Overrated

Overrated

What a truly fabulous song!

Overrated

I respect other’s opinions, and I get that musical taste is subjective, and for me this is a solid 3. Perhaps my ears have stopped working? It is a possibility! I’m glad others enjoy it, and I feel like I’m the only person not “in” on the story. Oh well.

Overrated

It could be JUST you. If you're seeing obscenity, perhaps it would be best to look in your own soul and ask "why?".

There's good, there's great, and then there's this. 

That's an interesting approach: rejecting any memories related to a song which you had previously heard - so that it will remain "fresh".
To me, attaching memories to songs does not innately "perpetuate any paradigms" (nice alliteration though), about their "current value".  Then again, I don't consider only "current" music to have "current value"?  
I guess it's just a matter of perspective - like a lot of things are.

It always surprises me that people attach memories to songs. This has an unfortunate effect of perpetuating a paradigm that music has no current value unless it is current. I very rarely attach a memory to a song and this has the fortunate effect of keeping it fresh every time i listen to it.

It had not occurred to me that it was over 45 years ago that we were cruising A1A along Ft. Lauderdale beach in my buddies 'custom' (as in plywood and shag carpet) 68 Chevy van rolling the seeds out of Columbia's finest import, while literally wearing out the tape of this album on a Craig quadphonic 8 track player through Jensen 6×9 Triaxials. And we thought it couldn't get or sound any better than that.

It had not occurred to me that it was over 45 years ago that we were cruising A1A along Ft. Lauderdale beach in my buddies 'custom' (as in plywood and shag carpet) 68 Chevy van rolling the seeds out of Columbia's finest import, while literally wearing out the tape of this album on a Craig quadphonic 8 track player through Jensen 6×9 Triaxials. And we thought it couldn't get or sound any better than that.

There's a 10 if I've ever heard one.

Love this song so much. Perfect timing too... a few days of rain await. All those years loving this while growing up, I assumed the cover art was staged... and it was, but who knew about the Giants Causeway? When I found myself there in person, I was amazed. Reading how they staged the photo shoot and how difficult it was fascinated me. I hope you get a chance to see this phenomenon of nature.

How ironic  - out of all the excellent heavy rockers LZ created, or recreated, this gentle acoustic tune may be my favorite Zeppelin song.

Uh....what's "GOT"?

"Jones used the Mk.II for the beautiful string arrangements in "The Rain Song" from Houses of the Holy. The Mellotron violins are strangely haunting, and have limited fidelity. They are also difficult to play smoothly, as the sounds begin and end instantly. To overcome this, Jones used a volume pedal to swell the entrances and exits of the string lines to make them more realistic. In an interview specifically for this article, he describes his process for recording a simulated orchestra with a keyboard: "The secret of successful keyboard string parts is to play only the parts that a real string section would play. That is, one line for the First Violins, one line for Second Violins, one for Violas, one for Cellos, one for Basses. Some divided parts are allowed, but keep them to a minimum. Think melodically."

The link:
https://www.reocities.com/jpjkeys/mellotron.html

masterpiece.
edit - just noticed the person before me used the same word. must be true then.

More_Cowbell wrote: How many years, More_Cowbell? What is the secret? Making a wise choice in the first place?

I guess it's Game Of Thrones

They are talented however I came here to get a way from top 40 playing them every half hour. 

Did this album go under the Zeppelin radar?
My first purchase from them and I would play it at my numerous parties.
Everyone always surprised by the number of hits/singles/great songs.

There's good, there's great, and then there's this. 

I used to listen to this album a lot in the high school library with headphones, and read Conan novels.
Had to get the librairian to put the records on 

Conan was exactly like GOT but 35 years ahead.

Oh, my stars; this brings back some memories from many years ago that could have been so good but turned out so bad.

On the bright side, the utter twat in question introduced me to Led Zep, so I got something amazing out of all the crap 

It had not occurred to me that it was over 45 years ago that we were cruising A1A along Ft. Lauderdale beach in my buddies 'custom' (as in plywood and shag carpet) 68 Chevy van rolling the seeds out of Columbia's finest import, while literally wearing out the tape of this album on a Craig quadphonic 8 track player through Jensen 6×9 Triaxials. And we thought it couldn't get or sound any better than that.

There's a 10 if I've ever heard one.

Finally.  Realized this is my favorite Led Zeppelin song of all.  Beautiful.  Haunting.

Listen to any Beethoven and tell me those strings are syrupy - not likely.
Jimmy Page must have thought these otherwise second rate mellotron/one dimensional pseudo strings sounded good.
Fortunately mellotrons and the like have been relegated to museums where they can be seen as an aberration in electronic music development.

Exactly.
If Jimmy wanted syrupy strings he woulda hired a few violin players (ick).

Derp!... As if it isn't already.

Pity, as a new mix with genuine string playing would transform this into a truly great piece of music. 

oh, how do I need this right now...

Once upon a time, I was 18 or 19 years old and a big Led Zeppelin fan.  Went back to my parent's house for a summer during college.  The local radio station played their nightly message: "It's eleven o'clock.  Do you know where your children are?"

Immediately afterward, on every weeknight, they played this song.  Still gives me chills. One of their very, very best.

....................................................

Today, I'm over 60 years old.  Still a big Led Zeppelin fan.  And somebody better have evidence that we're hearing a mellotron, rather than an honest string quartet. As a musician, I'm not buying it.  Something stronger than Wikipedia, please.

Once upon a time, I was 18 or 19 years old and a big Led Zeppelin fan.  Went back to my parent's house for a summer during college.  The local radio station played their nightly message: "It's eleven o'clock.  Do you know where your children are?"

Immediately afterward, on every weeknight, they played this song.  Still gives me chills. One of their very, very best.

....................................................

Today, I'm over 60 years old.  Still a big Led Zeppelin fan.  And somebody better have evidence that we're hearing a mellotron, rather than an honest string quartet. As a musician, I'm not buying it.  Something stronger than Wikipedia, please.

How nicely said! I feel that "Houses of The Holy" said something that I felt from within me deeply emotionally and that hasn't changed in 45+  years. Zeppelin has for me been the i-Ching and Tarot- a way to see a reflection of my inner state, grasp the reality of life around me, and and thus to choose the right path. I kid you not in the least little degree; Zeppelin's been there when I needed them. 

And this mellotron, wow!

How ironic  - out of all the excellent heavy rockers LZ created, or recreated, this gentle acoustic tune may be my favorite Zeppelin song.