InZeppWeTrust Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
songbird Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 Who cares what they're called? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reggie29 Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 Never have been "metal", never will be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bouncing~ship Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 They are everything... listen to this...I have a buddy who always thought zeppelin was shit...couldn't stand there songs(He wasn't able to "groove" to them...he was more into the new wave...pretty much, he disliked everything prior from the Pearl Jam and Nirvana days) Well, We end up going to a kings of Leon Concert Last night and ever since...He's Head bang'n to Rock'n Roll. i know it has nothing to do with if they are metal or not but i thought id share... Maybe its was Metal for all of Cleopatra's snakes back in the day. Metal too me would be more of a Dragon Force or Metalica or even system of a down... not Zeppelin...Zeppelin has their own category...Just how they interchanged their style fascinates me still. Be prepared...you are going to see a lot of bands sounding like them soon. It's gunna be intense. For christ's sake, Kings of Leon gave me a Zeppelin Vibe as soon as everyone lit up their joints lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarlaxle 56 Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 This would've been the very first real metal song to be heard by music fans. Also, as a sidenote, System of A Down and Dragonforce never were and never will be metal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bouncing~ship Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 This would've been the very first real metal song to be heard by music fans. Also, as a sidenote, System of A Down and Dragonforce never were and never will be metal. ok then...what do you consider them to be? you have to put them somewhere i just asked a buddy who is heavy into metal(big into Pantera and loves to down step the guitar) and he said... (still that's just his opinion) ok... your right on your first point because the sounds of Led Zeppelin were something extraordinarily new. They didn't know what to call it. In the end though, It's all good ol Rock and Roll. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarlaxle 56 Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 Well SoAD and Dragonforce? Pop-Rock As for Zeppelin, Blues Rock most likely, with a lot of Psychedelic influences on their early stuff (Dazed and Confused, No Quarter, etc..) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bouncing~ship Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 Well SoAD and Dragonforce? Pop-Rock As for Zeppelin, Blues Rock most likely, with a lot of Psychedelic influences on their early stuff (Dazed and Confused, No Quarter, etc..) lol you must be one those star children i keep hearing about. PoP Rock for the little kiddies...but c'mon...system has some pretty heavy riffs with intense solo's as does dragonforce. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRCymR6XyfA...feature=related Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dzldoc Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 Well the local radio stations always referred to them as "The Heavy Metal of Them All" and "The Hammer of the Gods" so what ever It's only Rock "N" Roll and I like it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Electrophile Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 No, they are not metal. They influenced metal heavily, but they themselves are not metal. The same as AC/DC is not metal and KISS is not metal. The whole wailing screaming front man and huge emphasis on drums and guitar definitely became the hallmark of the metal sound, you could even say that STH is the first "power ballad", but Led Zeppelin was and always be a hard rock band. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bouncing~ship Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 No, they are not metal. They influenced metal heavily, but they themselves are not metal. The same as AC/DC is not metal and KISS is not metal. The whole wailing screaming front man and huge emphasis on drums and guitar definitely became the hallmark of the metal sound, you could even say that STH is the first "power ballad", but Led Zeppelin was and always be a hard rock band. I conquer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Bloggs Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 No, they are not heavy metal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El_Hermitaño Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 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. All that you say sounds more of a "Hard Rock Style Of Life" to me. Anyway, Led Zeppelin can be called in so many ways, cause their music is so freaking extensive. A lot of elements in the Zeppelin sound are brcks that would be transformed in metal later....so i would call it PROTO METAL...and Zeppelin are indeed the Godsfathers of that movement. I think the hard edge side of Zep, wich is the one that could be considered metal (Cause the folk/acoustic, the funky, even some jazzy feel have nothing to do with metal) it's much more "groovy" than a metallic sound would be. Even Sabbath is too groovy to me to consider a FULL metla band ( Sabbath it's still HardRock...apretty Dark and heavy hard Rock), Same thing with motorhead, Ac/dc, Steppenwolf. First Metal band...for me...JUDAS PRIEST...in sound, fashion, attirude, lyricla content. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kashmir330 Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 No, Zeppelin is not metal. Zeppelin is a combination of a number of things and in my opinion can't be categorized to any specific form of genre of music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquamarine Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 ok then...what do you consider them to be? you have to put them somewhere i just asked a buddy who is heavy into metal(big into Pantera and loves to down step the guitar) and he said... (still that's just his opinion) ok... your right on your first point because the sounds of Led Zeppelin were something extraordinarily new. They didn't know what to call it. In the end though, It's all good ol Rock and Roll. Why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfman Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 Certain songs like D&C live has certain "heavy metal" aspects to it. Are they a true heavy metal band though? No. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knebby Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 I conquer Veni, vidi...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trexx Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 Zep put the heavy into metal I can't classify Zep really. They are so versatile. They are just the best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a clockwork tangerine Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 To me, Zep is not heavy metal. Zep covered too many genres of music (blues, rock, Indian/Arabic, folk, country, funk/soul, reggae, etc.) to be called "metal." In my opinion, metal bands just aren't that versatile. But I guess it depends on who you ask. My aunt (and my parents too probably) thinks they are "heavy metal." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InZeppWeTrust Posted April 23, 2009 Author Share Posted April 23, 2009 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyV Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 As others have said Zeppelin is arguably the best band/rock band of all time precisely because they DON'T belong to any one rock genre- they belong to them all! I always prefer to describe them as 'hard rock' which still oversimplifies, but definitely not metal. Black Sabbath is the first metal band IMHO. Helter Skelter = 1st metal song? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninelives Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 I don't think they are any one thing - why do they need to be categorized. They were an amazing band that spanned many genres, took many influences and made them their own. But for the purpose of this thread, I never thought of them as metal at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zanadu Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 To me, Zep is not heavy metal. Zep covered too many genres of music (blues, rock, Indian/Arabic, folk, country, funk/soul, reggae, etc.) to be called "metal." In my opinion, metal bands just aren't that versatile. But I guess it depends on who you ask. My aunt (and my parents too probably) thinks they are "heavy metal." Well, I don't know if there are many bands at all who are or have been as versatile as Led Zeppelin, but if I think about those bands that do play metal (I'm no expert and am just thinking about bands which I have listened to at some time) I must say that many of them certainly don't restrict themselves to traditional heavy metal and some are genuinely very versatile indeed. There are all sorts of sub-categories in modern metal music and some bands just fuse whatever they fancy into their sound. I'm sure the field of metal has expanded vastly since the 60's and 70's, and I'd like to think that the versatility and courage of LZ is one factor that has inspired that growth and diversity around metal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ady Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 Back in the early eighties they were classed as a heavy metal band. When I bought a Led Zeppelin album from a record shop I'd get it from the heavy metal section. I used to have a book called 'The Bible of Heavy Metal', which was written by Malcolm Dome and published in 1981. Led Zeppelin are featured heavily and Cream and The Jimi Hendrix Experience were named as the first heavy metal bands in it. I just found this image: None of the bands named on the front cover would be considered heavy metal bands by most people today, but they were back then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knebby Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 Back in the early eighties they were classed as a heavy metal band. When I bought a Led Zeppelin album from a record shop I'd get it from the heavy metal section. I used to have a book called 'The Bible of Heavy Metal', which was written by Malcolm Dome and published in 1981. Led Zeppelin are featured heavily and Cream and The Jimi Hendrix Experience were named as the first heavy metal bands in it. I just found this image: None of the bands named on the front cover would be considered heavy metal bands by most people today, but they were back then. Well I have to disagree with that. None of my circle of friends have ever considered Led Zeppelin to be Heavy Metal - not even in the early eighties, despite what record shop section they were put in or what magazines and books they were in. Certain sections of the media have always classed them that way - that doesn't mean everybody did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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