when i first posted i tried emphasis that they are not easily placed into any catagory. ands some people say hard rock, but i think they are just so much heavier than that. Also i when we think about metal we think about metal bands like Pantera, Metallica, or Slipknot, i know Zeppelin doesn't sound like they do and im glad, but to me they were one of the first metal bands, i think that the metal sound has evolved so much people hesitat to call them metal, but its the same with classical music, earlier classical music is just as different from later classical music as Zeppelin is to modern metal, they aren't the first band to have the modern metal sound but i think they started the evolution from them to what we have today. The whole real reason of this post is show people that meatl isn't a dirty word and a part of zeppelin should be alotted to that catagory, as well as blues, hard rock, rockabilly, reggae, arabic/eastern music, and folk. And just because Page used blues style soloing infused with his unique style doesn;t mean they dont count as metal partially, modern metal bands use classical influences when soloing and they are not considered classical. I just listen to a certain group of songs like The Immigrant Song, Whole Lotta Love, Heartbreaker, Kashmir, Black Dog, The Ocean, Communication Breakdown (which thrash metal could be taking so hints from), Misty Mountain Hop, and Dazed and Confused especially these just sound as like early metal like Sabbath and Purple, the only difference between them and Zepp is that Zepp plays about a thousand other styles.

I have come over this question quite often while web surfing, and have heard many different responses to the question. I hear modern metal fans say no, while they calamour over Black Sabbath, and Deep Purple as the first metal bands. I have also heard many stout Zeppelin fans say no they are not metal, and i know some of you will be disgusted with thinking about them this way, especially when it is just so much easier to call them hard rock. But i am going to make a case on why they should beconsidered one of the great grandfather metal bands pre-dating Sabbath and forming roughly the same time as deep purple did. I know real music fans hate to catagorize their favorite music, this is especially hard with Zeppelin when they had so many styles and influences. Reason one they should be considered a metal band among other styles too is Dazed and Confused. I know using one song to call them metal is a weak argument but thats why i also say they are not exclusivley anything. Dazed and Confused, just as metal sounding as Sabbath's and Purples's metal songs and even more so with their live performances around 69-70 and on. A second reason is their collective lifestyles and touring escapades. Page was fascinated with the occult and how deep he got into it we dont really know but i am asuming pretty deep considering he bought boleskine house, and has a huge collection of Crowley artifacts, along with the interviews, and i know it irks zepp fans when Page is called a "satanist" and it pisses me of too, but im not calling him that. Their touring escapeds were on a whole different level than before, they had their mudshark incedent, Bonzo rode motorcycles through the riot house, and they consumed a historic amount of drugs, along with destroying their rooms and renting multiple floors. i know this is not really a musical merit qualifying them as metal but these are definatley trademarks of the metal lifestyle. i am kind of rushed to write this, and i left out many points for and against but i hope you can help the discussion with your opinions.