The Who or Led Zeppelin ?

fryup

Well...which one was best?

Larbre34

Always been quite a different offering, to my mind, but Zeppelin really do rule, so....

EmmetSpiceland

The Who all the way. Always found Led Zeppelin to be dreadfully overrated.

walshb

The Who, hands down!

c.p.w.g.w

Zeppelin by a country mile

BattleCorp

The WHO.

Led Zepplin did fcukall in the fight against COVID.

fryup

😎 ......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTJywZoG_bw

silliussoddius

It all comes down to Page versus Townshend, unfortunately Jimmy isn't as good at researching.

spindex

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058256708/the-who-or-led-zeppelin

The best at what ? Wordle, pizza making, assembling ikea furniture?

If your talking about music, then I'd say its led zep, that's my opinion and no poll is going to change that.

Xander10

always thought the Who were ****. Easy Poll

Pherekydes

Who?

furiousox

Love Led Zep, wish I loved The Who but don't like much of their stuff beyond "the hits".

Obviously Moon was unique, good argument for best rock drummer ever (like Bonham) and Entwistle was just amazing.

But, Led Zep..come on! They did it first, they did it biggest, they did it best.

The only group I can think of where ALL of the members were musical geniuses .

Like all the greats, we will never see their like again.

fryup

no, The Who did it first with Tommy and Led Zep followed

thebronze14

Led Zeppelin all the way. Never got into the Who at all. The craic with Pete Townshend has put me off getting into them completely at this stage

Montage of Feck

https://youtu.be/rx6Zgz0TZuA

Nothing like driving a stolen car in a high speed chase with this on the radio.

EmmetSpiceland

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119405934#Comment_119405934

Wait until you hear about what Jimmy Page got up to. Wasn’t just research, that’s for sure.

silliussoddius

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119405904#Comment_119405904

They didn't exactly do it first.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efuOELImxAc

Citizen Six

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119405865#Comment_119405865

Wasn't Pete into watching child porn?

Brid Hegarty

It's hard for me to vote. I would think of Zeppelin as being a better band, but some of Townshend's lyrics really get me. Such as "if I smile tell me some bad news, before I laugh and I act like a fool".

You've probably never heard this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4knE3c2vUA&ab_channel=jeanlucpiccardov

Jordan 199

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119405945#Comment_119405945

That song reminds me of the video game Sleeping Dogs.

xxxxxxl

Rush.

y0ssar1an22

led zep for me, though this is my fav song and performance:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gu9HhYv0C7E&ab_channel=TheWhoVEVO

Arghus

Led Zeppelin all day long.

Led Zeppelin - some truly incredible songs. I don't think The Who were terrible or anything but I've never understood the adoration for them either.

Hangdogroad

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119405904#Comment_119405904

The Who were around long before Zep, if that's what you mean by did it first. The latter only formed in 1968, pretty late to the rock n roll party.

MrCostington

Voted Zep, but really love The Who too. I'm going to type this quietly, but, John Entwistle might just edge out JPJ as a bass player, but of course JPJ has many more strings to his bow.

Someone started a thread 2 years ago to mark Zep splitting up 40 years ago, here was my thoughts then:

Thank you OP for remembering the date! I did not have time to add to this yesterday apart from a quick post, so a lot of my points have been covered already, notably by keyzer (post 58) and jupiterkid (73).

Firstly, the music. Let's look at the individual members, if you look at any lists of the top 10/100 greatest rock guitar/drum/bass/singers, each of the 4 will be very near the top,or at the top. This is in basically any list I've seen from any source. As jupiterkid mentioned they hit the gound running. The band was Jimmy's and he hand picked the rest of the band, who were already accomplished musicians in their own right. A supergroup if you will. But we have seen many times this is no guarantee of success, but with Zep they gelled, like The Beatles did for example.

It's pointless to try to convince another person to like a band or song, it's personal taste, but I will say they had a huge range from the soft and beautiful like Tangerine to the loud and visceral Heartbreaker, to intricate compositions like Rain Song and using instruments like the mandolin, mellotron, theremin, Jimmy's bowing etc. They did not settle on one style, never afraid to experiment, yet, every song had a distinctive Zep DNA in it.

In terms of influence, musically, there is no shortage of bands after them that will cite their influence, and that (along with others of course) paved the way for another genre, metal. Listen to 1969's Dazed and Confused for example. They had an equal influence on the music business. As already mentioned, they came to Atlantic Records with there first album ready to go, paid for by Jimmy (don't forget, he was already a big star in The Yardbirds) and that and Peter Grant (the manager) where able to negotiate unheared of levels of creative control. Want to buy Whole Lotta Love? Too bad, you gotta buy the album. Want to see the band perform? Not on your TV mate, you gotta go to a gig! Who in the right mind would form a band and the never release singles (bar a very few after Atlantic begged enough!) or go on TV (apart from a handful of early appearances)? But they made it work, they were that good. And as mentioned bands that followed can be thankful with their pay cheques after a gig because of them.

Some have mentioned they were over indulgent or self centered, Well, firstly, you owe the band nothing, you don't have to like them. In return they perhaps don't owe us much either. They made music for themselves, as did bands of the time. I'll trade a 10 min drum solo any day of the week for all the One Direction designed by committee hits. In any case, the studio work was mostly very tight and disciplined. So what if some of it was 8 min long, more enjoyment for your ears! It was a journey of discovery.

Others have mentioned the excess and debauchery. OK, transport yourself back to the 70's, you are a 20 something red blooded rock god, social media and the PC brigade had not been invented. It would be rude not to...... yes? In any case, it seems a lot of the stories are either untrue, wrongly attributed or embellished in some way. And yes, I'm thinking of THAT thing! But, the past is a foreign country and they do things differently there....

As for the occult, that was Jimmy's personal hobby/interest, nothing more. True, being the wealthy man, he was able to take his hobby a bit further than you or I, sure he bought Aleister Crowley's house, but I don't recall any influence in the music. Much more Tolkien than Crowley!

I will concede that it appears Jimmy made some other choices that were questionable, at the time.

But anyway, to quote the philosopher Homer Simpson, after his visit to Rock n Roll camp, “You're supposed to be reckless and destructive... and be celebrated for behaviour that would land normal people in jail.”

To make this a balanced post I cannot neglect the P word (plagiarism ), I cannot bear to type it so will say forgetting to give credit to others whose work was the basis for Zep work:) This is something I never understood on many levels. The band had more than enough talent, not to need to lift stuff and write their own things, there was simply no need for it. And, also, there is no shame in saying this is our version of a Dixon or whatever track. They made them their own, superior versions. Like Hendrix and All along the Watchtower. If there are any F1 fans here, I liken it to Senna and more so Schumacher, they were head and shoulders above in driving talent, could have driven clean and fair, but just could not, had to win at any cost. I think it's ego in play and maybe same with Zep.

For me though, the treatment of Jonesy was their worst sin. Again, why? Shakes my head.

In summary: Was the band comprised of flawed human beings? Possibly. Was the mighty Zep the greatest rock band ever, and for of all time? In my opinion, hell yes!

pappyodaniel

The Who only had 2or3 great songs. Led Zeppelin had albums of great song.

Wanderer78

who zeppelin for me, but zeppelin really

theteal

In truth I don't know much of The Who apart from the usual handful of songs but I never got the impression they were considered in the same sphere as Led Zep.

furiousox

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119406489#Comment_119406489

By "they did it first" I meant they were the first rock group to go truly mega and conquer America (and the world) with multi platinum sales, sold out stadiums, private jets etc.

MrCostingtons post above is an excellent summation.

stanley1

Zeppelin by a country mile.

Dante

Zeppelin, not even close.

Led Zeppelin are probably the most overrated band of all time. Real Dad Rock stuff, and albums full of pretentious dross.

EmmetSpiceland

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119407285#Comment_119407285

Was that not Rory Gallagher?

The Who walked so Led Zeppelin could run.

Led Zeppelin were a rock 'n' roll boyband - a 1970s Backstreet Boys. The Who on the other hand had depth, they were artistically and lyrically in a differ solar system and had far more originality.

Neither rank particularly high on my list of all time faves but The Who trump Led Zeppelin.

NewbridgeIR

Both excellent but put The Who ahead based on

The Who Sell Out

Tommy

Quadrophenia

Who's Next

all classic 10/10 albums

Whereas Led Zeppelin don't quite hit the same heights aside from Presence (1976) which is my favourite.

bad2thebone

Well I was a mod, I like Zeppelin but I'd listen to the who more .

Say Your Number

Status Quo

fryup

jeepers! I thought this poll would be 50 - 50,

but Led Zep are running away with it 😶

Patrick2010

Love both, couldn’t choose

EmmetSpiceland

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119407601#Comment_119407601

Ah, it’s boards.ie, remember the president poll? Peter Casey won by a stretch.

Then there was the ‘Do you believe in climate change’ one a few days ago, majority didn’t.

You can’t really trust the opinions, or tastes, represented on this site. They rarely reflect the “real world”.

rolling boh

Like both up to a point as I got older would listen to the Who a bit more find Led Zep a bit harder on the ears at this stage the joys of getting older .

Arghus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119407647#Comment_119407647

Ah, heyor.

Whatever about the Peter Casey etc side of it, I think if you did a straw poll of people out in the street you'd find Zeppelin are a more popular band generally than The Who. I'd often laugh myself at how ridiculously askew some boards polls are, but, if you think The Who are more popular generally than Led Zep you're living in alternate universe.

I don't dislike The Who all that much or love them all that much. I gave them as much of a fair shot as any of other big dogs of that era when I was getting into the classic rock and pop stuff, but I could never really warm to them. And they get quite overbearing and a bit boring as they go on in years IMO.

Led Zep aren't perfect. They ripped off loads, laid the groundwork for cock rock, frequently cheesy and stupid lyrics and sometimes I can only take so much of Robert Plant, but, fawk, I can't deny some of their songs. They just grab me in a primal way that The Who just could never, ever, do. If you strip away all the extraneous caveats, so much of their classic material still rocks like an absolute bastard.

Relikk

Researching Zeppelin's plagiarism really turned me against them in the past ten years or so, but they would still rank very high as one of the greatest rock bands there has ever been. In saying that, I've always favoured The Who over Zeppelin. Quadrophenia alone is better than any Zeppelin album, in my opinion.

RobbingBandit

As Otto in the simpsons said ZEPPELIN RULES

But The Who are legendary

frosty123

Very similar during the 70s

Similar lead singers, similar bass players, similar lead guitarists, similar drummers...and for the most part similar music.....BUT I think The Who edge it for pioneering rock opera alone, very brave move on their part that could have easily bombed but didn't.

Grid.

Like the Who.......but Zep in a diffrent league altogether!

Strumms

The Who. I just love their nuanced songwriting, lyrics and tunes…Whos Next Is other worldly good

i tried with gusto to get into Led Zeppelin about 15 years ago and they have many good songs, like a lot of their albums just too much, I dunno, heavy and almost just lost on my palate… but loads of stuff I like too..

Brid Hegarty

This is truly special. Skip the first 2 mins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C88t9QV_8I&ab_channel=Lynd8

purplepanda

The Who were a great singles band during the sixties, plus also had 2 great LP's before the later days of 70's album rock bands. The My Generation LP, didn't even have their 1st 2 singles included & only recently had the abandoned Maximum R & B early era recordings of covers added to the Deluxe edition CD. The Who Sell Out is another classic LP, complete with "I Can See For Miles" but missing other great singles of the period such as " Pictures of Lily"

Many of the early Who singles were almost a whole rock "mini album" performance condensed down to 3 minutes pop songs!

The Who invented the whole "Power Pop" genre during this period. I personally prefer earlier Who, but many like the '70's LP's, Who's Next is probably the best of their later era. Won't Get Fooled Again" another classic single.

Both bands had great bass players & drummers, plus innovative guitar player songwriters but I think Daltrey is a better singer than Plant. I'd prefer Moon over Bonham but neither beats Mitch Mitchell from that period IMO.

I reckon early Small Faces & The Who even influenced Led Zeppelin, alongside Cream & The Yardbirds. I know Robert Plant & John Bonham used to follow The Small Faces on tour.

The Who could match The Beatles as a great singles band during their early years, I don't think any other band around at the time could do this, apart from maybe The Rolling Stones.

Different sounding bands but still similar in style, slightly different era, obviously both are considered amongst the best even if you're not a fan.

Filmer Paradise

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119408013#Comment_119408013

Nah, Led Zeppelin were a new version of the Stones.

Im a fan of 60s music. the Beatles are the all time best, no question.

The Stones were just a blues band in london when the Beatles started having hits.

The Beatles introduced the concept of having singers, musicians & singers in one compact unit.

That was unheard of then!😲

The Stones followed the Beatles. All of a sudden they started writing songs.( because the Beatles did)

Of course, they were not nearly as good at songwriting as the Beatles were, so they billed themselves as the 'anti Beatles'.

Scruffy and pissing up walls in public was shoking in 1965 & a lot of dopey teenagers thought the Stones were magical.

They wern't!

The Who, on the other hand had truly great songs thanks to Pete Townshend.

Everything from breezy Modpop to Opera to Hard rock to the cheesey stuff they did in the '80s.

Led Zep had an image and a 'mystic' that appealed to the 70s brain dead teenager in the same way that the Stones appealed to the typical teenager that was dead from the neck up.