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Zeppelin, are they metal?


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One way to look at it is, do you think of -jimmy page as a heavy metal guitarist? imo, i don't. There were moments in -the song remains the same, where the jams got really heavy, maybe thats where the heavy metal notion comes from.

It definately was a collective heavy sound, but it was more of a natural sound...not stark, or mechanical, where alot of the heavy music/heavy metal was like.

Led Zeppelin definately had a mechanical factor, being a riff oriented band, but they had groove and alot more soul going on.

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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:

feba_1.jpg

None of the bands named on the front cover would be considered heavy metal bands by most people today, but they were back then.

They were always in the rock section in any record store I ever went to. As I said before, I never classified them as metal either nor did anyone I know except the media pretty much.

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No. Led Zeppelin have too many colors, textures, themes and a much broader scope than pretty much every single heavy metal band that ever existed. Virtually no real metal bands would put out and album that sounds like III or have songs like 'Fool In The Rain', or have the humor and guts to pull of something like 'Hot Dog'.

Now, they certainly influenced practically every metal band that had a love for mysticism and thunder as opposed to raunch and screeching, like so many other metal bands that sound like they'd rather plunder New York Dolls and Kiss records instead of Zeppelin. Plus, the obvious achor in the blues and folk at the heart of Led Zeppelin is just not really there with heavy metal.

Black Sabbath - now THERE'S a '70s metal band. Doom and gloom? Check. Bottom heavy sludgy sound? Check. Way too serious for there own good? Check. Satanic iconography and obsession with hell? Oh, check.

....sure, Zeppelin has a fascination with the occult, but not really hell and Satan. Just mystical, medieval chicanery perfectly suited for RPG nerds and classic rock marathons on the radio with fat, middle-aged stoner DJs claiming they were once roadies on the 1973 tour.

Hard rock -

Guitar: Gibson Les Paul

Mineral: Granite

Hair length: midback

Sound: inflammatory

Color: Red

Amp volume level 1-10: 10

Motto: "Awright Boston!!" :P

Heavy metal -

Guitar: B.C. Rich Metal Master

Mineral: Iron

Hair length: down to your arse

Sound: steely and sludgy

Color: Black

Amp volume level 1-10: 13

Motto: "You're gonna DIIIEEEE!!!!" :angry:

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Apologies but I'm not sure I follow what you're saying here.

It's ok...I'll let your head boggle some more

I swear, i had a strong feeling you were gunna come tumbling in.

one day you'll find out...one day

ehhh...did you figure out yet why everyone's getting sick?

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It's ok...I'll let your head boggle some more

I swear, i had a strong feeling you were gunna come tumbling in.

one day you'll find out...one day

ehhh...did you figure out yet why everyone's getting sick?

Why would you say that? I was legitimately asking because I didn't understand and hoped you'd clarify it a bit more - it wasn't meant as sarcastic.

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lol...you think i would actually apologize... too you :rolleyes:

I've been apart of this site long enough to see...

What are you implying here? See what? I've never had an issue with you and I don't get why you seem to have one with me all of a sudden. All I did was ask a question about something you posted because I was curious.

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It's ok...I'll let your head boggle some more

I swear, i had a strong feeling you were gunna come tumbling in.

one day you'll find out...one day

ehhh...did you figure out yet why everyone's getting sick?

Well I was going to ask pretty much the same question about your odd statement.

So you going to have ago at me too? So please share with all of us what ninelives is going to find out cos I am intrigued and may pester you to answer your seeming accusation about something towards her. <_<

Moving on

Led Zeppelin were never heavy metal in my book, others here have pointed out their diverse ranges and yes some is heavy rock but metal as I understand it, NO!!!

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When I think of Led Zeppelin, I like the definiton of "Blues-Based Hard Rock" best.

But there are many way to define Led Zeppelin.

"Metal" is one of them, especially when listening to a LIVE version of the song "TSRTS".

"Heavy Metal", as in Black Sabbath.... well, I never thought of Zeppelin in that category.

But then Metal has many sub-catagories.... (Speed, Thrash, Death, etc.)

A Progressive Rock band like Dream Theater has "Metal" aspects, ir "The Mirror" & "Lie".

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  • 2 weeks later...

whether they are partly a metal band is a moot point.. the important thing is zeppelin had a huge influence on it.. whether it was intentional or not.. they did.. it wouldnt be close to what is without zep.. speed metal was defined by achilles last stand imop.. metallica admit their debt and the influence they had from zeppelin.. every band 2day consequently is influenced punk metal hard rock.. zep did it all and covered so many genres.. whether they were metal or not idk.. what i do know is they impacted it and wouldnt be the same without the mighty zeppelin

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they are absloutly metal

but not all of their songs

songs like gallows pole and the rain song has nothing to do with metal

but please listen to the immigrant song and baby i m gonna leave you and achilles last stand and listen afterwards to metallica

the thing that have changed is the amount ane style of drumming

the question is what is heavy metal as a music

heavy metal or heavy rock is a music originated from the fast heavy blues rock that appeared in the 1967 thanks to blue cheer and jimmy hendrix and iron butterfly and steppenwolf and cream

what gave this blues rock its edge is the psychedlic influence

that gave this blues rock that hard bombastic edgy sound

so

we can't call cream or ironbutterfly or steppenwolf metal on the otherhand we can call blue cheer protometal in their first line up during 1967 till 1971 so when they returned in 1985 they emerged into heavy metal

and when black sabbath and led zeppelin and deep purple came

they took this edgy proto metal sound into a new teritory

called by then heavy metal rock

or heavy rock

or hard rock

all these synonoms were created by the press to describe the new edgy sound created by these three giants

if led zeppelin weren't metal

why they didn't call foghat or heart or cream or acdc this name!

they are really metal

metal before judas priest or iron maiden or motorhead gave heavy metal another edgey sound influenced by punk

metal originated from blues and is fluenced by every music surrounds it

from boogie till rap and will always be influenced so you can find a broad range of sound from the traditional judas priest and guns and roses till the new classical metal of yngwie malmsteen

but i prefer the word rock to it

as for led zeppelin not all of their songs were metal like their last album

but they did have metal

so to say

were they metal =yes

were ALL of their songs metal=no

they were as jimmy has described them

shade and light

i hope that you understood what is metal music is really about and what is the origin of this music

thanks

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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:

feba_1.jpg

None of the bands named on the front cover would be considered heavy metal bands by most people today, but they were back then.

and now

metallica aren't called metal they are hard rock to people nowadays

so is van halen and megadeth and yngwie malmsteen

metal is tight but loose :D and since it is a loosy blues rock you won't get a proper definition to it if you are an averege listener who hasn't got a deep knowlege of it

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metal is tight but loose :D and since it is a loosy blues rock you won't get a proper definition to it if you are an averege listener who hasn't got a deep knowlege of it

Led Zeppelin are not metal. No matter how deep you think your knowledge is.

We can argue back and forth over this endlessly but I would have thought the final answer comes from the guys themselves - and they say they are NOT metal. I think they should know.

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Led Zeppelin are not metal. No matter how deep you think your knowledge is.

We can argue back and forth over this endlessly but I would have thought the final answer comes from the guys themselves - and they say they are NOT metal. I think they should know.

It's obvious some of us aren't young enough to know everything! :rolleyes:

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Led Zeppelin are not metal. No matter how deep you think your knowledge is.

We can argue back and forth over this endlessly but I would have thought the final answer comes from the guys themselves - and they say they are NOT metal. I think they should know.

:yesnod: :yesnod:

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[T]he final answer comes from the guys themselves - and they say they are NOT metal. I think they should know.

I have always believed Zep claimed NOT to be metal just to keep themselves out of that old pigeon hole they were placed in early in their career with other bands like Black Sabbath (who I love). But if you were around back then, they do have songs that at the time were considered 'heavy metal.'

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I have always believed Zep claimed NOT to be metal just to keep themselves out of that old pigeon hole they were placed in early in their career with other bands like Black Sabbath (who I love). But if you were around back then, they do have songs that at the time were considered 'heavy metal.'

I was around back then.

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I have always believed Zep claimed NOT to be metal just to keep themselves out of that old pigeon hole they were placed in early in their career with other bands like Black Sabbath (who I love). But if you were around back then, they do have songs that at the time were considered 'heavy metal.'

I don't remember them being considered a heavy metal band during their heyday. Hard rock, in the spirit of Hendrix, Cream, The Who etc but definately not metal. All that came after the fact in the 80's.

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