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I don't object if someone likes one band better than the other, but to say that Zepp was more rock, one is basically ignoring early to mid 70's Queen! Please, Queen recorded some of the heavier rock songs at the time!
This is quite right.
Queen was an unusually diverse band in its output, from the crunching hard rock you mention to operatic performances (Bohemian Rhapsody, of course, contains both) to rockabilly (Crazy Little Thing Called Love) to skiffle ('39 comes to mind), to dabbling in gospel (Somebody to Love) to various prog rock and techno and pure pop songs.
Queen was definitely a band that never said: "Well, this is a great tune but it might not fit our 'brand' so we can't put it on an album."
Although I prefer LZ, I think the more vitriolic comments about Queen probably come from those who aren't familiar with their full discography. Great band.
I must caveat that I'm a guitar player, been playing since 1992, so my perspective may be a little different.
I much prefer Queen over Zep.
To me they were more musically talented overall. Robert Plant was a great singer but that's all he did. Freddie Mercury was a great singer and a musician. I also thought Freddie was the better showman. Look at how he could control an audience.
While Jimmy Page is a great guitar player, I always felt his riffs lacked evolution and creativity. A lot of his style was blatantly stolen from the blues. His playing is very distinct but I also felt that it was recycled a lot. Brian May just oozes great guitar tone. He built the Red Special with his dad! His guitar sounds like an orchestra while Page's sounds like a bazooka.
John Bonham, in my opinion, is the greatest rock drummer there ever was. Just no comparison there.
Both John Deacon and John Paul Jones were great musicians, highly underrated and flew under the radar for the most part. It was Deacon who tweaked amps for Brian May to help create such a signature sound.
But honestly, I'd take the Beatles over Queen or Zep. The Beatles were a tight band, not much more can be said about them.
Hard to vote on this one (so I didn't), they are apples and oranges, and I like both a lot. Zep probably had a greater influence on bands to come, but even that is subjective. If i were forced to vote, I would "probably" take Zep.
If I had to vote best front-man, Plant or Mercury, that would have Mercury by a land-slide (and I think Robert Plant was pretty awesome in his Zep days).
For those that think Queen didn't do that much, they are entitled to their opinion, but I might respectfully suggest that they just didn't get it, or didn't like it (neither is a crime). Queen had so much stylistic range. I don't consider that "jumpping the shark", I consider it challenging themselves and continuing to evolve.
Mercury also (IMO) had one of the best voices of all time. Such range. He even could hang with "legitimate" opera.
I would add that Jimmy Page could be pretty sloppy (drunk) toward the later years. I know this is blasphamy, but my opinion is that Zeppelin was not a great live band after they got huge. Their early stuff, yes, later, not so much in my opinion. I think Zeps greatest days were at the beginning (1-4) and I think Queen evolved and got better over time. All that said, I still would likely vote Zep, but I don't think they deserve quite as much praise as they get. Sooooo many talented musicians out there.
I'm really tired of both bands. Both are, and have been, immensely overrated. F. Mercury was an issue with Queen, and LZ worships and glorifies themselves (listen to interviews with Jimmy Page). Though I've got a ton of rock CDs, I'm glad I have neither group in my collection!
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