Is Deep Purple in the same league with Led Zeppelin?

[MidnightRunner]

Can Deep Purple be considered "headier" than Led Zeppelin (and Black Sabbath)?
I find them more prog-related than Zep.

 

[bholder]

oh geez.

 

[Zooberwerx]

Give me ABBA any day of the week.

Riis

 

[ThudThudThud]

I'm not a fan of LZ. Just never sat right with me (I feel the same way about the Rolling Stones).
Yes, some good songs, but I can't listen to them for that long.

I am a huge fan of Deep Purple....up to a point. Didn't really listen to the later stuff (Perfect Strangers and on).
Not sure why, but them's the breaks.

When you start breaking out the spin-off projects: Robert Plant solo stuff, Coverdale-Page, Rainbow, early Whitesnake, Hughes-Thrall, Gillan etc. there's a lot of really good music in there, but it's very much Purple-heavy.

 

[2112]

Musically yes.

Popularly, not necessarily.

 

[Michedelic]

oh geez.

Right?

 

[RichterScale]

Deep purple is deep purple.
Led zeppelin is led zeppelin.
There's no need to compare, quantify, qualify, label and figure out which pigeon hole every band neatly fits into.
It adds zero value and has no purpose.
These are the kind of comparison debates that people have over sports teams/players.
It doesn't work with music.

 

[MidnightRunner]

I've never understood why Ian Paice gets much less recognition than Bonham as one of the GOATs of classic rock drumming when he's just as great as Bonham, even technically superior.
Can you explain this?

 

[Ben Esparza]

The first incarnation of Deep Purple rips Led Zeppelin to shreds. LZ is overrated, undeservedly too popular than their worth, and shamelessly stole a lot of material from people who never earned the recognition they deserved. The arrogance to steal material that was someone else's genius and to say "F*** you. If you don't like it, sue us. We have more money than you will ever have" is a travesty. YMMV.

 

[LiptonJigglers]

Let me put it this way; if I was stuck on a desert island with only 10 albums to listen to, LZ Presence would be one of them. DP would be going down with the ship...

 

[isaac42]

The first incarnation of Deep Purple rips Led Zeppelin to shreds. LZ is overrated, undeservedly too popular than their worth, and shamelessly stole a lot of material from people who never earned the recognition they deserved. The arrogance to steal material that was someone else's genius and to say "F*** you. If you don't like it, sue us. We have more money than you will ever have" is a travesty. YMMV.

You're talking the Rod Evans lineup?

 

[Michedelic]

Let me put it this way; if I was stuck on a desert island with only 10 albums to listen to, LZ Presence would be one of them. DP would be going down with the ship...

Sorry, Presence and In Through… would
have already been thrown overboard by me.

 

[MrAB4003]

The first incarnation of Deep Purple rips Led Zeppelin to shreds. LZ is overrated, undeservedly too popular than their worth, and shamelessly stole a lot of material from people who never earned the recognition they deserved. The arrogance to steal material that was someone else's genius and to say "F*** you. If you don't like it, sue us. We have more money than you will ever have" is a travesty. YMMV.

I used to love Led Zeppelin because of the music, but then I found out just how much Jimmy Page stole from older blues artists and not give them the credit (or monetization) they deserve. Sounds like that Giacomo Turra guy from YouTube today. I would post that Danny Sapko behs video directly on here, but I can't because of the language.

Deep Purple is in a bigger league than Led Zeppelin (so I voted no in the poll). They are the better band too. They are still actively making music and some of the members are over 80 years old! Kudos to them for that alone! Deep Purple has also made more, better quality music than Led Zeppelin ever has even in all their "marks" (incarnations / band lineups).

Ritchie Blackmore is also a better guitarist than Jimmy Page. He's also a much classier person because he gives credit where it's due if he "stole" something from another artist. "Child In Time" is a great example of this. He was friends with the guy who wrote the main riff. And that guy took the riff from "Wring That Neck", which Ritchie wrote in Mark I Deep Purple. Both men realized that they stole each other's riff. They talked it out and agreed on a gentleman's handshake to note sue each other. Why couldn't Jimmy Page do that?

Roger Glover is an underratedly good bassist just like John Paul Jones. He plays his role well, but he also knows when to get aggressive with things. "Fireball" is a great example:

I've never understood why Ian Paice gets much less recognition than Bonham as one of the GOATs of classic rock drumming when he's just as great as Bonham, even technically superior.
Can you explain this?

See above

 

[Michael Milner]

Your thoughts? Are these two bands in the same league? If not, why?

I think the European and American perspective on DP vs. LZ are quite different.
In America Deep Purple are generally not considered to be the same tier as Zep, while in Europe Zep and Purple are considered the same tier, because in Europe Deep Purple generally have a much higher status than in the USA. In America Zep could have a status "the ultimate rock gods". That was always my impression. Maybe I'm wrong.

Let's discuss.

Right off the bat, the musicianship and songwriting in Led Zeppelin was much better. Plant is easily one of the best singers in the genre. Deep Purple went through numerous personnel changes throughout their history; Led Zeppelin was the same four members. Since this is TalkBass, we should compare the bassists. John Paul Jones was flat-out better than anybody Deep purple had. JPJ is in the vanguard of bass guitarists (IMHO anyway). On the other hand, if you like one band better than the other I respect your opinion, so fill your boots.

 

[Paul New]

Led Zeppelin was a game changer. They created a genre, and are still the masters of it, in my opinion. I like DP, but aside from their first album of covers, have never listened straight through a complete album.

As for LZ plagiarizing blues artists, i think that comes from people who don’t really understand how the blues evolves.

 

[darev]

As for LZ plagiarizing blues artists, i think that comes from people who don’t really understand how the blues evolves.

I'm pretty sure Willie Dixon knew how the blues evolved too but he got ripped off by Jimmy Page and Peter Grant regardless.

 

[fretter]

I've never understood why Ian Paice gets much less recognition than Bonham as one of the GOATs of classic rock drumming when he's just as great as Bonham, even technically superior.
Can you explain this?

Probably, because Bonham's beats are very memorable and very much contributed to the character of the song. I'm not saying that Paice could've been replaced but he didn't come up with the parts for "Kashmir" or "Achilles Last Stand". At a minimum, Bonham was higher in the mix.

 

[Paul New]

I'm pretty sure Willie Dixon knew how the blues evolved too but he got ripped off by Jimmy Page and Peter Grant regardless.

Willie Dixon was a&r man for Chess and knew how to get writing credit, for sure. He also knew how to win lawsuits against LZ.

 

[Savage_Dreams]

I've never understood why Ian Paice gets much less recognition than Bonham as one of the GOATs of classic rock drumming when he's just as great as Bonham, even technically superior.
Can you explain this?

This is not to take away from Bonham, he was amazing..... but death does help to lift the legacy and legend of artists, especially an early untimely death.

 

[tvbop]

Apples. Oranges. You had to be there at the time to really appreciate the vibe as there were so few bands around. . Purple were, heavy, funky, commercial, loud and accessible in a way Sabbath weren't. The Zeps leaned towards those who wanted to think their music a bit more. Totally different bands, and both unique at what they did.