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Led Zeppelin Vs The Doors


McSeven

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Yes I am at it again. They are really both iconic in imagery and influence. They both were into Rock and Blues.

As a Band....

The Doors-Jim and Ray to me lead the band. As Robert/Jimmy did in Zep.

The Doors seemed more like Bad Boys than Zep.

Songs. Zep had more Variety. The Doors had this gritty Nocternal vibe to their songs.

My 3 great Doors Songs are Light my Fire/Riders of the Storm/The Wasp.

My 3 great Zep songs are HMMT/WTLB/Dazed and Confused 1973.

Jim vs Robert. Jim to me is a little bit more Cool and trance like in his vocals. Robert has more pounce and prowl in his vocal delivery.

Robbie vs Jimmy. Both are great guitarits. Robbie has more of a Snake/Spidery guitar sound. He does not go into Dive Bombs and way pedals as much. Jimmy has way more tricks in his arsenal. Robbie's playing style is more on the cool side as well. Were as Jimmy's sound has more sorcery to it.

Densmore vs Bonham. Densmore to me sound like his drumming is more like Jazz. Bonham has more of a Gorilla on the hunt and can do way more than Densmore in making his kit sing.

Ray vs JPJ. Both are great. Yet I feel like when it comes to Keys. Ray really made it more dominant. Ray's Bass Keys vs JPJ Bass. JPJ has a funk feel.

The Doors to me their sound is really trapped in that late 60's vibe. Where Zep to me have a more timeless sound.

Anyways I will chime in more when I have more time.

I do think that both bands were really important. I do feel like Jim Morrison should have been called Jim Morrison and The Doors. Where as LZ were more 4 working parts and not one member really over shadowed the band.

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No comparison. The Doors were revolutionary for their time, but their legacy and prowess does not compare to the mighty Zep IMHO. I actually find it quite a stretch to compare these two groups; its like comparing The Turtles and The Beatles. I do love The Doors too.

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Well lets see....

Morrison was a poet and his lyrics were quite articulate. Morrison became a crooner on the last couple of albums especially LA Woman. He can be compared to the likes of Frank Sinatra.

Plant was (in Zep) a blues vocalist, belting out and wailing away much like Janis Joplin did. A little weak on the lyrics making them rhyme more than have reason. but still very good none the less.

Kreiger on guitar was more Jazz and Flamenco influenced, not using a pick but 5 fingers to pluck the strings.

Page on guitar was a maestro utilizing all the tricks of the trade including guitar tunings, pedals, and acoustically more influenced by folk music.

Manzarek was the absolute backbone of the group and the only one who had any control (although very little) over Jim.

Jones became the significant arranger of the group.

Densmore was influenced by Jazz and the Salsa beat and was quite good at adding accents here and there.

Bonham was the epitome of the off beat perfectionist. Going beyond just adding accents he literally morphed the way in which to play percussion.

Both bands are in my top 5. Both bands were significant in steering the direction in which popular music is played today.

You can't compare the 2 because of the different time periods which they represent.

No it would not be like comparing The Turtles and The Beatles but more like Apples and Oranges. Both bands are in the upper echelon of contemporary music.

This would be like trying to compare LA Woman (71) to Zeppelin IV (71) which at an artistic stand point can't really be done because you have 2 completely different styles of music. You would not have a fair and accurate base or starting point to make a complete and honest judgement upon each album individually and then go on to compare the 2 against each other.

Both albums have very strong points and both albums have weaknesses as do both bands.

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I seem to remember them sharing a bill late 69? What i do remember is Plant commenting

that he watched the band stageside and was shocked at Morrisons baiting of the audience

and the effect that alcohol had on his ability to perform.Which is way beyond ironic if you consider

what happened to Zeppelin later on.

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Yep Seattle pop festival july 27 1969.Zeppelin apparently blew The Doors offstage

Robert made the comments while watching "this icon that pagey and i had heard all this stuff

about totally blow it"

Yep Morrison "Blew it" quite a few times but on some of the CD boots that I have he was spot on and the band was almost always tight. You had to catch Morrison in a good mood and he was a great performer. Unfortunately he began to regret having to perform onstage for people who really didn't appreciate "The Doors" in the way he had intended.

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I speak as a massive Doors fan and while the quality is variable am always amazed

at what jim and the boys managed to do live. I was simply contrasting the young hungry Zep

with the increasingly jaded Jim Morrison . Oliver Stones film is mostly laughable but i have a soft spot for Val

Kilmers portrayal and the" look" of it is good.

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The Doors movie made a mockery of Jim and really only showed his dark side.

I happened to have met and talked with Ray, Robbie, John, Paul, and Danny back in 1985. They all said pretty much the same thing during individual one on one conversations. Jim became fed up with what the audience expected of him. For this reason he became very disillusioned with the whole concert scene. He was very depressed about who the general public thought he was and because of this he drank heavily, hell he was an alcoholic to begin with and all that went on made him want to drink even more just to cope. He said "they want a freak show so lets give it to them". Jim on the other hand just wanted a means to get his poetry out to the general public. Live in concert was the cheapest and most effective way to do so. Jim was very misunderstood by his band mates and everyone around him except for Ray who said "I probably new him the best but then again I really didn't know him at all".

Jim was pretty much like any other artist from any time period, someone who had goals, intended to find a way to accomplish them, but life got in the way (partly by his choice) and we never really got to see who he really was, that was the general publics fault because they just would not let him be himself.

Not drinking Jim was quite, shy, and articulate. Drinking... well we all know what that was like, not in person but we got the general idea.

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Mcseven you are really cool! One of quite a few members of the board, who really know what this kind of forums should be about! Don't count me in! ;) Or maybe...

All Zep members were bigger virtuosos and they had far more variety then The Doors, they also jammed better! Morrison was a bigger atraction for women then Plant, he had more of a dark mystique and his lyrics were more poetic(metaphysical landscapes) and his dark voice with not that much range, but a lot of power and colour, worked really well!

The Doors had many very intriguing and complex arrangements, which Zep also sometimes visited, when they went more out of the blues form, but Zep almost always included a lot of power in any of their songs! Zep were also acoustic many times!

Zep do have more of a timeless sound, but the Doors are totally classic too and they were from a time, when rock was a bit more restrained both in power and improvisation, Zep took it a step further(doing everything you can do with music, when you have electric instruments and drums around), while still having the subtlety and then after them, many bands took it too far in a very unartistic and one dimensional way!

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  • 2 weeks later...

hi fella's, just joined

been a zep fan since I was 6, 41 now and I'm pretty sure there's no comparison. I like the doors but wtf! this is a zep forum, was brought up by my dad to respect and enjoy music in all its forms but come on, please. Jim Morrison was such a pretentious twat (obviously didn't know him personally!!) personally don't think there should be a comparison

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  • 5 months later...

No comparison. The Doors were revolutionary for their time, but their legacy and prowess does not compare to the mighty Zep IMHO. I actually find it quite a stretch to compare these two groups; its like comparing The Turtles and The Beatles. I do love The Doors too.

My thoughts exactly

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The love for Jim Morrison from many of you is laughable - Morrison was a malcontent. The Doors most important parts were everyone but Jim Morrison! His lyrics may have been poetry - very bad poetry at best.

The Led Zeppelin/Doors comparison doesn't work. Why? Because Led Zeppelin is head and shoulders better!

Btw, Robert Plant commented once on Morrison. The gist of that comment was this - "As I stood on the side of the stage and seen all these girls crying and call Jim God, I asked myself, why?"

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  • 2 years later...

The Doors and Led Zeppelin are two different beasts entirely so to compare them, or pit them together in a sort of grudge match doesn't really work. It's like comparing alcohol (The Doors) and pot (Led Zeppelin). Both will get you feeling good but in different ways. They were cut from two different cloths and two different scenes despite being similarly inspired by the Blues.

Jim Morrison was arguably a more intellectual person than Robert, but he was also more stuck-up as well. He was not a natural performer like Robert was, but he was a more confident lyricist than Robert. Robert would grow into his lyrical maturity slower in my opinion. Jim I think took himself too seriously, whereas Robert was more into hip swinging and having fun. Jim was much more troubled than Robert was overall. Jim had this chip on his shoulder about being a rockstar who grew up as a child of parts of the Establishment - I think that haunted Jim more than people ever realize. He was a more revolutionary figure, more threatening than Robert was. Robert didn't care about any revolution or all the late 60s sociopolitical stuff at least as far as I know. Jim was one of the first shock rock artists and I think part of that for Jim was to overcompensate for his square, Navy Admiral, Vietnam supporting father. He was very much troubled even from a young age, and was always in trouble with the law. I don't think Robert ever had the same demons and was a much more "simple" guy - which was to his benefit. Robert just loved music and loved life. Jim always had a dark cloud over his head.

That said, Jim was not the cariacture shown in the Doors 1991 movie. Listen to an actual interview. He was very, very introspective, very coherent and very thoughtful. He was more in touch with "the kids" than Robert was, as well.

I don't think Robert ever had serious drug issues but Jim had even from the beginning an affinity for alcohol which would only grow. He was also more cynical about the record industry than I think Robert was, and came to dislike fame whereas Robert relished it "I'm a Golden God!". I don't think if you sat Jim and Robert at their respective peaks in the same room they'd have much to talk about. Now, sit Jim and Bonzo in the same room and maybe they'd get on talking, provided each was in a good mood and sober, otherwise it might wind up in a brawl.

Both bands had a certain sense of mysticism in their music and evoked a sense of mystique, but Jim's affinity for it was more drawn from things like the Zodiac and more traditional "Hippie" things. Jim's mystique was East, Robert was European. He was into the theater and philosophy. Whereas Robert was obviously more drawn to more European things like Viking Sagas and Tolkien and I don't think Robert, though he dabbled in Hippie fashions early on, could really be associated with that scene. 

Musically, Robby Krieger and Jimmy couldn't be more different. Robby was arguably a bluesier guitarist than Jimmy was. Jimmy was more of a virtuoso. Robby was very skilled and very much a Delta Blues sort of guitarist. He was a softer player than Jimmy, more for soft licks and riffs. 

Vocally, Jim was rather out of place in his time. He was in a rock band, but he could've easily been a part of the Rat Pack vocally. Jim was sensual and subtle where Robert was more primal and sexual.  

 

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On ‎2‎/‎5‎/‎2014 at 5:23 PM, McSeven said:

Yes I am at it again. They are really both iconic in imagery and influence. They both were into Rock and Blues.

 

As a Band....

 

The Doors-Jim and Ray to me lead the band. As Robert/Jimmy did in Zep.

 

The Doors seemed more like Bad Boys than Zep.

 

Songs. Zep had more Variety. The Doors had this gritty Nocternal vibe to their songs.

 

My 3 great Doors Songs are Light my Fire/Riders of the Storm/The Wasp.

My 3 great Zep songs are HMMT/WTLB/Dazed and Confused 1973.

 

Jim vs Robert. Jim to me is a little bit more Cool and trance like in his vocals. Robert has more pounce and prowl in his vocal delivery.

 

Robbie vs Jimmy. Both are great guitarits. Robbie has more of a Snake/Spidery guitar sound. He does not go into Dive Bombs and way pedals as much. Jimmy has way more tricks in his arsenal. Robbie's playing style is more on the cool side as well. Were as Jimmy's sound has more sorcery to it.

 

Densmore vs Bonham. Densmore to me sound like his drumming is more like Jazz. Bonham has more of a Gorilla on the hunt and can do way more than Densmore in making his kit sing.

 

Ray vs JPJ. Both are great. Yet I feel like when it comes to Keys. Ray really made it more dominant. Ray's Bass Keys vs JPJ Bass. JPJ has a funk feel.

 

The Doors to me their sound is really trapped in that late 60's vibe. Where Zep to me have a more timeless sound.

 

Anyways I will chime in more when I have more time.

 

I do think that both bands were really important. I do feel like Jim Morrison should have been called Jim Morrison and The Doors. Where as LZ were more 4 working parts and not one member really over shadowed the band.

Only Jim was a bad boy, the other 3 were sane, serious musicians.

It should have never been called Jim Morrison and the Doors. Jim hated that kind of thing. To me personally if Ray was missing in the lineup The Doors would have never succeeded. Also wasn't it Robbie who actually wrote the hits that charted?

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