The heavy metal icons Robert Plant regrets inspiring: “Really, really embarrassed”
No revolution is undertaken alone, and the advent of heavy metal during the late 1960s was certainly no exception.
Rather than being the product of one band on their own, metal was birthed from the collective effort of pioneering acts like Black Sabbath and Deep Purple, but the movement would have looked very different without the impact of Led Zeppelin. Fronted by Robert Plant and spurred on by the songwriting of Jimmy Page, the London outfit set out the manifesto of the metal revolution.
Although heavy metal would eventually splinter into countless subgenres, many of its core characteristics were already present in Led Zeppelin’s earliest recordings. Their combination of volume, power and musical ambition provided a blueprint that future generations would endlessly reinterpret.
From the moment the band unveiled their eponymous 1969 debut album, the landscape of rock and roll changed forever, with countless artists following in Zeppelin’s abrasive footsteps.
At the time, the record was lumped in under the needlessly broad term ‘hard rock’, which incorporated seemingly everything from the proto-punk of The MC5 to the funky Peruvian rock of Traffic Sound. Over time, however, the groups that had taken inspiration from the sounds of Plant, Page, Bonham, and Jones formed the ‘heavy metal’ scene.
What distinguished Zeppelin from many of their contemporaries was their ability to balance aggression with sophistication. Their music could be thunderous and delicate within the same song, giving it a dynamic quality that set them apart from imitators.
On their part, Led Zeppelin’s members were always suspicious of being branded as heavy metal, often denouncing the genre classification or distancing themselves from the label. Despite this, the fact that Led Zeppelin was, by definition, a heavy metal band cannot be escaped, no matter how hard Plant and the gang might try. Seemingly, the root of the band’s dissatisfaction with being cited as a metal outfit came from the theatrical, flamboyant world that metal soon became, particularly during the days of 1980s hair metal.
When Zeppelin and Black Sabbath created the first metal records, the band’s image was often understated, fitting in with those early records’ dark and industrial atmosphere. By the time the 1980s rolled around, however, metal was firmly in the musical mainstream. As such, popular metal outfits were often more concerned with hairspray and stage outfits than the music itself.
Robert Plant, in particular, was offended by this bastardisation of metal. During a 1988 interview, the former Zeppelin frontman pointed to a poster of leather-clad Brummy band Judas Priest, saying, “If I’m responsible for this in any way, then I am really, really embarrassed.” In fairness, Judas Priest was among the forerunners of 1980s metal, which saw the genre fall far away from its original sound, image, and aims.
As the singer shared at the time, “Hard rock, heavy metal these days is just saying, ‘Come and buy me. I’m in league with the Devil — but only in this picture because after that I’m going to be quite nice, and one day, I’m going to grow up and be the manager of a pop group.’” It was the sense of phoniness and marketability that Plant couldn’t seem to stand. Especially given the countercultural origins of heavy metal and the early days of Led Zeppelin.
In contrast, Plant’s group always stuck by their principles, releasing a litany of honest, groundbreaking records before packing it in and going their separate ways in 1980, following the death of John Bonham. Whereas other groups of a similar ilk might resign themselves to endless reunion tours and tax bill-induced new albums, Led Zeppelin has repeatedly quashed calls to reunite. In fact, it is the band’s staunchly principled stance on music that has made them such an enduring name within rock and metal circles.
Led Zeppelin might have started the metal revolution, but the band members soon came to resent their offspring. Plant’s band were never into marketing ploys or needlessly extravagant outfits; the focus was always placed entirely on the music, something that later harbingers of 1980s metal seemed to lose sight of.
The irony is that many of the artists Plant criticised were themselves inspired by Led Zeppelin’s groundbreaking work. While he may have disliked the direction parts of heavy metal eventually took, there is no escaping the band’s influence on the genre’s development. Whether embraced or rejected, Led Zeppelin’s fingerprints remain all over heavy metal’s history, making them one of its most important architects regardless of how they chose to define themselves.
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