Pardon me for being the contrarian, but God no. The one thing left out of the article is that the song sucks. It's a gigantically overdone, mushy, pretentious romantic ballad that should have been strangled in the cradle.

Stairway to Heaven has definitely been overplayed, and more importantly overimitated leading to the devil-spawn that is the obligatory power ballad. Though I would be hard pressed to say the song sucks. Quite the opposite.

The way it starts with a delicate arpeggio which transforms into a slightly more aggressive one, the way the character of the center section changes upon the drums entering, the way the bridge makes the transition from mellow pop to heavy metal, and finally the quick but fluid deceleration of the final section at the end with the solo vocal - all brilliant. The closest comparison in recent memory off the top of my head is Nine Inch Nails' "Closer" which starts with one sparse theme, twists it while adding layers and becoming more aggressive with a final denoument to a secondary theme. (Prison Sex by Tool has a similar feel, but not as dramatic a difference in the beginning of the song)

Unfortunately both songs wind up with lots of people listening to only the lyrics and not the music (and even the lyrics not that closely). Stairway to Heaven leads to lighters and use at weddings, Closer leads to a bunch of kids jubilant at a song using the word, "fuck" literally. Zeppelin and NIN don't have any control over who their fans are and how they react to their songs, but the fan reaction is different than the song and really has no bearing on the quality of the song (except when they start cheering the end of a song during a quiet section in the middle of a song-uggh, must slay).

It was a great song and then over exposed.

They found the ability to compile a suite of rock music that incorporated a bit of lyrical opera.

Unlike the over reaching attempts of the Who's Tommy as a rock opera or the Sgt Peppers interrelated thematic album approach.

Rock is not comfortable structured as an opera, but as a single song musical suite Plant & Page hit it right on the head.

Zep needs to let it go until they are comfortable with it...not us.

It's a great song. Of course, they should play it. That's all there is to it.

My view:

1. It's way over used.

2. It's a great song, but it's not divinely-fucking-inspired.

3. There are a lot of other LZ songs that are better (Since I've Been Lovin' You = just goddamn perfect, When The Levee Breaks, Kashmir, Feather in the Wind, Atlas' Last Stand (not so much for complexity as for its rollicking-good-time with occasionally incredible arpeggios), etc.)

4. Plant can't goddamn sing like he could in LZ, so skip the ten bazillion dollar ticket for a seat behind a pillar next to the stadium lights, and go buy the DVD box set. Besides a host of good shows, it has a BBC concert from 1969, when the band first came out. There's only four songs, but they are perfect. Plant's voice, the guitar, the bass, and drums sing out to you as if you had just heard the band for the first time.

5. Noone, and I mean NOONE needs another "Rolling Stones"

Okay, not their best song, totally over exposed, lyrics are indeed a bit spacey and pretentious, doesn't sound anywhere near as good when performed live.. and if you are my age it was blaring out of the speakers of the first car you ever owned as you smoked a joint with that girl who just might "go all the way" as you cruised the neighborhood on a hot humid Saturday night. It's not the song, it's the memories

Nobody needs another Rolling Stones? Are you kidding? The Stones are the greatest rock and roll band in the history of the world. The fact that they've kept touring is a GOOD thing. Seek out some of the club shows from the tour prior to A Bigger Bang. That is a bad that was still playing with balls. Hell, they STILL play with balls. Much more than all the candy-assed indie BS and over-progged "prodogies."

I saw Page & Plant together on both their tours in the '90s. Neither time did they play StH; no one ever missed it or called for it.

To the author--Its "All that glisters is not gold" not glitters. Check the Bard--Merchant of Venice Act II scene 7.

the ariticle was incorrect about this 'it was "Stairway" that drove them to the madness of the absurd fantasy sequences in their movie The Song Remains the Same.' jimmy page recently states in the guitar interview that the reason they did the fantasy sequeces is because when they reviewed the footage there were huge gaps! they concluded the only reason it happened was because of certain people being stoned and so they had to fill those gaps. hence, they decided on the fantasy sequences. cool stuff.

i'm going to the show. i hope they don't tour considering what i am spending on getting there!

It is up to the band. I am a musician not a famous one but do consider myself to have some talent . I think that the band should do what they feel comfortable doing. And as far as the song sucks I can think of other ones, Kashmir for one this song drags on and on. I am glad to see young kids get into Zep. and other bands because without the likes of Zep, Sabbath and others their would be no tool

Just out of weariness they should drop Stairway.

It is like Skynard beating the audience up with Freebird, or McCartney slamming us with Day Tripper time and again.

Some tunes are just worn out,.

It's just an "ok" song. Play it-don't play it. Don't overthink.