70. Stairway to Heaven vs. When the Levee Breaks

[stip]

[stip]

you know, I think this tournament showed me that Stairway may well be my favorite Zeppelin song. Is there another song that does the gradual build better?

I expect Levee to crush it, and when it does I'm probably backing it for the rest of this tournament.

Both of these songs are insanely good.

[wease]

Levee. No question.

[evenslow]

This should really be the final. Insane they're both from the same album.

I'd ultimately be fine with either (and they both should destroy the vaunted Achilles) but I gotta go Stairway for the incredible composition.

Levee is ultimately the bluez on steroids. The best steroids ever made, but it's still the blues.

[KurtLeon]

This is hard...
But Stairway IS a masterpiece.

[epilogue]

Both great. Both worthy winners. I prefer Levee, so I'm voting that way. But I have no issue with Stairway winning and advancing. This really comes down to personal preference more than composition or performance or any of that stuff.

[E.H. Ruddock]

Again, Stairway is a little overrated. Levee ftw

[PHATJ]

This would have been a worthy final, and these are probably my two favorite Zeppelin songs. That said, Levee has been my locked in top Zeppelin song since I first heard it. Everything about When the Levee Breaks sounds perfect to me. It’s probably one of my favorite songs of all time.

[EJ]

With all due respect to the majesterial Stairway To Heaven, Levee takes this pretty easily for me.

[wease]

This would have been a worthy final, and these are probably my two favorite Zeppelin songs. That said, Levee has been my locked in top Zeppelin song since I first heard it. Everything about When the Levee Breaks sounds perfect to me. It’s probably one of my favorite songs of all time.

Goddamn, I love you.

[PHATJ]

This would have been a worthy final, and these are probably my two favorite Zeppelin songs. That said, Levee has been my locked in top Zeppelin song since I first heard it. Everything about When the Levee Breaks sounds perfect to me. It’s probably one of my favorite songs of all time.

Goddamn, I love you.

[wease]

This would have been a worthy final, and these are probably my two favorite Zeppelin songs. That said, Levee has been my locked in top Zeppelin song since I first heard it. Everything about When the Levee Breaks sounds perfect to me. It’s probably one of my favorite songs of all time.

Goddamn, I love you.

Then you ruined it with your immigrant Song comment.

[koopee27]

Levee. No question.

[PHATJ]

This would have been a worthy final, and these are probably my two favorite Zeppelin songs. That said, Levee has been my locked in top Zeppelin song since I first heard it. Everything about When the Levee Breaks sounds perfect to me. It’s probably one of my favorite songs of all time.

Goddamn, I love you.

Then you ruined it with your immigrant Song comment.

That song has always annoyed me.

[LoathedVermin72]

Levee. No question.

[Jammer XCI]

Levee, mothafuckas.

[Birds in Hell]

Stairway, sometimes songs really are as good as they're cracked up to be.

[wease]

What the fuck, RM? Ten Years Gone, Trampled Underfoot and now possibly Levee all put out early? Jesus Christ.

[LetMeSleep]

When I was 15 and started playing the drums I spoke with my drum teacher for over an hour about the build in StH. The nuances of Bonham's playing and the choices he makes. How the 2 minutes or so that he plays build and build then ebb away. The accents and the ghost notes, the tom fills and the massive snare fill. The opening and closing fills that are almost like steps on a cobblestone staircase, echoing the title.

Then we have the behemoth of Levee. I studied this track in Audio Engineering school. Throw a kit in a stairwell with 2 mics and somehow you have one of the greatest and most often sampled drum takes in history. The slide guitar and the harmonica, the effects and panning, the whole swampy hot damn lot of it is so fucking rich and a rewarding listen.

These 2 tracks would be in my top 5 and should probably both be finalists here. I'm throwing it to Stairway although yesterday I thought it'd go to Levee.

[PHATJ]

Levee is the only song that is legitimately better than Stairway in the entire Zeppelin catalogue. Both are deserving of the short list of Best Rock Songs in History.