Top 100

[Joker 250 <Joker250@xxxxxxx>]

I don't know if anyone else has seen this, but VH-1 has compiled a list of the
100 all-time greatest rock acts.  Our boys placed a very respectable fourth,
behind The Beatles, The Stones, and Hendrix.  They were ranked higher than
folks like Bob Dylan, Elvis, Pink Floyd, Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Wonder, The
Who, etc.  Everyone knows the very concept of a list like this is ridiculous -
how can you compare Chuck Berry to U2 to Kiss to John Coltrane to Devo?
You've got 100 artists on there that can't necessarily be ranked higher than
another, merely because they're completely different in style.

Anyway, there was an article in USA Today regarding this list, and a quote
from VH-1 editor Bill Flanagan regarding Zep.  "It's also a poll of musicians,
which is why Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin are in the Top 10 ahead of Elvis
Presley and Bob Dylan.  Zeppelin was always much more of a player's band than
a songwriter's band."

I don't agree at all.  Led Zeppelin has never, to me, been a band where
technical skill triumphed over songwriting.  Jimmy Page is a superb guitarist,
and my favorite of all-time, but he himself admits that his technical skills
are not as good as others.  Jimmy's real genius lies in his songwriting and
production skills.  When I think of player's bands or player's acts, I think
immediately of Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, and Van Halen.  The real appeal to
these groups is the superb guitar work.  Hendrix is a fairly strong songwriter
(not anywhere near Page), Clapton is an average songwriter, and Eddie Van
Halen can't write a song to save his life.  But they're all technically
excellent guitarists.  (The above is all my opinion, of course.  If you like
Van Halen's songs...sorry.)  

All four men in Led Zeppelin are/were very talented musicians, of course, but
the songs were the backbone and the springboard for their musicianship.  I
don't think they would be as respected today if they didn't have the material
to back up their instrumental skills.  So many bands today are technically
strong, but lack any kind of innovation or songwriting talent.  They would
love to be able to sit down for a couple of weeks and come up with something
like _Presence_.  

Just my opinion. 

Brad Schauer