Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Nowhere Man]

Only Oasis rival Zeppelin in terms of being accused of riding to fame on other people's work.

Others took a violin bow to an electric guitar. Jimmy Page is accused of ripping off Jeff Beck and Clapton.

On the other hand, I'm listening to Blind Faith right now.

Clapton gets song-writing credit on one song. Steve Winwood gets more.

I see Zep as undeniable legends.

Plant on vocals. Who in the modern rock pantheon has pipes like that?

Page-I've heard people call him sloppy.
My answer: WTF

John Paul Jones: Competent, but perhaps not distinguished.

Bonzo: Um, yes. I think he really distinguishes himself on the Beasties' Ali Baba sample. Brngs the drumming to the forefront.

Still, some mention Bloodrock.

Don't know 'em. Are they all that?

If I'd blame Zep for anything, they, with AC/DC, are responsible for the hair bands of the 80s.

Anyway, just thought I'd toss that out.

[SPINOZA]

I'm more into Pink Floyd and Black Sabbath personally. Just prefer both. I also think 'Deep Purple In Rock' is the best and the first true metal album of all time.

Yet, Led Zepp have done some superb material and are one of those bands EVERYONE must at least flirt with to see what they think. There's plenty of varied material in there too, rather than just Rock. That's the reason why they just about beat The Rolling Stones (vaguely comparable blues-rock supergroup) IMO - more variation, interesting and weird ideas.

[jacktar]

Does Zeppelin rock or not?

You only have to listen to the guitarwork on "Heartbreaker" to know the answer.


Off topic but since Pink Floyd was mentioned, my buddy often questions why they are so rarely sited as an influence. Anybody who is into music is familiar with their work but he's right. I've never heard a band admit to being influenced by them. What gives?

[Nowhere Man]

I prefer Floyd over Zeppelin, but more because of the lyrics.

Gilmour. while gifted, seems to only have one mode.

He doesn't do anything new after Waters leaves. Rather, they put out albums with his Wall solos done to new songs.

Dark Side of the Moon doesn't really rock. Instead, it transcends. It's not a guitar album. The good Floyd albums generally aren't. They're ensemble. And cerebral.

It's like comparing John Lennon to Keith Richards.

[Satori]

Do they rock? Jesus, they ARE rock! And what is Floyd doing in a convo about Zep? Different universes, though Floyd were also one of the greats.

And John Paul Jones was indeed very distinguished. His bassing was second to none, and check out his rhodes keyboarding on *No Quarter*. Or his mandolin work on *Going to California*. He was a brilliant and high musical multi instrumentalist, who only did not shine like he could have because of his stella company. All the members of Zep were fully fledged virtuosos in thier feilds. That is why they were so explosive live.

Page took too much cocaine and started to believe his own hype, and started to get a bit ragged live near the end. But his studio work is totally ripping and on point, not to mention in many places rediculously innovative.

I love the Stones too, but again, different universes. Led Zep are the guitar band of all guitar bands, the are ROCK MUSIC, and always will tower over all who come after. There will never be anything like them ever again in the history of music.

[Qinella]

Yeah, Led Zeppelin rocks. Wow, what kind of question is that even...

I agree with Satori about John Paul Jones. He wasn't poppin off any Les Claypool, but can you even imagine how much that type of style would've ruined the music? In standard rock like that, it's really tough for a bassist to even have the opportunity to shine. With that in mind, Jones couldn't have done better. In rock like that, the bassist's job is to give that growl, that edge to the music. Make it thick, make your bones rattle. The point is not to get all technical and lame.

Now I will say that my only disappointment with Zeppelin was the drums. Let's face it -- there's always room for kickass drums, regardless of the music style. Something more along the lines of Carl Palmer from ELP.

Speaking of ELP.. damn they rocked hard. I enjoy them much more than Zeppelin. However, I think the two bands are too different to be compared, really.

Q.

[TheFonz]

[Demophobe]

Led Zep were great.

Shannon Hoon (Blind Melon), before his untimely death, had a very 'Plant-esque' style of singing. SOme people say Chris Cornell as well, but I think his style is much more powerful and overstated than Plant's was.

Phil Collins also had the big backbeat of Bonham.

JPJ...well....meh.

Page? He was obviously a talented guy, but I just found his playing a bit 'cold', if that makes sense. Compared to David Gilmour or Steve Rothery (Marillion), he just lacked that soulful feeling, IMHO.

[SPINOZA]

I wasn't comparing Floyd to LZ musically. Just said I prefer them as contemporaries. Floyd and Zepp often are mentioned together as the two most prominent BIG groups to dominate the 70s and come out of the 60s hippie era. Zepp were very bluesy. Floyd's most famous songs - Money and 'Shine on' - are very bluesy. There are some superficial relations. Zepp's "No Quarter" (their best song?) is a direct nod to Floyd. But yes, they are very different.

[Rteacher]

Nice rare video/audio clips on their official website
http://www.led-zeppelin.com/multimedia.html

(...My first Korean hagwon director - although an insane tyrant at times - was a big Zeppelin fan, and I used to download some of their stuff for him and even gave him a "How the West Was Won" DVD to keep on good terms before I left...)

To indicate their universal appeal,I think they rank #4 in total music sales -behind The Beatles, Elvis, and Abba (at least on one list I saw but can't find now...)

[Satori]

[Moldy Rutabaga]

I didn't realize that Kraftwerk considered Pink Floyd an influence-- they formed at about the same time.

To me, both Pink Floyd, Led Zep, Genesis, and the Police all had the same failing-- they were so far ahead of anything else being recorded at the time that they inspired few imitations. No one's ever tried something on the scale of the Wall album, and the virtuosity of Led Zep's later albums broke ground and musical barriers, and this is something that can only happen once. The Tea Party has a slightly Zep-sense in that they're good at combining eastern and western sounds and moving outside the verse-chorus-solo-chorus style of writing, but Zep already did it first. And Oasis doesn't belong in the same league at all.

A good bassist sometimes doesn't try to stand out. John Paul Jones has his moments, but if his playing became too complex it would overwhelm many Led Zep songs. Compare Entwhistle in the Who; in concert clips, he looks like he's half-asleep; but with everyone else flying around on stage, someone was needed to hold the structure of the song in place.

Bonzo was a good drummer; he has a good sense of timing and dynamic range and some of the songs are really made by his inventive rhythms. As well, he's not the best-- he's not Keith Moon, he's not Neal Peart-- but again, there's so much going on in a typical Led Zep song that shred-drumming would ruin the atmospherics. And on some minimalist songs like Fool in the Rain, the drumming has an inventive timing and fills out things well.

Ken:>

[SPINOZA]

[Rteacher]

Don't forget the innovative hard-rock/blues/jazz/classical supergroup that (along with Jimi Hendrix Experience) paved the way for groups like Led Zeppelin: Cream. I've heard rumblings of a possible reunion...

I think they match up very well in terms of virtuosity - Clapton to Page, Jack Bruce to Plant and Jones, Ginger Baker to Bonham (and successors...)

Of course, Led Zeppelin lasted much longer and were more commercially successful overall, but Cream made quite a splash and rose to the top (along with Hendrix, who arguably was the most electrifying and creative guitarist, backed well by Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell...)
Here's a link to a recent Forbes article about a possible Cream reunion:
http://www.forbes.com/travel/2004/12/03/cz_jc_1203feat.html

[Dev]

Led Zeppelin's success was due to their song composition more than anything else. Their stuff is timeless. To me it never sounds dated like a lot of other bands. Except for Stairway To Heaven, I never say to myself "Oh, that's so 70's!" On the other hand, maybe it is dated 'cause the current teen generation couldn't care less about it.

Sometimes they were ahead of their time like with the song "When The Levee Breaks" In the 90's that became a popular song to dance to in the Goth / Alternative bars.

The only problem for me is that I have to take months off of listeing to Zep because their song catalog is not that extensive. I'll get tired, but 3 months later want to crank it up again.