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Metallica and Zeppelin Mistakes (Top Story)

10/17/2010
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Metallica and Zeppelin Mistakes was a top 10 story this week . Here is the recap: (Gibson) Recording accidents sometimes they make it through to the listener intentionally, and sometimes they sneak by purely by accident, but however they get to us they're part of what makes rock and roll so much fun, and what keeps kids wedged between a set of headphones when they probably should be studying. Gibson counts down 10 of the greatest mistakes that made it to tape. Here are just two of them:

6. Metallica � "The Four Horsemen" (Kill 'Em All, 1983) One of the most unique features of Metallica's classic track "The Four Horsemen" is its distinctive simultaneous two-headed guitar solo, heard from 4:10 to 4:30. You can hear two Kirk Hammetts, one in each speaker, playing roughly similar but still quite different solos. In 1991 Hammett told Guitar World this cool effect was entirely a fluke. After recording two takes of the solo, Hammett and Co. were trying to decide which one to use. "I listened to both tracks at once, to see if one would stand out," Hammett said. "But playing both tracks simultaneously sounded great, and we decided to keep it like that on the record. Some of the notes harmonized with each other, and I remember Cliff [Burton, bassist] going, 'Wow, that's stylin' � it sounds like Tony Iommi!'"

3. Led Zeppelin � "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" (Led Zeppelin, 1969) "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" is an eerie, moody track to begin with, but if you listen very closely you'll hear a ghostly voice at 1:43. What is it? A backwards-masked magic spell? Some kind of ghostly incantation? Nope. That's actually the sound of Robert Plant singing along with drummer John Bonham during tracking, and there was no way to delete Plant's singing from the drum tracks. Whether that's his actual naked voice leaking through the drum mics, or perhaps being blasted through Bonzo's headphones, perhaps we'll never quite know, but it sure sounds cool, and adds yet another interesting layer to discover among Led Zep's tapestry of orchestration - more on this story

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