AC/DC Back in Black or Led Zep II

[passedpawn]

Easy question. Sorry, Pink Floyd is not part of this contest for obvious reasons.

 

[bob1852]

AC/DC Back in Black

Mainly because 1) it was/is fecking epic and 2) it was released only 5 months after Bon died.

 

[Shakybones]

I love Back in Black and I agree with AZ's reasoning, but I gotta go with Zeppelin.

Whole Lotta Love
What Is and What Should Never Be
The Lemon Song
Thank You
Heartbreaker
Living Loving Maid (She's Just a Woman)
Ramble On
Moby Dick
Bring It On Home

Not a single song that doesn't kick ass.

Compare any one with Shake a Leg. Sorry, Zep wins.

 

[CBMbrewer]

I'd say its pretty close.
Both really great albums.

But I vote for AC/DC. You can't get much more straightforward awesome rock then that!
Don't get me wrong, I'm a big Zeppelin fan. But Back in Black was a huge achievement considering the tittle song and the album itself are still still one of their most well known and I hear "Back in Black" and "Shoot the Thrill" all the time on the radio. And it was, after all, the first album with Brian Johnson, after the late great Bon Scott.

 

[Shakybones]

You guys are sounding a bit consolational. "We gotta give them the prize because their singer had just snuffed it."

Page > Young -- then and now

 

[HefeHood]

one vote for Zeppelin, what Shakybones said. Have the live London concert CD in my player for the last 6 months, can seem to get enough .

 

[grathan]

Back and Black because of the studio production of Mutt Lange. You can put that cassette on any stereo and it brings it to life.

 

[hoppyhoppyhippo]

2 Albums aren't comparable. Back in Black would have been better with Bon Scott. And the musicianship of Zeppelin is just in another plane. Page is way greater than the Youngs pout together and the rhythm section is such a slam dunk it's not funny.

 

[bzwyatt]

AC/DC is the best band ever. You Shook Me All Night Long is the suckiest song on the album, but it doesn't ruin it.

Back in Black.

 

[LabRatBrewer]

Its like Abbey Road v. Sgt. Pepper's v. Revolver...why choose? Nonetheless, Back in Black is better tonight, if I hit play on the OP Zep youtube post I'd probably change my vote.

 

[passedpawn]

Its like Abbey Road v. Sgt. Pepper's v. Revolver...why choose? Nonetheless, Back in Black is better tonight, if I hit play on the OP Zep youtube post I'd probably change my vote.

White album.

 

[Melana]

Zeppelin all the way.

 

[Jaybird]

^^^^^^ What she said!

 

[Homercidal]

AC/DC is THE serious straight up ROCK AND ROLL band of the era. Without doubt they kicked ass and Shook us ALL NIGHT LONG.

BUT!

LZ is arguably THE GREATEST ROCK BAND OF ALL TIME!

They transcend the genre by being able to rock hard AND show their high level of musicianship. Based on the two albums listed, I HAVE to go with LZ on this one.

Now if you want to compare LZ and PF... , I might burst a brain on that one!

 

[KayaBrew]

Heavy duty stuff here. I'm going with Back in Black. If the question were Led Zeppelin I or Back in Black, then there's no contest.

Just to stir the pot a little, I'd take Van Halen I over Back in Black or Zep II.

Just sayin'

 

[hoppyhoppyhippo]

Heavy duty stuff here. I'm going with Back in Black. If the question were Led Zeppelin I or Back in Black, then there's no contest.

Just to stir the pot a little, I'd take Van Halen I over Back in Black or Zep II.

Just sayin'

LZ2>VH1>BIB

I love Van Halen's debut, far and away their best album, but it just doesn't stack up.

To me as a hard rock enthusiast. Very few albums come close to Led Zeppelin's first 6 albums.

Only ones of that genre I'd say are there are Appetite for Destruction and maybe Paranoid.

What LZ did to start their career was amazing. The band is IMO the best of all time for a reason.

 

[jwalker1140]

While I think LZ is a better or more influential band and had better musicians, I think BIB is a better album than Zep II. For me, it mainly comes down to the fact that it has aged better. I find the corny ping pong stereo effects and other studio gimmickry that sounded so cool 40 years ago to be painful to listen to today, and detract from otherwise great performances and songs. I don't find any cringe moments in BIB.

Favorite BIB experience: being at a Raiders home game when they play Hells Bells as the players come out of the locker room.

 

[roastquake]

Apples and oranges, but if I gotta choose, Zep II

 

[fenderbass]

Led Zep I, II, III, IV and beyond. Zeppelin no doubt. But then again I haven't liked AC/DC since they lost Bon Scott. Just my opinion.

 

[Homercidal]

Meh. AC/DC are great, but they are a bit two dimensional. Hard Rock and Hard Blues. They are very good at those. But that would be like drinking the same beer every day for a week! Sometimes I want to trade in my IPA for a Stout, or a Belgian Wit, or Brown Ale or something.

 

[bob1852]

Meh. AC/DC are great, but they are a bit two dimensional. Hard Rock and Hard Blues. They are very good at those. But that would be like drinking the same beer every day for a week! Sometimes I want to trade in my IPA for a Stout, or a Belgian Wit, or Brown Ale or something.

Well, in fairness you have both pre-Johnson and post-Scott AC/DC; and then you also have post-Razor's Edge AC/DC (which pretty much all suck in my opinion). Quite the variety there...

I've had heated discussions about who was better: Bon or Brian. I always ask myself, did Brian do as good (or better?) at Bon's songs? Yes. Could Bon have done as well as Brian with Hells Bells, Back and Black, You Shook Me All Night Long, Thunderstruck, Are You Ready, etc.? I don't think so...

 

[MoldMan]

I had to pick Back in Black. I grew up listening to AC/DC and I really can't stand Led Zep.

 

[Subsailor]

I vote AC/DC. Overallin this vote, I prefer AC/DC because they're more visceral and tend to be more fun for partying, kicking a$$ and taking names.
Although nobody asks, my favorite 10 bands of the 70s list is:
1. Pink Floyd
2. Queen
3. Yes
4. Rush
5. AC/DC
6. Jethro Tull
7. Led Zeppelin
8. Aerosmith
9. The Who
10. ELP; Emerson, Lake and Palmer

 

[LabRatBrewer]

I still haven't gotten over the over-saturation of Stairway to Heaven when I was young. The cringe factor still taints the earlier songs for me. For some reason, even songs that were over played from Back in Black don't have that effect.

 

[bzwyatt]

Mm... Yeah, stairway toheaven sucks balls. I didn't know that song is on that album, hehe, but yeah, that makes the choice an absolute no brianer.

 

[chawagi]

Personally. I think we're doing an apple and oranges comparison here. While the two bands may have shared an era, they are different styles of music.

If forced to make a choice though, I gotta go with Zeppelin. AC/DC, while a good time band, was a bit simplistic and meaningless; lyrically not much better than the ghetto gangster rappers of today.

Zeppelin was far more complex with their composition and arrangements.

I could take or leave Plant, but I don't think any band could ever match the Page/ Bonham combination and creativity.

Unfortunately, as mentioned above, Stairway saturated the airwaves and kind of burned-out many people on Zeppelin, as well as detracted from some far superior but less-played songs (Kashmir, Babe I'm gonna Leave You, Over the Hills and Far Away, The Immigrant Song, Thank You, Travelling Riverside Blues, Four Sticks, Tangerine, Gallows Pole, No Quarter, The Battle of Evermore, When the Levee Breaks, and Going to California).

 

[bzwyatt]

That is kinda like saying wine is better than beer because it is more complex and refined, or whatever obnoxious reasons wine-drinkers have for thinking they are 'better' because they like a 'better' drink.

 

[chawagi]

Didn't say one was better, Chief. Said they are really incomparable because they are different styles of music, and gave my reasons why I prefer one over the other if a choice had to be made.

 

[Tinhorn]

No contest!! Either one is preferable

 

[bzwyatt]

Simplistic and meaningless... Comparable to ghetto rappers... whatever bub, don't take it personal.