What the record actually says
Not fan-forum thunder. Published lines from Rolling Stone, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Billboard, George Martin, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, and the historical consensus pages this site cites.
beatles
“No group has so radically transformed the sound and significance of rock & roll. They proved that rock & roll could embrace a limitless variety of harmonies, structures, and sounds; virtually every rock experiment has some precedent on a Beatles record.”
beatles
“Everybody was influenced by somebody, but I think everybody was influenced by The Beatles.”
beatles
“No one will ever be more revolutionary, more creative and more distinctive in popular music.”
beatles
“Because there wasn't a rock'n'roll precedent, The Beatles when they came turned everything upside down and made a revolution, which I didn't foresee.”
beatles
“The Beatles are the most influential band in popular music and were integral to the development of 1960s counterculture and the recognition of popular music as an art form.”
beatles
“If John, Paul, George and Ringo hadn't demonstrated the creative and commercial possibilities of rock over the course of seven whirlwind years, it's entirely possible that rock wouldn't have become the defining cultural force of the second half of the 20th century.”
zeppelin
“Led Zeppelin were as influential in the 1970s as the Beatles were in the 1960s.”
zeppelin
“The thing about Led Zeppelin was that it was always four musicians at the top of their game, but they could play like a band.”
zeppelin
“When the Levee Breaks was an absolutely stunning recording. John is playing such a sexy, ridiculously laid-back and held-back groove — he bought us a lot of credits.”
zeppelin
“You just needed to listen to what those three guys were doing in the studio. Listen to Jonesy with the eight-string Alembic bass. And Jimmy's solo? It's just really, really something.”
zeppelin
“They have been called the heaviest band of all time, the biggest band of the seventies, and one of the most enduring bands in rock history.”
The chamber
“The Beatles invented the idea that a rock group could be a complete culture. Led Zeppelin invented the idea that a rock group could be a complete weather system. Comparing them is unfair — and irresistible.”