Stairway to Heavan Overrated?

[BonzoLikeDrumer]

Thanks!

Yeah, I grew up on KMET. The mighty meat you just can't beat, KMET, tweedledy!

Ladd is my ultimate DJ. Miss the Burner Mary Turner! Doctor Demento followed by Harrison's Mike. It was the routine. Who gave a shit what was hot on television? Mom and dad were watching Fantasy Island and WKRP! They had NO IDEA!

Hey! I remember Doctor Demento! I don't recall if it was Friday, Saturday or Sunday night when it came on my local station WKRR (Rock 92.3 FM) in Greensboro, NC.

I first heard his show (in full) when Cheech and Chong where on, 1978 or 1979. They where plugging "Up In Smoke" witch had just come out that year. I'm a major Cheech and Chong fan!

The Doctor Demento show, under the smog berries!!

[Ivar]

Almost every famous band or artist have an over played song, but I guess the case of STH is pretty extreme. I don't think the song is over rated in general, but there are some people who take it a bit too solemnly. Still, the song is thoroughly a masterpiece, no doubt about it

[ledzepfvr]

I just wanted to elaborate on the previous post regarding KLOS top 1000 rock songs. The Beatles had overall more songs on the list and Led Zeppelin came 2nd at 48 on the list, but LZ ranked better overall in the songs that did make it. Below is a list of their songs and rank.

1. Stairway to Heaven

5. Kashmir

28. Rock N Roll

34. Whole Lotta Love

47. Dazed and Confused

59. Immigrant Song

64. Black Dog

77. When the Levee Breaks

90. Ramble On

100. The Ocean

111. Over the Hills and Far Away

139. Going to California

153. Ten Years Gone

218. Since I've Been Loving You

259. Good Times, Bad Times

276. Bring It On Home

294. D'yer Maker

315. Communication Breakdown

332. Houses of the Holy

349. Achilles Last Stand

359. I Can't Quit you Babe

370. Thank You

391. Trampled Underfoot

405. What is and What Should Never Be

428. Heartbreaker/Living Loving Maid

447. Tangerine

463. Fool in the Rain

475. Your Time is Gonna Come

504. The Wanton Song

520. Nobody's Fault but Mine

534. The Lemon Song

561. Hot Dog

587. The Rover

614. The Song Remains the Same

640. Traveling Riverside Blues

668. The Battle of Evermore

700. Hey Hey What can I Do

735. Gallows Pole

762. No Quarter

795. The Rain Song

829. Dancing Days

849. Custard Pie

884. In The Evening

908. Babe I'm Gonna Leave You

928. Moby Dick

956. Misty Mountain Hop

975. Four Sticks

996. All of My Love

[Matjaz1]

It's not overrated!! It's a masterpiece!! However if you hear it to many times (on the radio or otherwise), it might take some magic away from it.

So it's great, but its' not my favourite Zep song, i like many others more!!

[Red_Cloverleaf]

Over-rated and overplayed I'm sorry to say.

[dazedcat]

It's been way too overplayed over the decades and I do agree it really is a bit overrated. That's not to see it isn't a great tune, it surely is. Like another poster said though, it wasn't even the best song on that particular album.

Classic rock radio is a joke anyway. Why listen to something that so severely limits playlists like they do? Radio has gone totally corporate. Thank God for the Internet and broadband access.

Regards;

[Led Zep Girl]

No it is NOT over-rated at all. It's such a great song. The radio station I listen too does not play it quite so much so when I hear it, it's always like the first time for me. I think that helps.

[Starbreaker]

No it is NOT over-rated at all. It's such a great song. The radio station I listen too does not play it quite so much so when I hear it, it's always like the first time for me. I think that helps.

Our local classic rock station is the same way. It is careful not to overplay Stairway To Heavan, and Led Zeppelin in general. And by no means is the song overrated.

[cheesehead1204]

Overplayed yes, overrated no.

A lot of people would say Stairway is overrated, but if you sit and really think about the song's construction and the genius behind it you would probably think otherwise.

I completely agree!

[busy91]

Personally growing up, I could never hear it enough on the radio. I didn't have a tape recorder to hold up to the radio and record. When I was a teen, I finally taped it off of the radio, and then when I was an older teen, I purchased the Album.

So now that MP3s are here, I don't listen to the radio anymore, so it is something I'm not tired of. But I never was tired of it, never thought it was overplayed, and def don't think it is overrated.

Loved it since the first time I heard it, way back in the stone age. LOL!

Now I have to master playing it.

[BIGDAN]

Now I have to master playing it.

Hi 'busy91'

Then you'll have your work cut out, I'm OK until the Solo then i step aside to let the real affictionardos take over, its only fair.

Regards, Danny

[Atlas]

If you are bored with it, you could always listen to it backward.

[MMAharaja]

It's a great song, but it's not even the best Led Zeppelin song. Considering it gets praised as the best song ever written, and is the most played song in history, it is overrated.

[Yupter]

It's a great song, but it's not even the best Led Zeppelin song. Considering it gets praised as the best song ever written, and is the most played song in history, it is overrated.

Ima let you finish, but Stairway has the best build up to climax of all time.

A non-stop build up to a full released climax. It really doesn't get any better than that.

Overplayed, not overrated.

[Kiwi_Zep_Fan87]

Its such a great song! Truely timeless in my book! I'll never get sick of it! But I pretty much do stay away from the radio though!

Also, so many bands have covered it and Robert mentioned in an interview in 1996 that "its like flogging a dead horse!"I guess he's right but still! What a great song!

I also love the Fat Elvis version of Stairway To Heaven!...Hilarious!

You can check out that interview with Robert and Jimmy (if you haven't already seen it that is!)...here :

And I completely agree with you Yupter! It is overplayed but not overrated!

[BUCK'EYE' DOC]

Its such a great song! Truely timeless in my book! I'll never get sick of it! But I pretty much do stay away from the radio though!

Also, so many bands have covered it and Robert mentioned in an interview in 1996 that "its like flogging a dead horse!"I guess he's right but still! What a great song!

I also love the Fat Elvis version of Stairway To Heaven!...Hilarious!

You can check out that interview with Robert and Jimmy (if you haven't already seen it that is!)...here :

And I completely agree with you Yupter! It is overplayed but not overrated!

Thanks for the video clip, Kiwi_Zep_Fan87!

I watched all four parts.

Jimmy didn't get to say much in this interview, but if you watch the look on his face and his body language when they showed the clips of the different versions of "Stairway", you could telll that he was not amused by people making fun of his masterpiece. Just my opinion and interpretation of it. I have seen this interview before, and that has always been my impression. He seemed to get a kick out of the Fat Elvis version, though.

I have always loved the Page/Plant version of "Black Dog", and the one that they played in the clip was a bit different from the "No Quarter" DVD. It was really good! They put a different spin on a few Zeppelin classics back then. Similar to what Robert is now doing in The Band of Joy, by the way! I like them all!

Edited to say: I don't think that "Stairway" is neither overrated nor overplayed. I can't hear it enough, I will never tire of it!

[Kiwi_Zep_Fan87]

Thanks for the video clip, Kiwi_Zep_Fan87!

I watched all four parts.

Jimmy didn't get to say much in this interview, but if you watch the look on his face and his body language when they showed the clips of the different versions of "Stairway", you could telll that he was not amused by people making fun of his masterpiece. Just my opinion and interpretation of it. I have seen this interview before, and that has always been my impression. He seemed to get a kick out of the Fat Elvis version, though.

I have always loved the Page/Plant version of "Black Dog", and the one that they played in the clip was a bit different from the "No Quarter" DVD. It was really good! They put a different spin on a few Zeppelin classics back then. Similar to what Robert is now doing in The Band of Joy, by the way! I like them all!

Edited to say: I don't think that "Stairway" is neither overrated nor overplayed. I can't hear it enough, I will never tire of it!

You're very welcome BUCK!...And I agree with you completely...I loved all 4 parts of the interview too esp the part where Jimmy and Robert performed "Black Dog"...it was a really nice Australian version where there were some folks playing the didgeridoo! Awesome stuff! Shows how innovative Plant and Page can be! And you're right...Poor Jimmy! It was as if Stairway To Heaven had been converted from this beautiful work of art into this weird comedy sketch show...Jimmy was such a sport about the whole thing...but I still find myself digging the "Fat Elvis" version though!

[Electrophile]

It's been way too overplayed over the decades and I do agree it really is a bit overrated. That's not to see it isn't a great tune, it surely is. Like another poster said though, it wasn't even the best song on that particular album.

Classic rock radio is a joke anyway. Why listen to something that so severely limits playlists like they do? Radio has gone totally corporate. Thank God for the Internet and broadband access.

Regards;

Absolutely. Between satellite and online radio, I hardly listen to terrestrial radio anymore, unless the internet goes out or something. Sometimes I wish I was my current age in the mid-70s so that I could listen to radio the way it used to be -- real DJs, playing real records. Not corporate drones uploading a digital playlist.

[Fish]

The reason its overplayed is because of the fact that it is so awesome

[Kiwi_Zep_Fan87]

The reason its overplayed is because of the fact that it is so awesome

I agree with you there completely!! And I'll never get tired of that song! Its a master-piece!!!! :D

[babyzoso]

There is other songs gets overplayed too many times more than or just as much as "Stairway to Heaven" for example: "Satisfaction", "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Dream On", "Hey, Jude", "Comfortably Numb", "Baba O Reily", "Light My Fire", "Hotel California", "Freebird", "Back In Black", "Sweet Child O Mine","Purple Haze", "Smells Like Teen Spirit", etc. the reasons why classic rock stations plays them more than any other records from each bands because those songs are the main golden highlight in rock n roll history. Stairway To Heaven people respects the record and the title itself i mean of course it's always gets played 24/7 it is one of the highlights in the history of rock n roll. I just wish radio stations plays more of their underrated songs, but since LZ never put out enough singles radio would play more of "Whole Lotta Love", "Immigrant Song", or "Stairway To Heaven".

[PedroSantos]

i only can say that that song it's a little overplayed, but the only reason that leads to that fact it's because the song is so awesome!

i personnaly love that song and i never get tired of hearing it, but that's fact that stairway to heaven it's a little overplayed.

[EricZepp]

When a man is tired of Stairway, he is tired of life.

[Oracle]

I love listening to the great recording of their Toronto Sept. 4, 1971 show and that GREAT performance of Stairway. The best they ever did IMHO.

Since Led Zeppelin IV hadn't been released, no one 'knew' Stairway, so as they start playing the crowd is so quiet...no roar like later tours. It's uncanny.

[PedroSantos]

When a man is tired of Stairway, he is tired of life.

and it's all said!!