Is there a droppable song on ‘Led Zeppelin IV’?
Now, I know what you’re thinking. Yes, removing a song from Led Zeppelin IV provides you with two problems. The first of which is that you’re literally removing one-eighth of the record in one fell swoop.
For a band so known for excess, Led Zeppelin‘s fourth album is as focused as they ever got. The second problem is that those eight tracks are all absolute bangers. It’s not known as one of the best rock records ever made just because of ‘Stairway to Heaven’, ya know?
Thus, it must be done as a process of elimination. While the temptation to take away that classic rock staple, then sit back and just watch the furious tears flow, is nearly too much for me, I can’t bring myself to do it. It also has one of the best opening one-two punches in pop music, so it’ll be a cold day in hell before I cut ‘Black Dog’ or ‘Rock and Roll’. ‘When the Levee Breaks’ is worth it just for those drums alone, thus you’ve got the album’s mid-section.
‘Stairway’ aside, there are some possibilities if you’re willing to slaughter some of rock’s sacred cows. I myself have never been partial to Page ‘n’ Plant’s dabblings in folk music, much in the same way that I’ve never much cared for Michael Jordan’s dabblings in baseball. So ‘The Battle of Evermore’ and ‘Going to California’ are serious candidates for the chop in my book.
However, I can’t help but admire their ambition. For all my snarking about Jordan’s baseball career, it’s clear the band aren’t just getting the mandolins out merely for a break from all the rawk. It’s as much a part of their identity as any 20-ton riff in their back catalogue, and there’s just so much commitment to the bit that I can’t help but appreciate it. They don’t always get a look in on my trips through the Zep discography, but they’re got to be there.
So, what song can you cut from ‘Led Zeppelin IV’?
And then, there were two. On the one hand, you’ve got ‘Four Sticks’. On the other, ‘Misty Mountain Hop’.
Let’s get one thing out of the way: I am devastatingly aware that by getting rid of either of them, I’m getting rid of one of the best riffs on the whole album. Both are wrapped around absolutely deathless Jimmy Page performances; so simple and so effective, one can’t quite believe these are the first times they’re being put to record.
Which is doubly impressive because when it comes to Led Zeppelin, as most of the time, it’s not the first time they’re being put to record. However, when one moves past the riffs, it becomes clear that these are both “vibes songs” more than anything else. ‘Four Sticks’, in particular, is more of an instrumental workout than anything else, with John Bonham in particular doing genuinely baffling things with his kit. The kind of things that you’d need two sticks in each hand to pull off, hence the name.
Then there’s the fact that ‘Misty Mountain Hop’s’ droning verses have never sat quite well with me. Those harmonies just read as off-key to me, meaning it’s a skip more often than not. So is it less ‘Hop’ and more ‘chop’? Not quite. After all, the track is actually about something. Telling the story of Robert Plant wanting to leave England after arrests were made at the July 7th, 1968’s Legalise Pot Rally in Hype Park.
Plant using a Lord of the Rings reference for the title fortifies it for me, much more so than ‘Four Sticks’, which is unfocused, both musically and lyrically. Thus, there’s my answer. If you have to cut a song from Led Zeppelin IV (and to be clear, you shouldn’t), ‘Four Sticks’ is my pick. It may be a great riff, but, y’know, ‘Black Dog’ is right there. We’ll survive without it.
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