FBG'S TOP 81 LED ZEPPELIN SONGS: #1 - When The Levee Breaks from Led Zeppelin IV (1971) (1 Viewer)

[Uruk-Hai]

IS was my #2 - I love everything about it and clocking in 2:26 it never gets old.  Could listen to this song every day and never get tired of it.  If it was 5 minutes long then it would probably be my #1.

I don't know about 5 minutes longer, but another verse would hit the sweet spot for me. This is one bludgeoning piece of rock and roll. It would have been my #2 (snicker) if I had voted.

 

[AAABatteries]

I don't know about 5 minutes longer, but another verse would hit the sweet spot for me. This is one bludgeoning piece of rock and roll. It would have been my #2 (snicker) if I had voted.

5 minutes long, not longer   I’ve already said that some of the long 6-8 LZ songs are too long for me.  4-5 minutes would be perfect here.  

 

[Uruk-Hai]

5 minutes long, not longer   I’ve already said that some of the long 6-8 LZ songs are too long for me.  4-5 minutes would be perfect here.  

Oh, hell. My apologies. I don't have my reading-comprehension glasses on today.

I agree - 4 or 5 minutes would be perfect.

I'm pretty sure Alice Cooper copped this riff for "Billion Dollar Babies".

 

[simey]

#8 - Immigrant Song from Led Zeppelin III (1970)

I ranked this song #12. It's a great rocker.

 

[Anarchy99]

@In The Zone@Zeppelin@BroncoFreak_2K3@BroncoFreak_2K3Friend @Anarchy99@drunken slob all passed on Over The Hills AND Immigrant Song.

I already mentioned that Over The Hills never really wowed me. As far as Immigrant goes, even being a short song, I find it repetitive and Plant's shrieking turns me off. It's a rare song in that I enjoy the lyrics much more than the music. Plenty of people like it, but I think I would have liked it more if it were longer, if they toned down the screaming and pace. and if they transformed it into a mid-tempo rocker with more of the slow / fast variety with a guitar driven crescendo / outro.

 

[Anarchy99]

Same here.  

Down to one song left here. I may be the first one out.

I have you down for two songs remaining (Levee and Lotta).

 

[fatguyinalittlecoat]

@In The Zone@Zeppelin@BroncoFreak_2K3@BroncoFreak_2K3Friend @Anarchy99@drunken slob all passed on Over The Hills AND Immigrant Song.

I already mentioned that Over The Hills never really wowed me. As far as Immigrant goes, even being a short song, I find it repetitive and Plant's shrieking turns me off. It's a rare song in that I enjoy the lyrics much more than the music. Plenty of people like it, but I think I would have liked it more if it were longer, if they toned down the screaming and pace. and if they transformed it into a mid-tempo rocker with more of the slow / fast variety with a guitar driven crescendo / outro.

So if they ruined the song then you would like it?

 

[Anarchy99]

So if they ruined the song then you would like it?

We have no idea how it would sound if it was arranged differently. If you automatically consider that to mean it would be "ruined," so be it.

 

[Dennis Castro]

@In The Zone@Zeppelin@BroncoFreak_2K3@BroncoFreak_2K3Friend @Anarchy99@drunken slob all passed on Over The Hills AND Immigrant Song.

I already mentioned that Over The Hills never really wowed me. As far as Immigrant goes, even being a short song, I find it repetitive and Plant's shrieking turns me off. It's a rare song in that I enjoy the lyrics much more than the music. Plenty of people like it, but I think I would have liked it more if it were longer, if they toned down the screaming and pace. and if they transformed it into a mid-tempo rocker with more of the slow / fast variety with a guitar driven crescendo / outro.

 

[fatguyinalittlecoat]

We have no idea how it would sound if it was arranged differently. If you automatically consider that to mean it would be "ruined," so be it.

True, but if we arranged it your way it would take out a lot of what I love about the song.  The blistering pace is what makes it great in my opinion.

 

[otb_lifer]

So if they ruined the song then you would like it?

True, but if we arranged it your way it would take out a lot of what I love about the song.  The blistering pace is what makes it great in my opinion.

thank you. 

"YEAH, LET'S TAKE A SEETHING BATTLE CRY SCREECHER, ADD A COUPLE/FEW MINUTES, AND SLOOOOOOOWWW IT DOWN!!1!"

ridiculous 

 

[Anarchy99]

thank you. 

"YEAH, LET'S TAKE A SEETHING BATTLE CRY SCREECHER, ADD A COUPLE/FEW MINUTES, AND SLOOOOOOOWWW IT DOWN!!1!"

ridiculous 

I don't think it would kill the song if they added a slower section as build up to the battle cry, slow it down again and have a second battle cry, and then have it rock even harder as an outro. Slow/fast - slow/fast - mega fast outro. Make it 4:30 total and IMO it would have been just as killer a battle cry track.

 

[otb_lifer]

I don't think it would kill the song if they added a slower section as build up to the battle cry, slow it down again and have a second battle cry, and then have it rock even harder as an outro. Slow/fast - slow/fast - mega fast outro. Make it 4:30 total and IMO it would have been just as killer a battle cry track.

fair enuff, agree to disagree. 

thanks for the work, been a fun and informative thread - wish i were around to submit a list way back when. 

 

[Andrew74]

Immigrant Song

Hell ####### Yeah!!!  

I obviously love this song.  I’ve come to like the live performances even more than the album version. You get the song plus another minute or two of a rocking guitar solo and thundering drums/bass.  
 

Just Awesome

 

[beer 30]

Irrelevant to the current conversation but this just popped up on a YouTube suggestion. The Foo Fighters have been known to invite fans up on stage occasionally to jam with them which is usually a super cool experience and allows the fan to rock out with a really cool group for their 15 minutes of fame. When they played Wembley Stadium in 2008 they invited not one but two fans up to play with them. Pretty cool experience for those guys 

https://youtu.be/uBcVuN2Kr-s

 

[PIK95]

Immigrant Song always bored me.  Shocked it's this high.

 

[In The Zone]

@In The Zone@Zeppelin@BroncoFreak_2K3@BroncoFreak_2K3Friend @Anarchy99@drunken slob all passed on Over The Hills AND Immigrant Song.

I already mentioned that Over The Hills never really wowed me. As far as Immigrant goes, even being a short song, I find it repetitive and Plant's shrieking turns me off. It's a rare song in that I enjoy the lyrics much more than the music. Plenty of people like it, but I think I would have liked it more if it were longer, if they toned down the screaming and pace. and if they transformed it into a mid-tempo rocker with more of the slow / fast variety with a guitar driven crescendo / outro.

I was close with IS and if I ranked today it's a good possibility that it would sneak in. Just like @Anarchy99and opposite of @AAABatteriesthe length of the song ultimately kept it out of my top 25. 

 

[Pip's Invitation]

I left this out of the write up because several people already disagreed with this guy over other songs . . .

Gordon Fletcher of Rolling Stone criticized Over the Hills and Far Away, opining that the track is "cut from the same mold as Stairway To Heaven, but becomes dull without that song's torrid guitar solo."

I don't disagree too much with his assessment. I also think it's a bit too Stairway To Heaven 2 . . . which I am not a fan off. So to have a not as good sequel to a song I don't love to begin with = left off my list.

I never really got into OTHAFA. It just sort of plateaus for me and doesn't get me revved up. I don't run for the hills (pardon the pun) when it comes on, but I could take it or leave it. It's just ok for me.

I don’t think Over and Stairway are that similar at all, and I still think Gordon Fletcher is clueless.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

@In The Zone@Zeppelin@BroncoFreak_2K3@BroncoFreak_2K3Friend @Anarchy99@drunken slob all passed on Over The Hills AND Immigrant Song.

I already mentioned that Over The Hills never really wowed me. As far as Immigrant goes, even being a short song, I find it repetitive and Plant's shrieking turns me off. It's a rare song in that I enjoy the lyrics much more than the music. Plenty of people like it, but I think I would have liked it more if it were longer, if they toned down the screaming and pace. and if they transformed it into a mid-tempo rocker with more of the slow / fast variety with a guitar driven crescendo / outro.

So you’d like the song better if it didn’t sound like itself at all?

 

[DocHolliday]

IS was my #2 - I love everything about it and clocking in 2:26 it never gets old.  Could listen to this song every day and never get tired of it.  If it was 5 minutes long then it would probably be my #1.

Ranked Immigrant Song number 5 and love this rocker.   I am a big fan of the more complex and longer songs but I also enjoy this song.  It just takes off at the start and doesn’t let up.   

 

[Pip's Invitation]

#8 - Immigrant Song from Led Zeppelin III (1970)

Appeared On: 45 ballots (out of 62 . . . 72.6%)
Total Points: 664 points (out of 1,550 possible points . . .  42.8%)

#1 Rankers: @Andrew74
Top 5 Rankers: @Sinn Fein@AAABatteries@FairWarning@worrierking@jwb@Long Ball Larry@SteevieG@DocHolliday@Joe Schmo@2Young2BBald@jamny DEADHEAD

Live Performances:
LZ: 122 (Bath Festival - 1970-6-28 (First Performance), London - 1971-04-01, Orlando - 1971-08-31, Osaka - 1971-09-29, Long Beach - 1972-06-27, Bradford - 1973-01-18 (Final Performance))
Page & Plant: 14 (Intro Riff Only)
Plant: 88 (Pittsburgh - 1988-10-24, Knebworth - 1990-06-30, Reykjavik - 2019-06-23)

Covers: Nirvana, Beck & Page, Foo Fighters, Heart, Queen, Aerosmith, Sebastian Bach, Umphrey's McGee, Demons & Wizards, Stryper, Saxon, Diamond Head, Trent Reznor, Royal Crescent Mob, Infectious Grooves, Gotthard, Dread Zeppelin, Zoffy, Lotus, Strikeforce, Slaughter, Myles Kennedy & Slash, Joe Satriani, Chris Cornell, moe., Smashing Pumpkins, The Offspring, Steelheart, Ingrid Michaelson, Great White, Incubus, Sammy Hagar, Lynch Mob, Neal Schon, Heidevolk, Angra & Sepultura, Crimson Day, Vince Neil, Vanilla Fudge, Blue Shift

Ultimate Classic Rock Ranking (out of 92 songs): 5
Vulture Ranking (out of 74 songs): 8
Rolling Stone Ranking (out of 40 songs): 7
Louder Ranking (out of 50 songs): 7
Uproxx Ranking (out of 50 songs): 15
WMGK Ranking (out of 92 songs): 3
SPIN Ranking (out of 87 songs): 10
Ranker Ranking (out of 87 songs): 4
Anachronarchy Ranking (out of 80 songs): 6

We say hello to the Elite Eight but goodbye to Led Zeppelin III, which finishes as out 6th most popular album. One person ranked IS as their Zeppelin fave, 3 people had it second, and 3 people marked it down for third. Rounding things out, it saw 13 Top 5 votes, 21 Top 10, and 45 people voted for it. I haven’t researched it, but this may be the first back-to-back songs that were issued as singles. It’s our favorite track with “Song” in the title (Lemon, Wanton, Remains The Same, Rain, or Immigrant). At one point, it had a run of 9 Top 5 votes in 15 ballots. Eight of the 9 outside rankers had it Top.

Some LZ historians believe the band was intent on releasing a lead single from LZ III, and that the foundation of that song was IS in 1969. There apparently was talk of a hard hitting, all out rocker as a single to launch the album. That seems a little odd given that a lot of the album is acoustic.

The song peaked at #16 in the U.S. and was also released in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Turkey, Jamaica, Mexico, Japan, and the Philippines. It made the Top 10 on 10 different charts.

The song was inspired after an official cultural visit to Iceland on 1970-06-22 and performance at the Laugardalsholl Sports Center in Reykjavik. The song was developed so quickly that it was first performed in their next show, six days later, at the Bath Festival on 1970-06-28. It’s working title was called Song in F (Overlord).

Alternate Mix, PulpFusion Mix, Pendulum Remix

Plant recalls, “We weren't being pompous ... We did come from the land of the ice and snow. We were guests of the Icelandic Government on a cultural mission. We were invited to play a concert in Reykjavik, and the day before we arrived all the civil servants went on strike and the gig was going to be cancelled. The university prepared a concert hall for us and it was phenomenal. The response from the kids was remarkable, and we had a great time. Immigrant Song was about that trip, and it was the opening track on the album that was intended to be incredibly different.”

Ever the historian, Plant built the lyrics around the Vikings and their mythology surrounding their gods. Decades later, the song would appear in, and was used extensively, to promote the MCU film Thor: Ragnarok.

Page added, “It felt right for the album to have a rocky side and a folky side, and the rocky side clearly had to start with Immigrant Song. With the hypnotic riff and Robert’s bloodcurdling scream, I thought ‘That’s the way to open an album.’”

Here was a review of their Bath Festival show from Melody Maker:

“By 8 PM, it was estimated that a quarter of a million people – roughly the population of the city of Leeds – were champing at the bit awaiting Led Zeppelin. Half-an-hour to set up – then the members of THE definitive ‘heavy’ band strode on stage – Robert Plant, looking more like Norse warrior than ever, Jimmy Page looking like Mad Dan Eccles in an ankle length overcoat and yokel’s hat over his ears, John Bonham in purple vest crouched behind his green drums and John Paul Jones in “straight” trendy gear clutched his bass guitar.

They kicked off with a new riff from their next album called Immigrant Song. They actually took some time to warm up the crowd, but this may have been intentional as they built up to a fantastic climax with an act lasting over three hours.

Jimmy produced his violin bow to attack the guitar strings, and John Paul was featured on Hammond organ on Since I’ve Been Loving You. It was after John Bonham’s phenomenal drum solo – violent, aggressive and furiously fast – had brought the crowd permanently to their feet, that the real fun began!

They had contrasted their rock style with the beautiful The First Time (aka That’s the Way) featuring John Paul on mandolin and Jim on six-string acoustic with Robert singing in the most attractive restrained style. Now it was time for the other extreme.

A wild rock medley - How Many More Times. The crowd wouldn’t let them go. Tambourines thrown to the fans. As dusk fell and the lights flickered on the band roared into Communication Breakdown.

ANOTHER ENCORE – at 10:50pm Zeppelin had won. They had made all the hang-ups worthwhile and given the crowd a night to remember – whatever else happened. In their final minutes, they paid tribute to the masters of Rock and Roll with the songs of Little Richard, Elvis Presley, and Chuck Berry.”

SETLIST: Immigrant Song, Heartbreaker, Dazed and Confused, Bring It On Home, Since I've Been Loving You, Thank You, That's the Way, What Is and What Should Never Be, Moby ****, How Many More Times, Whole Lotta Love, Communication Breakdown, Long Tall Sally, Say Mama, Johnny B. Goode, That's All Right, Long Tall Sally reprise.

Lester Bangs of Rolling Stone described Immigrant Song as the closest to being as classic as Whole Lotta Love, praising the song's "bulldozer rhythms and Plant's double-tracked wordless vocal crossings echoing behind the main vocal like some cannibal chorus wailing in the infernal light of a savage fertility rite." Cash Box described the song as "filling the aural spectrum once again with wall to wall power," stating that the song has "biting vocals and an unmatched instrumental impact.

Led Zeppelin originally denied director Richard Linklater permission to use Immigrant Song for the film School of Rock. To try to get permission to use the song in the movie, actor Jack Black videotaped himself singing in front of a huge crowd of people, begging Led Zeppelin to let them use the song. Their over the top effort succeeded. Black said, “It may seem corny, but it worked. The moral of the story is, don't be too proud to beg.”

Immigrant Song was performed 122 times . . . including 25 time before LZ III was released. It remained on the setlist through 1972 with one additional performance in 1973. Plant has played it 88 times (only once in the past 30 years), and Page and Plant played the opening riff as a lead in to other songs 14 times.

Ultimate Classic Rock (5 of 92 songs): Led Zeppelin's third album is mostly known for its stripped-down, acoustic tone. Not this charging song, the opening track that serves as the storm before the calm. It's all vikings, earth-trampling guitars and a stuttering riff that explodes from the speakers.  And it hit the Top 20 on the singles chart.

Vulture (8 of 74 songs): The lead off track to III doesn’t rest or flag for 2:26. This Norse mini-epic is perennially prized by metal heads (see, for example, Jack Black in School of Rock) for its attack, cauterizing even by Page standards, its straight-outta-Asgard lyrics, the wild sounds, and its being the source of the definitive Zeppelin aperçu— “Hammer of the Gods?!?!” — delivered by Plant with a hilarious Dr. Evil–esque lilt.

Rolling Stone (7 of 40 songs): No hard-rock song has ever had a more ominous opening line: "We come from the land of the ice and snow." It was inspired by the band's concert in Iceland in June 1970, a month when the sun never fully sets. Plant started fantasizing about vikings and wrote in the voice of a Norse chieftain leading a sea invasion and expecting to die. It "was supposed to be powerful and funny," he said. Page's menacing staccato riff could scare Thor into surrendering, and Plant's Tarzan holler adds another layer of primal barbarism.

Louder (7 of 50 songs): This tune was recorded in Olympic Studios, London, in the summer of 1970, where Jimmy and John Bonham laid down the backing tracks to Immigrant Song inside a small, low ceilinged room that looked more like somebody’s private den than a high-tech studio. The song was just an untitled piece, a relentless, pounding theme, hypnotic in its intensity… Jimmy was slouched over his guitar while Bonham crouched over his kit, glaring at the snare drum. He wasn’t a man to be interrupted while concentrating on a new riff. If Bonham took one thing seriously, it was pleasing his guitarist with the right kind of beat. The pair always worked closely, and Bonham’s propulsive pattern soon helped to shape this unlikely Viking saga.

It had been inspired by a trip to Iceland in June that year when Robert Plant became intrigued by Nordic myths and legends. The tune was unveiled at the Bath Festival in June when the band played in front of 200,000 fans. Jimmy wore his country yokel’s hat and Robert’s beard made him look like a Viking who’d just arrived by longboat. Immigrant Song was released as a single in the US, coupled with Hey, Hey What Can I Do in November. It went on to claim the number one hot spot during a 13-week run in the Billboard chart.

Uproxx (15 of 50 songs): Robert Plant once claimed that all of the big-balled viking imagery in this song is intentionally funny, and I’m inclined to believe him. Immigrant Song, The Lemon Song, The Crunge, Hot Dog - Zeppelin was sillier than they get credit for, probably because Page’s riff and Bonham’s drums are kicking too much ### for anyone to laugh.

WMGK (3 of 92 songs): While Zeppelin never liked being associated with heavy metal, this song did quite a bit to create the template for that genre: Page’s percussive riffing, Bonham’s heavy drumming, and of course, Robert Plant’s banshee vocals telling tales of vikings that come from “the land of the ice and snow.” Plant and Page may wince when asked about metal, but the feeling definitely isn’t mutual.

SPIN (10 of 87 songs): With an opening and riff as classic as either “Love” or “Dog” (and twice as violent), “Immigrant Song” also has the advantage of being under 150 seconds long, an improbably compact shore-invading assault that barely gives you time to process its ###-kicking awesomeness before it gives way to “Friends” on LZIII. Any hockey game where this song isn’t played at least once — and preferably once per goal, home or away — is not giving its attending fans the experience they deserve. (And in terms of geeky metal imagery cliches, norse mytholygy >>>> Frodo.)

My rank: 11

My friend's rank: 8

Controlled chaos, rollicking momentum, sonic violence, whatever else you want to call it, this song is one of the best examples of it by anyone. Some of the best rock songs are those that make you want to jump around or pump your fist or whatever, and this one still does that for me all those years later. On any given day this could have been in my top 10 or top 5. 

I had no idea the lyrics were supposed to be funny. It's another one of their songs where I get so caught up in the music that I don't pay attention to the words at all. 

As far as its length goes, later they did what's essentially a 10-minute version of this. You may have heard of it, it's called Achilles Last Stand. And there you have another clue as to why that's my #1. 

In addition to stanning III, my friend does have a penchant for their "over the top" performances, especially from the early albums, so that may be why he put this in his top 10. It just barely missed joining In the Light and one that hasn't been revealed yet as the only songs in the top 10 for both of us. 

 

[Pip's Invitation]

I am a big fan of the more complex and longer songs but I also enjoy this song.  It just takes off at the start and doesn’t let up.   

This is a good description of where I stand also. 

 

[skol asylum]

As a Vikings fan I really dig Immigrant Song. Valhalla I am coming. Still, I had it a little lower at 14.

My top 25 (consensus)

1.
2. Since I've Been Loving You (15)
3.
4. The Rain Song (17)
5. Babe I'm Gonna Leave You (10)
6. The Ocean (20)
7.
8. Travelling Riverside Blues (43)
9. Ten Years Gone (22)
10. Heartbreaker / Living Loving Maid (12)
11. Good Times Bad Times (11)
12. Over the Hills and Far Away (9)
13. What is and What Should Never Be (16)
14. Immigrant Song (8)
15.
16.
17. 
18.
19. Hey, Hey, What Can I Do (24)
20. Going to California (13)
21. In My Time of Dying (26)
22. Houses of the Holy (37)
23. Communication Breakdown (18)
24. I Can't Quit You Baby (50)
25. Your Time is Gonna Come (39)

The 5 consensus top 25 songs that didn't make my list:

Rock & Roll (14)
No Quarter (19)
The Battle of Evermore (21)
The Song Remains the Same (23)
Misty Mountain Hop (25)

 

[Tau837]

My songs revealed so far:

1. Babe I'm Gonna Leave You (FBG consensus #10)
2. Since I've Been Loving You (#15)
3. 
4. What Is And What Should Never Be (#16)
5. Heartbreaker (#12) [I would have voted Heartbreaker here with or without Living Loving Maid attached]
6. Going to California (#13)
7. The Lemon Song (#40)
8. I'm Gonna Crawl (#64)
9. The Rain Song (#17)
10. 
11. Over the Hills and Far Away (#9)
12. How Many More Times (#27)
13. No Quarter (#19)
14. 
15. Ten Years Gone (#22)
16. 
17. The Ocean (#20)
18. Trampled Under Foot (#31)
19. Houses Of The Holy (#37)
20. 
21. 
22. In My Time Of Dying (#26)
23. Immigrant Song (#8)
24. Achilles Last Stand (#33)
25. In The Light (#29)

6 of the final 7 remaining.

By the way, some of you people have no taste.  

 

[otb_lifer]

Immigrant Song always bored me.  Shocked it's this high.

IS can be called any number of things, but boring certainly ain't one of 'em 

onward sweeping/with threshing oars/our only goal/will be the Western shore

 

[Andrew74]

My songs revealed so far:

1. Babe I'm Gonna Leave You (FBG consensus #10)
2. Since I've Been Loving You (#15)
3. 
4. What Is And What Should Never Be (#16)
5. Heartbreaker (#12) [I would have voted Heartbreaker here with or without Living Loving Maid attached]
6. Going to California (#13)
7. The Lemon Song (#40)
8. I'm Gonna Crawl (#64)
9. The Rain Song (#17)
10. 
11. Over the Hills and Far Away (#9)
12. How Many More Times (#27)
13. No Quarter (#19)
14. 
15. Ten Years Gone (#22)
16. 
17. The Ocean (#20)
18. Trampled Under Foot (#31)
19. Houses Of The Holy (#37)
20. 
21. 
22. In My Time Of Dying (#26)
23. Immigrant Song (#8)
24. Achilles Last Stand (#33)
25. In The Light (#29)

6 of the final 7 remaining.

By the way, some of you people have no taste.  

Like IS at 23.  

 

[Dwayne Hoover]

#8 - Immigrant Song from Led Zeppelin III (1970)

Appeared On: 45 ballots (out of 62 . . . 72.6%)
Total Points: 664 points (out of 1,550 possible points . . .  42.8%)

#1 Rankers: @Andrew74
Top 5 Rankers: @Sinn Fein@AAABatteries@FairWarning@worrierking@jwb@Long Ball Larry@SteevieG@DocHolliday@Joe Schmo@2Young2BBald@jamny DEADHEAD

Live Performances:
LZ: 122 (Bath Festival - 1970-6-28 (First Performance), London - 1971-04-01, Orlando - 1971-08-31, Osaka - 1971-09-29, Long Beach - 1972-06-27, Bradford - 1973-01-18 (Final Performance))
Page & Plant: 14 (Intro Riff Only)
Plant: 88 (Pittsburgh - 1988-10-24, Knebworth - 1990-06-30, Reykjavik - 2019-06-23)

Covers: Nirvana, Beck & Page, Foo Fighters, Heart, Queen, Aerosmith, Sebastian Bach, Umphrey's McGee, Demons & Wizards, Stryper, Saxon, Diamond Head, Trent Reznor, Royal Crescent Mob, Infectious Grooves, Gotthard, Dread Zeppelin, Zoffy, Lotus, Strikeforce, Slaughter, Myles Kennedy & Slash, Joe Satriani, Chris Cornell, moe., Smashing Pumpkins, The Offspring, Steelheart, Ingrid Michaelson, Great White, Incubus, Sammy Hagar, Lynch Mob, Neal Schon, Heidevolk, Angra & Sepultura, Crimson Day, Vince Neil, Vanilla Fudge, Blue Shift

Look at all those covers.  Have to say that Anarchy has been a great archivist for Zeppelin throughout this thread.  This will go down as a HOF thread, there is a lot of material to be listened to here.  

 

[skol asylum]

I like to think that this song by one of my favorite bands of the last 30 years, which also features Vikings and rocks hard but doesn't take itself.too seriously, was inspired by Immigrant Song. 

https://youtu.be/GR35pRz7JQ8

Skol #####es.

 

[otb_lifer]

Like IS at 23.  

you, good sir, were the only #1 ranker of that relentless berserker - had i been around to submit a list, i would've joined you ... 

Respect!

 

[AAABatteries]

you, good sir, were the only #1 ranker of that relentless berserker - had i been around to submit a list, i would've joined you ... 

Respect!

There is one greater….

 

[Dr. Octopus]

#8 - Immigrant Song from Led Zeppelin III (1970)

Appeared On: 45 ballots (out of 62 . . . 72.6%)
Total Points: 664 points (out of 1,550 possible points . . .  42.8%)

#1 Rankers: @Andrew74
Top 5 Rankers: @Sinn Fein@AAABatteries@FairWarning@worrierking@jwb@Long Ball Larry@SteevieG@DocHolliday@Joe Schmo@2Young2BBald@jamny DEADHEAD

Live Performances:
LZ: 122 (Bath Festival - 1970-6-28 (First Performance), London - 1971-04-01, Orlando - 1971-08-31, Osaka - 1971-09-29, Long Beach - 1972-06-27, Bradford - 1973-01-18 (Final Performance))
Page & Plant: 14 (Intro Riff Only)
Plant: 88 (Pittsburgh - 1988-10-24, Knebworth - 1990-06-30, Reykjavik - 2019-06-23)

Covers: Nirvana, Beck & Page, Foo Fighters, Heart, Queen, Aerosmith, Sebastian Bach, Umphrey's McGee, Demons & Wizards, Stryper, Saxon, Diamond Head, Trent Reznor, Royal Crescent Mob, Infectious Grooves, Gotthard, Dread Zeppelin, Zoffy, Lotus, Strikeforce, Slaughter, Myles Kennedy & Slash, Joe Satriani, Chris Cornell, moe., Smashing Pumpkins, The Offspring, Steelheart, Ingrid Michaelson, Great White, Incubus, Sammy Hagar, Lynch Mob, Neal Schon, Heidevolk, Angra & Sepultura, Crimson Day, Vince Neil, Vanilla Fudge, Blue Shift

Ultimate Classic Rock Ranking (out of 92 songs): 5
Vulture Ranking (out of 74 songs): 8
Rolling Stone Ranking (out of 40 songs): 7
Louder Ranking (out of 50 songs): 7
Uproxx Ranking (out of 50 songs): 15
WMGK Ranking (out of 92 songs): 3
SPIN Ranking (out of 87 songs): 10
Ranker Ranking (out of 87 songs): 4
Anachronarchy Ranking (out of 80 songs): 6

We say hello to the Elite Eight but goodbye to Led Zeppelin III, which finishes as out 6th most popular album. One person ranked IS as their Zeppelin fave, 3 people had it second, and 3 people marked it down for third. Rounding things out, it saw 13 Top 5 votes, 21 Top 10, and 45 people voted for it. I haven’t researched it, but this may be the first back-to-back songs that were issued as singles. It’s our favorite track with “Song” in the title (Lemon, Wanton, Remains The Same, Rain, or Immigrant). At one point, it had a run of 9 Top 5 votes in 15 ballots. Eight of the 9 outside rankers had it Top.

Some LZ historians believe the band was intent on releasing a lead single from LZ III, and that the foundation of that song was IS in 1969. There apparently was talk of a hard hitting, all out rocker as a single to launch the album. That seems a little odd given that a lot of the album is acoustic.

The song peaked at #16 in the U.S. and was also released in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Turkey, Jamaica, Mexico, Japan, and the Philippines. It made the Top 10 on 10 different charts.

The song was inspired after an official cultural visit to Iceland on 1970-06-22 and performance at the Laugardalsholl Sports Center in Reykjavik. The song was developed so quickly that it was first performed in their next show, six days later, at the Bath Festival on 1970-06-28. It’s working title was called Song in F (Overlord).

Alternate Mix, PulpFusion Mix, Pendulum Remix

Plant recalls, “We weren't being pompous ... We did come from the land of the ice and snow. We were guests of the Icelandic Government on a cultural mission. We were invited to play a concert in Reykjavik, and the day before we arrived all the civil servants went on strike and the gig was going to be cancelled. The university prepared a concert hall for us and it was phenomenal. The response from the kids was remarkable, and we had a great time. Immigrant Song was about that trip, and it was the opening track on the album that was intended to be incredibly different.”

Ever the historian, Plant built the lyrics around the Vikings and their mythology surrounding their gods. Decades later, the song would appear in, and was used extensively, to promote the MCU film Thor: Ragnarok.

Page added, “It felt right for the album to have a rocky side and a folky side, and the rocky side clearly had to start with Immigrant Song. With the hypnotic riff and Robert’s bloodcurdling scream, I thought ‘That’s the way to open an album.’”

Here was a review of their Bath Festival show from Melody Maker:

“By 8 PM, it was estimated that a quarter of a million people – roughly the population of the city of Leeds – were champing at the bit awaiting Led Zeppelin. Half-an-hour to set up – then the members of THE definitive ‘heavy’ band strode on stage – Robert Plant, looking more like Norse warrior than ever, Jimmy Page looking like Mad Dan Eccles in an ankle length overcoat and yokel’s hat over his ears, John Bonham in purple vest crouched behind his green drums and John Paul Jones in “straight” trendy gear clutched his bass guitar.

They kicked off with a new riff from their next album called Immigrant Song. They actually took some time to warm up the crowd, but this may have been intentional as they built up to a fantastic climax with an act lasting over three hours.

Jimmy produced his violin bow to attack the guitar strings, and John Paul was featured on Hammond organ on Since I’ve Been Loving You. It was after John Bonham’s phenomenal drum solo – violent, aggressive and furiously fast – had brought the crowd permanently to their feet, that the real fun began!

They had contrasted their rock style with the beautiful The First Time (aka That’s the Way) featuring John Paul on mandolin and Jim on six-string acoustic with Robert singing in the most attractive restrained style. Now it was time for the other extreme.

A wild rock medley - How Many More Times. The crowd wouldn’t let them go. Tambourines thrown to the fans. As dusk fell and the lights flickered on the band roared into Communication Breakdown.

ANOTHER ENCORE – at 10:50pm Zeppelin had won. They had made all the hang-ups worthwhile and given the crowd a night to remember – whatever else happened. In their final minutes, they paid tribute to the masters of Rock and Roll with the songs of Little Richard, Elvis Presley, and Chuck Berry.”

SETLIST: Immigrant Song, Heartbreaker, Dazed and Confused, Bring It On Home, Since I've Been Loving You, Thank You, That's the Way, What Is and What Should Never Be, Moby ****, How Many More Times, Whole Lotta Love, Communication Breakdown, Long Tall Sally, Say Mama, Johnny B. Goode, That's All Right, Long Tall Sally reprise.

Lester Bangs of Rolling Stone described Immigrant Song as the closest to being as classic as Whole Lotta Love, praising the song's "bulldozer rhythms and Plant's double-tracked wordless vocal crossings echoing behind the main vocal like some cannibal chorus wailing in the infernal light of a savage fertility rite." Cash Box described the song as "filling the aural spectrum once again with wall to wall power," stating that the song has "biting vocals and an unmatched instrumental impact.

Led Zeppelin originally denied director Richard Linklater permission to use Immigrant Song for the film School of Rock. To try to get permission to use the song in the movie, actor Jack Black videotaped himself singing in front of a huge crowd of people, begging Led Zeppelin to let them use the song. Their over the top effort succeeded. Black said, “It may seem corny, but it worked. The moral of the story is, don't be too proud to beg.”

Immigrant Song was performed 122 times . . . including 25 time before LZ III was released. It remained on the setlist through 1972 with one additional performance in 1973. Plant has played it 88 times (only once in the past 30 years), and Page and Plant played the opening riff as a lead in to other songs 14 times.

Ultimate Classic Rock (5 of 92 songs): Led Zeppelin's third album is mostly known for its stripped-down, acoustic tone. Not this charging song, the opening track that serves as the storm before the calm. It's all vikings, earth-trampling guitars and a stuttering riff that explodes from the speakers.  And it hit the Top 20 on the singles chart.

Vulture (8 of 74 songs): The lead off track to III doesn’t rest or flag for 2:26. This Norse mini-epic is perennially prized by metal heads (see, for example, Jack Black in School of Rock) for its attack, cauterizing even by Page standards, its straight-outta-Asgard lyrics, the wild sounds, and its being the source of the definitive Zeppelin aperçu— “Hammer of the Gods?!?!” — delivered by Plant with a hilarious Dr. Evil–esque lilt.

Rolling Stone (7 of 40 songs): No hard-rock song has ever had a more ominous opening line: "We come from the land of the ice and snow." It was inspired by the band's concert in Iceland in June 1970, a month when the sun never fully sets. Plant started fantasizing about vikings and wrote in the voice of a Norse chieftain leading a sea invasion and expecting to die. It "was supposed to be powerful and funny," he said. Page's menacing staccato riff could scare Thor into surrendering, and Plant's Tarzan holler adds another layer of primal barbarism.

Louder (7 of 50 songs): This tune was recorded in Olympic Studios, London, in the summer of 1970, where Jimmy and John Bonham laid down the backing tracks to Immigrant Song inside a small, low ceilinged room that looked more like somebody’s private den than a high-tech studio. The song was just an untitled piece, a relentless, pounding theme, hypnotic in its intensity… Jimmy was slouched over his guitar while Bonham crouched over his kit, glaring at the snare drum. He wasn’t a man to be interrupted while concentrating on a new riff. If Bonham took one thing seriously, it was pleasing his guitarist with the right kind of beat. The pair always worked closely, and Bonham’s propulsive pattern soon helped to shape this unlikely Viking saga.

It had been inspired by a trip to Iceland in June that year when Robert Plant became intrigued by Nordic myths and legends. The tune was unveiled at the Bath Festival in June when the band played in front of 200,000 fans. Jimmy wore his country yokel’s hat and Robert’s beard made him look like a Viking who’d just arrived by longboat. Immigrant Song was released as a single in the US, coupled with Hey, Hey What Can I Do in November. It went on to claim the number one hot spot during a 13-week run in the Billboard chart.

Uproxx (15 of 50 songs): Robert Plant once claimed that all of the big-balled viking imagery in this song is intentionally funny, and I’m inclined to believe him. Immigrant Song, The Lemon Song, The Crunge, Hot Dog - Zeppelin was sillier than they get credit for, probably because Page’s riff and Bonham’s drums are kicking too much ### for anyone to laugh.

WMGK (3 of 92 songs): While Zeppelin never liked being associated with heavy metal, this song did quite a bit to create the template for that genre: Page’s percussive riffing, Bonham’s heavy drumming, and of course, Robert Plant’s banshee vocals telling tales of vikings that come from “the land of the ice and snow.” Plant and Page may wince when asked about metal, but the feeling definitely isn’t mutual.

SPIN (10 of 87 songs): With an opening and riff as classic as either “Love” or “Dog” (and twice as violent), “Immigrant Song” also has the advantage of being under 150 seconds long, an improbably compact shore-invading assault that barely gives you time to process its ###-kicking awesomeness before it gives way to “Friends” on LZIII. Any hockey game where this song isn’t played at least once — and preferably once per goal, home or away — is not giving its attending fans the experience they deserve. (And in terms of geeky metal imagery cliches, norse mytholygy >>>> Frodo.)

I was also a Top 5 ranker (at 5) on this one.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

True, but if we arranged it your way it would take out a lot of what I love about the song.  The blistering pace is what makes it great in my opinion.

The lyrics kind of demand for it to be a heavy/fast paced song.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

Immigrant Song always bored me.  Shocked it's this high.

You're thinking of the Anarchy version of the song.

 

[zamboni]

Immigrant Song always bored me. 

Sounds a bit xenophobic.

 

[beer 30]

One of my best friends growing up always belted out the wail at the beginning of the song when it came on, didn't matter where we were, he screamed. It was funny, we were stupid.

Fast forward to this football season. We'd lost touch for a long time, 10-15 years. Then out of the blue he starts texting me during Ohio State and Browns games and we start up right where we left off a decade ago. He sends me this grainy video, I open it and it's him wailing to IS. Still as bad & stupid as always...ah good times.

 

[zamboni]

One of my best friends growing up always belted out the wail at the beginning of the song when it came on, didn't matter where we were, he screamed. It was funny, we were stupid.

Pretty sure it's also been a running gag of Howard Stern since the beginning. Haven't listened to him since the mid-'90s, so may still be going. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQDccOMdLoo

 

[gianmarco]

My updated list:

1) Since I've Been Loving You (15)
2) Babe I'm Gonna Leave You (10)
3)
4) In my Time of Dying (26)
5)
6)
7) Battle of Evermore (21)
8 )  The Rover (38)
9)
10) Communication Breakdown (18)
11) Going to California (13)
12) No Quarter (19)
13) Good Times Bad Times (11)
14)  Immigrant Song (8)
15)
16) Thank you (30)
17)
18)
19) The Rain Song (17)
20) D'yer Ma'ker (46)
21) Fool in the Rain (35)
22) Ten Years Gone (22)
23) In the Light (29)
24) Rock and Roll (14)
25) Out on the Tiles (56)

Top 25 consensus songs I didn't rank:

Misty Mountain Hop
Hey, Hey, What Can I Do
The Song Remains the Same
The Ocean
Over the Hills and Far Away (big regret)
Living Loving Maid/Heartbreaker
What is and What Should Never Be

 

[simey]

I've got 6 more to go.

#1   Going to California  (13)
#2    
#3    
#4    Tangerine  (28)
#5    Your Time Is Gonna Come  (39)
#6    Thank You  (30)
#7    What Is and What Shall Never Be  (16)
#8    Hey Hey What Can I Do  (24)
#9    Good Times Bad Times  (11)
#10  Down By The Seaside  (57)
#11  
#12  Immigrant Song  (8)
#13  Since I've Been Loving You  (15)
#14  The Battle of Evermore  (21)
#15  Babe I'm Gonna Leave You  (10)
#16  
#17  
#18  In The Evening  (34)
#19  Over the Hills and Far Away  (9)
#20  
#21  The Ocean  (20)
#22  All of My Love  (44)
#23  Misty Mountain Hop (25)
#24  Trampled Under Foot  (31)
#25  The Lemon Song  (40)

 

[lardonastick]

1.
2. Since I've Been Loving You (15)
3.
4. In My Time of Dying (26)
5.
6. Over the Hills and Far Away (9)
7. No Quarter (19)
8. Ten Years Gone (22)
9. Rock and Roll (14)
10.
11.
12. Heartbreaker (12)
13. Nobody's Fault But Mine (32)
14. Immigrant Song (8)
15.
16. The Ocean (20)
17. The Lemon Song (40)
18.
19. Out On the Tiles (56)
20. Communication Breakdown (18)
21. Celebration Day (52)
22. In the Light (29)
23. Gallows Poll (36)
24. Achilles Last Stand (33)
25. How Many More Times (27)

Top 25 consensus songs I didn't rank:
Misty Mountain Hop
Hey, Hey, What Can I Do
The Song Remains the Same
What Is and What Could Never Be

updated

 

[Tom Servo]

I ranked this song #19. I mentioned a couple weeks ago that I learned to play it on guitar when I was young. I annoyingly played it over and over until I learned a new song to play over and over. 

I had it 12 over here.

 

[SteevieG]

#8 - Immigrant Song from Led Zeppelin III (1970)

Appeared On: 45 ballots (out of 62 . . . 72.6%)
Total Points: 664 points (out of 1,550 possible points . . .  42.8%)

#1 Rankers: @Andrew74
Top 5 Rankers: @Sinn Fein@AAABatteries@FairWarning@worrierking@jwb@Long Ball Larry@SteevieG@DocHolliday@Joe Schmo@2Young2BBald@jamny DEADHEAD

Live Performances:
LZ: 122 (Bath Festival - 1970-6-28 (First Performance), London - 1971-04-01, Orlando - 1971-08-31, Osaka - 1971-09-29, Long Beach - 1972-06-27, Bradford - 1973-01-18 (Final Performance))
Page & Plant: 14 (Intro Riff Only)
Plant: 88 (Pittsburgh - 1988-10-24, Knebworth - 1990-06-30, Reykjavik - 2019-06-23)

Covers: Nirvana, Beck & Page, Foo Fighters, Heart, Queen, Aerosmith, Sebastian Bach, Umphrey's McGee, Demons & Wizards, Stryper, Saxon, Diamond Head, Trent Reznor, Royal Crescent Mob, Infectious Grooves, Gotthard, Dread Zeppelin, Zoffy, Lotus, Strikeforce, Slaughter, Myles Kennedy & Slash, Joe Satriani, Chris Cornell, moe., Smashing Pumpkins, The Offspring, Steelheart, Ingrid Michaelson, Great White, Incubus, Sammy Hagar, Lynch Mob, Neal Schon, Heidevolk, Angra & Sepultura, Crimson Day, Vince Neil, Vanilla Fudge, Blue Shift

Ultimate Classic Rock Ranking (out of 92 songs): 5
Vulture Ranking (out of 74 songs): 8
Rolling Stone Ranking (out of 40 songs): 7
Louder Ranking (out of 50 songs): 7
Uproxx Ranking (out of 50 songs): 15
WMGK Ranking (out of 92 songs): 3
SPIN Ranking (out of 87 songs): 10
Ranker Ranking (out of 87 songs): 4
Anachronarchy Ranking (out of 80 songs): 6

We say hello to the Elite Eight but goodbye to Led Zeppelin III, which finishes as out 6th most popular album. One person ranked IS as their Zeppelin fave, 3 people had it second, and 3 people marked it down for third. Rounding things out, it saw 13 Top 5 votes, 21 Top 10, and 45 people voted for it. I haven’t researched it, but this may be the first back-to-back songs that were issued as singles. It’s our favorite track with “Song” in the title (Lemon, Wanton, Remains The Same, Rain, or Immigrant). At one point, it had a run of 9 Top 5 votes in 15 ballots. Eight of the 9 outside rankers had it Top.

Some LZ historians believe the band was intent on releasing a lead single from LZ III, and that the foundation of that song was IS in 1969. There apparently was talk of a hard hitting, all out rocker as a single to launch the album. That seems a little odd given that a lot of the album is acoustic.

The song peaked at #16 in the U.S. and was also released in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Turkey, Jamaica, Mexico, Japan, and the Philippines. It made the Top 10 on 10 different charts.

The song was inspired after an official cultural visit to Iceland on 1970-06-22 and performance at the Laugardalsholl Sports Center in Reykjavik. The song was developed so quickly that it was first performed in their next show, six days later, at the Bath Festival on 1970-06-28. It’s working title was called Song in F (Overlord).

Alternate Mix, PulpFusion Mix, Pendulum Remix

Plant recalls, “We weren't being pompous ... We did come from the land of the ice and snow. We were guests of the Icelandic Government on a cultural mission. We were invited to play a concert in Reykjavik, and the day before we arrived all the civil servants went on strike and the gig was going to be cancelled. The university prepared a concert hall for us and it was phenomenal. The response from the kids was remarkable, and we had a great time. Immigrant Song was about that trip, and it was the opening track on the album that was intended to be incredibly different.”

Ever the historian, Plant built the lyrics around the Vikings and their mythology surrounding their gods. Decades later, the song would appear in, and was used extensively, to promote the MCU film Thor: Ragnarok.

Page added, “It felt right for the album to have a rocky side and a folky side, and the rocky side clearly had to start with Immigrant Song. With the hypnotic riff and Robert’s bloodcurdling scream, I thought ‘That’s the way to open an album.’”

Here was a review of their Bath Festival show from Melody Maker:

“By 8 PM, it was estimated that a quarter of a million people – roughly the population of the city of Leeds – were champing at the bit awaiting Led Zeppelin. Half-an-hour to set up – then the members of THE definitive ‘heavy’ band strode on stage – Robert Plant, looking more like Norse warrior than ever, Jimmy Page looking like Mad Dan Eccles in an ankle length overcoat and yokel’s hat over his ears, John Bonham in purple vest crouched behind his green drums and John Paul Jones in “straight” trendy gear clutched his bass guitar.

They kicked off with a new riff from their next album called Immigrant Song. They actually took some time to warm up the crowd, but this may have been intentional as they built up to a fantastic climax with an act lasting over three hours.

Jimmy produced his violin bow to attack the guitar strings, and John Paul was featured on Hammond organ on Since I’ve Been Loving You. It was after John Bonham’s phenomenal drum solo – violent, aggressive and furiously fast – had brought the crowd permanently to their feet, that the real fun began!

They had contrasted their rock style with the beautiful The First Time (aka That’s the Way) featuring John Paul on mandolin and Jim on six-string acoustic with Robert singing in the most attractive restrained style. Now it was time for the other extreme.

A wild rock medley - How Many More Times. The crowd wouldn’t let them go. Tambourines thrown to the fans. As dusk fell and the lights flickered on the band roared into Communication Breakdown.

ANOTHER ENCORE – at 10:50pm Zeppelin had won. They had made all the hang-ups worthwhile and given the crowd a night to remember – whatever else happened. In their final minutes, they paid tribute to the masters of Rock and Roll with the songs of Little Richard, Elvis Presley, and Chuck Berry.”

SETLIST: Immigrant Song, Heartbreaker, Dazed and Confused, Bring It On Home, Since I've Been Loving You, Thank You, That's the Way, What Is and What Should Never Be, Moby ****, How Many More Times, Whole Lotta Love, Communication Breakdown, Long Tall Sally, Say Mama, Johnny B. Goode, That's All Right, Long Tall Sally reprise.

Lester Bangs of Rolling Stone described Immigrant Song as the closest to being as classic as Whole Lotta Love, praising the song's "bulldozer rhythms and Plant's double-tracked wordless vocal crossings echoing behind the main vocal like some cannibal chorus wailing in the infernal light of a savage fertility rite." Cash Box described the song as "filling the aural spectrum once again with wall to wall power," stating that the song has "biting vocals and an unmatched instrumental impact.

Led Zeppelin originally denied director Richard Linklater permission to use Immigrant Song for the film School of Rock. To try to get permission to use the song in the movie, actor Jack Black videotaped himself singing in front of a huge crowd of people, begging Led Zeppelin to let them use the song. Their over the top effort succeeded. Black said, “It may seem corny, but it worked. The moral of the story is, don't be too proud to beg.”

Immigrant Song was performed 122 times . . . including 25 time before LZ III was released. It remained on the setlist through 1972 with one additional performance in 1973. Plant has played it 88 times (only once in the past 30 years), and Page and Plant played the opening riff as a lead in to other songs 14 times.

Ultimate Classic Rock (5 of 92 songs): Led Zeppelin's third album is mostly known for its stripped-down, acoustic tone. Not this charging song, the opening track that serves as the storm before the calm. It's all vikings, earth-trampling guitars and a stuttering riff that explodes from the speakers.  And it hit the Top 20 on the singles chart.

Vulture (8 of 74 songs): The lead off track to III doesn’t rest or flag for 2:26. This Norse mini-epic is perennially prized by metal heads (see, for example, Jack Black in School of Rock) for its attack, cauterizing even by Page standards, its straight-outta-Asgard lyrics, the wild sounds, and its being the source of the definitive Zeppelin aperçu— “Hammer of the Gods?!?!” — delivered by Plant with a hilarious Dr. Evil–esque lilt.

Rolling Stone (7 of 40 songs): No hard-rock song has ever had a more ominous opening line: "We come from the land of the ice and snow." It was inspired by the band's concert in Iceland in June 1970, a month when the sun never fully sets. Plant started fantasizing about vikings and wrote in the voice of a Norse chieftain leading a sea invasion and expecting to die. It "was supposed to be powerful and funny," he said. Page's menacing staccato riff could scare Thor into surrendering, and Plant's Tarzan holler adds another layer of primal barbarism.

Louder (7 of 50 songs): This tune was recorded in Olympic Studios, London, in the summer of 1970, where Jimmy and John Bonham laid down the backing tracks to Immigrant Song inside a small, low ceilinged room that looked more like somebody’s private den than a high-tech studio. The song was just an untitled piece, a relentless, pounding theme, hypnotic in its intensity… Jimmy was slouched over his guitar while Bonham crouched over his kit, glaring at the snare drum. He wasn’t a man to be interrupted while concentrating on a new riff. If Bonham took one thing seriously, it was pleasing his guitarist with the right kind of beat. The pair always worked closely, and Bonham’s propulsive pattern soon helped to shape this unlikely Viking saga.

It had been inspired by a trip to Iceland in June that year when Robert Plant became intrigued by Nordic myths and legends. The tune was unveiled at the Bath Festival in June when the band played in front of 200,000 fans. Jimmy wore his country yokel’s hat and Robert’s beard made him look like a Viking who’d just arrived by longboat. Immigrant Song was released as a single in the US, coupled with Hey, Hey What Can I Do in November. It went on to claim the number one hot spot during a 13-week run in the Billboard chart.

Uproxx (15 of 50 songs): Robert Plant once claimed that all of the big-balled viking imagery in this song is intentionally funny, and I’m inclined to believe him. Immigrant Song, The Lemon Song, The Crunge, Hot Dog - Zeppelin was sillier than they get credit for, probably because Page’s riff and Bonham’s drums are kicking too much ### for anyone to laugh.

WMGK (3 of 92 songs): While Zeppelin never liked being associated with heavy metal, this song did quite a bit to create the template for that genre: Page’s percussive riffing, Bonham’s heavy drumming, and of course, Robert Plant’s banshee vocals telling tales of vikings that come from “the land of the ice and snow.” Plant and Page may wince when asked about metal, but the feeling definitely isn’t mutual.

SPIN (10 of 87 songs): With an opening and riff as classic as either “Love” or “Dog” (and twice as violent), “Immigrant Song” also has the advantage of being under 150 seconds long, an improbably compact shore-invading assault that barely gives you time to process its ###-kicking awesomeness before it gives way to “Friends” on LZIII. Any hockey game where this song isn’t played at least once — and preferably once per goal, home or away — is not giving its attending fans the experience they deserve. (And in terms of geeky metal imagery cliches, norse mytholygy >>>> Frodo.)

I don't think I had this on my list, though it shows I was a Top 5 ranker.  I should have had it on my list to be honest, though.  I didn't have any songs from III I don't believe.

 

[Anarchy99]

I don't think I had this on my list, though it shows I was a Top 5 ranker.  I should have had it on my list to be honest, though.  I didn't have any songs from III I don't believe.

I believe I listed you when it should have been Doc Oc.

 

[SteevieG]

No biggie.  Just wanted to make sure my list was correct.

 

[Anarchy99]

No biggie.  Just wanted to make sure my list was correct.

Yes, your list was entered correctly. I have been picking out the rankers from a spreadsheet with very small numbers on a giant grid off of my small laptop screen. Add in that I have been wearing eyeglasses with Coke bottle lenses since 2nd grade, and the names of rankers sometimes get messed up.

 

[SteevieG]

Yes, your list was entered correctly. I have been picking out the rankers from a spreadsheet with very small numbers on a giant grid off of my small laptop screen. Add in that I have been wearing eyeglasses with Coke bottle lenses since 2nd grade, and the names of rankers sometimes get messed up.

I meant my copy of my list.  I have no doubt you entered it correctly.  Thanks for doing all of this.  It's been fun.

 

[Dwayne Hoover]

The Diamondhead cover of Immigrant Song is really good.  They really went after the guitar solo in an original way. Diamondhead is an underrated band.

 

[FairWarning]

Immigrant Song - Raw sounding, fast paced, hits hard, and it’s done.  Very similar style to Paranoid by Black Sabbath.

 

[otb_lifer]

Immigrant Song - Raw sounding, fast paced, hits hard, and it’s done.  Very similar style to Paranoid by Black Sabbath.

it's a remarkable piece of work - i can never get enough, always in the mood to hear it, always goosebumps when i do ... hell of a calling card for a song i've heard thousands of times over the 45 years i've been an avid music junkie.  

it just doesn't get old. 

 

[FairWarning]

it's a remarkable piece of work - i can never get enough, always in the mood to hear it, always goosebumps when i do ... hell of a calling card for a song i've heard thousands of times over the 45 years i've been an avid music junkie.  

it just doesn't get old. 

When III originally came out, it was recorded horribly.  Then the remasters hit, and this song just smokes. I never got tired of IS either.

 

[DocHolliday]

The Diamondhead cover of Immigrant Song is really good.  They really went after the guitar solo in an original way. Diamondhead is an underrated band.

Indeed.