I question the sanity of Rolling Stone readers

Yeah, the White Stripes, IMO the best band of the last decade, is completely influenced by Zeppelin.

Metallica, one of the best bands of the 1980s, clearly influenced by Zeppelin.

Add Van Halen to the list to. I remember reading an interview with Alex and Eddie when I was in college and they were saying how much they were influenced by Page and Bonham.

 

Does that make Natural Light the world's most influential beer? Swisher Sweets its finest cigar?

 

Well . . . aside from an excellent live collection ("How the West Was Won") and a remaster of a not-so-excellent one (The Song Remains the Same) Zeppelin's main output has been multiple repackagings of their catalog, which completists will often buy before they'd trust new material.

You are allowing fandom, not facts, to influence your bellyaching here.

You can count Zeppelin's actual "Lord of the Rings"-related output on one hand. It would take a lot more fingers to recount all of the Stones' throwaway rockers that dealt with dirty sex.

Yeah, I'll lay odds on "Waylon's 'The One That Got Away' was an awesome lady who married a Zeppelin fan." You've really got a burr under your saddle here on something that is pretty much a matter of taste. Zeppelin's influence is all over some bands I really enjoy (yes, including Rush), while the Stones' main offspring are bands who I happen to think suck. That doesn't mean the Stones themselves suck, but as long as individuals are measuring "influence" . . . .

This is very clearly performance art. I can't imagine you're taking all this that seriously, unless you're hurt that everyone didn't immediately fall in and say "yeah! Zeppelin sucks! The Stones are for MATURE rockers!"

 

Metallica's one of the best bands of the 1980s? Wow. And to really save my ass from getting kicked, I won't say anything about how Van Halen is crotch rock blech.

Whoops.

 

I'm taking it no more seriously than a debate about whether C.C. Sabathia or Roy Halladay is the better starting pitcher. So view the "outrage" in context.

But I do think that the idea that Zeppelin could hold a candle to the Stones is absurd.

And there's no "One That Got Away," Zep fan or otherwise.

 

Shouldn't that be:

"Which artists or groups, besides Rush, are the most influential in the history of rock & roll?"

 

If we're speaking of influence, longevity, continued relevance (go ahead, try to get a ticket for a good seat to one of their shows, at which a third of the set is new material) and a band carving out a niche that has spawned many imitators . . . then absolutely Metallica was one of the best bands of the 1980s. Just because YOU don't like them or their style of music (or you're a "NAPSTER!!!!!" whiner) is no reason to dismiss their place in history.

Van Halen? I like them a lot, but they were really just well-played, enjoyable cock rock. Like the Stones with a more creative guitarist and drummer, and without the hit-or-miss attempts at lyrical relevance. I'm sure a lot of youngsters picked up a guitar to try to be like Eddie Van Halen, of course.

 

T'was in the darkest depths of Mordor
I met a girl so fair.
But Gollum, and the evil one crept up
And slipped away with her.

 

I've always been a huge Stones fan with The Who getting place money. Dig Zeppelin a lot too but I'll put on Exile On Main St. or Who's Next or Beggar's Banquet or Live At Leeds before I look for some Zep to play.

Having said that there is no doubt in my mind who is the most influential artist, UK division, anyway: without the Beatles there is no British invasion. No Stones, Who, Floyd, Zeppelin, Sabbath....

 

I stuck around St. Petersburg
When I saw it was a time for a change
Killed the Czar and his ministers
Anastasia screamed in vain

I rode a tank
Held a general's rank
When the Blitzkrieg raged
And the bodies stank

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guess my name

 

One song.

Can you name another?

"The Battle of Evermore," perhaps? Stairway to Heaven? The cover to the fourth album?

Are you really holding up Jagger as this incredible lyricist? Seriously? I can always post the incredibly inane lyrics to "Tumbling Dice."

 

The magic runes are writ in gold to bring the balance back