|p=89}}<ref name=":0" /> Mixing would take ten days, before Page travelled back to London with the newly mixed material. The band had a playback at [[Olympic Studios]].<ref name=":0" /> The band disliked the results, and so after touring through the spring and early summer, Page remixed the whole album in July. The album was delayed again over the choice of cover and whether it should be a [[double album]], with a possible suggestion it could be issued as a set of [[Extended play|EP]]s.{{sfn|Lewis|1990|pp=16, 89}}