is, "Stairway to Heaven," overrated?

iAmNoKiller

Don't fly off the hook about this! Some of my friends and I were sitting around listening to Zep, and the song came on, and two of us actually agreed that it's a little overrated. If you take into context the other great songs they have that aren't actually acknowledged. You can stop anyone off the street who doesn't know shit about Zeppelin, but they'll tell tou S.t.H. is the greatest song ever. What does everyone think.

bharQ

overplayed maybe.. overated.. never

actually fuck that i could hear this song on repeat for weeks... every part of it is amazing... and it gets better and better as the song builds till the orgasmic solo at the end.

reditalian

iAmNoKiller wrote:

Don't fly off the hook about this! Some of my friends and I were sitting around listening to Zep, and the song came on, and two of us actually agreed that it's a little overrated. If you take into context the other great songs they have that aren't actually acknowledged. You can stop anyone off the street who doesn't know shit about Zeppelin, but they'll tell tou S.t.H. is the greatest song ever. What does everyone think.

I've listen to Zepplin my whole because my dad is the biggest fan there is. If he were to read this thread he would blow a gasket. I'm not sure how old you are but listening to my dad's stories this song was his anthem back in high school. It was considered one of the greats right from the start and is considered one of the greatest songs by almost every person invloved in music. Have you ever closed your eyes and listened to the guitar solo? have you ever closed your eyes and listened to every word sung?Is Stairway to Heaven overrated......HELL NO!!!!

bharQ

okay i'm pullin out my zeppelin dvd.. haven't watched that in a while.. all because of this thread

yosi1

reditalian wrote:

I've listen to Zepplin my whole because my dad is the biggest fan there is. If he were to read this thread he would blow a gasket. I'm not sure how old you are but listening to my dad's stories this song was his anthem back in high school. It was considered one of the greats right from the start and is considered one of the greatest songs by almost every person invloved in music. Have you ever closed your eyes and listened to the guitar solo? have you ever closed your eyes and listened to every word sung?Is Stairway to Heaven overrated......HELL NO!!!!

I actually heard a clip with Robert Plant where he said, after the first time they ever played the song live, before it was released, and no one clapped, and were like, what was that? And Robert Plant turned to Jimmy Page and said "I told you it was a crap song!"

How fucking hysterical is that?

About the question though, I think that overplayed is probably the main problem. And yes, there are other incredible Zeppelin songs, and this wouldn't even come close to my favorite Zeppelin song, but I don't think any other Zeppelin song as good as this one has the mass appeal that Stairway does.

Also, I personally prefer live versions of this song to the studio.

reditalian

yosi wrote:

I actually heard a clip with Robert Plant where he said, after the first time they ever played the song live, before it was released, and no one clapped, and were like, what was that? And Robert Plant turned to Jimmy Page and said "I told you it was a crap song!"

How fucking hysterical is that?

About the question though, I think that overplayed is probably the main problem. And yes, there are other incredible Zeppelin songs, and this wouldn't even come close to my favorite Zeppelin song, but I don't think any other Zeppelin song as good as this one has the mass appeal that Stairway does.

Also, I personally prefer live versions of this song to the studio.

Maybe the first time but after it was released it went to number 1 right away and stayed there for.....well.....20 something years now.

yosi1

reditalian wrote:

Maybe the first time but after it was released it went to number 1 right away and stayed there for.....well.....20 something years now.

Totally. And its just such a funny quote because of how highly its ranked now. They had no idea how big the song was going to be.

kdpjam

yes. it was done when i heard dolly parton's rendition.

reditalian

yosi wrote:

Totally. And its just such a funny quote because of how highly its ranked now. They had no idea how big the song was going to be.

It's cool hearing what bands thought of there songs before they become huge!!!

Pearl Jam and toast

bharQ wrote:

overplayed maybe.. overated.. never

actually fuck that i could hear this song on repeat for weeks... every part of it is amazing... and it gets better and better as the song builds till the orgasmic solo at the end.

I agree.

Although prettier, better songs..

that's the way
tangerine
THE RAIN SONG...

Soupy

Very overrated.

I suppose if I had to listen to one of them awful greatest rock albums in the world ever (the sort of thing you buy for a relative you don't really like) this would be one of the better cuts of a bunch of commercial tat. Anyone who tells me this is the greatest rock song ever normally then fails to name any other LEd Zepplin song, or know which album it's from - because people who say it's the greatest song ever know fuck all about what they are talking about and are just sheeping a supposed 'popular' opinion. Normally they'll also claim 'Pink Floyd' are the greatest band ever - but stuggle to name any Floyd albums besides 'Darkside' and 'The Wall' - because again they are talking about stuff they don't know...

catefrances

not my favourite zeppelin song.

JaneNY

I think somewhat overrated. Its definitely not my favorite of theirs (probably Kashmir will always be). A good song though. I know someone from years back who told me she was at a LZ show in England, and during the song she and her boyfriend started arguing. They left the main arena and continued the argument, she said for like 45 minutes, and she said that when they went back in Stairway to Heaven was still playing. I don't know if mind and sense-of-time altering substances were involved but I expect live it was a whole different animal.

yosi1

JaneNY wrote:

I think somewhat overrated. Its definitely not my favorite of theirs (probably Kashmir will always be). A good song though. I know someone from years back who told me she was at a LZ show in England, and during the song she and her boyfriend started arguing. They left the main arena and continued the argument, she said for like 45 minutes, and she said that when they went back in Stairway to Heaven was still playing. I don't know if mind and sense-of-time altering substances were involved but I expect live it was a whole different animal.

45 minutes? Can you find out which show she was at. I've heard a few live versions of this song and the longest I've heard is about 13 minutes. Would love to hear what 45 minutes would sound like.

FinsburyParkCarrots

Rolf Harris's version is good.

http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-5494102279958196926&q=rolf+harris

Virgil Caine

Soupy wrote:

Very overrated.

I suppose if I had to listen to one of them awful greatest rock albums in the world ever (the sort of thing you buy for a relative you don't really like) this would be one of the better cuts of a bunch of commercial tat. Anyone who tells me this is the greatest rock song ever normally then fails to name any other LEd Zepplin song, or know which album it's from - because people who say it's the greatest song ever know fuck all about what they are talking about and are just sheeping a supposed 'popular' opinion. Normally they'll also claim 'Pink Floyd' are the greatest band ever - but stuggle to name any Floyd albums besides 'Darkside' and 'The Wall' - because again they are talking about stuff they don't know...

That's a very arrogant statement.

1. cut of commercial tat? Stairway to heaven wasn't released as a single. In fact LZ did not release singles in the US after 1969. If you want to call Stairway "commercial tat", you have to blame it on music fans that called into radio stations 35 years ago and requested the song over and over.

2. Stairway is a great rock song...very over played though.

3. I claim that Pink Floyd may be the greatest rock band ever. However, Darkside and The Wall are not my favorites. My preferences lean towards Animals and Meddle.

Don't make generalizations.

I apologize if you are younger than 25, because most people under 25 don't know their asshole from a hole in the ground.....How's that for a generalization?

Virgil Caine

JaneNY wrote:

I think somewhat overrated. Its definitely not my favorite of theirs (probably Kashmir will always be). A good song though. I know someone from years back who told me she was at a LZ show in England, and during the song she and her boyfriend started arguing. They left the main arena and continued the argument, she said for like 45 minutes, and she said that when they went back in Stairway to Heaven was still playing. I don't know if mind and sense-of-time altering substances were involved but I expect live it was a whole different animal.

Your friend is mistaken.

She is probably confusing it with No Quarter which would sometimes stretch to 1/2 hour.

parel jam

iAmNoKiller wrote:

Don't fly off the hook about this! Some of my friends and I were sitting around listening to Zep, and the song came on, and two of us actually agreed that it's a little overrated. If you take into context the other great songs they have that aren't actually acknowledged. You can stop anyone off the street who doesn't know shit about Zeppelin, but they'll tell tou S.t.H. is the greatest song ever. What does everyone think.

Never overrated! Great song...along with the rest of LZ...but my fav is still When the levee breaks...

Dick Jones

This song doesn't do too much for me. I never put it on and always turn it when it comes on. Overrated, probably.

I'm losing touch with the old bands, why is that?

ledvedderman

Virgil Caine wrote:

That's a very arrogant statement.

1. cut of commercial tat? Stairway to heaven wasn't released as a single. In fact LZ did not release singles in the US after 1969. If you want to call Stairway "commercial tat", you have to blame it on music fans that called into radio stations 35 years ago and requested the song over and over.

2. Stairway is a great rock song...very over played though.

3. I claim that Pink Floyd may be the greatest rock band ever. However, Darkside and The Wall are not my favorites. My preferences lean towards Animals and Meddle.

Don't make generalizations.

I apologize if you are younger than 25, because most people under 25 don't know their asshole from a hole in the ground.....How's that for a generalization?

Boooooo.

But I'll agree with the thought that "most" people under 25 don't know their shit, but I just don't consider myself part of that group.

Ledbetterman10

I won't even give the original post a read. All I know is that Stairway to Heaven is NOT overrated in the least. It borders on biblical if anything

DCGARDEN

If you put it into the proper context, that song was so far ahead of it's time it's scary - overplayed yes - over-rated - no fucking chance

Beautiful melodies , sick solos, Bonham's drumming on it, in my opinion, is rock at it's finest

swede

iAmNoKiller wrote:

Don't fly off the hook about this! Some of my friends and I were sitting around listening to Zep, and the song came on, and two of us actually agreed that it's a little overrated. If you take into context the other great songs they have that aren't actually acknowledged. You can stop anyone off the street who doesn't know shit about Zeppelin, but they'll tell tou S.t.H. is the greatest song ever. What does everyone think.

i think its overrated... as is led zep IV

swede

Ledbetterman10 wrote:

I won't even give the original post a read. All I know is that Stairway to Heaven is NOT overrated in the least. It borders on biblical if anything

the bible is overrated... so if thats the case then it may help explain stairway being overrated

FinsburyParkCarrots

DCGARDEN wrote:

If you put it into the proper context, that song was so far ahead of it's time it's scary - overplayed yes - over-rated - no fucking chance

Beautiful melodies , sick solos, Bonham's drumming on it, in my opinion, is rock at it's finest

I think it was ahead of most conventional rock, in its time, but there were some British folk-rock artists at the time, who were producing comparable music. It's no coincidence that Sandy Denny sings on Battle of Evermore, for example: Zep were acknowledging a debt to the pioneers of the movement that they managed to bring to the mainstream.

I don't think Stairway to Heaven is overrated, but I do think that there's music by Sandy Denny, Roy Harper, et al, which was around in the same period and which is criminally underrated to this day.

yosi1

Virgil Caine wrote:

Your friend is mistaken.

She is probably confusing it with No Quarter which would sometimes stretch to 1/2 hour.

Or more likely Dazed and Confused which also reached lengths of 45 minutes.

cjc9

Well, it's got an awesome guitar solo. It is not my favorite song though, too tough to pick a fave. Their 4th album is not my fave either, I love Physical Graffiti and Presence. The guitar on Achilles Last Stand is astounding. I love The Song Remains the Same- again awesome guitar work by Page.

EBowie

chiefojibwa wrote:

totally overrated. zep has much better songs. and the lyrics...cheese to the nth degree.

but it's a damn fine song.

WOW!!!! See, I consider cheesy lyrics to be those that sound like anyone could have written them. Who the fuck else is gonna come up with opening lines like..."There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold"...come on the lyrics are fucking good...nothing is cheesy about them. The song is definitely overplayed people...and in that sense it can get boring. But I'll never say that it's overrated. And the lyrics are certainly not cheesy.

DCGARDEN

cj-vegan wrote:

Well, it's got an awesome guitar solo. It is not my favorite song though, too tough to pick a fave. Their 4th album is not my fave either, I love Physical Graffiti and Presence. The guitar on Achilles Last Stand is astounding. I love The Song Remains the Same- again awesome guitar work by Page.

You just hit my sore spot!

Presence a great album???? Hardly. It has 2 great songs, one of which (Achilles ) may be the greatest rock song ever made, but that hardly makes up for the rest of the album being average.

Graffiti is definitely a great album, as a matter of fact, I'd say it's one of the greatest.

hendrix78

Is Stairway over-rated? HELL NO!

I concede that it's played so often that it is easy to lose focus on how original and ahead of it's time it is. The structure of this song is incredible. The way it starts soft and slow and builds to one of the most orgasmic climaxes in the history of rock music is incredible. It is a true peice of art. Whoever called it "commercial tat" doesn't know his ass from a hole in the ground. Stairway is 8 minutes long and doesn't even have a chorus. There's nothing commercial about it.

That said, it's not my favorite Zeppelin tune.

JaneNY

Virgil Caine wrote:

Your friend is mistaken.

She is probably confusing it with No Quarter which would sometimes stretch to 1/2 hour.

Who knows - she was arguing with her boyfriend at the time! In any case its a long ago friend; I have no idea where she even is now.