There aren’t many rock bands on the earth that haven’t learned a few lessons from Led Zeppelin. Zeppelin’s rock flair and emphasis on grand concepts have left an indelible influence on rock. This influence has persisted since Jimmy Page first strapped up his guitar. While others fall prey to flattery, Page remains immune to its deceptive nature.
Many viewed Led Zeppelin as a potential rip-off, even before they formed their band. Following traditional blues practice, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant adopted many riffs and tunes for themselves. Later, a few of its classic hits, including ‘Whole Lotta Love‘ and ‘The Lemon Song‘, led to lawsuits over royalties. These sounded too similar to Willie Dixon’s work.
The rock scene, influenced by Zeppelin’s hard rock, saw bands like Black Sabbath and Aerosmith adopting their style. This caused a snowball effect throughout the rock scene. While Page couldn’t stop bands from copying his guitar sound or approach. He thought that one particular power metal band crossed the line in the 1980s.
After encountering numerous copycats, Page singled out the band Kingdom Come as one of the most egregious examples of Zeppelin plagiarism, telling Q Magazine: “Obviously, it can get to the point where it gets past being a compliment, and it can be rather annoying, when you’ve got things like Kingdom Come, actually ripping riffs right off, that’s a different thing altogether.”
The band, formed with future producer extraordinaire Bob Rock, adopted a conventional rock and roll approach that garnered praise.
However, it never went over well with fans or critics. It undoubtedly didn’t help that Rock was a big fan of Page’s. He even used the famous double-neck guitar when performing live with the band.
Although Rock achieved success with the band and even opened arena gigs for Bon Jovi, he preferred to work in the studio. He enjoyed creating magic for musicians such as Metallica and Aerosmith. That’s not to suggest he didn’t eventually channel his Zeppelin devotion elsewhere.
When working on Metallica’s critically acclaimed Black Album in the early 1990s, Rock intended to reinterpret the song ‘Sad But True‘. It was conceived as a metal response to the Zeppelin epic ‘Kashmir‘. Though Page would dismiss any Zeppelin similarities, his writing partner might be just as critical.
Robert Plant has never minced words when it comes to bands that he believes have stolen too heavily from his former band. Most notably, he criticized Greta Van Fleet for their shameless co-opting of his vocal style. The members of Zeppelin may be correct that fans are stealing them off. Several of the best rock records ever recorded likely wouldn’t exist if “ripping off” Led Zeppelin led to punishments for bands.
