Ah, a music thread. I missed a discussion about Led Zeppelin the other day, & would like to toss in my .02.

I believe that they were much more accomplished, varied, and influential than they get credit for. With “Kashmir”, Led Zeppelin can claim to have helped invent world music. There was supposed to be something called “acoustic metal” in the 90s. I never heard it, but I doubt if it was more thrilling than “Gallows Pole” or “Poor Tom”. And of course, Zeppelin gets the credit for fathering heavy metal. Never mind that Blue Cheer was the first heavy metal band, and that most of today’s headbangers trace their lineage from cartoonish bands like Black Sabbath. It was Zeppelin that scaled the heights and set the benchmark for everyone else to shoot for.

Led Zeppelin did just what Jimmy Page said they were doing: chiaroscuro. Light and dark, blended together in some of the richest compositions in all of rock. There was plenty of riff-bashing, sure; but there was plenty else too. At one time I made a tape of their acoustic and slow numbers—how many other heavy metal acts have ninety minutes of quality easy listening material, eh? Usually, if a fan goes to listen to an old band that influenced his favorite current band, he’ll hear a pallid version of the contemporary act. But of all the ancestors of modern hard rock, Led Zeppelin is one of the very few who overshadow nearly all of their descendants.

From top to bottom and from beginning to end, Led Zeppelin’s catalog has the leanest junk-to-jewels ratio of any major act, possibly excepting the Beatles. And I say this not as a mindless booster, but as someone who actually likes The Who more than Zeppelin. But you’ve gotta acknowledge greatness when you see it.