"Heartbreaker" is a song by the English rock band

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ...

from their 1969 album, '' Led Zeppelin II''. It was credited to all four members of the band, recorded at A&R Recording and Atlantic Studios in New York City during the band's second concert tour of North America, and engineered by

Eddie Kramer Edwin H. Kramer (born 19 April 1942) is a British recording producer and engineer. He has collaborated with several artists now in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, including Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles, David Bowie, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin ...

. "Heartbreaker" opens the second side of the album and features a

guitar riff A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accompanime ...

Jimmy Page James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the rock band Led Zeppelin. Page is prolific in creating guitar riffs. His style involves various alternative ...

. It also includes a spontaneous unaccompanied solo, using a

pull-off A pull-off is a stringed instrument playing and articulation technique performed by plucking or "pulling" the finger that is grasping the sounding part of a string off the fingerboard of either a fretted or unfretted instrument. This intermediate- ...

technique, which was voted the 16th-greatest guitar solo of all time by ''

Guitar World ''Guitar World'' is a monthly music magazine for guitarists – and fans of guitar-based music and trends – that has been published since July 1980. ''Guitar World'', the best-selling guitar magazine in the United States, contains original art ...

'' magazine. "Heartbreaker" was ranked number 320 in 2004 by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, in their

500 Greatest Songs of All Time "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" is a recurring survey compiled by the American magazine '' Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2004 i ...

, and number 328 in 2010.

Recording

In a 1998 interview with ''Guitar World'', Page commented that the guitar solo was recorded in a different studio, thereby giving a different sound than the rest of the song. He added that this was the first recorded instance of his

Gibson Les Paul The Gibson Les Paul is a solid body electric guitar that was first sold by the Gibson Guitar Corporation in 1952. The guitar was designed by factory manager John Huis and his team with input from and endorsement by guitarist Les Paul. Its typ ...

/ Marshall Stack combination. Brett Milano of ''uDiscover Music'' rated the guitar solo as one of the 100 all-time greatest.

Influence

"Heartbreaker" is one of the songs featured in

Nick Hornby Nicholas Peter John Hornby (born 17 April 1957) is an English writer and lyricist. He is best known for his memoir '' Fever Pitch'' and novels '' High Fidelity'' and '' About a Boy'', all of which were adapted into feature films. Hornby's work ...

's book '' 31 Songs''. Record producer

Rick Rubin Frederick Jay Rubin (; born March 10, 1963) is an American record producer. He is the co-founder (alongside Russell Simmons) of Def Jam Recordings, founder of American Recordings, and former co-president of Columbia Records. Rubin helped popula ...

has remarked, "One of the greatest riffs in rock. It Heartbreaker"starts, and it's like they don't really know where the "one" is. Magical in its awkwardness."

Eddie Van Halen Edward Lodewijk Van Halen ( , ; January 26, 1955 – October 6, 2020) was an American musician and songwriter. He was the guitarist, keyboardist, backing vocalist, and primary songwriter of the rock band Van Halen, which he co-founded along ...

once claimed the "Heartbreaker" solo as the inspiration behind his adoption of the tapping technique he later popularized. In one review with ''Guitar World'', he said:

Steve Vai Steven Siro Vai (; born June 6, 1960) is an American guitarist, composer, songwriter, and producer. A three-time Grammy Award winner and fifteen-time nominee, Vai started his music career in 1978 at the age of eighteen as a transcriptionist f ...

has also commented about it in a September 1998 ''Guitar World'' interview: "This one eartbreakerhad the biggest impact on me as a youth. It was defiant, bold, and edgier than hell. It really is the definitive rock guitar solo."

References

{{authority control 1969 songs Atlantic Records singles Led Zeppelin songs Nirvana (band) songs The Black Crowes songs Songs written by Jimmy Page Songs written by Robert Plant Songs written by John Paul Jones (musician) Songs written by John Bonham Song recordings produced by Jimmy Page

Recording

Influence

See also

References