The Who (Moon era) or Led Zeppelin

[brucered]

Which is your favorite between the two? 2 of my favorite bands from the 60's and 70's

Both had 2 of the best R&R drummers.

Both had 2 of the best Lead Guitarists and song writers in R&R.

Both lost there drummers well before their time.

Both had great lead vocalists.

Both broke ground in their time for bringing R&B to a new crowd.

For me, it's THE WHO. I think the chemistry and inter band fighting between Pete and Roger made them even better. Keith is my favorite drummer and John has to be considered one of, if not the best, Bass player of all time.

 

[dpm802]

Your'e comparing apples and oranges. These two bands had their own unique styles and catered to different genres of music and audiences.

The Who win by a long shot in my book. Lots and lots of their songs that I like, and I can't think of any other band that came up with the Rock Opera format like they did with Tommy. And even as solo acts, the members did a superb job.

Led Zep is good, but I don't think of them as a stand-out band from that era.

 

[brucered]

not sure it's an apples to oranges...yeah, different styles, but both originated around the same time, both with R&B influenced and both 4 man bands with similar qualities (flamboyant lead singers, great guitarists, drummers and writers)

apples to oranges or not, i want to see what people think.

 

[Duckster]

Both excellent bands, but Jimmy Page makes Zeppelin better than The Who for me.

 

[maxman]

Tough question.
I'm more of a Zep fan so I'll say them.
But really, they are both amazing bands.

 

[professorchaos]

Zeppelin when I was younger, The Who as my tastes evolved.

 

[the_edski]

I copped out, equally as good!

 

[cvac]

This is my "controversial" opinion only, but here goes:

The Who's first 3 Studio LPs and early singles ruled. Live at Leeds is pretty good, and is really all I can tolerate from the post-Who Sell Out era. Tommy is utter crap and so is everything after.

In general though, the Who are pretty overrated...the Kinks were a much better band songwriting wise and made a fantastic string of LPs and singles from '65-71...they put out more music than the Who did during that time and still managed to maintain a very high standard of quality. To this day, they are way underrated. Other bands from the Who era that were better: Small Faces, the Pretty Things, and even the Action and the Creation. The latter two had very limited output, but were still better.

Zep had a few decent songs, but generally annoy the crap out of me and were the epitome of bad, bloated 70s hard rock. Keep in mind this is coming from someone that actually enjoys bands like Black Sabbath and Thin Lizzy. IMHO, the Yardbirds at their peak wasted anything Zep could've hoped to do on their best day, even with technically proficient musicians and bigger recording budgets.

 

[cvac]

I can't think of any other band that came up with the Rock Opera format like they did with Tommy. And even as solo acts, the members did a superb job.

The Pretty Things S.F. Sorrow beat them to the punch and is also a much better album than Tommy, IMHO. If you've not heard it, you really should.

 

[whavens]

Zeppelin by a wide margin. Jimmy Page has more talent in his little finger than Townsend did in his whole family. Physical Graffiti is one of the best albums of all time. LZ is still the best concert I have ever seen. This one isn't even close. And as far as the Yardbirds, the best guitarist in the band was Page.

 

[cb91710]

Tough question.
I'm more of a Zep fan so I'll say them.
But really, they are both amazing bands.

This.

I was totally into Tommy, and never turned the radio when The Who was on, always listened to broadcast concerts.
But Tommy is the only Who album that I own, while I was never missing a Zep album until Coda.

But to rank them? 100% equals. There have been and always will be very, very, very few acts with the chemistry and staying power of those two.
The Stones, even though I'm not a big fan, are another.

 

[brucered]

Zeppelin by a wide margin. Jimmy Page has more talent in his little finger than Townsend did in his whole family. Physical Graffiti is one of the best albums of all time. LZ is still the best concert I have ever seen. This one isn't even close. And as far as the Yardbirds, the best guitarist in the band was Page.

Yikes...even thought i'm a huge PT fan and have great respect for almost everything he has done and does, i'll give the edge to JP for guitar skill. different styles, but to to say JP has that much more talent then PT is a bold statement, but one you have every right to say, so i can't dispute an opinion.

i will give the edge to songwriting (lyrics and music) to Townshend. if you have ever seen or listened to PT do some of his demos, it may change your opinion, but maybe not. i have most of his demos on cd and lp and have seen quite a few video's, he does the mixing, all the instruments all the writing and puts it all together himself.

another YMMV case.

Long Live Rock.

 

[oc_in_fw]

Both excellent bands, but Jimmy Page makes Zeppelin better than The Who for me.

Yep, Page is the key.

 

[brucered]

Yep, Page is the key.

Page was a master at the solos, and watching and listening to him play the double neck guitar or 12 string guitar was and is a thing of beauty.

 

[Slash McCoy]

The Who. No question. I has spoken.

 

[Little Joe from Mexico]

Page, Plant, Bonham and Jones were all key elements in my all-time favorite band... Favorite by far.

 

[whavens]

Townsend was a great songwriter, I'll give you that. But just sheer artistry on the guitar, has to go to Page. Drummers are a draw, singers possibly a draw as well. Don't get me wrong I am a huge fan of The Who, but Zep top to bottom was a better band. Boris the spider from Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy and I'm a Boy are two of my favorite songs. But in my opinion Kashmir is the best rock song ever made. The old albums by The Who are great, but their later stuff doesn't hold up as well as LZ. Sorry forgot the obligitory YMMV on the other post. I saw the touring show of Tommy and it was fantastic, but from first album to last I think the overall quality edge goes to LZ. Ok I might have gone a little far, but I think Page is a much better technical guitarist.

 

[brucered]

Townsend was a great songwriter, I'll give you that. But just sheer artistry on the guitar, has to go to Page. Drummers are a draw, singers possibly a draw as well. Don't get me wrong I am a huge fan of The Who, but Zep top to bottom was a better band. Boris the spider from Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy and I'm a Boy are two of my favorite songs. But in my opinion Kashmir is the best rock song ever made. The old albums by The Who are great, but their later stuff doesn't hold up as well as LZ. Sorry forgot the obligitory YMMV on the other post. I saw the touring show of Tommy and it was fantastic, but from first album to last I think the overall quality edge goes to LZ.

it's all good, i'm a huge fan of both and have too many LP's and CD's and bootlegs by both bands to give you to hard a time for loving Zeppelin. i guess my edge for The Who, stems from my ealier memories of them. Walking to school (grade 6 or 7) with my walkman and my brothers Who Greatest Hits tape (the union jack GH album, not the 20 greatest hits albums that followed )

for me, both bands earlier albums were where they shined. the who, up until Quadrophenia and zeppelin up until Physical Graffiti....

like cvac said, there were many great bands from this era that got overshadowed by The Who and the Mod scene etc and i'm not going to deny that many are very underrated. i do like The Kinks, but never gave them the chance they probably deserve. Outside a few songs and the fantastic Rushmore Soundtrack, i don't own any Kinks, but will try to pick up a few LP's next time i'm at my local record (yes, vinyl records) store.

great points by everyone and nice to see peoples passion for these 2 great bands and how strong they feel either one way or another....but if The Who doesn't pick it up in the poll, i'm getting the mods (moderators) to shut this down

 

[brucered]

yeah, you could say i like The Who on Vinyl (not sure they are all visible, some are double stacked)



too many cd/bootlegs to show you

 

[whavens]

If you haven't seen Tommy on stage, I highly recommend it. The version of Tommy (with the London Philharmonic if memory serves correctly) was tremendous. I had Live at Leeds, went through several copies of Who's Next and of course Tommy. I didn't mean to sound like I wasn't a Who fan, just a bigger Zep fan. That was the music I grew up with. I graduated from high school in 1975, and had a brother 4 years older. So my tastes were different than a lot of guys I grew up with. I grew up listening to the Who, Yes, Leon Russel, the Allman Brothers, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Jefferson Airplane and Starship. I saw Sly and the Family Stone in Louisville as well as Pink Floyd and Zeppelin. So to say I am a fan of the music of that era is an understatement. I have ticket stubs that have prices of $2.50 on up.