Great Debate: Led Zeppelin Vs. The Who

Since Led Zeppelin stole most of their music from other artists and songs, The Who is the clear winner here.

Robert Plant bears an uncanny resemblance to Sarah Jessica Parker! Roger Daltrey is the snuggliest, most stunningly beautiful, most angelic creature on God\'s green earth!

So Zeppelin loses because you'd rather jump on Daltrey?

Ah, the true spirit of rock 'n' roll is present.

The point is.....TOWNSHEND is an amazing storyteller to this day. I love Zep don't get ,e wrong......but QUADROPHENIA will get anyone thru high school....alive. It did that for me in the late 70's and early 80's

The Who wins, hands down.
Members of The Who invented the name LED ZEPPELIN, so there you have it!

I love the Who and Zeppelin equally as they are both monumental bands. I think the Zeppelin - Who comparison is a bit stilted however, as there is not much to compare the two on except for their sonic force and the fact that they are Blues-Rockin’ Birts. I think a more appropriate comparison would be between the Who and Pink Floyd. The Who clearly influenced Zeppelin, as Timothy mentioned about the Who inventing the name Led Zeppelin. Led Zeppelin perfected the legacy of Blues Rock which the Who seriously defined throughout their career, especially the early part. Plant sings it perfectly, \"metal is a man who knows what he\'s been missing.\" What is that other than the perfect melding of Blues and Rock which Zeppelin is responsible for and characterizes? Zeppelin later went on to make rock as heavy and metal as possible, although I still don’t believe Rock really gets any heavier after The Beatles Helter Skelter. The Who went off and worked on other things; this is where Pink Floyd comes in. First off, I strongly recommend anyone interested read Pete Townshend’s blog about the first and only Who concert he ever missed, which was because he went to see Syd Barrett and the Pink Floyd while on Acid at the infamous UFO Club. Townshend talks about the influence Syd had on him, which was profound apparently…so much so that he returned to see them play again the following night, only that time, Syd was on too much acid rather than Pete. Read it here: http://petetownshendwhohe.blogspot.com/2007/07/acidic-cusp-of-66-and-67-and-not-step.html
Both Pink Floyd and the Who took hints of Jazz and ran with the idea of the concept Album. When listening to Tommy and The Wall, one can notice the thematic similarities. Both are about father’s taken by WWII and the effect that has on the respective album’s main characters. Both are about main characters that shut down because of the pressures of the world. Both are about rock stars. Both have strong maternal characters. Both albums take you through the whole lives of their characters. The list goes on, and perhaps this is because of the similarities between the actual musicians. Most of these musicians lost fathers to the war and credit their upbringings to strong mothers. As for the bands themselves, Townshend and Gilmour are somewhat similar in style: Both have Jesuit educations, as does Plant and many other rockers, (Jagger, Bowie). Both have mastered their own individual rock anthemic sound, while Page is a master of his own thing. I think Page and Hendrix are more appropriate to compare than Page and Pete. Both Floyd and The Who are not afraid to drift from their genres. As stated, both bands have spent much of their careers understanding and forming the perfect Concept Album and both use different sounds and world music to achieve this. Both bands deal with themes concerning madness, aging, money, and the history of the world rather than just songs about emotions. I think that early Zeppelin and the Who are good comparisons, but as far as complete careers go, The Who and the Floyd are a bit easier to nitpick the small stuff over, and in this case, that is more fun. Zeppelin grew into it’s own thing, a Blues Rock Monster, while Floyd and the Who formed their own thing, while pursuing similar tracks: how can we get to the next stage of Rock Performance?

As for the recent Howard Stern-driven hysteria about the Zep being a "cover band", I say bollocks. Tell me where Kashmir, The Song Remains the Same, Heartbreaker, Achilles Last Stand, Going to California, and countless others came from. And even the songs that did "borrow" only cribbed some lyrics, which is a longstanding blues tradition. I defy anyone to tell me that "Whole Lotta Love" sounds anything like "You Need Love" musically. It doesn't.

I love the Who but Zep wins hands down. And by the way, Jimmy Page was summoned to play with the Who on "Can't Explain" when he was just a studio pup. Zep never needed help from anyone in the Who, unless you count Moon and Entwistle coming up with the band's name!

Jimmy Page was brought in for "I Can't Explain" by Shel Talmy, who produced the Who's first album, My Generation, and was also known for producing the Kinks. And he didn't play on "I Can't Explain," he played on the B-side of the single, "Bald Headed Woman" because Jimmy wouldn't play nice and lend Pete his Roger Mayer-patented fuzzbox.

(referencing Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere by Andy Neill and Matt Kent. This is the story according to John Entwistle, who rocks John Paul Jones' socks. :) Listen to the bass on "Won't Get Fooled Again" or "The Real Me" and see if I'm wrong. See also Live at Leeds.)

The musicians are outstanding, the songwriting is terrific, the mayhem is legendary! It's got to be the Who.

Jimmy was asked to play on.."I can't Explain" But yet never did. Page is an awesome player no doubt but Zep does not come close to Pete's songwriting. The 60's alone he wrote songs about topics that others would only skim the top of.... Read, don't listen, read "I can't Explain, Substitute, My Generation, Pictures of Lily, I'm a Boy... Stories of youth...... Not I love her boy we are happy lyrics....but goddamn what the hell is going on in my life lyrics...

The Who

Simple; not even a debate.

The Who. By far.

Jimmy Page is a fantastic guitarist, but Robert Plant... oh, god. I seriously can't understand how anyone can stand to listen to him sing for extended periods of time. (Don't get my wrong, I grew up with the Zep, but I can only take so much at one time.)

The Who had the (acknowledged) best bass player in the history of Rock, the most original drummer, a fantastic singer, and Pete bloody Townshend. Not even a fair poll.

Not even close....no comparison......guitarists--Jimmy Page is a qualified guitarist but Mr Townsend is....a legend, a genius, a visionary, A MONSTER.
Then there are the vocals. While Daltrey is no vocal virtuoso, he does know the basics of quality vocal technique. Robert Plant however is simply a vocal freak of nature.
As for the drum department.....Bonham apparently took some lessons and obtained a nice kit but never ever took it to the level that Keith Moon did.
As for bass.....PLEASE!!!!!!

Led Zeppelin, all the way. Ten reasons why.

1. They defined an entire age in rock music. The Who never did.

2. They were the biggest and most important band in the world. The Who never were.

3. They still are, along with the Beatles, the most revered and influential band of all time. The Who aren't.

4. Their back catalogue still sells by the truckload. The Who's doesn't.

5. They came up with many TRUE classic songs that will forever be remembered. The Who only came up with one. But really? My Generation vs Stairway To Heaven? No contest.

6. Robert Plant (particularly from '68 through '72) was the greatest frontman in the world. Daltrey sounds like a pub singer in comparison. The Golden God vs a nan's haired midget?

7. Jimmy Page is THE guitar god. After Hendrix, Page is the most idolised and revered guitar hero ever....and boy did he also know how to produce records as well.

8. John Bonham. Nobody, repeat NOBODY made drums sound like he did. John Bonham is the most sampled drummer in the history of music. That's a fact. Why? Because his sound was the meatiest, fattest and most powerful there has ever been and it was the same whether in the studio or on stage. Bohman made Moon sound like he was playing with egg whiskers.

9. John Paul Jones....jack of all trades but master on bass. Jones could (and did) play everything...bass, piano, organ, mellotron, mandolin etc etc...hell, anytime Zep needed some new weird instrument in one of their songs then Jonesy would play it. John Paul Jones was the most musically gifted 'quiet background' musician of any major rock band in history. He was even musical arranger pre Zep for the likes of Dusty Springfield. The man was a genius.

10. Peter Grant. Nuff said. Nobody even remembers the Who's manager. Grant changed the rock scene forever and made sure artists got their just rewards.

Zeppelin all the way baby. They were Gods. The Who were mere mortals.

Please allow me to write a rebuff to all of your ten points, mr. Cornell, just to even things out:

1. 'Led Zeppelin defined an entire age of rock music.'

That's rather vague. You mean, like sell out stadiums in the UK and US gathering rave reviews and claims of 'fans levitating' in the 1970s? Both bands did that.

2. 'They were the biggest and most important band in the world.'

Again, rather vague. However, I know back in '79 fans and critics were so happy the band did return despite Keith Moon's death that the band got a thunderous reception everywhere they went. It was calculated that the Who could sell out Madison Square Garden every night for a few years if they wanted to. That's why they started making films (Tommy, Quadrophenia, The Kids Are Alright). A simple question of supply and demand.

3. 'Revered and influential along with the Beatles.'

The Beatles set the template of the rock/pop group and the rest just ran with that, taking that in all kinds of directions. Led Zeppelin and The Who both chose their path, but could never equal the influence of the Beatles. They were simply too late and dependent on the ground broken before them.

4. 'Back catalogue sells by the truckload.'

Both our bands are easily and continuously out-sold by every subsequent one day fly today's music industry creates. Makes you question the validity of using record sales a yardstick nowadays.

5. 'My Generation is the only classic Who song, and can't hold a candle to Stairway to Heaven'.

Nice trick, comparing the Who's third single to the popular pinnacle of Led Zeppelin's prime. Ever heard of Won't Get Fooled Again? Put any of the Who's epic evergreens (or a 70s live version of My Generation) next to Stairway and it all becomes a matter of taste. And we all know, that\'s one thing you can't account for.

6. 'Daltrey sounds like a pub singer compared to Plant, who also looks better.'

Well that depends on whether you compare the shrieky freak of nature that is Plant to 'pub-singer' Daltrey. Another question of taste. And Daltrey a hairy midget? Look at the Woodstock movie. If that isn't a giant dominating the stage I'll eat my sweaty Converse.

7. Okay, I have to concede that Plant is technically a better guitarist than Townshend. But live, Townshend compensates with a visual act that has no peer and to this day a great hunger for soloing and making things up on the spot. Plus he was the genius behind the Who's greatest songs and produced or co-produced most of the band's best records (Quadrophenia, Who's Next, My Generation).

8. 'Bohman made Moon sound like he was playing with egg whiskers.'

So Bonham is better tham Moon because his drums sound fatter? Interesting point, but it doesn't hold ground very long when you realise that Moon\'s drums sounded quite rickety on the Who's early records in '65, '66 and '67. Led Zep didn't exist yet you say? You're right my scholarly gentlemen... For a fat Moon drum sound I refer to Live At Leeds, Who's Next and Quadrophenia.

9. 'Next to a great bassist John Paul Jones is a multi-instrumentalist, plus he arranged for Dusty Springfield which equals genius.'

I'm not even going to say anything on the Springfield comment. Let me just say that John Entwistle was voted 'bass player of the millennium', invented the Marshall amplifier stack and the typrewriter technique on bass (just search for 'Entwistle bass solo' on YouTube) and was an expert on brass instruments, playing, arranging and producing the brass section on the Quadrophenia album.

10. 'Nobody even remembers the Who's manager.'

I must admit as a classic rock fan I never heard of Peter Grant like I heard about Brian Epstein and Andrew Loog Oldham (weren't they earlier anyway? I thought Epstein did a reasonable job securing the cash?). Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp were, however, very important in rock history. Being film-makers they both saw the importance of a rock band as a visual act as well as musical. Lambert stimulated Townshend to write narrative songs or series of songs (Led Zep aren't strangers to that, are they?), changing the status and possibilities of rock music in the process.


I thank you for your attention and consideration.

The Who. Moon was larger than life in a way Bonham could never hope to emulate. Entwistle had a better sense of humor than Jones. Daltrey sounded better live than Plant. Page was a more technically proficient guitarist than Townshend, but I\'ll take the crunching power chords and the windmills over the nimble fingers and violin bows any day. Songwriting? Quadrophenia trumps just about everything. And Tommy and Who's Next mop up the rest.

Led Zeppelin by far
but they are both good
led zeppelin is just better

Come on people, they were both great but Zeppelin wins easily.

Page, Plant and Bonham are legends / Gods of rock. Jones was probably the most talented of all but kept a low profile while holding everything together with Bonham, to allow Page and Plant to strutt their stuff.

As for the Bonzo v Moon debate, there is no contest, Moon was perhaps the most outrageous drummer of the two and used a bigger kit, and then blew them up lol, but his beats and fills were sloppy to say the least, while Bonzo\'s incredible feel, sound, power and accuracy was legendary and is still the benchmark for any drummer to strive for.
As for Moon\'s \"solos\" search for that pathetic attempt at a drum solo (the one with goldfish in his floor toms!) on Youtube. He sounded a bit like a 10 year old kid flailing around wildly on his first drum kit!
Then seach for Bonham\'s Moby Dick and learn why he was the greatest Rock drummer to ever live!

Zep is a terrific, even a great band. And if they never happened the history of rock is unaffected.

Without the Who there is a void in the comsos of rock music like the astroid belt that leaves astronomers in agreement - 'Something belongs here and it is missing.'

Jimmy Page is a terrific guitar player. Robert Plant is an OK androgynous front man - but surely several rungs below Jagger . . . and not on the same planet as Daltrey.

Take a look at Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey and John Entwhistle as they heal a city and a nation with their performance at the post 9/11 'Concert for NY'.

WHO else has the brilliance (and the song in their catalog) that takes a wounded city and a grieving country and has the balls to ask 'Who the f*ck are you?'. And who else but Pete and Roger would have know that the firemen and the police and the rescue workers would have responded to that question by getting back up on their feet and joining in the existential fury.

Zeppelin was a good band and rehashing basic blues progressions. The Who was a tsunami that washed over everything in it's path.

Zeppelin is lucky to be even debated in this context.
They have their place. T
hey can enjoy it.
The WHO look down on them from Rock's Olympus.

No question, The Who! Zepplin was intended as a direct imitation of the Who. The Who did it first and did it louder. I love Zep but straight up the Who wins. Why? Moon beats Bonzo. Rog over Plant. I mean cmon Rog is still out there doin it and so is Pete! Where is Page and Plant!? Retired..........And Entwistle is still the best Bass man to ever live...

This must be a joke. Led Zeppelin was crafted from some studio guys after Entwhistle & Moon refused Page\'s solicitation of their services in his new group. Zepp was a British version of Toto (except Page isn\'t 1/2 the guitarist Steve Lukather is and Zepps drummer, who even knows the guys name, was not in the same league as the jazz influenced Porcaro).

Moon did offer a suggestion for the name. That is that bands greatest legacy - the guy that didn\'t want to be in that band threw them a bone for a name.

Page was an extremely talented guy and he got good talent to join him eventually. And they did prove themselves extremely commercial - as were the Teletubbies, the Spice Girls and Milli Vinilli (in other words, if commerciality is your best argument on Zepp\'s behalf - you\'ve lost already).

The main difference between the bands, aside from the fact that Entwhistle & Moon are voted continuously not just the best of their generation but the best of all time - was the limited scope of the compositions LZ was able to come up with - and the limited perspective within the limited range they tackled.

The range of Townshends topics, his understanding of composition and his use of music as a weapon of assault against the forces of culture and death (I know what you\'re thinking, Page\'s blues scales are looking weaker by the moment) place him with the Brechts, Camus, Chagall\'s and Dylan\'s of the world.

Not to mention, if they were ever to appear on the same bill the fans would be using Zepps set to get their beer and visit the loo as they got ready for the main event to walk on stage, take a look around at the audience and each other, wait for Townshends nod . . . and set the whole place on fire.

I don\'t know how many times I have thought I was listening to Howlin Wolf, John Lee Hooker or even the fabricated legend of Robert Johnson, when someone would tell me that I was actually listening to Led Zeppelin. It is so confusing, but I guess it is true, Zeppelin stole all their material from Southern Blues. Anyone ever notice how Achilles Last Stand sounds exactly like a Led Belly recording?

It is funny to me how so many people make the argument that \"Page/Plant\" lifted their music off of existing American R & B artists while never ever mentioning American folk and country music in relation to the Who and the Rolling Stones.

Did these other performers invent folk and country or did they also use these influences in their music? I guess Townsend invented the Banjo, never heard Johny B. Good and wouldn\'t know Eddy Cochran if he bit him in the arse?

Zeppelins recordings got better with time. Their later work is of equal quality with the early, you can\'t say that about the Who. Moon or Bohnam: the Who could carry on, record and tour without Moon.

For those that simply do not like Led Zeppelin that is fine, but stop making-up these silly arguments about how they were somehow frauds. I do know that Zeppelin songs make good luxury car commercials whereas the Who was better at drama show jingles.

\"Long Live Rock\", boy how much more of an original Rock n Roll recording could someone make? Although the recording sounds remarkably like a Chuck Berry recording, it is actually another example of Townsend never building off existing music.

THE WHO!

I love Led Zeppelin but they didn't really write songs, they wrote riffs and jammed on them for hours. Pete Townshend was a genius songwriter who wrote very varied stuff even though most people don't know it. Listen to "Sunrise" "Blue Red And Grey" "Time Is Passing" etc... Pete broke ground with the rock opera, mini opera etc... And wrote the flawless double album Quadrophenia. The masterpiece Led Zeppelin 4 has about 9 tracks some of which aren't that great.

Zep had 2 styles - Blues Rock and folk. That was it. The songs were filled with lyrics that were ripped off from blues songs, Lord Of The Rings, Norse legends or were simply weird shit that had been made up. If Jimmy Page wasn't a FANTASTIC guitarist there would be no point in listening to them. But you can strum Pete's songs on acoustic guitar and they are still great. Live Pete can play some good lead too.

Plant annoys the hell out of me with his voice, but the 3 musicians from each band were incredible. So I think the important factor is the songs. And Pete is a better writer than Plant/Page.

So the category is now who was a better song writer between Page and Townsend? I was thinking of bands, but your telling me that you sit down and listen to all the tracks on Tommy as being great rock n roll compositions. And every track on Quadrophenia is better than most of the tracks on Led Zep 4?

I guess there is more integrity to recording cover tunes than building off previous musical efforts. If you insist on the BS argument that Page and Plant built success by ripping off American blues, you might as well right-off every act past 1960.

Continuously whining about your childhood isn't all that compelling to me but I'm not a self-obsessed baby boomer.

Invented the rock mini-opera. Hilarious.

Easily the Who.Zeppelin's star was Jimmy Page and he eclipsed Townshend as a virtuoso lead guitarist easily.However Townshend was the coolest guy ever to wear a guitar.The most visually explosive player ever,invented feedback,the windmill,the rock opera wrote brilliant songs about actual serious meaningful stuff.Bonham and Moon are a push although Moon was an innovator he paved the way for rock drummers to play lead drums.Entwistle was probably the best rock bassist ever as his being names bassist of the century should prove.Daltrey and Plant another push,slinky mysticism over Shepperd's Bush working class street fighter.

All in all The Who would have kicked Zepp's asses of any stage in the Keith Moon era.

Tracy Says:

July 12th, 2007 at 04:19
John Entwistle, who rocks John Paul Jones\' socks. :) Listen to the bass on \"Won\'t Get Fooled Again\" or \"The Real Me\" and see if I\'m wrong)

Have you heard the bass on Carouselambra?
The Mellotron on Trampled Underfoot?
Or Zooma by JPJ himself?

Ox was good, but JPJ is better.

I enjoy listening to The Who and Led Zeppelin, but i would hav to say that Led Zepp. is definitly better but I know alot of people that hav different opinions but really i mean if everyone listen to the same stuff then the world would be boring... Led zepp has a totally different feel to there music .. and plus Robert Plant has the most unique voice and rythme that i hav ever heard and he jus looks cool doin it. I jus think he is pure qenius.

Quite a trampling here when comparing the two. It's actually pretty laughable how much better The Who really are when compared to Led Zeppelin. I love all this "Immortal Rock Gods" bullshit when referring to LZ. A lot of the time they lacked creativity, and sometimes Plant doesn't know when to shut the fuck up. Bonham is my favorite member of LZ, but Moon was quicker, and much more inventive on the kit. That's just my opinion. Led Zeppelin has my VOTE for most overrated group, hands down. Keep in mind, I'm far from hating them, and there is songs of theirs' that I like, but damn are they overrated! I just can't stand the sheep that claim "ohhh they are immortal ..... they sell more records..... Stairway to Heaven is trippy and mystical....". Give me a break. One other thing... as for the guy defending The Who at the top of the page, I agreed with him on most of the things he spoke of, but when he said "No better band exists to get high to than Led Zeppelin" that really got me good. I hope you feel like a fucking idiot after typing that. It's sad that there are many Zep fanboys that would agree with that statement. Heh, listen to groups like "Catapilla", "King Crimson", and earlier "Moody Blues", for good solid music to listen to when in an altered state of mind.

My vote is for The Who.

The Who\'s career ranged from sixties mod rock to rock operas to seventies hard rock and on into the eighties new wave. They perfected both the three minute single and the double album masterpiece. They\'re also the greatest live rock band ever.

Pete\'s a great and groundbreaking guitarist, a great and groundbreaking songwriter, and one of the top live performers in rock history. Roger\'s a fantastic rock singer. Keith Moon is a prime contender for the greatest rock \'n\' roll drummer of all-time and John Entwistle is easily the greatest rock bassist of all-time.

I can\'t think of anything Led Zeppelin has on The Who except better guitar solos and more record sales. The Who takes everything else. And that\'s the more important stuff.

I can\'t believe some Zep fan thinks The Who only have one true classic song. Just My Generation, eh? How about I Can\'t Explain, Substitute, I Can See For Miles, Magic Bus, Pinball Wizard, See Me Feel Me, Baba O\'Riley, Behind Blue Eyes, Won\'t Get Fooled Again, Love Reign O\'er Me and Who Are You?

As for My Generation vs Stairway to Heaven, you\'re right, it\'s no contest. But not in the way you\'re implying. My Generation is one of the greatest rock songs of all-time. It\'s a watershed moment in rock history. Time Magazine even picked it as the definitive rock song of the entire decade of the sixties. My Generation is a contender for the ultimate rock song. It both changed rock and defines rock. It\'s the first song that can be called punk, both sonically and lyrically. Roger Daltrey stutters out \"I hope I die before I get old,\" John Entwistle lays down those thwomping bass breaks, and Keith Moon and Pete Townshend bring the rock cataclysm. Stairway to Heaven? What did that do? Define classic rock radio? There\'s more to rock immortality and greatness than a radio format.

But, really, all anyone has to do is watch the movie The Kids Are Alright to forever understand that The Who have always been and will always be the greater rock band. And the better one.

Zeppelin wins. Period. If you want a long explanation then you are a rock square head. If you want the truth listen to any Zep album and you will see the truth.

The Who win, hands down. Pete Townshend was/is an amazing songwriter. His lead guitar work phenominal. John Paul Jones could not play bass anywhere near as well as John Entwistle. Roger Daltrey could sing rings around Mr. Plant. Keith Moon was brilliant...and to my ears, was just a pinch better than John Bonham. I actually like Led Zeppelin, but my heart belongs to the Who.

Led Zeppelin were the best rock band ever.I never saw the Who but i saw Zepp,and up until that time Zepp was the biggest act to perform in my city,and by all accounts the Who were shit,just interested in trashing their amps and instruments.Also Zepp didn\'t pretend to go on as half lame group when Bohnam died,like the Who with Kenny Jones ,what a joke that was.Also why do the Who use all this background tapes like in Wont Get Fooled Again,Zepp never did that ,what you saw is what you got on stage.Zepp are also the most popular in sales of bootleg recordings which says to me many people would rather listen to Zepp live.They probably out sell the Who 4 to 1.

I think The Who are amazing. Their songs are so great and Roger Daltrey is absolutely gorgeous and he sings so beautifully!

I love the great Who, always will, but Led Zeppelin are simply in a different league. That league incidentally has only two members: The Beatles and Led Zeppelin. The question that I hear most often is \'Beatles or Zeppelin\' for greatest rock band of all time. In terms of popularity, record sales and influence, it\'s these two, and then everybody else. I know the numbers are not the entire story but The Beatle\'s and Zep\'s #\'s dwarf all other bands. Just for some perspective and as an example, The Who have sold 20 million records in the US alone, an impressive number unless you compare it to Led Zeppelin\'s US album sales of 109.5 million. In terms of influence and fan base it is simply no contest. Zep\'s first six straight albums have sold an average of 12.6 million copies EACH in the US alone. There is a very good reason for Zeppelin\'s astounding numbers, they remain rock\'s greatest band. Their enduring music proves it and their massive and ever expanding fan base knows it.

"most of the Zeppelin canon consists of distorted Delta blues paired with a shrieking British lead singer."

Not exactly, unless you vastly expand the meanings of the words "distorted" and "shrieking." While the Who certainly weren't a one note band, you could take every blues song out of Zeppelin's catalog and still have one of the most varied song catalogs of all time.

But I think the true test of the bands is - how easy is it to remove a piece out of either of them?

Led Zeppelin lost its drummer, and the band remained dormant for years, only emerging on special occasions. The Who lost its drummer, and they just plugged a new one in, just like that.

And you can pull the bassist out of the Who with equal ease. It's a bit harder to pull John Paul Jones out of Led Zeppelin (and yes, I know about Page and Plant, but it's not really the same).

Now I'm not going to claim that you can have a Daltrey-less or a Townshend-less Who. I'm not THAT crazy.

I love how crazy Led Zeppelin fans are, and so stubborn.

Entwistle is the best rock bassist, and there are many that are better than John Paul Jones. Many. Geddy Lee is worlds better than Jones, and Entwistle is still above Lee.

Keith Moon is incredible, Bonnam, not so much.

Page isn\'t actually that good of a guitarist, I\'d rank Dave Gilmour of Pink Floyd above him, with Townsend somewhere below Gilmour, but above Page.

Plant is irritating, his voice is grating and he isn\'t much of a frontman. Daltrey is THE rock and roll front man, nobody even comes close.

Also, to say that Led Zeppelin are more innovative and important to rock than THE WHO? Is a crime. Things attributed to The Who:

The Rock Opera
Destroying one\'s instruments after a show
Making the Bass a lead instrument
Punk
Electronic Instruments

Things attributed to Led Zeppelin:

I would credit Metal to them, but Pink Floyd seems to have invented it first a few years before on the album More.

one more thing has anyone actually watched the film tommy?
jesus what a load of toss thank god for THE WALL (even if they did steal some of it)
whatever happened to townshends kiddie fiddling charges? research! yeah right


PINK FLOYD FOREVER

ann odd debate as zeppelin and the who are so different, how do you compare zeppelins mystical insight into human pysche to the who,s drivvle about a deaf dumb and blind kid playing pinball, playing pinball!! i ask you what a load of toss dont get me wrong all the greats sang about nonsensicle stuff but at least it was deep, who are you who who who who, what couldnt think of anything to put there instead?

on a lighter note everybody kneel before the greatest band of all time
PINK FLOYD

Led Zeppelin and The Who


I love this debate and I came looking for it because of what I saw to receiving for Christmas this year. I got How the West Was Won and The Kids are Alright. But as an experiment I decided to remove the visual aspect and have since been alternating my listening between HTWWW and Live at Leeds.

I don’t really know if I can vote on this because, to me these two bands are the two definitive sides of the rock and roll coin. The yin (Zep) and yang (Who) of the genre. Without either one I think the progression of rock and roll and certainly my coming of age as a person and musician would be significantly altered. Led Zeppelin represents to me the more ethereal, artsy almost progressive side…feminine, mystique, watery, dark, night, moon (ironically) The Who the more in your face, damn the torpedoes, rip your face off side…masculine, pragmatic, fiery, bright, daylight, sun. That said, I always have been and continue to be fascinated by the similarities in their look, line-up and history.

Two bare chested, golden god, front man, vocalists with no instruments over their instruments so the groupies could enjoy their unimpeded bulges. Two skinny, eccentric dark haired, strung out, heroin using guitar geniuses. Two seemingly mild mannered, comparatively motionless while on stage, bass virtuosos, choosing not to be the shameless posers that the rest of the band was. And two completely over-the-top, hard partying, chaos creating, drum aliens both dead (in the month of September ’78 and ’80), for all intense and purposes of alcoholic indulgence at the age of 32. Starts to read like that stuff about Lincoln and Kennedy, doesn’t it? Coincidence? Yes…most definitely.

The most stunning similarity though? Each member of both bands undeniably and forever altered the human approach to their respective instruments. Whether future musicians were in revolt (70s punk bands) or hopelessly trying to cop (80s hair bands).

This whole discussion precludes, but I would hope not dismisses the psychedelic contributions of the Pink Floyds of the genre or the honky tonk twang of the Stones. And it would have to proceed with the grandfatherly precedence of the Beatles as a given. And of course, both bands would not have been without the foundation of black American blues. Floyds and Stones’ and whoever else notwithstanding, when I hear the phrase “rock and roll,” Led Zeppelin and The Who are the first echoes in my mind.

Seriously though, votes/arguments like this are so subjective, as to really be meaningless. Can you really take Entwistle and Jones and put a crown on one over the other…especially when there are Tony Levins and Stanley Clarks in the world? Really. How do you judge? What is the criteria? I think they (certainly more than of any of the members of either band) could have been swapped and we’d be having the same discussion. This sort of talk invariably breaks down to looking at the individual members and their contributions, but that doesn’t work. What makes these bands, and a host of others, is that they are more than the sum of their parts. Page is not Led Zeppelin and Townshend is not The Who, as much as either of them might dispute such a statement. They are most definitely package deals and they knew/know it. I, for one, don’t even consider anything done by Daltrey, Townshend and Entwistle…or anyone else, after 1978, The Who. Hell no. The Who died with Keith as much as Zeppelin died with Bonzo.

Context is what it’s all about. This was an era when the musicians were driving the creative process. It was so in the early part of their careers because the bean counters and record execs had no clue what was happening. It was so in their latter careers because they had the power and clout to maintain creative control. Sadly this is no longer the case and music is now a marketed product. Musicians hardly matter. That being said and truly ROCK AND ROLL being the topic, Led Zeppelin and The Who together, in my opinion are the peak of the genre.

Ok…so we have:

My Generation
A Quick One
Sell Out
Tommy
Who’s Next
Quadrophenia
The Who by Numbers
Who Are You


The eight studio albums that I consider to be The Who…and I do consider some fantastic singles…The Seeker…Substitute…etc.

And we have:

Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin II
Led Zeppelin III
IV Zoso (or whatever)
Houses of the Holy
Physical Graffiti
Presence
In Through the Out Door

The eight studio albums by Led Zeppelin…considering far less single in quantity but there is Hey Hey What Can I Do? And Travelling Riverside Blues to think about and maybe a thing or two off of Coda.


And…the peak definitive live Who: Live at Leeds

The peak definitive live Zep: How the West Was Won

Let me think…

Well, I go to the proverbial “stranded on a desert island” scenario and every time I do I realize that there isn’t a Zeppelin album that I wouldn’t be happy to have as the one I’m stranded with. The Who does…every other band I know of does. So there it is…

Led Zeppelin.

of course it's the who i've loved them ever since they started in 1964 when i was only a nipper watching them on ready steady go as a young mod , plus they had one of the greatest drummers in the world in their band Keith Moon and The greatest guitarist in the world .

The Who without question. Led Zeppelin has basically two modes: the ripped off delta blues number or some mystical nonsense aimed at attempting some kind of warped perception of versatility. Am I alone in thinking The Rain Song, No Quarter and Kashmir were the most boring waste of good vinyl in history? They don't even come close to matching the Who in concert. I've seen both bands live in their prime. The Who live was a cataclysmic event. Led Zep was a bloody mess. At times I wasn't sure if they were all playing the same song. Plant's stage act was comical. Somehow what should have got him booed off the stage got him deified. The most pathetic part of it all, when he shouted "I am a golden god" off a hotel balcony overloodking Sunset Blvd, he probably actually believed it.

deep purple was my first love but then led zeppelin came along and opened my eye's and ears to a different kind of rock . long live Zeppelin

I have often heard this question asked and despite my dislike of such fruitless comparisons, my love for The Who has compelled me to answer. This is just my opinion, because, of course, there is no absolute and objective measure for a group\'s \"greatness\", nor should there be.

The Who are the most fantastic group of musicians to walk the earth on every level: technical, musical, theatrical, and even in a narrative sense. Let me start with the last as it is the most interesting and serves as an important difference between The \'Oo and LZ. Not only is their music sublime, the story of the band is fantastic. The conflicted characters, the wild escapades, the concert anecdotes, the tragic (and I mean that in the classical sense) deaths of Keith and John, and their triumphant, recent return. The personalities of Pete, Roger, John, Keith would still make them the better band even if they were fictional.

From a creative standpoint, The Who/LZ comparison is a near ridiculous question. In my opinion, Led Zeppelin\'s song catalog is a bit repetitive and in most cases is a ripoff of traditional blues. Pete Townshend is a brilliant songwriter, storyteller and lyricist. Tommy, Sell Out, Who\'s Next, Quadrophenia. Brilliant in their depth and scope. Also, by far, The Who is the more innovative of the two. The concept album, the rock opera, auto-destructive art on stage, the whole Lifehouse idea, laser light shows (yep), quadrophonic sound (almost, but canceled at last minute). Really incredible in my opinion. Oh, and not to mention Marshall amps, roundwound strings, and the idea that a synth track could be tasteful, musical, and play a prominent role in a track.

The debate is even more one sided (again, in my opinion) from a musical standpoint. The talents of Pete, Roger, John and Keith are towering. Pete\'s guitar playing is often the first to be criticized. Yes, he\'s not MAB, but hey, when I hear Pete on the radio, I know it\'s him. His style is unique, which takes much more talent then people give credit for. Also, anybody listen to his playing lately? He has only gotten better with age, and when I say better, I mean astoundingly better. I have never understood the fascination with Page\'s playing. He is a great guitarist, I suppose, but I wouldn\'t give him the godlike status that most people do. I find his playing sloppy, especially live. Moving on, John\'s bass playing. Technically magnificent, musically ingenious, and groundbreaking. And now, Keith. Oh, good old Moonie. Good lad he was. Not to mention the greatest rock drummer of all time. Unpredictable, original, and, although some will disagree with me, technically brilliant. He is often criticized for his \"poor time keeping skills\". This has puzzled me. I\'m a classical musician and oddly metered runs of 7, 10, 21 notes in a beat are the norm and are up to the musician\'s discretion to meter. Moon\'s wild, lightning-fast, improvisational style lent itself to these kind of patterns. Listening to Moon play was like watching a fireworks show. Bonham is a great drummer, but I find him a bit unoriginal and predictable. But hey, maybe that works for some people.

On stage, the debate is meaningless. Seeing The Who live was like seeing the face of God. Seeing LZ live was sitting through a long, sloppy mess. The chemistry and energy The Who emitted during performance was so potent, we might as well call them a force of nature.

Anyway, having said this, I like a lot of LZ stuff, but I love The Who, I really do. LLR

Madonna, Michael Jackson? Forget the number of album sales. Rock is not defined in dollars and cents.

THERES ONLY ONE WAY TO END THE DEBATE. I LOVE BOTH BANDS. HOWEVER, I ASK MYSELF ONE QUESTION...IF I HAD A CHOICE TO SEE ONE LAST CONCERT BEFORE I CROAK WHO WOULD IT BE, ZEPPELIN OR THE WHO, MY DECISION WAS SUPRISINGLY EASY-THE WHO!!!!!!!

ok to clear things up.

The who is the greatest live band of ALL time the who gave you not just an orgasm to your ears but a show to go along i mean moonie and townshend are enough for a great band not to mention the thundering bass lines of enwistle and the voice on daltrey. They are the best live band off all time. But if you think about it Led Zeppelin was founded on Keith Moon and John Enwistle.

Led Zeppelin were masters in the studio if you put two studio masterminds (Page, Jones) together you have the greatest studio band of all time there is not a bad song on any of there albums in my opinion.
Some was a little nerdy but good and not to mention there live acts if it wasnt for Page on some of the red dragon in 77 they would of taken the cake.

But look at them when there drummers died.

The Who kept on going it wasn't that great but it was good.
Led Zeppelin stopped all together showing there unit was no good without bonzo.

More Facts

1. Keith Moon named Led Zeppelin and was to be the original drummer.
2. Jimmy Page played on not the final cut but the early takes of i cant explain.
3. John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page were studio wizards before Led Zeppelin and played on many tracks by The Kinks, The Who, and other 60's british artists.

thats not even a debate..the who by far

Roger Daultry and Robert Plant\'s names shouldnt even be used in the same sentence...its an insult to who fans everywhere to even think that that high pitched queer is a better singer then Roger Daultry

Keith moon was a better drummer then john bohnman and dont even give me that \"moby dick\" shit cause lets face it...it sounds as bad on drums as it does as robert plant singing moon made every song sound good timing or not

I wont even talk about bass jimmy page was better then pete townshend but pete was a way better songwriter..at least the who\'s songs make sense wat zeppelin song makes sense? stairway to heaven? one song congratualations

The who have songs that make sense and flow unlike zeppelin whos songs all sound the same...the who period