Led Zeppelin.....The Greatest Band Ever

And to clarify what I meant by "BLAH"; I don't know exactly what I meant by it at the time but it was something along the lines of "Immeasurable? !? .. .. .Im-immeasurable? " A phrase I used in a feeling of disbelief or shock; just going down the road not taken. And now, I will give my last argument as to why Led Zeppelin is the Greatest Band Ever. Instead of lingering on the same topics of our "measuring stick for the Greatest Band," I will bring a new one into the light; versatility. >I will hit a select two or three of the previous topics at the end. Versatility-Capable of doing many things competently. The American Heritage Dictionary >Capable of doing many things—different styles (not necessarily genres) of music >Competently—skillfully, effectively, and dexterously I will start with The Beatles and their ability to perform in a versatile manner. The Beatles, although some of the best song writers of the past five decades, never really strayed from the path that they started on. Most of their songs were played at a moderate tempo, somewhat soft (Yes, I know there are exceptions), and in a very melodic manner. They stayed within what seems to be a "poppy, sing-along" bubble, in which they dared not venture out of with the exception of a few songs; includes but not limited to, "Across the Universe," "Live and Let Die," and "Come Together. " This isn't to say that The Beatles were one dimensional, but to say that they are no where near as versatile as Led Zeppelin. Now, too speak about the versatility of Led Zeppelin. During their first two or three years, Led Zeppelin was very blues oriented, but that doesn't mean that that is all they did. On Led Zeppelin 1, they focused their attention on hard rock and blues, honing their abilities to work as a group. On Led Zeppelin 2, the band started to venture into uncharted waters, writing the ballad "Thank You," and Founder and Producer Jimmy Page started to give the other members much more freedom, which can be heard in the instrumental "Moby Dick. " On Led Zeppelin 3, they drifted further into those metaphorical waters. Songs such as "Friends" with its distinct Easter influences and the soft acoustic "That's the Way" had never been heard before. The opening track "Immigrant Song" was one of the hardest rocking songs the world had heard up to that point. Then, on November 8, 1971, the album they would become known for the next four decades was released, the officially untitled fourth album; commonly called the Four Symbols Album or Led Zeppelin 4. Songs ranged from the folk-like "Stairway to Heaven" to the aptly named "Rock and Roll," to the stories of Middle-Earth told in "The Battle of Evermore. " The next two albums, Houses of the Holy and Physical Graffiti would follow suit with outside the box songs such as "D'yer Mak'er," "No Quarter," and "Trampled Underfoot. " "D'yer Mak'er" was an ill-advised, but half-way successful attempt by Led Zeppelin to recreate the music of Marley, Reggae. "No Quarter" made the keyboard an indispensable part of the rock genre and "Trampled Underfoot" was a very popular dance song during the 70s. On their next album, "Presence," they would epitomize their influence on metal in the song "Achilles Last Stand;" the title is an allusion to Robert Plant breaking his ankle during a west coast tour, not the Greek Hero. Versatility is one of the characteristics of Led Zeppelin that defined it. There are few that could cover as much of the rock genre, as did Led Zeppelin. From the soft acoustic in "Stairway to Heaven," to the relentless pounding of 4 and 8 string basses in "Achilles Last Stand;" from the Eastern styled "Friends," to the dueling mandolins and acoustics in "The Battle of Evermore," I think now it is safe to say Led Zeppelin was and still is much more versatile than The Beatles. Now, to touch on the previous topics. Chemistry My opponent again says that chemistry is immeasurable, that you cannot tell how a group of people works together by just listening or watching them, but then he continues on saying that it is possible to tell how much feeling a person plays with. My question is, if not one, why the other? But I agree with him on this, you can tell how much feeling someone is playing with by just watching them. Led Zeppelin played with an enormous amount of feeling during shows; a great example of this is during any live "Stairway to Heaven" guitar solo or during any performance of "Moby Dick. " The Beatles wrote with emotion, there is no denying that, but when performing live, you couldn't see or truly hear the feeling. Consistency My opponent again goes to the plagiarism for a source of negative influence. "Bring It On Home" is not completely a cover song as my opponent states, but a homage to Sonny Boy Williamson (the intro and outro were the only parts used from his version), and to say that "Whole Lotta Love" was plagiarized is absurd; Led Zeppelin merely "bored" the lyrics, which was common place among blues musicians, and added all the instrumentation themselves. It is also important to note that "Bring It On Home" was not written by Sonny Boy Williamson, just made famous by him. Also, in due time, both musicians received royalties for both songs with outside court agreements.