Led Zeppelin

[SpaceCommandSam]

Led Zeppelin
The Greatest Or The Gayest?

I recently had the pleasure of defending my all-time favorite band Led Zeppelin in a heated debate about music. Several important points were made, which I am now going to elucidate for the reader.

Led Zeppelin has been under attack for over thirty years because a bunch of uninformed individuals proclaim they're nothing but plagiarists. It seems like such a disparaging claim would be backed by endlessly convincing proof, but alas, there is no proof at all.

There are only strained lyrical comparisons to old blues songs that weren't even making money anymore at the time that Led Zeppelin produced their albums. All of the musical aspects of Led Zeppelin are completely, and unquestionably original compositions by the band members. The song lyrics are the only area that has ever come under scrutiny, and there was one law suit filed against them due to one of these alleged lyrical plagiarisms, but the case was settled out of court.

The most popularly cited plagiarism is the partial cover of Willie Dixon's Bring it on Home, at the beginning of Led Zeppelin's Bring it on Home. However, credit was given to Willie Dixon for the 4-5 lines they borrowed. It was done as a tribute to him. And this was why Arc Music (Willie Dixon's record label) sued Led Zeppelin for royalties. The case, as I already stated, was settled out of court. Willie Dixon himself didn't initiate the law suit, but he later had to sue his own record company to recover these royalties, because the greedy bastards tried to keep it all to themselves!

The only other definitive proof that Led Zeppelin were indeed plagiarists is in the song Whole Lotta Love. The first 4-5 lines were once again borrowed from Willie Dixon, and once again, credit was given where credit was due. Willie Dixon demanded royalties for his writing, and Led Zeppelin obliged.

There was never a case brought to court against Led Zeppelin, because they never intentionally stole anything. Song lyrics are so widely similar and shared that you could literally call any band a plagiarist. There are only so many words in the English language that rhyme and feel good together. I challenge anyone to find definitive proof that Led Zeppelin were plagiarists. If you can't, than you have no right to accuse them.

Another major argument against Led Zeppelin is that they just plain suck. Well, let's educate ourselves, shall we? How many bands in the history of music have had the impact that Led Zeppelin did? How many bands are still musically relevant nearly 40 years after their formation? The answer, quite simply, is very few. Led Zeppelin created one of the most influential sounds of the past 100 years. They have been plagiarized countless times, by countless bands, because they created such a powerfully moving sound. But no one points that out when they make their snide accusatorial remarks on Led Zeppelin's originality.

In fact The Beatles is the only other band I can think of that have been more influential than Led Zeppelin, but The Beatles weren't half the musicians that Led Zeppelin were.

If you really and truly think Led Zeppelin sucks, and you're a musician, then I challenge you to go pick up your guitar and learn even one Led Zeppelin song all the way through. Prove to me that it's "simplistic hippy bullshit." You will immediately realize that their songs are ten times more complex than any rock music on the radio today. Yet they're also every bit as catchy, and every song is driven by pure unadulterated musical feel. They really knew what they were doing.

Their rhythms and their time signatures were always exquisitely intricate. Any good drummer will tell you John Bonham helped to revolutionize drumming. He was one of the greatest drummers of his time. And to this day his influence is still recognized, and held in high regard. Jimmy Page was a pioneer like no other on the guitar. He was the first to popularize the use of a violin bow for playing electric guitar solos. He also popularized open tunings, writing several beautifully crafted acoustic guitar compositions in them. His solos and his riffs were incomparable for their time. No one could do the things he did forty years ago, and very few people can do it to this day. Have you heard any male vocalist the past forty years who even came close to Robert Plant's vocal range? The man was a vocal odyssey and he still has the goods. He still composes albums even in his old age. He was also an amazing poet, who wrote dozens of hit songs.

Led Zeppelin were the most diverse band of their time. Almost half of their songs were written with the acoustic guitar. The other half were written with the electric guitar. They bridged the gap between Blues, Rock, Country, Classical, and Jazz. There are even some songs with Eastern influence. They have instrumental compositions, the greatest blues, and rock compositions of their time. They've got a little bit of everything and something for everyone to like.

I've repeatedly mentioned Led Zeppelin's massive influence and impact on modern rock. You're probably wondering by now, "Influence on whom? Which bands?" Well… Have you ever listened to Blind Melon? Wolfmother? Richie Kotzen? Porcupine Tree? Dave Matthews Band? Tool? The Mars Volta? The Verve? Deftones? Coldplay? Elliot Smith? Pearl Jam? Soundgarden? Bush? U2? Radiohead? I guarantee you that every one of these bands will openly admit Led Zeppelin as one of their main influences, if they were questioned about it. This doesn't even include the countless bands of the past forty years that have taken influence from them. The fact is, almost every major rock band of the past forty years has been directly or indirectly influenced by Led Zeppelin to some degree. The only way to ignore this fact would be to rip off your ears, or to simply never listen to Led Zeppelin, and realize where it all began.

Personally, I will always embrace Led Zeppelin, and I'm proud that they're my main influence as a musician. No other band has ever come close to achieving what they did, in my listening experience, and I've heard hundreds of thousands of songs in my twenty-two years on this planet.

The only other argument I've ever heard against Led Zeppelin is that they're "pop music." You should seriously consider that statement, if that's how you feel. Music becomes popular for two reasons: either because it's good, or because it follows the trend of its time. Led Zeppelin defined the trend of their time. They never followed in anyone's footsteps. They were the original pioneers of their sound. They declined to release their popular songs as singles, because they preferred to develop the concept of album-oriented rock.

Yes, they were popular, but not because they were trendy. Led Zeppelin have sold more than 300 million albums worldwide, including 111 million sales in the United States and they have had all of their original studio albums reach the U.S. Billboard Top 10, with six reaching the number one spot.

How many bands in the history of music have achieved those milestones by composing brilliant music as Led Zeppelin did? How many more sold themselves out to the latest trend? How many really did suck, but got popular anyway?

If you really wanna hear pop music than go type "Linkin Park" or "Britney Spears" into Youtube search. You will get an earful, I promise. And the audio-garbage those mindless tools propagated with their life's careers is a hundred times more popular than Led Zeppelin will ever be. So get your facts straight, everyone.

You can say whatever you want about Led Zeppelin, make all the foolishly ignorant comments you please, but it will never change the facts. The song remains the same!

[Garala]

Even though it took me a while to read it, it was a nice read, excellent article Sam!

Thank you!

[trackstoni]

Hey Sam , don't get furious , you don't need any proff to tell us that Led Zeppelin are famous , your article means nothing to me , if Wholla Lotta Love was originally made by Willie Dixon , and i'm sure it is ( i have it ) , means bullshit to me . i simply grow up with there unique style , and love it since 1969 . Led Zeppelin , Black Sabbath , Deep Purple ,
Aerosmith , Budgie , Uriah Heep , Rainbow ...... these bands are & still the pioneers of Hard Rock as we know , in Addition to Santana & Clapton , blues was easily accepted worldwide . i've heard many versions of < Baby i'm gonna leave you > specially by Great White , in add to many live performances from LED Zep , but no one was able even to be close to the original version , also the same with Kashmir . So , don't defend them , they are simply the magical Hard - blues / rock of all times /////

[SpaceCommandSam]

I wrote this article out of my love for Led Zeppelin.

[Aziz]

he's aiight