Zappa was a genius, he’s on a whole ‘nother level (Hendrix too imho).
But, for HARD rock, I go with Zepplin, always thought so.
I have a bootleg of Zeppelin at the Fillmore West in Jan 1969, before their first album came out. It is a smoking hot performance. Similarly, their Royal Albert Hall on video circa 1970 is breathtaking. But shortly thereafter, their live act went into a ditch. Achilles Last Stand is a masterpiece but net-net, I’d pick Deep Purple over Zep for hard rock.
“Zappa was a genius, he’s on a whole ‘nother level (Hendrix too imho).
But, for HARD rock, I go with Zepplin, always thought so.”
Good points. I don’t know why the OP would include Frank Zappa in a discussion about LZ and best rock band. Zappa was never in a rock band. It was an dictatorial ensemble and he wrote out all the parts. Nothing like a hard rock band like Zepellin.
I say that as someone who likes the Who, Zappa and LZ but would never think or wish to compare them.
Zappa’s musical composition was beyond compare.