Pink Floyd v. Led Zeppelin.
 

Which band is the better band?

I have to disqualify myself due to the fact that I like them both and would like to remain neutral.

Floyd makes me instantly sleepy and begs for me to take a nap, and while I liked Led Zeppelin back in HS I grew out of it and change the station very quickly when they play it on the radio.

http://www.inweave.com/images/vinyl/UVI-HP9_small.jpg

http://www.whoknew.us/images/Floyd_barber.jpg

I guess that would be a neither then. Make that one neither, and one both.

Tough question-you are comparing very different bands.

Led Zep-is just in a class by themselves. PF-is a whole different genre al together.

I have seen Plant/Page and PF at Arrowhead-they both put on a great show.

I will still go with Zep. They started heavy metal.

I thought that Black Sabbath was considered to be the band that started Heavy Metal.

Have you heard Led Zep 1? That changed every thing. Before Zep-artist made shit on tours. They demanded 90% of the gate and history was made.

Yeah BS took the three chord thing to dark destinations, but Zep was first. Rush are huge Zep fans-they have met a few times-but never played together. Alex idolizes Jimmy Page. Alex, Jimi, Jimmy, Eddie, Stevie Ray, best ever!

Which might explain why I don't like Rush either.

Morphius
obviously has no taste, or doesn't smoke pot.

The bands are really too different to compare. I definitly prefer Floyd though I also enjoy Zep quite a bit.

...

You should compare Metamucil and Citrucel while you're at it.

That pretty much nails the commonly agreed upon "family tree" of heavy metal.

Led Zeppelin 1, the progenitor of heavy metal?

I think not.

Led Zeppelin 1 was mostly rip-offs of old delta blues songs the Zeppelin rearranged and gave the original artists no credit for.

Don't get me wrong, Zeppelin has a solid spot in the genre and are one of the most influential bands of all time. But there were bands experimenting with metal sounds before Zeppelin, including the Kinks and the Who. There were bands in 1966 and 1967 starting the change while Page was playing session with the Yardbirds and Plant was sitting at home. Zeppelin grew out of a small group of blues-rock musicians (the Yardbirds) that spawned all kinds of music from Cream to Hendrix to Mountain.

If you can credit Led Zeppelin for one thing, they paved the way for thousands of (not-so-talented) hair bands in the mid-to-late eighties to copy the formula incessantly.

And just an FYI, Led Zeppelin was formed in early 1968 and released their first album that year. Deep Purple, another candidate for "Fathers of Metal" was born that year as well.

So we at least agree that we can place the "blame" for heavy metal on the British. :)

ROFL

It's sad. Almost all of my favorite music comes from across the Pond...

I knew that the credit for metal was from England. This is what happens when you live around Empires, Monarchies, Socialists, and Fascists. Sometimes at the same time too. I lean towards Floyd. Led is very close though.

Based on Live shows. Pink Floyd.
Based on the music itself. Pink Floyd
Based on influence on the future of music. Tie.

Which era of Floyd? You'd have to agree that the Syd and Gilmour eras are vastly different. And even the post Waters era is different than the Gilmour/Waters era.

I'll take floyd over Zep though for Shine On You Crazy Diamond alone.

Blame? I sense negative undertones as relates to the metal genre...

I will kill you without hesitation.

As far as the thread, my vote goes to Floyd, as I simply prefer prog-rock.

The music of the bands are so different that I can't compare the 2. I do prefer Floyd over Zeppelin most of the time but IMO that's like saying I prefer the Lynerd Skynerd over The Who. It's like comparing Granny Smith to Fuji apples. Same fruit, way different flavors.

Yeah, but its obviously granny smith.

VERY good post, and one that I considered making myself.

I like the Barrett-led Floyd hands down. No contest.

i tend to fall somwhere in the middle w/ floyd....my favorites albums tend to be after syd and before roger waters' ego took over (the wall, final cut)...i loved animals, meddle, atom heart mother....

zeppelin is also a band w/ some very distinct sections...the first few albums, very heavy blues, but towards the end w/ presence, in through the out door, etc, you almost have a band leaning towards progressive rock....

i don't know though, floyd's astronomy domine is one of my all-time favorites..

bp

Bob Dole was kidding. Bob Dole used to enjoy metal, but pretty much lost interest when the speed metal craze took over. Bob Dole's taste these days can't really be nailed down to any specific genres, though. Bob Dole either likes something or he doesn't.

As far as Zep vs. PF...Bob Dole got tired of both quite awhile ago. (And that's not meant to discount their contribution to music or those that still listen to them.)

That's probably the best way to go about things, imo.

Variety is the way to go. It it is good then listen to it. If it is not good then do not listen.

What is your criteria for determining "better"?

What do you want to compare? "Achillies Last Stand" vs. "San Tropez"? Maybe "The Bridge" vs. "Echoes"?

Realistically, you could spend days comparing "Dazed and Confused" to "In the Evening" or "Astronomie Domine" to "Young Lust"....and still be no closer to an answer.

Apples 2 oranges. "Better"? :shrug:

Gimme the Pink...
 

Is it performed by Rockapella? Good stuff.

Zeppelin, hands down. I love Pink Floyd and would miss them if I never heard another song of theirs again. I would die if I never heard another LZ song again.

Blasphemy.


LZ1 is my all time favorite album.

I enjoy it too, but what you quoted is pretty much truth.

It's a good album, probably not my favorite Zeppelin album. And it was influential. It just gets way more credit than it deserves.

Sure, but the same could be said for the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. Or nearly any blues based rock band coming from the UK in the early to mid-60s. Most of them will readily admit to being influenced by blues artists. Robert Plant was singing in blues clubs from the time he was 16.

I agree with those who are saying comparing these bands is like comparing apples and oranges.

jspchief-
 

Absolutely you could say that about the Beatles and Stones. It's not about how they started, it's about when they broke out of their roots and started innovating. The Beatles, for instance, changed all of music when they did Sgt. Pepper. Yes, their roots were in copying American 50's rock-and-roll. Pepper was the pinnacle of the evolutionary process for the Beatles.

For Zeppelin, the pinnacle of that evolutionary process was likely Led Zeppelin 4, not Led Zeppelin 1. The clear beginnings of the process were first heard in Led Zeppelin 2 and really cemented in Led Zeppelin 3.

And that takes us back to the orginal argument - the progenesis of Heavy Metal music. By the time Led Zeppelin was recording genuinely "heavy" music, there were many, many other bands doing it.

i agree...but prefer the Who to both of them

Well, I tend to bristle at the notion that they are 'heavy metal' to begin with. They are NOT a heavy metal band. Neither is Pink Floyd for that matter. I tend to think of heavy metal bands as Judas Priest or Metallica.

Yeah, I don't really consider them metal either. I tend to bristle at the notion that MOTORHEAD is a metal band, so... :D

When I think of early metal I think of Sabbath and Deep Purple primarily.

When it comes to Zeppelin, I tend to blame the whole mid-to-late-80's "hair band" phenomenon on them. Whitesnake, Skid Row, etc. Blech.

On the bright side, the late-80's/early-90's Seattle scene was also heavily influenced by Zep according to Chris Cornell and Jerry Cantrell.

Led Zeppelin. since I like Blues based rock.

Pink Floyd is a not the same type of music.

Apples and oranges comparison.

"Dub Side Of The Moon"...

I was very pleasantly surprised. I've tested many PF 'tribute' albums in my time. Most are snorefests--the kind you listen to once and throw in the back of your collection to gather dust. But "Dub" is worthy of repeated listenings...

As for Pachelbel...have you had a chance to sample
this one?...

I think Zep is the best rock band in history.

I've always given the credit to some of the later-era Beatles material for actually starting heavy metal. Stuff like "Revolution," "Get Back," and so on. I think that distorted guitar and heavy riffing style that typifies heavy metal started there. I'm not sure what years those came out, though, so I don't know if Sabbath's heavy metal phase (they started as accoustic folk, didn't they?) or Zeppelin came first or not.

As to the original question, it's impossible to answer. First, it depends on what dimensions you consider when deciding what is "better" than another thing. There has to be a common dimension that can be more narrowly defined than simply that they're both "rock and roll" bands. As others have noted, they're both rock, but they are very dissimilar in the kind of rock they play. It would be equally hard to answer which was more influential. Influential on what subgenre? The only answer I can give is that both of them were great bands, both were very influential in their own ways, both were talented and innovative in their own ways, and if I had to choose one that I liked more than the other, I would probably have to lean slightly to Pink Floyd, probably for no better reason than that Zeppelin (as someone noted) is very blues-based, and I don't like blues all that much.