The album was recorded at Headley Grange with Ronnie Lane's Mobile Studio in November 1973,[1] and it was the first album released on Led Zeppelin's Swan Song Records label.

[9] Among the songs recorded during the album sessions were two covers of tracks originally by members' previous bands — specifically, Mott the Hoople's "Ready for Love" (recorded while Mick Ralphs was with the band and released on their 1972 album All the Young Dudes) and "Easy on My Soul" (recorded by Paul Rodgers and Simon Kirke with Free and released on Heartbreaker in 1973).

The latter did not make the final album, but was released as the B-side to second single "Movin' On".

[15] In 2000 it was voted number 323 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.

In 2006 an audiophile mastered 24K gold CD was released by Audio Fidelity.