STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN: THE MOST OVERRATED SONG EVER
There.
I said it.
You heard me right.
Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin from their fourth album titled
, commonly known among rock music aficionados as Led Zeppelin IV is the MOST OVERRATED SONG EVER. It had some all time great tracks like Black Dog, Rock and Roll (one of the great drum intro songs), Misty Mountain Hop and the true standout track of the album: When The Levee Breaks. Despite such great songs, the album is mostly remembered for Stairway to Heaven. The song neatly splits into a decent melody section followed by the famous solo and ending with the coda.
Why is it overrated? That's the wrong question to ask. The correct question is: Why isn't it overrated? It starts with Robert Plant. Plant is THE worst singer of all time. He has absolutely no range unlike other great singers of his era like Freddie Mercury, Ian Gillan, Ronnie James Dio or Rob Halford. That is no big drawback. Ozzy didn't have that much range but he knew his limitations and sang within that. Plant never did and his high pitched shrieks made Sharapova seem mute as mice. On top of that his voice was awful and produced blood from the ears like Surthee did to Steve Wik in manadai tiruḍi viṭṭāḷ. There is no explicable reason for a band with GOAT candidates for drummer, bassist & guitarist to have such a dummy piece for a lead singer.
The song begins with an acoustic riff which is very "meh" to say the least. Imagine the song didn't end with that solo. The riff's very ordinary now, innit? It's like Cristiano's prowess from free-kicks. The free-kick he scored against Spain was his first in FORTY-FIVE attempts in EIGHT international tournaments. The free-kick was absolutely brilliant but Jatti-tards forget how awful he was earlier. The opening 5:55 of the song is exactly like those 44 misses from the dead ball. The 40 second solo covers the weakness of the earlier part of song.
Then, the lyrics. Ye Gods, what utter tosh they are! "In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees and the voices of those who standing looking". What the hell does that mean? And this "When she gets there she knows if the stores are all closed with a word she can get what she came for"? Another verse full of banal gibberish. Even Rajini machchinan piḷḷai's gawdawful ālumā ḍōlumā makes more sense. The song is littered with tripe like that. I'm not saying rock songs should have "Wordsworthesque" poetry but come! On! Stairway To Heaven is the lowest of lows in the rock song lyrics world which is already nether.
When The Levee Breaks is a much better song from start to finish. The drum intro, the harmonica riff, the rhythm track. It's top-drawer stuff. So is Rock & Roll. And Black Dog. None of the songs have great lyrics but it's Robert Plant. That is his level. It will be like expecting Sujith Somasundar to score desert storm 143. Not. Gonna. Happen. Ever. Can you visualize how good Led Zep would be if Freddie Mercury was their frontman? Goosebumps. The only plausible explanation I can come up with is that Robert Plant is the dṛṣṭi pūśnikā of Led Zeppelin.
Don't get me wrong, the song ain't half bad but it's so feted that it's overrated. It's the Sachin Tendulkar of rock songs.
I said it.
You heard me right.
Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin from their fourth album titled
, commonly known among rock music aficionados as Led Zeppelin IV is the MOST OVERRATED SONG EVER. It had some all time great tracks like Black Dog, Rock and Roll (one of the great drum intro songs), Misty Mountain Hop and the true standout track of the album: When The Levee Breaks. Despite such great songs, the album is mostly remembered for Stairway to Heaven. The song neatly splits into a decent melody section followed by the famous solo and ending with the coda.Why is it overrated? That's the wrong question to ask. The correct question is: Why isn't it overrated? It starts with Robert Plant. Plant is THE worst singer of all time. He has absolutely no range unlike other great singers of his era like Freddie Mercury, Ian Gillan, Ronnie James Dio or Rob Halford. That is no big drawback. Ozzy didn't have that much range but he knew his limitations and sang within that. Plant never did and his high pitched shrieks made Sharapova seem mute as mice. On top of that his voice was awful and produced blood from the ears like Surthee did to Steve Wik in manadai tiruḍi viṭṭāḷ. There is no explicable reason for a band with GOAT candidates for drummer, bassist & guitarist to have such a dummy piece for a lead singer.
The song begins with an acoustic riff which is very "meh" to say the least. Imagine the song didn't end with that solo. The riff's very ordinary now, innit? It's like Cristiano's prowess from free-kicks. The free-kick he scored against Spain was his first in FORTY-FIVE attempts in EIGHT international tournaments. The free-kick was absolutely brilliant but Jatti-tards forget how awful he was earlier. The opening 5:55 of the song is exactly like those 44 misses from the dead ball. The 40 second solo covers the weakness of the earlier part of song.
Then, the lyrics. Ye Gods, what utter tosh they are! "In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees and the voices of those who standing looking". What the hell does that mean? And this "When she gets there she knows if the stores are all closed with a word she can get what she came for"? Another verse full of banal gibberish. Even Rajini machchinan piḷḷai's gawdawful ālumā ḍōlumā makes more sense. The song is littered with tripe like that. I'm not saying rock songs should have "Wordsworthesque" poetry but come! On! Stairway To Heaven is the lowest of lows in the rock song lyrics world which is already nether.
When The Levee Breaks is a much better song from start to finish. The drum intro, the harmonica riff, the rhythm track. It's top-drawer stuff. So is Rock & Roll. And Black Dog. None of the songs have great lyrics but it's Robert Plant. That is his level. It will be like expecting Sujith Somasundar to score desert storm 143. Not. Gonna. Happen. Ever. Can you visualize how good Led Zep would be if Freddie Mercury was their frontman? Goosebumps. The only plausible explanation I can come up with is that Robert Plant is the dṛṣṭi pūśnikā of Led Zeppelin.
Don't get me wrong, the song ain't half bad but it's so feted that it's overrated. It's the Sachin Tendulkar of rock songs.
Comments
Post a Comment