Is Stairway to Heaven really the best song ever? (Not exactly a music thread)

How about The End by the Doors? Not my favorite Doors song by any means, but a pretty damn good song if you hear it in its entirety.

 

Re: Is Stairway to Heaven really the best song ever? (Not exactly a music thread

Led Zeppelin - Tangerine
Pink Floyd - Animals ... the entire album.

 

Re: Is Stairway to Heaven really the best song ever? (Not exactly a music thread

Animals is a good album, but Wish You Were Here is an amazing album and lately I've been into Meddle.

 

How about "A Day in the Life," "Here Comes the Sun," "Yesterday," or "Come Together" by The Beatles?
Another is "American Pie" by Don McLean.
"Imagine" by John Lennon.
"Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Those are all great songs, but each in a different way.
To me, the greatest song ever is "Worlds Apart" by Jars of Clay. I know most of you have probably never heard it, but it's a song that is just filled with layer upon layer of incredible lyrics and the way it builds toward the end is amazing.
To me, no song comes close to that, but the ones I mentioned before are all among the 50 songs on my "Greatest Songs Ever" playlist.

 

Worlds Apart is a very, very good song.
I may have to dig that CD out now.
Good point on the Beatles, sometimes people forget how good the Beatles are/were.

 

Re: Is Stairway to Heaven really the best song ever? (Not exactly a music thread

ONE OF THESE DAYS!!!!!!

I just had to.

But seriously, all VERY good.

With the exception of The Wall and Dark Side ... which have become very mainstream due to heavy radio play ... Pink Floyd MUST be discussed in terms of entire albums.

... I also, occasionally, have a thing for the Division Bell, even though it's sans Waters ...

If I had to only pick one, though, it would have to be Animals. It's simply incredible.

Their early 70s work is far and away the best.

You ever listen to the real old, wacky British rock like Piper at the Gates, Saucerful of Secrets, Ummagumma or Atom Heart Mother? Some of that shit is awful interesting.

 

Truer words have never been posted. You read that, Oz? Suckboy Timberlake lover?

Best Led Zep song ever is Rock and Roll. A better intro has never been heard.

And I'm not calling then the best song(s) ever by any stretch, but the two best songs to hear while driving are Jackson Browne's "Running On Empty" and Golden Earring's "Radar Love."

 

Re: Is Stairway to Heaven really the best song ever? (Not exactly a music thread

Since I am fairly young and don't listen to the radio and used to smoke weed (sorry zizzer) to Dark Side, that album never gets old to me.
The Wall I can only listen to about twice a year.
As far as Division Bell, I love that album, I listen to it all the time.
I also love Momentary Lapse of Reason, Animals and a darkhorse here: Ummagumma Studio Album.
It is fucked up shit, but pretty quality, especially when you are high - like I was a lot early in college (sorry zizzer, I hadn't yet figured out the joy of drinking alcohol yet).

 

... add the Eagles' "Life in the Fast Lane"

 

That or "Desperado."

All this Floyd talk reminds me of an on-going argument a good friend and I are having. He thinks Floyd is the shit and ranks them as the third-best band of all-time because two generations of stoners have tried to listen to "Dark Side of the Moon" while a.) watching "The Wizard of Oz"; b.) smoking copious amounts of weed and c.) making sure mom doesn't come into the basement.

I don't hate Floyd. I appreciate that somehow they have etched an indeliable place in rock history. Some of their songs are pretty good. Most of their stuff is stupendously ponderous, overwrought, pretentious and boring. I'm convinced the only way you can like it is by smoking copious amounts of weed and convincing yourself it's way deeper than it really is.

He tells me Queensryche--whose "Empire" album is a fucking rock-solid classic of the hard rock era--rips Floyd off right down to the note. I wouldn't know. I don't listen to Floyd. Yeah, Queensryche isn't original. Who from the late '80s hard rock scene was? Queensryche was ripping off Iron Maiden back in 1983. That whole genre was derivative when it was new. That's why we loved it. It was also eminently enjoyable without artificial supplements.

(If this doesn't get him to log on here nothing will)

 

I like Floyd because I like to be mellow sometimes and just listen to soothing background noise. Sure, I loved Floyd when I smoked a lot of weed in college, but that was more than 7 years ago and I continue to listen to the band so maybe I am an anomaly in your mind, but I personally just love Pink Floyd. I can also understand how someone could hate them, especially if they are easily depressed. Any time I am just hanging out by myself or writing stories, I throw a Pink Floyd album in and it is all good.

 

Agree on Physical Graffiti. The greatest album by the best band.

Yes, they were the best band ever. No consensus dud albums, no petering-out period when they were clearly past their prime, no half-speed, sad concert experiences (which pretty much eliminates the Rolling Stones and Aerosmith, as well as those bloated touring circuses calling themselves Pink Floyd and the Who). They didn't get pretentious and try to change the world with their lyrics or their celebrity (Misty Mountain Hop's tale of stoners and That's the way's pro-envirnment message were the notable exceptions).

They didn't break up in rancor because someone was such an egotistical SOB and was entering the studio to record his drumming over the band's actual drummer (as McCartney did during the recording of the White Album). Plant is the prototype for the hard rock singer who can actually sing, Page and Bonham are among the best ever among guitarists and drummers, and the fourth guy - John Paul Jones - was a hell of a musician in his own right.

When they recorded, they were just as experimental as the Beatles, recording in and miking strange places while staying within the confines of a rock band (no album that was all strings, speaking of overrated rock classics). They moved between many different styles. Throw in the fact they changed the way the business treated musicians, demanding and getting most of the gate receipts, and also retaining creative control over their albums and album covers, and it is indisputable. They were the absolute greatest rock band ever.

Extra points for helping to finance Monty Python films, as George Harrison and Pink Floyd also did.

As for best led Zep song, it' a different answer for everyone. I can only go album by album for my favorites. So Dazed and Confused, Heartbreaker, Since I've Been Loving You, The Battle of Evermore, Dancing Days, Ten Years Gone, Achilles Last Stand and Hot Dog would be my picks. Stairway is overplayed, but when I was in high school we all thought playing the song might get us laid.

It didn't. So screw that song.