Either-Or: Black Sabbath or Led Zeppelin?
Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2006 12:13 pm
Obviously, both bands have their merits.
Ultimately though, Zeppelin seemed too self-indulgent more often than not, and they were still very much planted in the "traditional" sense of classic rock throughout their life span..
Sabbath, on the other hand, seemed to come out of nowhere. Their approach toward heaviness (in progressions and tone) is something that has been picked up and ran with by so many other bands I like (Black Flag, Motorhead, Slayer, Mudhoney, Kyuss, Melvins, etc ,etc) - which isn't to say Zep didn't have a massive influence on subsequent music, but sometimes that wasn't such a good thing.
Lyrically? Well, anyone who's going to take either band seriously in that department is going to have to take some beatings. Zep, as someone mentioned earlier, flirted with the sort of fairytale bullshit that sat them with the likes of Yes and Styx. Ick.
While Sabbath's lyrics aren't going to blow minds, they were a little more founded in reality instead of esoteric and/or misogynistic musings. Depending on who you are, I'd imagine that could either be good or bad. For me, that's more tolerable.
Zep was a virtuoso band, undoubtedly - putting Jimmy Page and Bonham in the same room was a stroke of genius.
But Iommi - how many riffs did that guy write that're just timeless? The rest of Sabbath might not have been up to par with the chops of their contemporaries in Zeppelin, but again I feel that often worked in the favor because the band seemed much more streamlined in their approach.
While I'd take either one of these bands over about 99% of the other rock acts out there, I'm still gonna say Sabbath by a mile.
Ultimately though, Zeppelin seemed too self-indulgent more often than not, and they were still very much planted in the "traditional" sense of classic rock throughout their life span..
Sabbath, on the other hand, seemed to come out of nowhere. Their approach toward heaviness (in progressions and tone) is something that has been picked up and ran with by so many other bands I like (Black Flag, Motorhead, Slayer, Mudhoney, Kyuss, Melvins, etc ,etc) - which isn't to say Zep didn't have a massive influence on subsequent music, but sometimes that wasn't such a good thing.
Lyrically? Well, anyone who's going to take either band seriously in that department is going to have to take some beatings. Zep, as someone mentioned earlier, flirted with the sort of fairytale bullshit that sat them with the likes of Yes and Styx. Ick.
While Sabbath's lyrics aren't going to blow minds, they were a little more founded in reality instead of esoteric and/or misogynistic musings. Depending on who you are, I'd imagine that could either be good or bad. For me, that's more tolerable.
Zep was a virtuoso band, undoubtedly - putting Jimmy Page and Bonham in the same room was a stroke of genius.
But Iommi - how many riffs did that guy write that're just timeless? The rest of Sabbath might not have been up to par with the chops of their contemporaries in Zeppelin, but again I feel that often worked in the favor because the band seemed much more streamlined in their approach.
While I'd take either one of these bands over about 99% of the other rock acts out there, I'm still gonna say Sabbath by a mile.