Poll: Is Led Zeppelin Metal?

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That's Funny

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No, they are progressive rock, hence the different styles of rock they applied to their song. For example The immigrant song, is hard rock, and Stairway to heaven is more in line with classic rock (to begin with anyway).
 

Rhymer

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Why on earth would you try to lable a band into a genre? Especially bands like Led Zeppelin, who have a very uniqe sound, can't and shouldn't wear that lable. Besides, it's only opinion, and the only way to know if you like them is to listen to their music.

Rather pointless topic, really.
 

silasbufu

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They were pioneers of the heavy metal and hard rock genres back then, probably even giving birth to the first one, but heavy metal has changed and if the question is "were/are they a heavy metal band by today's standards?" then I say no.
 

Jamash

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Communist partisan said:
wastedyouth89 said:
Is Led Zeppelin to be classified as heavy metal?
The genre metal didin't even exist before the 90's as a real genre, for example Ozzy Osbourne was classed as "alternative" in the 90's together with other metal bands and those who were a little softer was only classed as rock, but it's new times now so yes they are metal.

Even if my personal opinion is that they are all still alternative and rock.
If Heavy Metal didn't exist as a genre before the 90's, then how could the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal genre have existed in the 80's?

For bands like Iron Maiden, Saxon or Diamond Head to be considered the new wave of that genre, then that genre would have had to exist before their time, in the 70's with bands like Black Sabbath.

Heavy Metal definitely existed as a genre long before the 90's.
 

Onyx Oblivion

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They are in the genre of "Led".

Speaking of LZ, it's time to GET THE LED OUT. And listen to "Fool in the Rain" for about an hour straight. Just can't get enough of that song...
 

L8NEYET

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ravensheart18 said:
Without them there wouldn't BE metal. They are among the originals of heavy metal, if not the original.
Black Sabbath was even heavier, but still rock and Ozzy is the Prince of Darkness and still headlines over anyone no matter how HEAVY they are.
 

Furious Styles

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I'd say they're proto-metal (which I think I may have just invented) so they serve as a genesis point without actually being fully metal. A bit like how Iggy and the Stooges, MC5 and the Modern Lovers are proto-punk.

In fact, if I had my say, I'd call them blues rock more than anything. Like I said earlier, their relationship to metal is just that: a relationship.

I'd say the first heavy metal band in the proper sense were Black Sabbath, or Deep Purple.
 

L8NEYET

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Jamash said:
Communist partisan said:
wastedyouth89 said:
Is Led Zeppelin to be classified as heavy metal?
The genre metal didin't even exist before the 90's as a real genre, for example Ozzy Osbourne was classed as "alternative" in the 90's together with other metal bands and those who were a little softer was only classed as rock, but it's new times now so yes they are metal.

Even if my personal opinion is that they are all still alternative and rock.
If Heavy Metal didn't exist as a genre before the 90's, then how could the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal genre have existed in the 80's?

For bands like Iron Maiden, Saxon or Diamond Head to be considered the new wave of that genre, then that genre would have had to exist before their time, in the 70's with bands like Black Sabbath.


Heavy Metal definitely existed as a genre long before the 90's.
Can you provide any proof of any band being called Heavy Metal in the 80's? I was there, hell I was at the shows and they were called Rock and even hard rock, but never metal. Metal was a term adopted in the 90's prolly to better categorize music in stores, when there was stores that solly sold albums. Hell, Nirvana pioneered grunge, but what are they filled under at your local store?

At the end of the day, you can call any band what you want to call them.
 

fenrizz

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I've always considered Led Zeppelin to be hard rock, with a dash of heavy metal.
 

Jamash

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L8NEYET said:
Jamash said:
Communist partisan said:
wastedyouth89 said:
Is Led Zeppelin to be classified as heavy metal?
The genre metal didin't even exist before the 90's as a real genre, for example Ozzy Osbourne was classed as "alternative" in the 90's together with other metal bands and those who were a little softer was only classed as rock, but it's new times now so yes they are metal.

Even if my personal opinion is that they are all still alternative and rock.
If Heavy Metal didn't exist as a genre before the 90's, then how could the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal genre have existed in the 80's?

For bands like Iron Maiden, Saxon or Diamond Head to be considered the new wave of that genre, then that genre would have had to exist before their time, in the 70's with bands like Black Sabbath.


Heavy Metal definitely existed as a genre long before the 90's.
Can you provide any proof of any band being called Heavy Metal in the 80's? I was there, hell I was at the shows and they were called Rock and even hard rock, but never metal. Metal was a term adopted in the 90's prolly to better categorize music in stores, when there was stores that solly sold albums. Hell, Nirvana pioneered grunge, but what are they filled under at your local store?

At the end of the day, you can call any band what you want to call them.
Like I said before, there was the whole NWOBHM movement, in which bands were attributed to being the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, the term being coined by a music journalist in 1979:

Wilipedia's entry on NWHOBH said:
During the first Metal Crusade Music Machine tour, Samson, Angel Witch and Iron Maiden - among others - played a gig in London on 8 May 1979. Geoff Barton reviewed the show in Sounds magazine using the term New Wave Of British Heavy Metal to coin a common stylistic element of the bands' music.
I think the term "Heavy Metal" itself was coined by a music journalist reviewing a Jimi Hendrix performance, saying something like "it sounded like heavy metal falling from the sky".

I'm of a similar age to you and have also been to a lot of Heavy Metal gigs (although I didn't go to any gigs when I was a young child or have much music awareness until after the 80's), and I've always known the genre as Heavy Metal, but maybe it's different in America.

Heavy Metal has existed in the UK before 1990, but I can't speak for other countries.

EDIT: Also, the Heavy Metal music magazine Metal Hammer [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_hammer] was first published in 1986, so Heavy Metal as a genre must have been a fairy popular and accepted term for that magazine to have started.
 

Bekn

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I wouldn't say they're metal. For me, the foundation of metal began with Black Sabbath. At their heaviest, I'd say Zeppelin were hard rock.
 

TheRightToArmBears

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Some songs moreso than others. I would say proto-metal if anything, because I don't really think they're a metal band, but they set out a lot of the style and themes of metal.
 

EvilPicnic

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'Genres' are just labels to categorise music, and so are often arbitrary and ascribed post-event. In 1750 I don't think music critics suddenly decided, 'Right, Haydn's just started writing his symphonies, therefore the Baroque period is over and now Classical music is the thing!'

The whole argument has a touch of the absurd - there are no cut-offs, music is constantly evolving. These categories are just something we've invented to box music up into manageable chunks for our brains to understand.

But in this specific case, my personal view (and that's all it can be) is that Led Zep (like Cream and Hendrix) were primarily blues/rock groups who developed a sound best described as Rock or Heavy Rock. For my money, it wasn't until Sabbath, and then later Judas Priest and Maiden, that Heavy Metal as a genre took off.

But as I said, this is all make-believe to help my simple brain conceptualise the changing sounds; in reality they are all great bands who have stylistic qualities in common, but all evolved differently. If every band conformed to what a certain 'genre' said they should be, I think music as a whole would be poorer.
 

Arsen

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The same genre that owns Opeth, Cannibal Corpse, Iron Maiden, Slayer, and Judas Priest...owns Led Zeppelin. Not to mention Queen, Deep Purple, Jimi Hendrix...and numerous others.

/thread
 

Nimcha

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I think their portfolio is way too varied to pidgeonhole them into one genre...

That said, it's my absolute favourite band ever. <3
 

funguy2121

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wastedyouth89 said:
A simple question, but one that has split metal fans forever. Is Led Zeppelin to be classified as heavy metal? I've heard some say they just weren't "metal enough" and others say that they were the start of heavy metal. So what do you think?

Personally, I think they are. Metal is a LARGE genre and Led Zeppelin was the basis of the heavy metal sound in my opinion.
Sigh. Why do you guys never allow for a nuanced option in the polls?

Zeppelin mixed southern rock and blues chords with all sorts of other musical styles - the bridge of "Fool in The Rain" is a Latin jam. Metal chords are based on blues chords, and a lot of early metal guitar stylings were based on Page's guitar work. "Glam metal" (which isn't metal at all), such as Def Leopard and about 3 dozen other top 40 bands of the 80's, was greatly influenced vocally by Robert Plant's voice, which is to say they tried to emulate it without really getting it. This is just like all the "Pop Punk" bands that tried to ape NOFX but didn't understand what they were co-opting.

I wouldn't call Zeppelin "a metal band," though without their influences and to a lesser degree Black Sabbath's, metal would be either nonexistent or dramatically different. And we never have to have a lapdance ruined by "Pour Some Sugar On Me." Or "Girls Girls Girls." Or "Cherry Pie." Jesus, why do women who dance professionally love such shit music?
 

Ham_authority95

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Nigh Invulnerable said:
Ham_authority95 said:
wastedyouth89 said:
A simple question, but one that has split metal fans forever. Is Led Zeppelin to be classified as heavy metal? I've heard some say they just weren't "metal enough" and others say that they were the start of heavy metal. So what do you think?

Personally, I think they are. Metal is a LARGE genre and Led Zeppelin was the basis of the heavy metal sound in my opinion.
Their riff-based songs where early metal, in my opinion. The Immigrant Song, Rock and Roll, etc etc. None of that woodstock acoustic stuff, though. They laid a foundation for metal music, but not one as big as Black Sabbath laid down.

Black Sabbath, to me, are more influential to metal as a whole with their use of the tritone, the "chug-chug" riffs, and down-tuned guitars.
Sabbath are far more "metal" for me than Zep can ever hope to be. I would still classify Zep as metal, but as more of a proto-metal band than outright. Sure, they were heavy, and Bonzo was a beast, but the blues were a stronger influence on their style than it was on Sabbath's, so I give Ozzy et al credit for being the founders of metal as we know it.

CAPTCHA: exclaimeth ffifewi
The thing is that Black Sabbath were also totally influenced by blues(probably more than Zep). Started out as a blues band and even included a blues cover on their first album, but still ended up being heavier than some modern metal bands.
 

Skjalg Kreutzer

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RagnorakTres said:
I would argue that yes, they are indeed a metal band. Metal, in my mind, is a broad range of music, but what defines it at its core is not any particular riff or backbeat, but a sense of scale. Metal is grand in its scope, both musically and lyrically. Metal songs and albums tell epic tales of adventure and use an almost Tolkien-esque grasp of myth and legend to create a feeling of connection to the past while venturing forth into the future.
You DO know there are other genres of metal than Power Metal, right?
 

zehydra

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What? Of course they're metal! They pretty much defined the original metal genre!

A lot of what we might consider metal today is also closer to punk rock than metal.