![\"Billy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Billy-Corgan-The-Smashing-Pumpkins-Musician-2026-Far-Out-Magazine-1140x855.jpg\")
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Billy Corgan \u2013 The Smashing Pumpkins \u2013 Musician \u2013 2026 \u2013 Far Out Magazine (Credits; John Shaw)<\/p>\n
Sat 17 October 2026 17:35, UK <\/p>\n
Heavy metal didn\u2019t emerge overnight, nor can its creation be credited to any single band. Instead, the genre developed gradually, with several pioneering acts helping to shape its distinctive sound. <\/p>\n
However, Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan <\/a>believes Led Zeppelin played a particularly important role, laying down what he describes as the \u201cblueprints\u201d for heavy metal.<\/p>\n When Led Zeppelin formed, heavy metal had yet to emerge<\/a> as a distinct genre. Instead, they were a rock and roll band with a darker, heavier edge that set them apart from many of their contemporaries. Over their decade together, they continually pushed the boundaries of their sound, introducing new ideas and techniques that would influence generations of musicians and continue to resonate today.<\/p>\n During a discussion about his favourite metal albums, Corgan controversially named Zeppelin\u2019s 1975 album Physical Graffiti<\/a> despite the band not being a traditional metal group. The Smashing Pumpkins singer is aware that Led Zeppelin isn\u2019t what most people think of when discussing the genre, but he felt it was only right to give props to the scene\u2019s forefathers.<\/p>\n Corgan admitted to Music Radar: \u201cIt\u2019s hard to call Zep\u2019 metal\u2019, but they did create different blueprints that are still being used in Riffland. I love this record because it is so damn dark. \u2018In My Time of Dying\u2019 is as heavy as anything released. Maybe not \u2018heavy\u2019 heavy, but emotionally\u2026 total oblivion.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, in a different discussion with Rolling Stone, Corgan spoke again of his passion for the group. The Smashing Pumpkins founder was discussing his love of wrestling and said Jimmy Page has a similar X factor to Shawn Michaels. He said, \u201cJimmy Page comes to mind, having met him once. When you think of what Jimmy Page created, it\u2019s kind of mindblowing. You\u2019re standing there talking to that man, and there\u2019s a mystical quality to his being\u201d.<\/p>\n Adding, \u201cHe\u2019s not still running around like he looked in 1975, but there\u2019s something about him. Whether it\u2019s fairy-like or mischievous, there\u2019s a mirth in his spirit that\u2019s still there. When you think of Led Zeppelin music his guitar is almost like a lead vocal, so you almost have like two lead vocals, which is kind of the insanity of Zeppelin.\u201d<\/p>\n In the same interview, Corgan further heaped praise upon the band and spoke of how he \u201calways respected\u201d Led Zeppelin for calling it a day following the death of John Bonham. He added, \u201cWhen John Bonham died, they announced the band is done. They didn\u2019t step back and think about it. I\u2019ve always respected that because he was their brother, and they knew it wasn\u2019t gonna be the same without him. And I had to learn those lessons the hard way.\u201d<\/p>\n Corgan continued: \u201cWhen Jimmy Chamberlin left the band in \u201996, I thought, \u201cI\u2019ll just get somebody. The band is big, and we\u2019ll find somebody great. It won\u2019t be the same, but it\u2019ll be just as good in a different way.\u201d It just doesn\u2019t work like that. You just don\u2019t replace your brother like that.\u201d<\/p>\n Although Led Zeppelin never considered themselves a heavy metal band, they inadvertently helped bring the emerging genre to mainstream audiences, perhaps without even realising the extent of their influence. However, their impact stretched far beyond metal, shaping countless other styles and cementing their reputation as one of the most influential bands in music history.<\/p>\n Is Physical Graffiti Led Zeppelin\u2019s best?<\/p>\n It might not be considered their best, but it certainly holds a lot of weight with their lead singer claiming it to be the pinnacle of their output. Plant didn\u2019t hesitate when asked by Rolling Stone for his own favourite record, and revealed: \u201cPhysical Graffiti, strong stuff.<\/a> And it sounded good too. It sounded very tough, but it was also restrained, exhibiting a certain amount of control as well.\u201d<\/p>\n As recently as 2018, in a feature-length piece with Dan Rather, he spoke in further detail about the intricacies of the track that make it so perfect to him: \u201cIt was a great achievement to take such a monstrously dramatic musical piece and find a lyric that was ambiguous enough, and a delivery that was not over-pumped,\u201d said Plant. <\/p>\n \u201cIt was almost the antithesis of the music, this lyric and this vocal delivery that was just about enough to get in there.\u201d <\/p>\n Physical Graffiti was the dawning of a new chapter for the band as they now had full creative control with no overlords following their exit from Atlantic Records, and went independent with their new label Swan Song Records.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n![\"Jimmy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Jimmy-Page-1973-Guitarist-Led-Zeppelin-Far-Out-Magazine-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a>Credit: Far Out \/ Open Culture<\/p>\n
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<\/a> The Far Out Led Zeppelin Newsletter<\/p>\n