Led Zeppelin IV, “When the Levee Breaks.”
Yes. The song is “When the Levee Breaks” off Led Zeppelin IV (the untitled fourth album, 1971).
Bonham set up his kit in the hallway of Headley Grange, a drafty old mansion, because the room sounds were dead. Ended up recording in the stairwell with microphones placed two floors up. That massive, echoing drum sound is the stairwell’s natural reverb — no digital trickery, just a smart engineer who put a mic at the top of the stairs.
They then slowed the tape down slightly, which made the drums even bigger and heavier. Whole effect is why that drum intro still gets sampled today.
If you ever hear the isolated drum track, it sounds almost comically wet. But in the mix, it’s perfection.
