Jack Black picks out “the greatest rock band of all time”

Of all the adjectives used to describe Jack Black, “subtle” is not one of them. Although he displays an impressive range in front of the camera, Black’s speciality has always been making the most exaggerated moves possible while maintaining an effortless charm. For Black, his acting method and love for music are intertwined, and when it comes to rock excellence, he believes few bands can compare to Led Zeppelin.

Granted, Black came from the kind of generation that Led Zeppelin helped create. While the rest of the rock scene was still living 24/7 in psychedelic bliss, Jimmy Page was hard at work trying to make the kind of band that would make the loudest music possible. Although there was a lot in common between the first Led Zeppelin album and what Page had been doing with The Yardbirds, they sculpted themselves into a completely different animal in just a few years.

Off the back of massive hits like ‘Whole Lotta Love’, Zeppelin was ground zero for everyone who wanted to make a hard rock band. Throughout their body of work, it’s easy to pick out where everyone got their influences from. Just looking at the biggest names in rock who came later, you weren’t going to find a bigger influence on Chris Cornell than Robert Plant, and Dave Grohl certainly wouldn’t be the animal he is today without John Bonham.

As history tells us now, Led Zeppelin weren’t trying to follow a blueprint; they were ripping it up as they went. There’s a lawlessness to their early records that still feels dangerous, even now. Page wasn’t just writing riffs; he was casting bloody spells. Bonham didn’t just keep the beat; he sounded like he was trying to blow a hole through the floor. It was messy, primal, and bigger than anything anyone had heard.

Plenty of bands chased their sound, but most of them missed the point. Zeppelin never felt manufactured. It was instinct, sweat, and a bit of black magic stitched together under the roar of a Marshall stack. They didn’t polish the rough edges; they wore them like a badge. That’s the difference. That’s why they’re not just another great rock band — they’re the one every other band quietly knows they’ll never beat.

For Black, it always went just a little bit deeper. In addition to being a massive Zeppelin fan, the band also helped kickstart one of his most successful films, School of Rock. Despite the script being tailor-made for Black, it was missing that magical song when the actor eventually got Page and Plant to agree to give them permission to use ‘Immigrant Song’ in the movie.

That kind of co-sign doesn’t happen by accident, and Black was more than happy to return the favour when discussing Zeppelin at the Kennedy Center, saying, “Led Zeppelin…the greatest rock and roll band of all time. Better than the Beatles, better than The Stones. And if you don’t agree with me, that’s because you haven’t done the Zeppelin marathon. It’s when you sit your ass down and listen to all nine Zeppelin albums in a row. The jams of Led Zeppelin are second to none”.

And who are we to argue with the mind behind Tenacious D? I mean, if you choose to ignore some of the more questionable pieces of their discography like ‘Hot Dog’, a good half of their body of work could be considered any other band’s classic hit. When people aren’t celebrating the epics like ‘Stairway to Heaven’ or ‘Kashmir’, there are still exceptional songs like ‘What Is and What Should Never Be’ and ‘Ten Years Gone’ that still fly under the radar for casual rock fans.

More than anything, Led Zeppelin should be applauded for birthing the genre of riff-oriented rock and roll. The Beatles and The Stones had their fair share of great guitar licks in their discography, but in terms of basing an entire song around a monster passage of notes, Zeppelin walked so that everyone from Black Sabbath to Metallica to Pearl Jam could run.

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