Joe Perry names the only band “as important as The Beatles”
Joe Perry is a revolutionary in his own right. When Aerosmith initially formed, they were frequently criticised because of their similarities to the Rolling Stones, but these comparisons are pretty unfair. Granted, Steven Tyler and Mick Jagger are relatively similar in how they look, sound and perform, but Aerosmith was responsible for some unique-sounding music that both leans into hard rock but plays with the idea of ballads and slow jams, too.
Music these days isn’t confined to strict genres, which is widely accepted; however, bending genre and being open to various styles in your music isn’t strictly a new thing. As early as the ‘60s, bands were willing to play around with the status quo of what they were making, and as a result, some truly unique music was born. Granted, artists not having a specific genre is much more accepted today, but it applied just as much to artists six decades ago.
One of the reasons that The Beatles are considered such an influential band is because they altered their style and were keen to play creatively with a plethora of ideas. When you compare Rubber Soul to Sgt Pepper to Abbey Road, there are clear differences at play in each one, and the fact the band continued to do numbers as the world’s biggest musical outfit throughout that period gave other musicians inspiration to play around with their style as well.
The Beatles are widely considered the most influential band of all time because of this, and that’s a pretty fair statement to make; however, Joe Perry also names the only band that The Beatles can be compared to in terms of relevance in a recent speech. When inducting this band into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame and talking about who inspires him, it didn’t take long for the Fab Four to come up, but shortly behind them was Led Zeppelin.
“As far as breaking down barriers, they were as important as The Beatles,” said Perry, “I love this band because they had no limits. They weren’t musical snobs, they never held on to anyone’s style. Zeppelin could change gear six times on one album.”
Perry talked about the different styles that Zeppelin became famous for frequenting, “They played blues, funk, rock, reggae and ballads. I think it’s laughable that some people still consider them just a heavy metal band. At least half of their best songs are acoustic. They were doing unplugged long before it was a hip thing to do.”
Perry’s right. When Jimmy Page started working as a session guitarist, he exposed himself to a massive range of playing styles, constantly dabbling in different genres and working with various artists. This meant that when Zeppelin eventually started making music together, they could take advantage of multiple styles and merge them in an exciting and cohesive way.
This style of playing undoubtedly influenced bands like Aerosmith, who also took advantage of acoustic music, ballads and hard rock throughout their career. Subsequently, it is hardly a surprise that Perry has named Led Zeppelin as such an influential musical outfit.
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