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FBG'S TOP 81 LED ZEPPELIN SONGS: #1 - When The Levee Breaks from Led Zeppelin IV (1971) (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Anarchy99
- Start date
AAABatteries
Footballguy
The suspense is killing me.
shuke
Black Ice Skeptic
Sorry dude but this is inaccurate. I also DJ'ed in high school and we had turntables that spinned backwards to cue the next song. But I definitely remember playing records backwards with my friends in the early 80's when we were kids. Zeppelin, Sabbath, AC/DC, trying to find hidden messages.
When I was in Middle School (79-82) we’d have a couple of school dances every year and this was always the last one played. First 5 minutes were great as a slow dance. But when it picks up at the end things got real awkward. You didn’t quite know what to do with yourself.
Fast forward 30 years to 2011. I’m driving my son to his first Middle School dance. I’m reminiscing and giggling to myself the whole time thinking about how all our dances ended with Stairway. Thank God that dumb tradition ended in the early 80’s. So anyway, I drop him off and a few hours later I go to pick him up - and Stairway to Heaven is playing as the last song! Maybe it was the same DJ.
Tom Servo
Nittany Beavers
Anarchy99
Footballguy
I can’t get access to the thread to post anything. Can only post on my phone, and way too much work to post a write up on a phone. The FFA doesn’t load on my desktop or laptops.
beer 30
Footballguy
This could be a very ignominious end to what otherwise has been a thread for the ages.
Anarchy99
Footballguy
I will try again tomorrow morning. I put in a trouble ticket. Maybe they will have a solution. It goes in phases . . . some days it's fine, other days I can't get on at all. But only the FFA.
ConstruxBoy
Kate's Daddy
![[scooter]](/data/avatars/m/22/22287.jpg?1659477690){kind=avatar}
[scooter]
Footballguy
The "Taurus" case had some legal ripples that went beyond Led Zeppelin. The original verdict had been appealed by the estate of Randy California (author of "Taurus"), and a three-judge panel subsequently ruled that the original trial wasn't fair and that the case should be re-tried. However, that ruling was then appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court, who ruled in Zep's favor -- possibly overturning years of legal precedent in the process. Previously, courts had applied an "inverse ratio rule" when it came to copyright infringement, which basically allowed for a lower burden of proof if a plaintiff could show that the defendant had a high level of access to the original material. When the Ninth Court shot down that concept, it was widely hailed as a huge win for the music industry. California's estate appealed the decision to the Supreme Court, but they declined to hear the case.
Anyway, Randy California was a talented musician but he knew deep down that Zep didn't plagiarize his song, which is why he never filed a lawsuit while he was alive.
[scooter]
Footballguy
A cover of a parody. How often do you see that?
The "original" version of this song was released in 1978 by Little Roger & The Goosebumps. But the single was only on the market for a few weeks before Zep (and their gangster manager, Peter Grant) threatened a lawsuit and demanded that the band destroy all copies of the recording. The single was subsequently withdrawn from the market, but enough copies survived that the song became something of a cult classic, making frequent appearances on the Dr. Demento radio show.
The incident ended up shaping the entire career of budding parody singer Weird Al Yankovic, who realized that it would be far more beneficial (not to mention profitable) if he sought permission for each parody that he released. This also explains why Al's Zep parody "Whole Lotta Lunch" has never been released (although he has performed it in concert, along with other rejected parodies which failed to receive the blessing of the original artist).
Anarchy99
Footballguy
#1 - When The Levee Breaks from Led Zeppelin IV (1971)
Appeared On: 55 ballots (out of 62 . . . 88.7%)
Total Points: 881 points (out of 1,550 possible points . . . 56.8%)
#1 Rankers: @timschochet@ConstruxBoy@Dr. Octopus@dickey moe@Ilov80s@gdub@BroncoFreak_2K3Friend, DEADHEAD
Top 5 Rankers: @Dwayne Hoover@simey@[scooter]@Cowboysfan8@joker@Just Win Baby@joffer@MAC_32@Andrew74@AAABatteries@Pip's Invitation@lardonastick@Ghost Rider
Highest Ranking: 1
Live Performances:
LZ: 6 (Brussels - 1975-01-12, Bloomington - 1975-01-18, Chicago 1975-01-20, New York - 1995-01-12)
Page & Plant: 25 (MTV - 1994, Milwaukee - 1995-05-01, Phoenix - 1995-05-10, Tokyo - 1996-02-08
Plant: 109 (Paris - 2005-06-09, London - 2005-12-04, Worcester - 2017-03-17, Vancouver - 2018-06-29, Dresden - 2018-08-01, Fredericton - 2019-09-13, San Francisco - 2019-10-05)
Plant & Krauss: 22 (Unknown
JPJ: 32 (Las Vegas - 1999-11-01, Nagoya - 1999-12-07, New Orleans - 2000-03-14, Toronto - 2001-12-05)
Covers: Sammy Hagar & The Circle, W.A.S.P., Rex Wheeler, Magic Slim (Part 1), Magic Slim (Part 2), A Perfect Circle, Stream Of Passion, John Campbell, Judge, Great White, Kristin Hirsch, Iron Horse, Buckwheat Zydeco, Bennett Harris, Beverley Martyn, Down, Jeff Buckley, Ben Harper, Dread Zeppelin, Mojo Nixon & The Toadliquors, Killdozer, Gov't Mule, Needtobreathe, Black Debbeth, Sturgill Simpson, Zepparella, Bonerama, Randy Jackson & Tommy Aldridge, Beth Hart, Joanna Connor, Lenny Kravitz, Yat-Kha, Out Of Phase, Blackberry Smoke, Bleu Phonque, Big Head Todd, Galactic with Warren Haynes, Galactic Cowboy Orchestra, Leftover Salmon, Roadsaw, Artimus Pyle, Mandy Prater & Steve Denny, Harrow Fair, Black Jacket Symphony, Dudley Taft, Left Lane Cruiser & James Leg, Katy Guillen, Jeff Martin, Tim Bickford, Rosetta Stone, Daddy Stove Pipe, AfroZep, Taylor Hicks & Umprhey's McGee, Tori Amos, Virgin Steele, Black Dawg, Heaven Machiine, Palodine, Therpist John's Zip Code Revue, Elephunk, CC Coletti, Danny B. Harvey, Danny Ross, Jamie McLean Band, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Led Zepagain, Led Blimpie, Vanessa Fernandez, Stanton Moore, Sandi Thom, Bluefields, Drive By Truckers & Erika Wennerstrom, Electric Love Machine, Frank Bang, Brandon Miller, Danielle Nichole, Mick Fleetwood, Sean Hill, Fantastic Negrito, Ari Eisinger, Dive Bars Band, Buffalo Crows, Blessid Dirt, RPG Radio, Playing For Change
Ultimate Classic Rock Ranking (out of 92 songs): 7
Vulture Ranking (out of 74 songs): 13
Rolling Stone Ranking (out of 40 songs): 8
Louder Ranking (out of 50 songs): 4
Uproxx Ranking (out of 50 songs): 1
WMGK Ranking (out of 92 songs): 8
SPIN Ranking (out of 87 songs): 6
Ranker Ranking (out of 87 songs): 2
Anachronarchy Ranking (out of 80 songs): 5
The people have spoken. Levee was shot out of a cannon when the ballots first started coming in. In the first 8 entries, there were 3 number one picks, and no one ranked it lower than 6th. Twenty picks in, it had 5 first place votes, 10 Top 5 votes, and 15 Top 10 votes. Ignoring the additional 42 ballots that came in after that, Levee had enough points after 20 ballots to rank in the Top 25.
It was CRUSHING the competition. Then it started fading. People were still voting for it, just not at the same high point level. Eventually, it briefly lost the top spot to Stairway. But two more #1 votes and another #2 vote at the finish line catapulted Levee back to the top to earn the crown of FBG’s Favorite Led Zeppelin song.
In the end, there could be only one. The final vote tally was just plain silly. Eight #1 votes (highest). Twenty-one Top 5 votes (highest). Thirty-four Top 10 votes (highest). Fifty-five people voted for it (highest). Only 7 people left it off their lists. We had Levee much higher than the outside rankers. Only Uproxx had it #1.
Memphis Minnie McCoy wrote the lyrics to the song after The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, which left 500 people dead and 700,000 people homeless. African American plantation workers were forced to work on the levee at gunpoint, piling sandbags to save the neighboring towns. After the levee breached, blacks were not allowed to leave the area, and they were forced to work in the relief and cleanup effort, living in camps with limited access to the supplies which were coming in. Many left at the first chance they could since there was no work in the Delta after the destruction of the plantations. Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie first recorded the song in 1929.
Plant, who apparently had a bigger record collection than Tower Records, had this in his personal collection and suggested it to the rest of the band. They tried to record the song (unsuccessfully) at the beginning of the recording sessions for their fourth album and tried again at a different studio later on. The original LZ recording was called If It Keeps On Raining and ended up on the deluxe version of Coda (and it sounds dramatically different than the version on LZ IV).
The final version of Levee was recorded at a different tempo, then slowed down. Plant then sang in between the key the song ended up in, which explains its sort of flat and sludgy sound, particularly on the harmonica and guitar solos. This also made it very difficult to accurately reproduce live. Bonham's drums were not recorded in the studio . . . but in a stairwell with the microphones planted 3 stories up. The drum sound echoed skyward and was captured on the mics, creating a very innovative and distinctive sound. The song's drums have often been cited as one of the most sampled tracks in recorded music history. The band tried performing it 5 times at the beginning of their 1975 and quickly retired it from their live catalog. (They did not even attempt it during tours supporting LZ IV or HOTH.)
Page quickly realized they had to abandon the first versions of the song. “I think most bands would have gone, ‘Hey, well that’s really cool, we’ll put it on the next album.' But when we got to Headley Grange a few good months later, and I heard the drum sound in the hallway, that iconic drum sound . . . the minute I heard that sound on these reflective surfaces, I said, ‘We’re gonna revisit that number.’”
As work commenced on the first of two versions to be recorded in the 18th century building, Page said he was inspired to find a “whole different approach” to the production. “I got some ideas about how to record the harmonica with backwards echo, and the whole thing started to become this whole sort of sonic journey,” Page said. “But the inspiration for me was hearing the drums in the hall, and I knew what we were to do.”
"The whole idea was to make [it] into a trance," Page said. "If you notice, something new is added to every verse. Check it out — the phasing of the voice changes, lots of backward stuff is added and, at the end, everything starts moving around except the vocal, which stays stationary."
Alternate Version, Alternate UK Mix in Progress, Rehearsal, 50th Anniversary Remix
The fourth album had some recording and mixing issues. The initial mixes of the songs did not come out properly, and all the songs but Levee did not turn out right. Page and the sound engineers had to start over and remix all the other tracks.
Jason Bonham later had this to say about his father's contribution to this song: “It's the drum intro of the Gods. You could play it anywhere and people would know it's John Bonham. I never had the chance to tell dad how amazing he was - he was just dad.”
Ultimate Classic Rock (7 of 92 songs): Like a lot of Led Zeppelin songs, When the Levee Breaks stems from an old blues number (this one by Memphis Minnie). And like a lot of Led Zeppelin songs, the band had to share songwriting credit (Minnie first recorded it in 1929). Zeppelin takes Levee to a whole other place, thanks to Bonham's powerhouse drums, achieved by recording him at the bottom of a stairwell.
Vulture (13 of 74 songs): At first this seems like another relatively innovative blues, if beating them beyond recognition counts as innovation — hardly the barn-burner closer you might want for an album with Black Dog, Rock and Roll, Stairway, and Evermore on it. But there’s a very hard drive to the arrangement, and a distinctive churning upbeat that resolves into a nice, plangent guitar break — with a very warped undertone to it — halfway through, culminating in an almost hypnotic slide rave-up at the end. Turn it up loud and give it your attention; it’s an underappreciated stunner.
Rolling Stone (8 of 40 songs): This is Zeppelin as bad-trip blues band, with lyrics cribbed from Memphis Minnie about an epic flood and freaky, drowned-world production by Page, using heavy echo, backward harmonica and slo-mo playback. Bonzo's drums, recorded in a stairwell at Headley Grange, are so ginormous they became a classic sample (most famously opening the Beastie Boys' Licensed to Ill). "The acoustics of the stairwell happened to be so balanced we didn't even need to mic the kick drum," Page recalled.
Louder (4 of 50 songs): The Led Zep version of When The Levee Breaks is one of the band’s authentic masterpieces of transforming acoustic country blues into monolithic rock. Words like ‘epic’ and ‘awesome’ have become drained and devalued by sheer repetition, but here they’re entirely justified. No heavy band ever played funkier, and no funk band ever played heavier.
Structurally, it’s one of the band’s simplest pieces: they jettisoned the original’s conventional 12-bar structure and played the song pretty much all on one chord, except for the serpentine riff which periodically inserts itself into proceedings. (They also retooled Joe McCoy’s original lyric, dropping some of his verses and adding new words of their own.) By contrast, it’s one of Jimmy Page’s most complex productions. “You’ve got backwards harmonica, backwards echo, phasing, and there’s also flanging, and at the end you get this super-dense sound, in layers, that’s all built around the drum track,” explained Page. “And you’ve got Robert, constant in the middle, and everything starts to spiral around him. It’s all done with panning… each 12 bars has something new about it, though at first it might not be apparent. There’s a lot of different effects on there that at the time had never been used before. Phased vocals, a backwards echoed harmonica solo…”
Most important of all, the basic track was slowed down, giving it even more weight and murk. Lawdnose how many guitars Page overdubbed: layers of Mizzippi-mud Les Paul grunge, topped off with a clean, ringing slide guitar. It’s both huge and claustrophobic: Plant’s voice in perpetual danger of being overwhelmed by the immense natural forces swirling around him.
It also includes the most famous Zeppelin backbeat ever, and one that launched a thousand samples. As Robert Plant remarked: “John always felt his significance was minimal but if you take him off any of our tracks, it loses its potency and sex. I don’t think he really knew how important he was.”
Uproxx (1 of 50 songs): It’s all here — the contradictions and darkness and orgasms and drugs and life and power and death and Bonzo’s hammer of the gods and Jimmy’s otherworldly guitar and Plant’s pleading and Jonesy holding it all together as it all hangs over hell’s flames.
Zeppelin appropriated the blues, and rappers appropriated this titanic drum break. They sang about the end of the world, and made it feel like a rebirth. When Plant talks about “going down,” he’s somehow talking about sex and visiting Satan. When The Levee Breaks is just so dense and hard and it has no top and no bottom. I’ve heard it hundreds of times and it still seduces and terrifies me a little. It’s neither fast nor slow — it feels like it’s 20 minutes long when it’s on and 20 seconds when it’s over. But as long as this song is playing, I can believe every word of Hammer Of The Gods and forget that any other rock band ever existed.
WMGK (8 of 92 songs): Zeppelin’s update of the Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie blues song released in 1929 was one of their finest moments. John Bonham in particular shines with one of his most iconic drum performances, but Robert Plant also adds some of his best harmonica playing and vocals. Many of Zeppelin’s peers covered early blues songs, but few of them captured the sense of dread that Zep did here.
SPIN (6 of 87 songs): If John Bonham never did anything for Led Zeppelin but the first two measures of Levee, his place in rock history would still likely be secure. The song’s thundering intro — the famous sound of which was achieved with two mics at the other end of a staircase from the kit — has been sampled and rebuilt so many times in rock and rap history that you’d think it’d lose its impact, but when it hits as the last track on LZ IV, right before Plant zooms in with that swampy harmonica blaring, it doesn’t matter how many thousands of times you’ve heard it before. The rest of the song is nearly as great, but when you have the best intro on a Led Zeppelin song — the group with more classic intros than any other rock band in history — it’s worth keeping the focus on that.
Appeared On: 55 ballots (out of 62 . . . 88.7%)
Total Points: 881 points (out of 1,550 possible points . . . 56.8%)
#1 Rankers: @timschochet@ConstruxBoy@Dr. Octopus@dickey moe@Ilov80s@gdub@BroncoFreak_2K3Friend, DEADHEAD
Top 5 Rankers: @Dwayne Hoover@simey@[scooter]@Cowboysfan8@joker@Just Win Baby@joffer@MAC_32@Andrew74@AAABatteries@Pip's Invitation@lardonastick@Ghost Rider
Highest Ranking: 1
Live Performances:
LZ: 6 (Brussels - 1975-01-12, Bloomington - 1975-01-18, Chicago 1975-01-20, New York - 1995-01-12)
Page & Plant: 25 (MTV - 1994, Milwaukee - 1995-05-01, Phoenix - 1995-05-10, Tokyo - 1996-02-08
Plant: 109 (Paris - 2005-06-09, London - 2005-12-04, Worcester - 2017-03-17, Vancouver - 2018-06-29, Dresden - 2018-08-01, Fredericton - 2019-09-13, San Francisco - 2019-10-05)
Plant & Krauss: 22 (Unknown
JPJ: 32 (Las Vegas - 1999-11-01, Nagoya - 1999-12-07, New Orleans - 2000-03-14, Toronto - 2001-12-05)
Covers: Sammy Hagar & The Circle, W.A.S.P., Rex Wheeler, Magic Slim (Part 1), Magic Slim (Part 2), A Perfect Circle, Stream Of Passion, John Campbell, Judge, Great White, Kristin Hirsch, Iron Horse, Buckwheat Zydeco, Bennett Harris, Beverley Martyn, Down, Jeff Buckley, Ben Harper, Dread Zeppelin, Mojo Nixon & The Toadliquors, Killdozer, Gov't Mule, Needtobreathe, Black Debbeth, Sturgill Simpson, Zepparella, Bonerama, Randy Jackson & Tommy Aldridge, Beth Hart, Joanna Connor, Lenny Kravitz, Yat-Kha, Out Of Phase, Blackberry Smoke, Bleu Phonque, Big Head Todd, Galactic with Warren Haynes, Galactic Cowboy Orchestra, Leftover Salmon, Roadsaw, Artimus Pyle, Mandy Prater & Steve Denny, Harrow Fair, Black Jacket Symphony, Dudley Taft, Left Lane Cruiser & James Leg, Katy Guillen, Jeff Martin, Tim Bickford, Rosetta Stone, Daddy Stove Pipe, AfroZep, Taylor Hicks & Umprhey's McGee, Tori Amos, Virgin Steele, Black Dawg, Heaven Machiine, Palodine, Therpist John's Zip Code Revue, Elephunk, CC Coletti, Danny B. Harvey, Danny Ross, Jamie McLean Band, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Led Zepagain, Led Blimpie, Vanessa Fernandez, Stanton Moore, Sandi Thom, Bluefields, Drive By Truckers & Erika Wennerstrom, Electric Love Machine, Frank Bang, Brandon Miller, Danielle Nichole, Mick Fleetwood, Sean Hill, Fantastic Negrito, Ari Eisinger, Dive Bars Band, Buffalo Crows, Blessid Dirt, RPG Radio, Playing For Change
Ultimate Classic Rock Ranking (out of 92 songs): 7
Vulture Ranking (out of 74 songs): 13
Rolling Stone Ranking (out of 40 songs): 8
Louder Ranking (out of 50 songs): 4
Uproxx Ranking (out of 50 songs): 1
WMGK Ranking (out of 92 songs): 8
SPIN Ranking (out of 87 songs): 6
Ranker Ranking (out of 87 songs): 2
Anachronarchy Ranking (out of 80 songs): 5
The people have spoken. Levee was shot out of a cannon when the ballots first started coming in. In the first 8 entries, there were 3 number one picks, and no one ranked it lower than 6th. Twenty picks in, it had 5 first place votes, 10 Top 5 votes, and 15 Top 10 votes. Ignoring the additional 42 ballots that came in after that, Levee had enough points after 20 ballots to rank in the Top 25.
It was CRUSHING the competition. Then it started fading. People were still voting for it, just not at the same high point level. Eventually, it briefly lost the top spot to Stairway. But two more #1 votes and another #2 vote at the finish line catapulted Levee back to the top to earn the crown of FBG’s Favorite Led Zeppelin song.
In the end, there could be only one. The final vote tally was just plain silly. Eight #1 votes (highest). Twenty-one Top 5 votes (highest). Thirty-four Top 10 votes (highest). Fifty-five people voted for it (highest). Only 7 people left it off their lists. We had Levee much higher than the outside rankers. Only Uproxx had it #1.
Memphis Minnie McCoy wrote the lyrics to the song after The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, which left 500 people dead and 700,000 people homeless. African American plantation workers were forced to work on the levee at gunpoint, piling sandbags to save the neighboring towns. After the levee breached, blacks were not allowed to leave the area, and they were forced to work in the relief and cleanup effort, living in camps with limited access to the supplies which were coming in. Many left at the first chance they could since there was no work in the Delta after the destruction of the plantations. Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie first recorded the song in 1929.
Plant, who apparently had a bigger record collection than Tower Records, had this in his personal collection and suggested it to the rest of the band. They tried to record the song (unsuccessfully) at the beginning of the recording sessions for their fourth album and tried again at a different studio later on. The original LZ recording was called If It Keeps On Raining and ended up on the deluxe version of Coda (and it sounds dramatically different than the version on LZ IV).
The final version of Levee was recorded at a different tempo, then slowed down. Plant then sang in between the key the song ended up in, which explains its sort of flat and sludgy sound, particularly on the harmonica and guitar solos. This also made it very difficult to accurately reproduce live. Bonham's drums were not recorded in the studio . . . but in a stairwell with the microphones planted 3 stories up. The drum sound echoed skyward and was captured on the mics, creating a very innovative and distinctive sound. The song's drums have often been cited as one of the most sampled tracks in recorded music history. The band tried performing it 5 times at the beginning of their 1975 and quickly retired it from their live catalog. (They did not even attempt it during tours supporting LZ IV or HOTH.)
Page quickly realized they had to abandon the first versions of the song. “I think most bands would have gone, ‘Hey, well that’s really cool, we’ll put it on the next album.' But when we got to Headley Grange a few good months later, and I heard the drum sound in the hallway, that iconic drum sound . . . the minute I heard that sound on these reflective surfaces, I said, ‘We’re gonna revisit that number.’”
As work commenced on the first of two versions to be recorded in the 18th century building, Page said he was inspired to find a “whole different approach” to the production. “I got some ideas about how to record the harmonica with backwards echo, and the whole thing started to become this whole sort of sonic journey,” Page said. “But the inspiration for me was hearing the drums in the hall, and I knew what we were to do.”
"The whole idea was to make [it] into a trance," Page said. "If you notice, something new is added to every verse. Check it out — the phasing of the voice changes, lots of backward stuff is added and, at the end, everything starts moving around except the vocal, which stays stationary."
Alternate Version, Alternate UK Mix in Progress, Rehearsal, 50th Anniversary Remix
The fourth album had some recording and mixing issues. The initial mixes of the songs did not come out properly, and all the songs but Levee did not turn out right. Page and the sound engineers had to start over and remix all the other tracks.
Jason Bonham later had this to say about his father's contribution to this song: “It's the drum intro of the Gods. You could play it anywhere and people would know it's John Bonham. I never had the chance to tell dad how amazing he was - he was just dad.”
Ultimate Classic Rock (7 of 92 songs): Like a lot of Led Zeppelin songs, When the Levee Breaks stems from an old blues number (this one by Memphis Minnie). And like a lot of Led Zeppelin songs, the band had to share songwriting credit (Minnie first recorded it in 1929). Zeppelin takes Levee to a whole other place, thanks to Bonham's powerhouse drums, achieved by recording him at the bottom of a stairwell.
Vulture (13 of 74 songs): At first this seems like another relatively innovative blues, if beating them beyond recognition counts as innovation — hardly the barn-burner closer you might want for an album with Black Dog, Rock and Roll, Stairway, and Evermore on it. But there’s a very hard drive to the arrangement, and a distinctive churning upbeat that resolves into a nice, plangent guitar break — with a very warped undertone to it — halfway through, culminating in an almost hypnotic slide rave-up at the end. Turn it up loud and give it your attention; it’s an underappreciated stunner.
Rolling Stone (8 of 40 songs): This is Zeppelin as bad-trip blues band, with lyrics cribbed from Memphis Minnie about an epic flood and freaky, drowned-world production by Page, using heavy echo, backward harmonica and slo-mo playback. Bonzo's drums, recorded in a stairwell at Headley Grange, are so ginormous they became a classic sample (most famously opening the Beastie Boys' Licensed to Ill). "The acoustics of the stairwell happened to be so balanced we didn't even need to mic the kick drum," Page recalled.
Louder (4 of 50 songs): The Led Zep version of When The Levee Breaks is one of the band’s authentic masterpieces of transforming acoustic country blues into monolithic rock. Words like ‘epic’ and ‘awesome’ have become drained and devalued by sheer repetition, but here they’re entirely justified. No heavy band ever played funkier, and no funk band ever played heavier.
Structurally, it’s one of the band’s simplest pieces: they jettisoned the original’s conventional 12-bar structure and played the song pretty much all on one chord, except for the serpentine riff which periodically inserts itself into proceedings. (They also retooled Joe McCoy’s original lyric, dropping some of his verses and adding new words of their own.) By contrast, it’s one of Jimmy Page’s most complex productions. “You’ve got backwards harmonica, backwards echo, phasing, and there’s also flanging, and at the end you get this super-dense sound, in layers, that’s all built around the drum track,” explained Page. “And you’ve got Robert, constant in the middle, and everything starts to spiral around him. It’s all done with panning… each 12 bars has something new about it, though at first it might not be apparent. There’s a lot of different effects on there that at the time had never been used before. Phased vocals, a backwards echoed harmonica solo…”
Most important of all, the basic track was slowed down, giving it even more weight and murk. Lawdnose how many guitars Page overdubbed: layers of Mizzippi-mud Les Paul grunge, topped off with a clean, ringing slide guitar. It’s both huge and claustrophobic: Plant’s voice in perpetual danger of being overwhelmed by the immense natural forces swirling around him.
It also includes the most famous Zeppelin backbeat ever, and one that launched a thousand samples. As Robert Plant remarked: “John always felt his significance was minimal but if you take him off any of our tracks, it loses its potency and sex. I don’t think he really knew how important he was.”
Uproxx (1 of 50 songs): It’s all here — the contradictions and darkness and orgasms and drugs and life and power and death and Bonzo’s hammer of the gods and Jimmy’s otherworldly guitar and Plant’s pleading and Jonesy holding it all together as it all hangs over hell’s flames.
Zeppelin appropriated the blues, and rappers appropriated this titanic drum break. They sang about the end of the world, and made it feel like a rebirth. When Plant talks about “going down,” he’s somehow talking about sex and visiting Satan. When The Levee Breaks is just so dense and hard and it has no top and no bottom. I’ve heard it hundreds of times and it still seduces and terrifies me a little. It’s neither fast nor slow — it feels like it’s 20 minutes long when it’s on and 20 seconds when it’s over. But as long as this song is playing, I can believe every word of Hammer Of The Gods and forget that any other rock band ever existed.
WMGK (8 of 92 songs): Zeppelin’s update of the Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie blues song released in 1929 was one of their finest moments. John Bonham in particular shines with one of his most iconic drum performances, but Robert Plant also adds some of his best harmonica playing and vocals. Many of Zeppelin’s peers covered early blues songs, but few of them captured the sense of dread that Zep did here.
SPIN (6 of 87 songs): If John Bonham never did anything for Led Zeppelin but the first two measures of Levee, his place in rock history would still likely be secure. The song’s thundering intro — the famous sound of which was achieved with two mics at the other end of a staircase from the kit — has been sampled and rebuilt so many times in rock and rap history that you’d think it’d lose its impact, but when it hits as the last track on LZ IV, right before Plant zooms in with that swampy harmonica blaring, it doesn’t matter how many thousands of times you’ve heard it before. The rest of the song is nearly as great, but when you have the best intro on a Led Zeppelin song — the group with more classic intros than any other rock band in history — it’s worth keeping the focus on that.
Last edited by a moderator:
Anarchy99
Footballguy
Final Rankings for Outside Rankers:
1 Kashmir 209
2 Stairway to Heaven 207
3 Whole Lotta Love 181
4 When the Levee Breaks 180
5 Immigrant Song 169
6 Black Dog 145
7 Dazed and Confused 144
8 Rock and Roll 118
9 Over the Hills and Far 112
10 Ramble On 98
11 Good Time Bad Times 94
12 Heartbreaker 87
13 Since I've Been Loving 83
14 No Quarter 82
15 The Rain Song 73
15 Babe, I'm Gonna Leave 73
17 The Ocean 65
17 Achilles Last Stand 65
19 Communication Breakdown 57
20 The Battle of Everymore 55
21 Ten Years Gone 51
22 In My Time of Dying 50
22 Misty Mountain Hop 50
24 What Is and What Should 46
25 That's the Way 42
25 Fool in the Rain 42
27 Tangerine 40
28 Going to California 34
28 Song Remains the Same 34
30 Bring It on Home 27
30 Trampled Under Foot 27
32 All My Love 21
33 D'yer Maker 20
34 Moby **** 19
34 Dancing Days 19
36 Houses of the Holy 15
37 Wearing and Tearing 12
38 In the Evening 11
39 The Lemon Song 10
40 In the Light 9
41 How Many More Times 8
42 Hey, Hey, What Can I Do 7
42 Thank You 7
42 Gallows Pole 7
45 I Can't Quit You Baby 5
45 Bron-Y-Aur 5
47 Black Country Woman 4
48 Nobody's Fault But Mine 3
49 Custard Pie 2
50 You Shook Me 1
Our scoring based on points by album:
LZ IV - 4197
LZ II - 3193
LZ 1 - 2998
PG - 2958
HOTH - 2623
LZ III - 2124
C - 760 (Including Deluxe Edition songs)
ITTOD - 745
P -591
1 Kashmir 209
2 Stairway to Heaven 207
3 Whole Lotta Love 181
4 When the Levee Breaks 180
5 Immigrant Song 169
6 Black Dog 145
7 Dazed and Confused 144
8 Rock and Roll 118
9 Over the Hills and Far 112
10 Ramble On 98
11 Good Time Bad Times 94
12 Heartbreaker 87
13 Since I've Been Loving 83
14 No Quarter 82
15 The Rain Song 73
15 Babe, I'm Gonna Leave 73
17 The Ocean 65
17 Achilles Last Stand 65
19 Communication Breakdown 57
20 The Battle of Everymore 55
21 Ten Years Gone 51
22 In My Time of Dying 50
22 Misty Mountain Hop 50
24 What Is and What Should 46
25 That's the Way 42
25 Fool in the Rain 42
27 Tangerine 40
28 Going to California 34
28 Song Remains the Same 34
30 Bring It on Home 27
30 Trampled Under Foot 27
32 All My Love 21
33 D'yer Maker 20
34 Moby **** 19
34 Dancing Days 19
36 Houses of the Holy 15
37 Wearing and Tearing 12
38 In the Evening 11
39 The Lemon Song 10
40 In the Light 9
41 How Many More Times 8
42 Hey, Hey, What Can I Do 7
42 Thank You 7
42 Gallows Pole 7
45 I Can't Quit You Baby 5
45 Bron-Y-Aur 5
47 Black Country Woman 4
48 Nobody's Fault But Mine 3
49 Custard Pie 2
50 You Shook Me 1
Our scoring based on points by album:
LZ IV - 4197
LZ II - 3193
LZ 1 - 2998
PG - 2958
HOTH - 2623
LZ III - 2124
C - 760 (Including Deluxe Edition songs)
ITTOD - 745
P -591
foxco
Footballguy
dickey moe
Fingerpicker
Listening to it now. So excited my lightsaber is shaking.
Pip's Invitation
Footballguy
My rank: 5
My friend’s rank: 21
There was no point in continuing down the blues-reworkings path after Zep recorded this. Levee takes that approach as far as it can go, and reinvents the blues into something else entirely. The monstrous drums and backwards harmonica are the obvious standout parts, but what’s most impressive to me is the overall effect of the sound, which evokes swamps, stew, buzzsaws and vacuum cleaners — it’s so viscous AND vicious. Every second of this is genius.
Thanks to anarchy for all his hard work!
fatguyinalittlecoat
Footballguy
Try clearing out your cookies I've had that issue before and that's helped.Anarchy99 said:
Galileo
Footballguy
Absolutely love this cover. I really enjoy the collaborations from Playing for Change
Anarchy99
Footballguy
dickey moe
Fingerpicker
Undoubtedly one of the best if not THE best drumbeats in rock history. Sampled by everyone from the Beastie Boys, to Ice T, to a gazillion other hip hop heads. Wonder what Bonzo would think if he were still around...
The ethereal bass drum echo has been dissected by many, but Rick Beato is a Youtuber who does a good job of deconstructing classic songs and makes the most convincing argument in terms of how the sound was obtained, IMO. The ghost beats weren't necessarily a product of the otherworldly acoustics of Headley Grange, but were rather massaged by some creative engineering and use of vintage echo units. There's also a good Physical Graffiti documentary on Amazon Prime that touches on this. Watch Beato's video and see what you think.
The ethereal bass drum echo has been dissected by many, but Rick Beato is a Youtuber who does a good job of deconstructing classic songs and makes the most convincing argument in terms of how the sound was obtained, IMO. The ghost beats weren't necessarily a product of the otherworldly acoustics of Headley Grange, but were rather massaged by some creative engineering and use of vintage echo units. There's also a good Physical Graffiti documentary on Amazon Prime that touches on this. Watch Beato's video and see what you think.
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Manster
Footballguy
Great list! IV is my fave. I was interested where Black Dog would fall, which if im honest, is my #1a, and Stairway is #1b.....When the the Levee Breaks, Goin to California, Misty Mountain Hop, The Battle of Evermore, Rock and Roll......best album of all time?? I wouldnt argue with that....
[scooter]
Footballguy
Speaking of deconstructions, this video came out a couple weeks ago. The guy postulated that Page actually used a special 11-string tuning to achieve the distinctive guitar sound in "Levee" -- starting with open E tuning on a 12-string guitar (EE, BB, EE, G#G#, BB, EE), but removing one of the G strings, and then tuning down one of the 4th strings, and then using a capo on the 2nd fret.
His theory was subsequently debunked by some music theorists and Guitar World editors, but it's a fascinating video nonetheless.
Ghost Rider
Footballguy
It's a testament to how awesome When the Levee Breaks is when I consider is a top 5 song despite it heavily featuring a harmonica, an instrument I dislike more than not, especially when it is played the way Plant played in it this song. Like has been said, the drum sound and playing is just absurd.
skol asylum
Footballguy
Great write up on Levee. Makes me realize I need to revisit a song that shocked me that landed at one when I had in the low teens.
Thanks again Anarchy. Great work all around.
Thanks again Anarchy. Great work all around.
Man, so many great write-ups in here about Levee. I'm not a big Zeppelin fan, but this is one of my all-time favorite songs. Whenever I hear it I always turn the volume way up, even to this day. I always thought it would be a great backtrack in a movie scene. It's so hypnotic, so evil.
BassNBrew
Footballguy
Can you explain why no Stairway? Putin could have written it and it will still have to be in the top 20.
northern exposure
Footballguy
FairWarning
Footballguy
Used to listen to WLS back in the day, there wasn’t many FM rock stations back in the early 70’s. They would play just a few LZ songs, Stairway was one. The record companies really had control on what was played on the radio then. I don’t think I heard the entire catalog until the mid-late 80’s. Once I discovered Physical Graffitti, it became my fav LZ album. Funny as I see these rankings from industry people, do they really listen to all of the albums? What makes a band truly great to me is the deeper cuts and how they hold up today. My Beatles list is composed pretty similarly to the LZ. I think I had one song in their top 10 on my list, but the style i like is different than the ones that are deemed classics (shorter, heavier, faster - Communication Breakdown-style).
beer 30
Footballguy
Incredible job by @Anarchy99 to compile this epic thread. I mentioned it before but I considered myself something of a fanboy for LZ but I learned more in this thread about the band than I’d ever did on my own. Thank you sir for the work you put into this, it’s definitely one for the ages.
I had our #1 at 14, great tune just didn’t see it that high but not at all disappointed how this turned out. I think we all came to realize a couple things throughout the life of this thread. 1. Limiting the ranking to 25 songs is very difficult for a band of this stature. 2. How ####### good is LZ that choosing 25 songs from their catalog means leaving out probably another 15 to 20 songs that are just as good? Incredible group, sad that I never got to see them all live. I’ve been able to see the greatness of parts on occasion and they truly deserve to be held in high esteem. Enjoyed the ride everyone!
I had our #1 at 14, great tune just didn’t see it that high but not at all disappointed how this turned out. I think we all came to realize a couple things throughout the life of this thread. 1. Limiting the ranking to 25 songs is very difficult for a band of this stature. 2. How ####### good is LZ that choosing 25 songs from their catalog means leaving out probably another 15 to 20 songs that are just as good? Incredible group, sad that I never got to see them all live. I’ve been able to see the greatness of parts on occasion and they truly deserve to be held in high esteem. Enjoyed the ride everyone!
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ConstruxBoy
Kate's Daddy
My #1 and their best song. I feel like people too often associate "hard" or "heavy" with speed. Like Achilles Last Stand. But heavy or hard is this song. Just amazing. And the covers? Jeff Buckley!!? Holy ####. Ben Harper! Sturgill Simpson?! Galactic!!??! Tori Amos. Just incredible.Anarchy99 said:
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worrierking
Footballguy
Thanks Anarchy and everyone for a great time with this thread.
ConstruxBoy
Kate's Daddy
This thread has been exceptional. And there is no doubt that Ppl ed Zeppelin is the greatest rock band ever.
@Anarchy99 you made this thread great and for that I say thank you.
@Anarchy99 you made this thread great and for that I say thank you.
Anarchy99
Footballguy
I added in live versions and covers for Heartbreaker and Living Loving Maid to the entry on Page 54. But here are those items on their own.
Live Performances:
Heartbreaker
LZ: 258 (Paris - 1969-10-10, Montreux - 1970-03-07, London - 1971-04-01, Long Beach - 1972-06-27, New York - 1973-07-28, London - 1975-05-24, Los Angeles - 1977-06-21, Knebworth - 1979-08-04, Zurich - 1980-06-29, New York - 1988-05-14)
Page & Plant: 123 (Bucharest - 1998-03-01, Las Vegas - 1998-09-23)
Plant: 40 (Upper Darby - 2005-06-22, Nashville - 2005-06-29, Byron Bay - 2013-03-30, Newcastle 2013-03-31)
JP & The Crowes: 17 (Wantagh - 2000-07-10)
JPJ: 2
LLM
Plant: 44 (Dallas - 1990-08-04, Seattle - 1990-09-19, Universal City - 1990-10-31, Musgokee - 1990-11-26, London - 1991-01-08,
Covers:
Heartbreaker: Train, Dread Zeppelin, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Coalesce, The Section Quartet, Nirvana, Steve Morse, Speed Limit, Rangzen, Rachel Barton & Stringendo, Bjørn Berge, The Replacements (Not that band), Bonerama, Mothership, Aerosmith, Zebra, Ben Harper, Righteous Continental, High Voltage, John Craigie, Led Blimpie, Sugarpie & The Candymen, Lackthereof, Frank Hannon, Joey Belladonna, Anthony Gomes, Lou Gramm, Rat Race Choir, Zepparella, The Cat & Owl, Maria Rico, Giovanni Falzone Contemporary Orchestra, Zoso, Razer & Slash, The Equinox, People's Front Of Zeppelin, Ira Green, Dee Snyder, Gentle Groove, Metal Allegience, Steamroller, Acid Drinkers, Strange Brew, Sybarite5, Hindenburg & George Cintron, Phish, Hammer Of The Gods, Mollie Marriott, Linda Perry, The Slip, Buddy Whittington, Wild Adriatic, Mammoth, Lady Zep, Flying Circus, After Hours, Off The Record
LLM: Great White, Alyona, Dread Zeppelin, Train, Zozojones, Hard Box, Dirty Sanchez, Sara Loera, Night Owls, Copycat Killers, Acoustic Bruce, Swamp Donkey, Resistance Organ Trio, Bass Zeppelin, Doxomedon, Studio 99, The Hit Co., Bonerama, Nico Suave, Paolo Fedi, Ramiro Jatuff, Grand Rock Highway, Gov't Mule, Heavy Tiger, Joey Hebdo, Andreas Kisser, Acid Looks, Bateros Argentinos, Lecheenpolvo & Friends, Alright, Wiseguise, Jet Lemon Band, AUTISTAS CHOCADORES, Kevin Byrne, Batwanger
Live Performances:
Heartbreaker
LZ: 258 (Paris - 1969-10-10, Montreux - 1970-03-07, London - 1971-04-01, Long Beach - 1972-06-27, New York - 1973-07-28, London - 1975-05-24, Los Angeles - 1977-06-21, Knebworth - 1979-08-04, Zurich - 1980-06-29, New York - 1988-05-14)
Page & Plant: 123 (Bucharest - 1998-03-01, Las Vegas - 1998-09-23)
Plant: 40 (Upper Darby - 2005-06-22, Nashville - 2005-06-29, Byron Bay - 2013-03-30, Newcastle 2013-03-31)
JP & The Crowes: 17 (Wantagh - 2000-07-10)
JPJ: 2
LLM
Plant: 44 (Dallas - 1990-08-04, Seattle - 1990-09-19, Universal City - 1990-10-31, Musgokee - 1990-11-26, London - 1991-01-08,
Covers:
Heartbreaker: Train, Dread Zeppelin, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Coalesce, The Section Quartet, Nirvana, Steve Morse, Speed Limit, Rangzen, Rachel Barton & Stringendo, Bjørn Berge, The Replacements (Not that band), Bonerama, Mothership, Aerosmith, Zebra, Ben Harper, Righteous Continental, High Voltage, John Craigie, Led Blimpie, Sugarpie & The Candymen, Lackthereof, Frank Hannon, Joey Belladonna, Anthony Gomes, Lou Gramm, Rat Race Choir, Zepparella, The Cat & Owl, Maria Rico, Giovanni Falzone Contemporary Orchestra, Zoso, Razer & Slash, The Equinox, People's Front Of Zeppelin, Ira Green, Dee Snyder, Gentle Groove, Metal Allegience, Steamroller, Acid Drinkers, Strange Brew, Sybarite5, Hindenburg & George Cintron, Phish, Hammer Of The Gods, Mollie Marriott, Linda Perry, The Slip, Buddy Whittington, Wild Adriatic, Mammoth, Lady Zep, Flying Circus, After Hours, Off The Record
LLM: Great White, Alyona, Dread Zeppelin, Train, Zozojones, Hard Box, Dirty Sanchez, Sara Loera, Night Owls, Copycat Killers, Acoustic Bruce, Swamp Donkey, Resistance Organ Trio, Bass Zeppelin, Doxomedon, Studio 99, The Hit Co., Bonerama, Nico Suave, Paolo Fedi, Ramiro Jatuff, Grand Rock Highway, Gov't Mule, Heavy Tiger, Joey Hebdo, Andreas Kisser, Acid Looks, Bateros Argentinos, Lecheenpolvo & Friends, Alright, Wiseguise, Jet Lemon Band, AUTISTAS CHOCADORES, Kevin Byrne, Batwanger
DocHolliday
Footballguy
Thank you @Anarchy99. This has been an outstanding thread. Appreciate all the hard work and great information provided.
UncleZen
Footballguy
Great job @Anarchy99 I'm honestly shocked WTLB was number 1. I expected Whole Lotta Love to be number 1. (it was my number 1) I'm still miffed that Going to California finished as low as it did. Top 5 song for sure.
FairWarning
Footballguy
Tau837
Footballguy
In The Zone
Footballguy
I was one of the 7 that didn't have Levee ranked. No surprise since I was for the most part anti chalk fairly early. Still a great song. As far as Stairway, I wrestled with the decision to rank it or not but it did sneak in my top 25. It is a classic afterall regardless of how much play it gets.
To echo others, thanks @Anarchy99
These two threads are a gift and I will definitely reference back to them over the months and years to come. Great stuff.
To echo others, thanks @Anarchy99
These two threads are a gift and I will definitely reference back to them over the months and years to come. Great stuff.
Zegras11
Footballguy
I was one of the seven also.
And I had one of the chalkiest lists out there.
I hit four on the nose
Missed by one on two of them
Missed ( @Binky The Doormat as close as he gets) by two on three of them.
Missed by three on two of them. (That's 11 of 25 within 0-3 slots of where they landed)
Had 19 of the Top 25.
Yet no Levee. I've listened to it once or twice a day the last two weeks waiting for this to finish. Just don't get it. Don't like it any more than I did two weeks ago. It starts of very nicely. Very Zep. And that's it. That's all I get out of it. Just kinda repeats itself for seven minutes. I remember it as one of my final cuts at #26 or 27 for me.
1--Stairway to Heaven--2
2--The Song Remains The Same--23
3--Whole Lotta Love--4
4--Immigrant Song--8
5--Going To California--13
6--Over The Hills And Far Away--9
7--Black Dog--7
8--Babe I'm Going To Leave You--10
9--Heartbreaker--12
10--Fool In The Rain--35
11--Kashmir--3
12--Ramble On--6
13--Communication Breakdown--18
14--Rock and Roll--14
15--How Many More Times--27
16--Good Times Bad Times--11
17--All My Love--44
18--What Is and What Should Never Be--16
19--House Of The Holy--37
20--The Ocean--20
21--The Battle of Evermore--21
22--In The Evening--34
23--Misty Mountain Hop--25
24--Dazed And Confused--5
25--Achilles Last Stand--33
Anarchy99
Footballguy
Spent the afternoon today at Giant’s Causeway, one of the uppermost points in Northern Island. For those that remember or paid attention, that’s the place that is on the cover of the Houses of the Holy album. It looks the same now as it did then and its just beautiful. Hard to believe LZ was there 50 years ago.
BroncoFreak_2K3
sucker for Orange
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AAABatteries
Footballguy
This is still going on months later. I've been on a LZ kick of late and I just keep playing BIGLY over and over. I feel like I did it a disservice at 16.
Anarchy99
Footballguy
A year after the fact . . . a Led Zeppelin Tinder request from @Dwayne Hoover !
SWIPE RIGHT / 15? JIMMY APPROVES
@gianmarco (15 similar songs, 7 of the same Top 10)
@Cap'n grunge (15 + 5)
11 people tied at 14 similar songs
SWIPE LEFT / NO WAY, VACUUM BOY
@2Young2BBald (8 + 5)
@Cowboysfan8 (8 + 6)
@dhockster (9 + 4)
@FairWarning (9 + 4)
@Long Ball Larry (9 + 4)
@Anarchy99 ( 9 + 4)
@Pip's Invitation (9 + 5)
Average songs per list: 11.82.
(Sorry nothing to really compare that to.)
SWIPE RIGHT / 15? JIMMY APPROVES
@gianmarco (15 similar songs, 7 of the same Top 10)
@Cap'n grunge (15 + 5)
11 people tied at 14 similar songs
SWIPE LEFT / NO WAY, VACUUM BOY
@2Young2BBald (8 + 5)
@Cowboysfan8 (8 + 6)
@dhockster (9 + 4)
@FairWarning (9 + 4)
@Long Ball Larry (9 + 4)
@Anarchy99 ( 9 + 4)
@Pip's Invitation (9 + 5)
Average songs per list: 11.82.
(Sorry nothing to really compare that to.)
gianmarco
Footballguy
You did
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