No. 8: ‘Misty Mountain Hop’ – Top 50 Led Zeppelin Songs
Few '70s hard rock bands could come anywhere close to Led Zeppelin when it came to creating sophisticated studio recordings, as evidenced by 'Misty Mountain Hop,' No. 8 on our list of the Top 50 Led Zeppelin Songs. A simple enough song in its construction, based around a straight funk rock riff, the group made it into a classic by recording a multi-layered track that holds up over repeat listening.
Building on a very strong drum track from John Bonham, John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page doubled each other and harmonized on the main theme, creating an interesting sonic contrast that is perhaps the closest Zeppelin ever came to writing a true pop hook. Page employed simple melodies for the guitar solo, using unison, harmony and panned parts to create a guitar orchestra.
Robert Plant put the finishing touches on the track with multiple vocal overdubs that split back and forth between unison and harmony -- which, along with Page's guitars, make 'Misty Mountain Hop' one of the great headphone tracks of all time.