Led Zeppelin II is the second studio album by the English rock band Led
Zeppelin, released on 22 October 1969 in the United States and on 31
October 1969 in the United Kingdom on Atlantic Records. Recording
sessions for the album took place at several locations in the United
Kingdom and North America from January to August 1969. Production was
credited to lead guitarist and songwriter Jimmy Page, while it also
served as Led Zeppelin's first album to utilise the recording techniques
of engineer Eddie Kramer. With elements of blues and folk music, Led
Zeppelin II also exhibits the band's evolving musical style of
blues-derived material and their guitar and riff-based sound. It has
been described as the band's heaviest album.
Upon release, Led
Zeppelin II sold well and was the band's first album to reach number one
in the UK and the US. In 1970, art director David Juniper was nominated
for a Grammy Award for Best Recording Package for the album. On 15
November 1999, it was certified 12× Platinum by the RIAA for sales in
excess of 12 million copies. Since its release, writers and music
critics have regularly cited it in polls of the greatest and most
influential rock albums.
