Unpopular opinion time!
For the record, I think Greta Van Fleet are far better musicians than Led Zep were and do Led Zep better than Zep - at least their singer can sing consistently on pitch!
I cannot say the same thing for the Screech Monkey, Mr. Plant!
GVF put out consistently good records that have veered away from their idols recently, the same cannot be said of Led Zeppelin.
Off key singing and sloppy, inconsistent guitar work make the first three LZ records almost unlistenable for me, with the exception of a few tunes here and there.
LZ4 only has 4 good tunes on it, the rest are trash.
LZ2 is possibly the worst record I’ve ever heard in my life, and that guitar solo from Page in Heartbreaker is the kind of thing you’d get from a 15 year old kid at a highschool talent show where he absolutely thinks he’s the shit, but ends up playing a bunch of messy slop on stage.
Zeppelin finally made a great record with Houses of the Holy, when they finally released a record with actual original material, not outright theft, Page played well and consistently, and Plant sang consistently on key and on pitch.
Presence is also a great record, but two great records amongst a back catalogue that ranges from good to trash does not make a great band.
The Beatles aren’t overrated - they are competent, consistent, original and have written some of the greatest songs in pop history.
Led Zeppelin, by contrast, is a band with a phenomenal rhythm section with a guitar player and singer who couldn’t bother to apply themselves half the time, either in performance or writing - they’d just rather steal wholesale from Willie Dixon and others and only give credit after they got sued and lost.
JPJ and Bonham always deserved better than Page and Plant - Zeppelin was a waste of their talents, it could have been so much better with a competent, consistent and originally creative guitar player and singer who weren’t prone to theft.
At least when Ritchie or Jon stole, they gave credit where it was due, instead of claiming it as their own. I can respect that, but what Page and Plant did to Dixon and others I cannot.
The fact that GVF copied and stole from them is outright poetry and justice in my books - Robert and Jimmy finally got their just desserts, and I’ve absolutely no problem with that.
Forget the Beatles. Led Zeppelin is the most over rated band in the history of rock and roll in my books, and are mostly undeserving of the praise offered them, considering the laziness and thievery that abounded in that band.
I could go on, but I won’t. I’ll await my tarring and feathering now - I know how unpopular what I’ve said is, but whenever someone brings Zep up as rock gods, I just can’t keep my mouth shut.
unless it is Purple of course. And apparently also Beatles…
And whats wrong with being a savage? In Huxley’s Brave New World. “the Savage” was the only good protagonist!