ok Let's Have this Out Led Zeppelin Vs The Who?

Question

In My Top 5 Bands question a few days ago I got a lot of responces suggesting that The Who were a better and more influential band than Led Zeppelin..
I say No Way Not Happening
I like respect and admire The Who but Led Zeppelin, like The Beatles are surely in a class by themselves
You want reasons?
1 Zep's members are better individual musicians
2 Zeppelin's music is much much more stylistically wide ranging, diverse and virtoisic that the Who's is
3 Led Zeppelin had many many more imitators and followers than The Who did
Zeppelin is, I believe, clearly superior any way you spin it.
But I do enjoy a good debate

The Floor is now all Yours

Darth should have made some things clear from the get go
1 I have never seen either band in concert
2 My judgement here is based pretty much solely on both Band's respective studio recordings

I am not saying EITHER Band is bigger than The beatles I just used them as a refrence point

I knew some one would bring that point up Bowzer, and on that one I Agree
So here is My take on the talent pool
Plant is better than Daltrey
Page smokes Tonwshend
Bonham is a hair better than Moon
Entwistle is yes, better than John Paul Jones

Steven25..Your Welcome

Answer 1

I love both bands, prefer Led Zeppelin, but the Who went through more styles and changes through their career, two obvious reasons being its longevity and personnel changes. I frankly don't see much point in comparing them... it's like comparing the Beatles vs. Rolling Stones.... it doesn't make much sense to me... but hey, whatever keeps your flag flappin'.

Answer 2

People are right that this is a very hotly debated topic, and one that I think will be argued about for a long time. However, I'mma toss in my two cents anyway.

When it comes to who I would rather listen to, The Who wins for me. They were the first rock band I ever listened to, so I hold special memories for that. But it goes much beyond that. Zeppelin may have been very good technical players, but The Who's music conveyed a lot more emotion and pure, unbridled energy to me. The whole band was just pounding away at their instruments.

Technical skill is also not really as much of an issue for me. While I agree that their are some differences in musical ability, that doesn't change it. Let's look at it member by member.

Roger Daltrey might not have that great of a vocal range, but that doesn't mean that he isn't a better singer. Contrary to Robert Plant, I can understand what he is saying half the time. And his voice is forceful and moving.

Pete Townshend is not as good a guitarist as people give him credit for. Sure, he might not be as good as say Hendrix, but not only was he barreling away at his guitar, but during a live show he was constantly in motion, and jumping around the stage like a lunatic. He can also write some very good songs, many of which captured the spirit of rebellion in the 60's.

For me, there is no comparison between John Entwistle and John Paul Jones. While JPJ is a good bass player, he doesn't often step up to the plate. John Entwistle is credited with redesigning the bass player in a rock band. After him, it was okay for bass players to step up and have a solo, play intricate parts, or even be the lead instrument in a song. He was also an incredibly gifted technical musician.

Keith Moon and John Bohnam is a real close call. They were both equally adept at bashing those skins, and both were real masters of the groove. I'm going to leave this one in a toss up, since it really depends on who you are more in the mood for.

There is also a key difference in true influence. Zeppelin was one of the founders of heavy metal. The over amplified the blues, made it all msytical, and created some of the heaviest riffs ever. The Who on the other hand, was responsible for almost every punk band ever. Many bands stole from their rebelliousness, energy, cocky attitude, and their titanic live shows. In the end, The Who wins it for me.

Answer 3

there's no longer even a query approximately it, pink Floyd has a greater suitable each and every thing in comparison to Zeppelin. don't get me incorrect, i admire Zeppelin too, yet with perhaps the exception of the final 2 Floyd albums, Zeppelin basically got here close two times, properties of the Holy and Led Zeppelin IV. music smart, i will take canine, wish You have been here, Fearless, Echoes, Pow R Toc H, and conveniently Numb over Stairway to Heaven, thank you, D'yer Maker, Over the Hills and lots away, Dazed and puzzled, and Black canine any day of the week. greater recognised, it has have been given to be Floyd. If for no different reason dark fringe of the Moon and The Wall are 2 of the right merchandising albums of all time. they are the two great of their own strategies, and for various reasons, yet pink Floyd takes the prize on a head to head opposition.

Answer 4

I totally agree with you that Led Zeppelin is a far superior band, and I personally love Zeppelin far more than The Who.
Your number 2 reason I completely agree with, but on number 1, Page was a far better player than Townsend, no question, but as far as Jones compared to Entwistle, and Bonham compared with Moon, those are tough calls. I would even venture to say Entwistle is a better bass player, even though Jones is incredible. Not taking anything away from him, but I think I would give that one to Entwistle. And on number 3, even though you and I both agree on Zeppelin being the better band by far, I would have to say the both had I big impact on music and bands that have come after have been influenced by both. Whether you like The Who's music personally, you can't deny the influence they have had on popular music, especially with the young angry punks of the late '70's. Even if you don't like the music that was influenced by them, never the less, they were influential.

Answer 5

I'm totally with you on this one Darth, and this is coming from someone who kind of prefers the Who by a very slim margin for my personal tastes. Led Zeppelin was so innovative (not to say that the Who aren't), and so incredibly influential and just so expansive in their sound. I completely agree that you start with the Beatles and Led Zeppelin and then you argue about who comes after them when you're talking about the sort of pantheon of rock.

Answer 6

All valid points you make but essentially are we not talking about two different sub-types of rock and roll? And before I get started let me just make it clear that I am a big fan of both The Who and Led Zeppelin...

Zeppelin are in a sense the predecessors to hard rock as we know it today and have had a huge influence on many bands, alot of those being hard rock or even metal.

The Who are sort of the Godfathers of Punk Rock, always a bit brash, songs about rebellion and Townsend always tearing sh*t up. The Who have influenced a larger number of alternative and punk bands.

Zeppelin obviously focused more on song composition where The Who just kind of went for the loud as hell "three chords and the truth" model, until some of their later recordings in which the albums had a theme or concept associated with them (e.g Tommy, Who's Next, Quadrophenia).

Both bands were way ahead of their time and are major influences on many bands we know today, but I don't see their styles as the same so cannot say that one is "better" than the other. Even though they came from the same country in the same era, they are not musically the same. It is almost like trying to compare Black Sabbath and Donovan - same era, but totally different sounds.

That is just my take on it!

Answer 7

I can dig on The Who, but is this really a question? Album for album, song for song, musician for musician, Led Zeppelin hands down.

Look at the song writing duties. I'm not well versed in this, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Townsend was basically the only song writer in The Who whereas Page was the main song writing engine of Zep yet Plant, Jones, and Bonham contributed far more musically than Daultry, Entwhistle and Moon. I love Daultry's voice, but could he do anything besides sing?

Answer 8

The Who set standards...I guess I never enjoyed Zeppelin because of Plant's voice that for my ears is like chalk on a board....
Music is such a subjective matter, so it is a personal choice. Intellectually reasoning i think The Who were more influential and groundbreaking and their live shows were spectacular but Zeppelin has the kind of songs that are classic and popular.

Answer 9

I'm a fan of both.

Keith Moon vs. John Bonham is impossible to judge. They were both equally great and few can play how they did. Bonzo was hard and fast. Moon was Bruce Lee fast.

Page is a better guitarist than Townshend but Entwhistle was far above Jonesy on bass.

Plant vs Daltrey... This was a debate in the 70s and continues.

Townshend was a superior lyricist and came up with most of the music himself. Plant wrote lyrics around the melody most of the time, which both Page and Jones get equal credit for.

Bonham was actually the backup vocalist in Led Zep and could sing falsetto. It's often overlooked, but on the live tracks, it's him not Jones or Page singing backup.

Stylistically...The Who had their share of Eastern influence.

The Who didn't steal blatantly the way Led Zep did, but they did need Page for guitarwork on "I Can't Explain", their first hit. So you could say Led Zep was responsibe for a Who hit.

The Who were way more influential as a band in having other bands pick up an instrument, and Page's time in the Yardbirds is more important than his time with Led Zep. The Monterey and Woodstock footage prove this as fact.

Pink Floyd had said that Cream were THE band. And out of the Yardbirds, it's Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, then Jimmy Page in order of musicianship.

Led Zep were "the people's choice" as far as bands go and were a great live act.

The Who laid down the blueprints for other bands to follow way more than Led Zep. They were a huge influence for punk too. The Who captured teen angst like no band before. "Quadrophenia" vs "Physical Graffiti"... The line from Who to the Ramones to Nirvana is pretty straightforward.

Answer 10

Both bands are legendary. It's really difficult to pick one over the other. Jimmy Page was probably recognized as the greatest living rock guitarist after Hendrix left this life. But wow, Tommy, Who's Next?, QUADROPHENIA!!! Oh, wait, Houses of the Holy, Physical Graffiti, damn.

Both bands have great vocalists although of very different styles. Both were great to see and hear live.

I guess for me it comes down to:

KEITH MOON! Who added more life and spirit to a band ever? Freakin' incredible! And I'm not even a drummer!

Answer 11

Musically Zeppelin might be a little better but vocally Daltrey is a little better. Also if I had a choice to see a Zeppelin or Who concert in their prime I would pick The Who because showmanshipwise (is that a real word) they were a much more energetic and entertaining band to watch then Zeppelin.