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My rundown - a lot has to do with my tastes at the moment and are subject to change, here it goes:
Lead vocal: Daltrey is good. Very good. But I'm going to go with the dynamic range of Plant.
Backing/other vocal: I'll go with Townshend and Entwistle. LZ pretty much overdubbed Plant.
Lead guitar: Page- Page wrote a lot of his songs to feature big lead guitar parts. Big turn-off to some - big turn-on to me. I enjoy Townshend's lead work plenty, but Page gets the nod. I like his slide stuff too.
Rhythm guitar: Townshend- not a consolation prize. 90% of guitar playing is rhythm and I'll take Towshend's rhythms and chord voicings any day. I also prefer the tones Townshend got out his equipment, lead or rhythm.
Bass: Entwistle- possibly the best all-time. Jones got the job done, no more, no less.
Drums: Moon- possibly the #1 all-time. Bonham #1b all-time.
Synths/mellotrons/keyboards: Jones did some nice synth stuff (ie: All My Love) but its pretty hard to top Townshend's work, particularily on Who's Next. That said, Jones did a lot of stuff live, where as the Who relied on tape machines and/or Rabbit Bundrick on keyboards - not a bad thing, just something to ponder when comparing group member to member.
Chief song writer: That would be Page vs. Townshend and I'll go with Townshend's much larger body of work. One could argue, with such a large body of work, there are probably more turkeys as well, but I'll go with Townshend.
Note: I didn't get into analyzing everything- other songwriting contributions, Daltrey-Plant on the harp, Entwistle's horns, alternate tunings, acoustic guitars, mandolins, banjos etc.
Zeppelin. Townshend was a better overall songwriter, but Page was a better producer capable to mix a lot of influences of blues, etc.
Interesting, I'd never really thought about it that way. I would agree Zeppelin did a better job incorporating different genres and influences, whereas The Who was more or less a straight rock band. I think that The Who did a better job innovating rock itself though. Townshend helped popularize the power chord, the windmill, and a lot of other rock cliches that we take for granted. What Entwistle and Moon did for rock and roll with regards to their particular instruments needs no explanation.
The Punk and The Godfather is an overlooked song, just listen to those basslines! And, that guitar tone is fantastic (as Undfan already mentioned, Townshend had fantastic guitar tones throughout his career).
The Who - The Punk And The Godfather - YouTube
I think this is a really well composed song. I love when Daltrey shouts "Okay" at 3:24. It's basically him saying "Get ready, we're going to rock again."
Similarly, in Wont' Get Fooled Again, after Daltrey sings the line "Though I know that the hypnotized never lie" Townshend follows up with "Do ya?" I think that's a pretty strong criticism of those who get caught up in popular hysteria and then vehemently opine their politics, despite the fact they are somebody else's opinions entirely.
Synths/mellotrons/keyboards: Jones did some nice synth stuff (ie: All My Love) but its pretty hard to top Townshend's work, particularily on Who's Next. That said, Jones did a lot of stuff live, where as the Who relied on tape machines and/or Rabbit Bundrick on keyboards - not a bad thing, just something to ponder when comparing group member to member.
Of course in a live performance, Townshend is needed to play his guitar, so it's kind of unfair to compare on that basis. You're not going to see him sit behind a keyboard live....who's going to replace Pete on guitar in those cases?
I absolutely love the Quadrophenia album cover paying tribute to their Mod days!! I lived those days and was a Rocker on a Triumph...but I still loved the Mod's music!
Of course in a live performance, Townshend is needed to play his guitar, so it's kind of unfair to compare on that basis. You're not going to see him sit behind a keyboard live....who's going to replace Pete on guitar in those cases?
As I said - not a bad thing, just something to ponder. I'm not knocking Pete, I'm giving props to JP Jones. To some it's not a big deal. Myself, I'm kind of impressed when a band can reproduce some of that studio stuff with just their members. Always thought JP's contributions were underated - live and studio.
I like Zep too but I find The Who a more interesting band.
Jimmy Page's solos live imo were usually sloppy, not smooth. However better than Townsend
I'm not a fan of those 25 minute plus live versions of Dazed and Confused...zzz ...boring
Bonham was a powerhouse drummer but Moon was in a class by himself.
Same with John Entwistle...unbelievable bass playing ...he played like lead guitar.
The Who didn't need lead guitar...Entwistle played it on the bass.
JPJ was no slouch either ...listen to the Lemon Song...very nice bass
What was cool about The Who is that Pete and John could sing lead too.
Also provide harmonies too.
Here's some trivia for you....Jimmy Page played on the first Who single "Can't Explain"
recorded november 1964 (released Jan '65).
Page was a studio musician back then. Jimmy is than Townsend too (1 year older).
The Who were very influential...."inventing the Marshall stack"
(ironic as Pete didn't like Marshalls, switching to Sound City in 1967 then to Hi Watts in late 1968
Pete actually likes Fender amps best, playing thru Fender Vibrokings these days.
Overdrive, feedback, string scratches, rubbing guitar on mic stand, smashing the guitar, etc.
And tone....let's not forget tone....Pete Townsend always seemed to get the best
overdriven guitar tone.
listen to the original studio version of "Won't Get Fooled Again"
recorded at Mick Jagger's country house "Stargroves" (April 1971)
The guitar tone is phenominal, Pete's playing a Gretsch 6120 thru 1959 Fender amp.
I also love the guitar tone on "Pictures of Lily"...a Strat thru Plexi Marshall.
Led Zeppelin were very good too.
Faves for me are...
What Is and What Should Never Be
In the Light
The Rover
Heartbreaker
....actually most tunes on the first 2 albums
I just watched this whole video and truthfully it's not very good at all. Sounds like a drunk garage band to me......and I love Quadrophenia so it's not like I don't like the Who.
I don't think either band is truly amazing when performing live.
Zeppelin, they suck live.
I'd stay home and listen to some of their studio albums, both of these bands.
(But if you give me a copy of Tommy I'll fling it through the air like a Frisbee.)
Last edited by rainroosty; 12-10-2012 at 02:22 PM..
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