Artist: Led Zeppelin
Album: Led Zeppelin IV
Actually, I could get a complete post out of every track on this album, but for today, I’ll focus on “When the Levee Breaks”. This was one of the first hard rock albums that I actually owned. Like many other albums that I bought during that time in my life, listening to this was an enlightening experience. (I think it was also a relief to my parents when I brought this album home too.)
This song stood out to me in particular at the time because it managed to bring in the harmonica and other blues elements without making the song sound like a a parody of itself. It was really the first time that I had encountered music created by people with a strong background in blues music. Up to that point, all of the rock music that I had heard was pretty far removed from its roots. This was different.
At one point in time I could listen to this song on repeat and hear something new on every time through. Even though the lyrics are extremely simple, the outstanding musicianship on the track brought the song to life for me. The vocals blend perfectly with the rest of the track, and were part of what cemented my fascination with hard rock. This song was astounding in what it made me feel–even in the parts where I couldn’t make out the lyrics. And then when I actually looked at the lyrics to the song, the words fit perfectly with the feel of the song.
Like the rest of the tracks on Led Zeppelin IV, this song is nothing short of a masterpiece.
Related posts:
- Random Song: Immigrant Song
- Random Song: Welcome to the Jungle
- Random Song: Rosie
- Random Song: Two Story Town
- Random Song: Open Arms
Tags: Led Zeppelin