Odd Couples: Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” vs. AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell”

So which will it be: a ’70’s rock anthem with pompous, ethereal philosophical meandering or a ’70’s rock anthem with mindless, bombastic drivel?

Yeah, I know you hipsters who disavow any knowledge of the ’70s are snickering and saying, “So which is which?” Laugh if you want, but both Led Zeppelin and AC/DC will still be selling albums long after flavor-of–the-month (insert name here) returns to wherever they came from before the radio gods decided to play their hit into the ground.

For me, I think Zeppelin deserves this one because I’ve actually run this tape backwards, and you really can hear some vaguely threatening mumbo jumbo, unintentional as it may be. AC/DC run backwards sounds like Alvin and the Chipmunks starring in Gidget Goes Hawaiian.

Winner: Led Zeppelin by split decision (American Judge scores it Zeppelin 97-94, British Judge scores it Zeppelin 99-94, Aussie Judge scores it AC/DC 99-96).

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JC Mosquito

JC Mosquito spends most of his day keeping the wolves from the door. When he's not occupied with this pastime, he's interested in all things rock and roll -- which may or may not have died back in the late 1950s, the late 1970s, or the early '90s, depending on who you believe. Contact Something Else! at [email protected].

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