Who Will Be The Millinium's equivalent to Led Zeppelin?

[Audio Girl]

I remember the exact place that I was standing when I heard this band. It was at a totally for crap sound system dance hall -- in a former church, believe it or not -- (better than my little all-one-box system), I was only 11 and had snuck out with my 16+ year old cousins.

This band made an impact on my musical life and to this minute I remember all the emotions it sprung, (FYI: I wasn't supposed to like them because they were considered on the dark side of music & almost a cult influence....not appropriate for my religious background).

The Prior Band: Led Zeppelin

Their Current Equivalent: White Stripes

Your Thoughts on similar/equivalent feelings?

[3-LockBox]

although I do like their last two releases. Its hard for me to put them in the group category; they're more of a duo to me. But its a hard call otherwise, considering most bands/artists don't make it past three releases. Had Curt Cobain not killed himself, Nirvana certainly would be 'that' band. If Porcupine Tree ever makes it 'big', they'd be in that stratosphere. But if White Stripes put out another good album, they would be a dynasty compared to anyone else. But for now, Led Zepplin still gets enough airplay to remain in the public psychi for some years to come.

[mad rhetorik]

Led Zeppelin was truly an example of how the right pieces came together (at least for a while) in a way that just can't be duplicated. You had Jimmy Page: innovative guitarist, strong songwriter, studio wizard. Robert Plant: charismatic frontman, possessed a great set of pipes, and also a good songwriter. John Paul Jones: an extremely talented multiinstrumentalist (bass, piano, keyboards, and who knows what else) and later producer. And last and certainly not least, John Bonham, who along with Keith Moon defined an entire generation of drummers. At their peak, Zeppelin was well nigh invincible, and their first six albums are proof of that. They also were the most universally popular hard rock band in the world (and certainly among the most imitated bands ever).

Tell me of one band these days who can match or top <b>any</b> of those feats. I'll give you a hint: It sure as hell ain't The White Stripes. I like Jack and Meg, sure, but on the level of Zeppelin? No frickin' way.

[MindGoneHaywire]

Hopefully nobody. For all of Zeppelin's strengths, what comes to mind for me most these days when I hear their name is not their music, but how I've seen them fawned over for the past 30 years. Some will differ with me on this, but I almost never think such hero worship is warranted, and definitely not in their case. Which is not to say that I consider them overrated, just that they helped to usher in a period where the exploits & lifestyle of the rock star became nearly as important as the music. More than that, though, they inspired quite a few bands I like & quite a few hundred I don't. There probably is no comparable contemporary in terms of popularity, except for perhaps U2. With relatively few exceptions, most acts where material is generated by virtue of collaboration between at least two individuals seem to do their best work early on, when they're (usually) hungry & motivated. I still listen to Led Zep, but I loathe their cult & what people seemed to think a rock band should be like after viewing the Song Remains The Same movie. Given the choice between a world of Led Zeps & one-hit wonders, give me the one-hitters any day.

[Dusty Chalk]

Different times. I just don't think today's audience has the attention span to appreciate someone as ground-breaking as Led Zeppelin was during their heyday. As an analogy -- I'm sure everyone has heard the trivia that DSOTM is in the Guiness book of records for being the single longest selling album in history, and from the looks of things, no-one else is going to even come close.

I think the same thing is going to happen to Led Zeppelin. No-one is going to be liked, from one album to the next, the same way they are.

[Swish]

go along with him for the most part, although he likes Led Zep a lot more than I do. In fact, I care care less is if I ever heard them again. Crazy you say? Yes, I am crazy, but while I admit they had a number of solid rock tunes, they just never got to me like a lot of the kids I know who used to worship at their feet. I guess I heard "Stairway to freakin' Heaven" about 5000 too many times, and it was never voluntary. I really lost interest in them after albums I and II, and you can't convince me otherwise, so I don't want to think about another band being a modern day Led Zep.

Regards,
Swish

[mad rhetorik]

I guess I heard "Stairway to freakin' Heaven" about 5000 too many times, and it was never voluntary.


I totally agree with this point. "Stairway To Heaven" is a Classic Rawk Cliche. I'm so sick of hearing it that I barely play <b>IV</b> anymore, despite the fact that it also carries a seriously underrated fave of mine titled "Four Sticks."

My favorite Zep stuff, though, is the volume of material that doesn't get played on the radio much--the acoustic side of <b>III</b>, Sides 3 and 4 of <b>Physical Graffitti</b>, a lot of <b>I</b> and <b>Houses Of The Holy</b>. Occasionally I'll even get a craving for some of their late-period material from <b>Prescence</b> or even <b>In Through The Out Door</b>. Some neat stuff, like the way-out-there "Carouselambra," that somehow appeals to me. "Achilles' Last Stand" kicks massive quantities of arse as well. I guess my point is that Zeppelin were capable of consistently putting out B-sides that were just as good, if not better than, the radio hits, and that to me is one measure of a killer band.

[Rikki]

I love Led Zep. Ever notice how poor the recordings LZ II, LZ III and Physical Graffitti are. I mean the songs and performances are great, but the actual recording quality is poor. On LZ III in front of Friends it sounds like Jimmy is tuning his guitar, and I think I even hear someone say the f word in frustration. Physical Graffitti just sounds like like "um oh yea we should be recording this, someone turn on a tape recoder". Classic stuff though.

The White Stripes are cool like that too. They like a nice raw sound that doesn't sound, as Jack puts it "too good". Their Elephant cd only cost $10K to make and sold over a million copies.