is, "Stairway to Heaven," overrated?

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.

mwachsman

Overrated, no. The problem is that all other Zeppelin songs are underrated. They should be on the same level as Stairway. Even Hot Dog.

Clau_yellowled

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO WAY!!!

one of the greatest song ever!! that song will never be overrated!!! never!!

yosi1

DCGARDEN wrote:

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.

You just listen to the Greatest Hits too much to appreciate the other songs.

FreshTendrils

yosi wrote:

You just listen to the Greatest Hits too much to appreciate the other songs.

But he's right. Presence is not a great album.

yosi1

FreshTendrils wrote:

But he's right. Presence is not a great album.

I don't know, Achilles Last Stand, Nobody's Fault But Mine, Tea for One, For Your Life. Those are all great songs.

decides2dream

it is an amazing song, sure...but if i never hear it played ever again, it'll be too soon. sorry, i LOVE led zep, to the deeps of my soul...but that song got RUINED for me during my teen years, completely obliterated, over-played beyond belief. so yea....i appreciate it's mastery...but i just don't want to hear it ever again.

Inkdaub

Stairway is one of the greatest songs ever written. I never get tired of it and never feel like changing it or skipping it when it comes on. I don't see it as overrated. I DO see the absurdity of naming it the greatest rock song ever because there can't be a single greatest rock song ever. But Stairway would make the list of possibles for sure.

brain of c

the sign in the guitar store says it all.

no stairway.

solace23

never over rated- it is one the greatest songs of all time!!

Ledbetterman10

mwachsman wrote:

Overrated, no. The problem is that all other Zeppelin songs are underrated. They should be on the same level as Stairway. Even Hot Dog.

Hot Dog is good fun but I don't think it's quite on the level of anything on Zeppelin IV.

now Carouselambra on the other hand.......