Led Zeppelin.....The Greatest Band Ever

This is my first debate, so I'm not sure of all the "Debate Lingo" so I will debate the best I can. My opponent, Con as I will refer to him, states a definition of greatest. >Greatest: a person(s) who have achieved the highest importance or distinction in a field The first portion of the definition is a matter of opinion. To achieve the highest importance depends on your perspective; an example. In developed countries, such as the USA and UK, a means of transportation is much more important than in third world countries. To achieve distinction is to make yourself known in the desired field of work. The Beatles and Led Zeppelin both achieved this on a global scale. Con then continues to state six prerequisites for becoming "The Greatest Band. " 1. Talent 2. Chemistry 3. Consistency 4. A Vision of Where They Want to Take Music 5. Communication With The Audience 6. Globalization Talent-a person who possesses unusual innate ability in some field or activity My opponent states that talent is in the eyes of the beholder. I do not see it so. The definition I have given states that talent is an unusual innate ability in some field or activity. Each member of Led Zeppelin had that, an unusual innate ability to perform extraordinarily well in each of their desired field. Jimmy Page was arguably the most best and most complete guitar player there has ever been. Creating complex riffs throughout his career and thinking outside the box; using many alternative tunings, 12 string guitars, double neck guitars, and even a violin bow on some occasions. John Baldwin AKA John Paul Jones is the most versatile musician of the modern age. Playing 12 different instruments, ranging from keyboards to lap steel guitars to bass guitars, there is most likely no one who as been a part of popular music to be so talented at so many different positions on stage. John Henry "Bonzo" Bonham was the late drummer of Led Zeppelin dieing in September of 1980. His thunderous rolls and legendary triplets where heard as a beginning of a new age for drummers. Widely known as the most complete drummer, there few who question whether Keith Moon or Neil Peart is better. The last member, Robert Plant, is possibly the one that doesn't have a leg up on the corresponding member of The Beatles. Although an outstanding vocalist, he did not have the range that The Beatles as a whole had, only able to truly hit medium to high pitches but The Beatles had all four members doing some form of vocals, so naturally they should have a greater range. Chemistry Again my opponent says that this is immeasurable. But to that I say "BLAH. " One way of telling if a band has good chemistry is by looking at their live performances. The Beatles live were the same live as they were in the studio with one difference, four guys in suits. The sound was just the same. Led Zeppelin on the other hand, tried to make their concerts fun for the audience, giving them something new instead of something they had already heard. You can see the chemistry by how each member of the band was able to feed off the others during solos. The best example is during live performances of Stairway to Heaven during which it is said that Jimmy Page never played the same solo twice. Consistency Both bands were consistent throughout their entire careers. The only exception came in the mid 70s when Jimmy Page became ill and his son tragically died (He took a year off to recuperate). Led Zeppelin was able to fill sporting arenas across the global and even when their popularity was fading in 1979, they were still able to sell out Knebworth within a few hours of tickets being released. Also, my opponent speaks of a plagiarism controversy with Led Zeppelin. The songs that were allegedly plagiarized were old blues and folk songs, which had been passed along from one musician to another for years and it just so happened that the last person to reform the song thought that they were entitled to money. No one can say that they were the writers of the songs that you speak off because no one is sure where they came from. A vision of where they wanted to take music You could easily give this one to The Beatles because when they came around, nothing had been done in rock, so you could say anything they did was a vision. But Led Zeppelin is different. In 1968 when they were formed, rock was still young but a lot had been done in recent years. So they had to become more inventive than anyone before them. With their first album they ventured to where only Cream had touched before them, hard rock. And they exploited this genre for all it was worth with songs such as "Good Times Bad Times," "Dazed and Confused," and "Communication Breakdown. " They continued with this on Led Zeppelin 2, but then they surprised critics with Led Zeppelin 3, an acoustic based album, with eastern influences. And I could go on but I do not think that is necessary. Led Zeppelin owns this. Communication with the Audience The fact that The Beatles is the only band to sell more than a billion albums speaks volumes for what they were able to achieve but does not mean that they have a better communication with audiences. Before you spoke of "Beatlemania," so I will give you the definition of mania. Mania- an irrational but irresistible motive for a belief or action You could say that The Beatles had a great connection with audiences or you could look at it from a different perspective and realize that what The Beatles had was not a connection but a craze created by the media. People were sucked in and were never able to escape due to the shear mass of the British Invasion. Again, Led Zeppelin was different in their communication with audiences. They came around towards to the end of the British Invasion as an underground band trying to make it big. They were never truly accepted by the media and critics, to a certain point, hated them. Led Zeppelin built their success on their music and not on a media fed craze that swept the world. Also, at one point my opponent speaks of Led Zeppelin record sales; the number is wrong. He/She gives the US sales number which is now 113.5mil, the world wide sales number is 300mil. Globalization My opponent again speaks of the craze "Beatlemania" and again I will say it was a craze and not a true love of music. As for Led Zeppelin not having anything that can equal the success of "Beatlemania," I again say "BLAH. " If the audience of this debate recalls, Led Zeppelin had a one-off show last year with the remaining three members of the band at the O2 arena in London as a tribute to Ahmet Ertegun and a fundraiser for his Education Fund. There were 20,000 tickets available for the show; 20,000,000 applications were filed for tickets to the one show. I highly doubt that if the remaining member of The Beatles did a one-off show there would be anything comparable to this concert.