Jimmy Page & Robert Plant
The World’s Greatest Rock Band. Led Zeppelin is quite simply the greatest rock band ever. There are many elements that go into being a rock band. Or at least there are several different aspects in which a band or artist can be great. Led Zeppelin had it all: great songwriting, diversity, style, charisma, chemistry, stage presence, and most of all they were just absolutely talented. You can find other musicians who are maybe just as talented playing their respective instruments, but these same musicians lack the charisma, or maybe the songwriting ability,…etc.
There are those that will argue that a band like Dream Theater is the most talented group of musicians. I very much respect Dream Theater’s ability to play music. Very often they’ve shown the ability to play other bands’ songs better than those that wrote the song. But they haven’t written any songs of their own that are even on the same level as “Over the Hills and Far Away“, “Dazed & Confused“, “Ten Years Gone“, or of course the legendary “Stairway to Heaven“. Then there are groups like the Beatles who clearly were geniuses when it came to writing music, which in my opinion is a more important quality than just the ability to play music. But Zeppelin’s songs are comparable to those of the Beatles, and Led Zeppelin’s ability to play is superior to that of the Beatles. (Let it be known, that I really have no beef with the argument that the Beatles are the greatest rock group ever, simply because when it comes down to it, no one has influenced rock the way they did.) The debate between Led Zeppelin and the Beatles will be saved for another day.
At every post, Zeppelin is supremely talented. There’s never been another front man quite like that of Robert Plant. He’s an incredible singer, with an amazing range, and should be the standard by which all rock front men are measured by. Jimmy Page is the great gatherer of the musicians. He’s the prime orchestrator of the band. And he was absolutely revolutionary with the guitar. On drums, John Bonham was the greatest rocker to ever keep time. He was the epitome of flair and style. Bonham is one of the few drummers that is just as distinguishable by the way he plays as he is by the voice of the singer that sings in front of him. You could probably replace the drummer of most bands, and you wouldn’t even notice. John Paul Jones is in my opinion the absolute underdog and the most under appreciated member of the band. Apart from being an incredible bassist, he was amazing playing the organ, the cello, and mandolin among other things. There’s never been a greater combination of four musicians ever in the history of rock. That is why Led Zeppelin is “The World’s Greatest Rock Band“.
