2017 - September 22 - Stairway To Heaven

As if on cue, today's song was one of the two songs that gave rise to the title of the compilation album from yesterday. Stairway to Heaven was released on the fourth Led Zeppelin album in 1971, and has grown immensely in stature over the years. I have been tired of it. Really tired of it. To the point where I have thought that it has been one of the most overrated songs in rock history. Yet today I am playing it. I am remembering back to 1985. JFK Stadium in Philadelphia (these were the days before corporate sponsorships). The massive anticipation of a possible Led Zeppelin reunion following John Bonham's death in 1980. I wasn't awake when it happened, but we had it all taped on VHS, so I did get to see it. It was Jimmy Page and Robert Plant - and that was all that mattered to me then. Phil Collins is a good drummer, but he ain't no Bonzo. Watching it now it is really cringeworthy, but back then I was caught up in the moment. "Does anyone remember laughter?" Robert Plant's question just really doesn't sit right with me, but it is imprinted in my brain.

So after a while I soured on Stairway to Heaven. But then, in 2003, they released the live album How the West Was Won, and Pagey's guitar is amazing. Not in the solo part, but in how he fills in all the other little pieces. And I had to start listening again. In 2007, ten years ago, they performed at the Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert, and that is in all likelihood the last time they will play together. On drums, they had a great person to fill his dad's shoes: Jason Bonham. The concert was fantastic. It is released on DVD as Celebration Day. It is mind blowing how good they were. And it is even more mind blowing that they turned down a lot of money to go back on tour. Bonham, Page, and Jones were reportedly willing, but not Robert Plant. And I really respect that decision. They got to do a proper goodbye in massive style, and they got to do Ahmet Ertegun proud. He signed them and had a huge part in their success.

But today we go back to Headley Grange in 1971. Led Zeppelin had set up shop there to record their fourth studio album, and it did yield spectacular results, from acoustic romps (The Battle Of Evermore) to bluesy footstomping hard rockers (When the Levee Breaks). And there, at the end of side one, is the song that bridges both sides of Led Zeppelin - and both sides of the album. Stairway To Heaven. It starts out as a nice acoustic ballad, turns around on Pagey's blazing solo (he doesn't shred, but you can feel every note of the solo hit your spine), and explodes with Plant's fury before it is all subdued in the end, with the afterglow of "...and she's buying a stairway to heaven." It is a great song. And although I find it to be overplayed, I can't deny the power it holds.