12 Best Closing Songs On Hard Rock Albums
2. When The Levee Breaks - Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin really solidified their spot as the greatest hard rockers on Earth with their untitled 4th effort. With each passing track, the band casually invented new sonic avenues for the genre from the gritty stomp of the opening track "Black Dog" to the greatest sonic ballad ever conceived with "Stairway to Heaven." When it came time to bring it home though, it always does go back to the blues.
Originally a blues standard by Memphis Minnie, Zeppelin make "When the Levee Breaks" their own with one of the most thunderous drum sounds ever recorded by John Bonham. As the guitars come in, you're absolutely bathed in melancholy as Jimmy Page sprinkles traces of gravitas into his slide guitar work and chord changes. By the time Robert Plant finally does come in, it's almost as if you've been hypnotized into this tribal dirge about a local flood wiping out everything in its path.
As if that wasn't enough, Plant's final shrieks about moving up to Chicago and being pulled down make him sound like he's being dragged down into Hell. This definitely wasn't the first time a hard rock band took cues from the blues, but this almost surpasses it by making a simple flood feel like the coming of the rapture.