Which of these bands is the most influential and the most important in rock history?

[Texas King]

Velvet Underground should be in this poll. They are far and away the most influential non-mainstream or "underground" rock band ever.

[Texas King]

From this list it's Sabbath. By a lot.

Bwhahaha!! Zep is clearly the answer. But Sabbath is second.

 

I agree that it is funny to suggest that Zeppelin is more influential. Don't get me wrong. I love their music. But they're more like the Stones than Sabbath in this poll. They didn't really "change," anything.

 

They influenced countless bands. Literally every hard rock band is influenced by LZ. Rush is influenced by them.

Edited April 27, 2020 by Texas King

[Mithrandir]

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2014/06/led_zeppelin_how_jimmy_page_robert_plant_et_al_invented_modern_rock.html

[Rick N. Backer]

From this list it's Sabbath. By a lot.

Bwhahaha!! Zep is clearly the answer. But Sabbath is second.

 

I agree that it is funny to suggest that Zeppelin is more influential. Don't get me wrong. I love their music. But they're more like the Stones than Sabbath in this poll. They didn't really "change," anything.

 

They influenced countless bands. Literally every hard rock band is influenced by them.

 

There's a difference between bands saying they like them and emulated them, and the band having changed music in some way. The Beatles changed music, the Stones didn't really, even though I love both bands. Sabbath changed hard rock, Zeppelin didn't.

[Mithrandir]

From this list it's Sabbath. By a lot.

Bwhahaha!! Zep is clearly the answer. But Sabbath is second.

 

I agree that it is funny to suggest that Zeppelin is more influential. Don't get me wrong. I love their music. But they're more like the Stones than Sabbath in this poll. They didn't really "change," anything.

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2014/06/led_zeppelin_how_jimmy_page_robert_plant_et_al_invented_modern_rock.html

 

I chose this article because it shows that Zeppelin did "change" things in rock music.

[Rick N. Backer]

Judging by the poll and some of the other recent polls people are voting for their favourite bands.

 

I try not to do that, although I suppose on some level it's unavoidable. I'm not a huge Queen fan, and I suspect that colors my view that, while I acknowledge that lots of people see them differently, I don't see them as terribly influential. It's probably the same with regard to my view of Zeppelin v. Sabbath. I prefer Sabbath by a lot.

[Mithrandir]

More changes that Zep brought to the rock music game:

 

https://societyofrock.com/why-the-influence-of-led-zeppelin-was-crucial-for-rock-n-roll/

[Entre_Perpetuo]

From this list it's Sabbath. By a lot.

Bwhahaha!! Zep is clearly the answer. But Sabbath is second.

 

I agree that it is funny to suggest that Zeppelin is more influential. Don't get me wrong. I love their music. But they're more like the Stones than Sabbath in this poll. They didn't really "change," anything.

 

They influenced countless bands. Literally every hard rock band is influenced by them.

 

There's a difference between bands saying they like them and emulated them, and the band having changed music in some way. The Beatles changed music, the Stones didn't really, even though I love both bands. Sabbath changed hard rock, Zeppelin didn't.

 

I gotta say I disagree here. Sabbath are wildly influential to metal, but Zeppelin are as well, plus being super influential on heavy rock of all colors. Every hard rock album from Queen I to Superunknown owes a debt to Zeppelin. Sabbath had massive impact as well, but it was often limited to bands who consider themselves “metal,” whatever that means.

[The Cat 3]

http://www.iommi.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/blacksabbath.png

[Rick N. Backer]

From this list it's Sabbath. By a lot.

Bwhahaha!! Zep is clearly the answer. But Sabbath is second.

 

I agree that it is funny to suggest that Zeppelin is more influential. Don't get me wrong. I love their music. But they're more like the Stones than Sabbath in this poll. They didn't really "change," anything.

 

They influenced countless bands. Literally every hard rock band is influenced by them.

 

There's a difference between bands saying they like them and emulated them, and the band having changed music in some way. The Beatles changed music, the Stones didn't really, even though I love both bands. Sabbath changed hard rock, Zeppelin didn't.

 

I gotta say I disagree here. Sabbath are wildly influential to metal, but Zeppelin are as well, plus being super influential on heavy rock of all colors. Every hard rock album from Queen I to Superunknown owes a debt to Zeppelin. Sabbath had massive impact as well, but it was often limited to bands who consider themselves “metal,” whatever that means.

 

Funny you should mention Superunknown. Soundgarden covered Into the Void, and Outshined may as well be a Sabbath cover. Zeppelin is a very influential band. But they didn't change things as much as Sabbath did.

[Rutlefan]

Re "most important," and not being limited to Heavy Metal, outside The Beatles this should be between the Stones and Zeppelin. Clearly. I'll give it to Zeppelin.

 

Re "most influential", outside The Beatles it's far and away Zeppelin. Seemed as I was growing up in the '70s and early '80s nearly every heavy guitar band was trying to be "the next Zeppelin." Legend/mystique-wise Zeppelin were larger than life gods from Mt. Olympus. Musically, Zeppelin took Cream-derived (so it would seem) hard rock/heavy metal and expanded it as well into Joni Mitchell-esque Nordic Hobbit rock with the occasional Middle Eastern influence. No one sounded like mid-'70s Zeppelin. Many many bands tried, but the closer they came, superficially at least, the more they just sounded like funny parodies. Zeppelin was the only band that could pull off that mystical mumbo jumbo cock rock without a hint of irony and not sound ridiculous. In Zeppelin's able hands, Immigrant Song not only doesn't sound like some Spinal Tap-esque joke but sounds completely epic and awesome. Zeppelin was to the '70s what The Beatles were to the '60s, with all due respect to the Stones, Floyd, and The Who. The only way you can listen to Zeppelin through Physical Graffiti and not have your mind blown is that it's just so familiar already.

Edited April 27, 2020 by Rutlefan

[Entre_Perpetuo]

From this list it's Sabbath. By a lot.

Bwhahaha!! Zep is clearly the answer. But Sabbath is second.

 

I agree that it is funny to suggest that Zeppelin is more influential. Don't get me wrong. I love their music. But they're more like the Stones than Sabbath in this poll. They didn't really "change," anything.

 

They influenced countless bands. Literally every hard rock band is influenced by them.

 

There's a difference between bands saying they like them and emulated them, and the band having changed music in some way. The Beatles changed music, the Stones didn't really, even though I love both bands. Sabbath changed hard rock, Zeppelin didn't.

 

I gotta say I disagree here. Sabbath are wildly influential to metal, but Zeppelin are as well, plus being super influential on heavy rock of all colors. Every hard rock album from Queen I to Superunknown owes a debt to Zeppelin. Sabbath had massive impact as well, but it was often limited to bands who consider themselves “metal,” whatever that means.

 

Funny you should mention Superunknown. Soundgarden covered Into the Void, and Outshined may as well be a Sabbath cover. Zeppelin is a very influential band. But they didn't change things as much as Sabbath did.

 

I think Robert Plant definitely changed the game for rock singers, and Jimmy Page definitely changed the game for riff writers. Soundgarden have a lot of influence from both bands, as many bands do. If Zeppelin isn't slightly more influential, than I'd have to think they're about equal.

[Entre_Perpetuo]

Black Sabbath have a bigger indirect than direct influence on metal.

 

Is this the "Sabbath aren't metal" argument again? I can't think of one single metal band that isn't to some degree just riffing on ideas Tony Iommi came up with first.

[IbanezJem]

Hmmm. it`s probably Zep. Not that they didn`t steal a fair bit, but if they hadn`t it`s hard to imagine a lot of bands that followed would have existed the same way, without Zep laying out the framework. Frontman with screams and style, innovative guitar solos and thundering drums and bass with later introduction of synths, change of lyrical style... a lot of bands took that formula. It wasn`t brand new from Zep either, but I think everything they did took the genre forward.

[Rick N. Backer]

From this list it's Sabbath. By a lot.

Bwhahaha!! Zep is clearly the answer. But Sabbath is second.

 

I agree that it is funny to suggest that Zeppelin is more influential. Don't get me wrong. I love their music. But they're more like the Stones than Sabbath in this poll. They didn't really "change," anything.

 

They influenced countless bands. Literally every hard rock band is influenced by them.

 

There's a difference between bands saying they like them and emulated them, and the band having changed music in some way. The Beatles changed music, the Stones didn't really, even though I love both bands. Sabbath changed hard rock, Zeppelin didn't.

 

I gotta say I disagree here. Sabbath are wildly influential to metal, but Zeppelin are as well, plus being super influential on heavy rock of all colors. Every hard rock album from Queen I to Superunknown owes a debt to Zeppelin. Sabbath had massive impact as well, but it was often limited to bands who consider themselves “metal,” whatever that means.

 

Funny you should mention Superunknown. Soundgarden covered Into the Void, and Outshined may as well be a Sabbath cover. Zeppelin is a very influential band. But they didn't change things as much as Sabbath did.

 

I think Robert Plant definitely changed the game for rock singers, and Jimmy Page definitely changed the game for riff writers. Soundgarden have a lot of influence from both bands, as many bands do. If Zeppelin isn't slightly more influential, than I'd have to think they're about equal.

 

Plant is probably a more direct link to the rock front men of the 80s. I think Iommi has more claim to having influenced riff writing though.

 

My point is that Sabbath's whole aura was unlike anything that came before them. Bands like Slayer (who I can't stand) with their dark image, and the late 80s to early 90s "grunge" bands (to the extent that's a category) with their slow and grinding riffs, don't exist without Sabbath. I think there's a difference between saying a band is a great band that everyone admired (Zeppelin) and one that brought a completely new style to music. Zeppelin's stage presence and music style isn't terribly different from even the Stones, now that I think of it. Love them both, btw.

[Mithrandir]

Re "most important," and not being limited to Heavy Metal, outside The Beatles this should be between the Stones and Zeppelin. Clearly. I'll give it to Zeppelin.

 

Re "most influential", outside The Beatles it's far and away Zeppelin. Seemed as I was growing up in the '70s and early '80s nearly every heavy guitar band was trying to be "the next Zeppelin." Legend/mystique-wise Zeppelin were larger than life gods from Mt. Olympus. Musically, Zeppelin took Cream-derived (so it would seem) hard rock/heavy metal and expanded it as well into Joni Mitchell-esque Nordic Hobbit rock with the occasional Middle Eastern influence. No one sounded like mid-'70s Zeppelin. Many many bands tried, but the closer they came, superficially at least, the more they just sounded like funny parodies. Zeppelin was the only band that could pull off that mystical mumbo jumbo cock rock without a hint of irony and not sound ridiculous. In Zeppelin's able hands, Immigrant Song not only doesn't sound like some Spinal Tap-esque joke but sounds completely epic and awesome. Zeppelin was to the '70s what The Beatles were to the '60s, with all due respect to the Stones, Floyd, and The Who. The only way you can listen to Zeppelin through Physical Graffiti and not have your mind blown is that it's just so familiar already.

AMEN BRUTHA!!

[Texas King]

Black Sabbath have a bigger indirect than direct influence on metal.

 

Is this the "Sabbath aren't metal" argument again? I can't think of one single metal band that isn't to some degree just riffing on ideas Tony Iommi came up with first.

 

Nope. Sabbath are metal, but they haven't influenced every metal band.

[Entre_Perpetuo]

Black Sabbath have a bigger indirect than direct influence on metal.

 

Is this the "Sabbath aren't metal" argument again? I can't think of one single metal band that isn't to some degree just riffing on ideas Tony Iommi came up with first.

 

Nope. Sabbath are metal, but they haven't influenced every metal band.

 

Name one they haven't influenced.

[Entre_Perpetuo]

From this list it's Sabbath. By a lot.

Bwhahaha!! Zep is clearly the answer. But Sabbath is second.

 

I agree that it is funny to suggest that Zeppelin is more influential. Don't get me wrong. I love their music. But they're more like the Stones than Sabbath in this poll. They didn't really "change," anything.

 

They influenced countless bands. Literally every hard rock band is influenced by them.

 

There's a difference between bands saying they like them and emulated them, and the band having changed music in some way. The Beatles changed music, the Stones didn't really, even though I love both bands. Sabbath changed hard rock, Zeppelin didn't.

 

I gotta say I disagree here. Sabbath are wildly influential to metal, but Zeppelin are as well, plus being super influential on heavy rock of all colors. Every hard rock album from Queen I to Superunknown owes a debt to Zeppelin. Sabbath had massive impact as well, but it was often limited to bands who consider themselves “metal,” whatever that means.

 

Funny you should mention Superunknown. Soundgarden covered Into the Void, and Outshined may as well be a Sabbath cover. Zeppelin is a very influential band. But they didn't change things as much as Sabbath did.

 

I think Robert Plant definitely changed the game for rock singers, and Jimmy Page definitely changed the game for riff writers. Soundgarden have a lot of influence from both bands, as many bands do. If Zeppelin isn't slightly more influential, than I'd have to think they're about equal.

 

Plant is probably a more direct link to the rock front men of the 80s. I think Iommi has more claim to having influenced riff writing though.

 

My point is that Sabbath's whole aura was unlike anything that came before them. Bands like Slayer (who I can't stand) with their dark image, and the late 80s to early 90s "grunge" bands (to the extent that's a category) with their slow and grinding riffs, don't exist without Sabbath. I think there's a difference between saying a band is a great band that everyone admired (Zeppelin) and one that brought a completely new style to music. Zeppelin's stage presence and music style isn't terribly different from even the Stones, now that I think of it. Love them both, btw.

 

I feel like this is a similar argument as could be had between Jimi and EVH for influence on guitar. One came after the other, but both were game changers in many ways and nearly ever later guitarist owed at least one of them a huge debt.

[Rick N. Backer]

I like discussing music with you EP. :cheers:

[TexMike]

Really difficult question. I think a case could be made for half of the bands in that list. Ultimately though, I have to go with Hendrix. I believe his unique combination of style, innovation and showmanship inspired the most artists who came after him.

[goose]

From this list it's Sabbath. By a lot.

Bwhahaha!! Zep is clearly the answer. But Sabbath is second.

 

I agree that it is funny to suggest that Zeppelin is more influential. Don't get me wrong. I love their music. But they're more like the Stones than Sabbath in this poll. They didn't really "change," anything.

http://www.slate.com...odern_rock.html

 

I chose this article because it shows that Zeppelin did "change" things in rock music.

:goodone:

[goose]

Black Sabbath have a bigger indirect than direct influence on metal.

 

Is this the "Sabbath aren't metal" argument again? I can't think of one single metal band that isn't to some degree just riffing on ideas Tony Iommi came up with first.

 

Nope. Sabbath are metal, but they haven't influenced every metal band.

 

Name one they haven't influenced.

I think you could make that same challenge with "Zeppelin" or "Deep Purple" substituted. What iss the more likely first song for a budding metal guitarist, Paranoid, Whole Lotta Love, or Smoke on the Water?

[Entre_Perpetuo]

I like discussing music with you EP. :cheers:

 

And I you! :cheers:

[Entre_Perpetuo]

Black Sabbath have a bigger indirect than direct influence on metal.

 

Is this the "Sabbath aren't metal" argument again? I can't think of one single metal band that isn't to some degree just riffing on ideas Tony Iommi came up with first.

 

Nope. Sabbath are metal, but they haven't influenced every metal band.

 

Name one they haven't influenced.

I think you could make that same challenge with "Zeppelin" or "Deep Purple" substituted. What iss the more likely first song for a budding metal guitarist, Paranoid, Whole Lotta Love, or Smoke on the Water?

 

Very true! Smoke has the infamy, but Paranoid is the most metal, but Love is possibly the simplest and grooviest of the bunch.

Edited April 27, 2020 by Entre_Perpetuo