i think they were equally influenced by bOTH.
the early heavy stuff they did sounded like "plastic Zep" - always a little light/hollow production-wise compared to the authentic zep sound.
whereas, many of freddie's/brian's pastiche stuff - seaside rendezvous, GOFL, melancholy blues, good company, lazing, millionaire waltz, sleeping on the sidewalk, etc etc - wouldn't be out of place in the Beatles - white album timeframe
there's some pretty groundbreaking pop in that 67-69 period of beatles history and you can hear the songs thatcould've inspired queen to write the above songs...savoy truffle, wild honey pie, don't pass me by, rocky raccoon, i'm so tired, martha my dear, she's leaving home, being for the benefit of mr kite, maxwell's silver hammer
I think it's a balance between the two, but there are things other bands like Black Sabbath, The Who and Uriah Heep, I think the mixture of these elements make the sound part queen
it wasn't just the drums
think about it - those first three queen albums - you can hear so many things that make it sound plastic(ish)
think that after, 39 yrs i'm starting to see through queen a little (doesn't mean i like them any less) just that they really were a parody
look at the album tracks and see which zep/yes/genesis/sabb tracks they are getting their ideas from
I couldnt see it as fair to class any of Queen's music as parody. Apart from blatant pastiches like CLTCL. Have to confess that I havent heard much Yes and don't fancy early Genesis much from what I have heard. But would they also not have traceable influences? Led Zeps influences are incredibly transparent but still have their own sound. Early Beatles lifted from 50s rock n roll. Id argue some of their early stuff is closer to parody than Queens. Queen definitely put their own style, sound and identity on their music . I havent heard anything like In the Lap of the Gods for example.
In answer to the original question Id say more influenced by the the Beatles.
The Beatles were their Bible and Jimi Hendrix..I can hear Led Zeppelin sometimes on the early Albums when Roger sings and perhaps a riff or two but nothing Outstanding they have always sounded like Queen to me. just my Opinion
Had Queen stopped at their first, second or third album, Zeppelin would've had the lion's share in terms of their influences, but in the context of the entire band's back-to-back catalogue, Beatles were featured far more prominently (e.g. on albums like Magic or Miracle).
Beatles also 'win' if you consider the four Queen members were big Beatles fans while only three of them (75%) were big Zep fans.
AlbaNo1 wrote:
I couldnt see it as fair to class any of Queen's music as parody. Apart from blatant pastiches like CLTCL.
you really mean that, don't you?
so many tracks - at least ten from first three albums are Zep influence/inspired
funny how love is - beach boys
fairy feller - a little bit Genesis?
ogre battle - sabbs?
now i'm here - mott the hoople (all the young dudes)
get down make love (zep and beatles)
then there's the general parodies/pastiches
bring back that leroy brown
lazing on a sunday afternoon
seaside rendezvous
good company
good oldfashioned loverboy
millionaire waltz
my melancholy blues
sleeping on the sidewalk
dreamers ball
let me entertain you (reminds me of caberet a bit)
if you can't beat em (can't place it)
dragon attack/dust/suicide ? you don't see where these came from?
need your loving tonight/rock it/CLTCL (all r n r parodies)
staying power/body language/dancer/pressure/cool cat (all onvious styles)
back chat (motown)
man on the prowl (obvious)
keep passing (joe jackson)
pain is so close (motown)
AlbaNo1 wrote:
I couldnt see it as fair to class any of Queen's music as parody. Apart from blatant pastiches like CLTCL.
you really mean that, don't you?
so many tracks - at least ten from first three albums are Zep influence/inspired
funny how love is - beach boys
fairy feller - a little bit Genesis?
ogre battle - sabbs?
now i'm here - mott the hoople (all the young dudes)
get down make love (zep and beatles)
then there's the general parodies/pastiches
bring back that leroy brown
lazing on a sunday afternoon
seaside rendezvous
good company
good oldfashioned loverboy
millionaire waltz
my melancholy blues
sleeping on the sidewalk
dreamers ball
let me entertain you (reminds me of caberet a bit)
if you can't beat em (can't place it)
dragon attack/dust/suicide ? you don't see where these came from?
need your loving tonight/rock it/CLTCL (all r n r parodies)
staying power/body language/dancer/pressure/cool cat (all onvious styles)
back chat (motown)
man on the prowl (obvious)
keep passing (joe jackson)
pain is so close (motown)
Looking at the range of styles covered Im really surprised they didnt do any opera pastiche.