L-O-V-E Zep, have everything and still listen, but The Who blew our minds more regularly than did Led Zeppelin. The Who put on a better show (in the early 70's) than Zep. Townsend is a better writer than the Zep pair.
Oddly, part of the great show was Keith Moon, who is nowhere near the drummer that Bonham was. Read Townsend's comments on Keith's style. His unwillingness to play it straight and just lay down a solid 4/4, even every now and again, was always a challenge for Townsend's writing and arranging.
"Pictures if Lily" and "I Can See for Miles" can stand up to any Zep tunes, and pre-date them.
However, the legacy of Bonham and Jones leaves one of, if not THE largest shadow in R & R for the rest of the century. They practically invented the word "bottom." And nothing was ever the same again.
All of this was dictated to me by Fred.
