Battle of the Bands: Led Zeppelin vs The Beatles

Led Zeppelin, The Beatles

Welcome to THE CLASH OF THE CLASSIC ROCK TITANS! Our classic contestants include Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Grateful Dead, Phil Collins and more. Each week, we will unveil four artists, each with a link to one of their signature tunes.

You will be able to make your voice heard by picking one artist out of every bracket of two to move forward as the ultimate Classic Rock Titan. This week, we have Led Zeppelin up against The Beatles as well as Joan Jett & The Blackhearts against Black Sabbath. Who will rock who?!? Check out our bracket schedule below and check back weekly to see the results of your votes! Tag a friend or foe to play along.

Classic Rock Titan: Led Zeppelin

Signature Song: "Stairway To Heaven"

Released on November 8, 1971, Led Zeppelin's fourth album unveiled eight songs that would forever change the trajectory of rock. 

Amongst these musical explorations, one song would emerge as the untitled album's most epic release, the eight minute sonic odyssey that is "Stairway to Heaven." From its quaint acoustic introduction to its slow, skyward build-up, the song embodied a mind trip, propelled by Plant's spiritual lyricism and the hysterical laments of Page's guitar solo. 

"It speeds up like an adrenaline flow," told Page to Rolling Stone, who improvised the solo in a matter of three takes and went ahead with one. "It was a milestone for us."

Before the band officially premiered the tune, John Bonham would invite his fellow UK rocker and longtime friend Glenn Hughes to review the tune, before the tune was even mastered. 

“It’s about three or four in the morning,” Hughes recalled to The Guardian in 2014, “and he says: ‘I want to play you something. It hasn’t been released yet – it’s an acetate of the fourth Led Zeppelin album, it hasn’t been mastered yet.’

“He plays me the entire record and it comes to 'Stairway to Heaven,' and of course I’m only 19 years old, and I’m thinking: ‘Bloody hell, this is earth-shattering.’” 

Over the next five decades, "Stairway to Heaven" would continue to seduce generations after generations of rock-abiding fans, who would experience the same visceral reactions.

The song's mind-bending greatness has been chronicled in countless music publications and prominent top-tier lists in the industry, including Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's "500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll."

Classic Rock Titan: The Beatles

Signature Song: "Let It Be"

By January 1969, the Beatles could not stop fighting. They continued to cite irreconcilable differences, even within the studio, which would make the recording process for their final album Let It Be similar to "torture," Lennon describes. 

The creative obstacles would only mount further when Paul McCartney explained the existential and personal inspiration for his new idea "Let It Be."

As he recounted to James Corden in his Carpool Karaoke interview, he had seen his deceased mother in a dream, and "she was reassuring [him], saying, 'It's going to be OK, just let it be.'"

He continued, "I felt so great. She gave me the positive words. I woke up and thought, 'What was that? She said 'Let It Be.' That's good.' So I wrote the song 'Let It Be' out of positivity."

His fellow songwriting partner John Lennon - known for his anti-religion stance - remained less than impressed, questioning the song's religious overtones and its ability to align with the true spirit of the band. 

The tension between the two bandmates would leave its mark even in the final stages of the record. During the completion of "Let It Be" in 1970, producer Phil Spector would include audio of Lennon of quipping, "And now, we'd like to do 'Hark the Angels Come'" in the final moments of "Dig It," the preceding track to "Let It Be." While it remains hotly contested whether Spector did so at the command of Lennon or not, it left no question that Lennon's remark showcased his frustrations at the underlying spiritualism of the tune.

Despite Lennon's criticisms of the track, "Let It Be" was released following the band's breakup in the Beatles' final album on May 8, 1970 as the band's last collective single. The song would ascend to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, marking the Beatles' 19th chart-topping tune to do so.

CLASH OF THE CLASSIC ROCK TITANS Bracket Schedule

WEEK 1: [Led Zeppelin vs. The Beatles] & [Joan Jett & The Blackhearts vs. Black Sabbath]
WEEK 2: [Van Morrison vs. Phil Collins] & [Ramones vs. Grateful Dead]
WEEK 3: [Rod Stewart vs. Whitesnake] & [Queen vs. John Lennon]
WEEK 4: [Rolling Stones vs. Fleetwood Mac] & [Lynyrd Skynyrd vs. The Doors]

Read More

English glam rock star Marc Bolan (1947 - 1977) with his girlfriend, American singer Gloria Jones, and their son Rolan Bolan, 2nd October 1975. (Photo by John Downing/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
The man who gave us "Bang a Gong" and "Jeepster" has been recognized.
(Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
The legendary Rush frontman will visit four US cities in support of his book on all things bass.
Rock from home with this quarantunes playlist, featuring Bruce Springsteen, Queen, and more!

Facebook Comments