3 Songs That Sound Like Led Zeppelin but Actually Aren’t

The British-born band Led Zeppelin personifies the classic rock sound. With a flirtatious banshee-voiced frontman in Robert Plant, a nimble, production-heavy lead guitarist in Jimmy Page, and a rhythm section for the ages in John Paul Jones and John Bonham, there is a lot to love about the group and a lot to mimic. As a result, over the years many bands have.

Here below, we wanted to explore three times great rock bands through the ages have cribbed a bit from Led Zep. A trio of tracks that might have listeners thinking the classic rock group wrote and recorded them but actually did not. Indeed, these are three songs that sound like Led Zeppelin but aren’t.

[RELATED: Greta Van Fleet Manifesting the Cornucopia]

“Still of the Night” by Whitesnake from Whitesnake (1987)

This song stands between two eras. Not only does it sound like it’s inspired by Led Zeppelin but it also sounds like it may have inspired the Seattle-born grunge group Soundgarden and frontman Chris Cornell. But that aside, the British-born band Whitesnake’s frontman David Coverdale surely is taking notes and borrowing style and performance prowess from Robert Plant. Over heavy buzzing guitars and a constant high-hat drum rhythm, Coverdale moans and belts like his predecessor. On the song, he sings,

In the still of the night I hear the wolf howl, honey
Sniffing around your door
In the still of the night I feel my heart beating heavy
Telling me I gotta have more

In the shadow of night, I see the full moon rise
Telling me what’s in store
My heart start aching, my body started shaking
And I can’t take no more
No, no, no

“Get It On” by Kingdom Come from Kingdom Come (1988)

With thick rhythms behind him, Kingdom Come frontman Lenny Wolf is doing his best Plant impression on this song from the German-born band’s first single from their debut self-titled album. And in between verses, fast-paced shrill guitars fill the space a la Page. It’s a lovely track but it’s also certainly one that hearkens back to the 1970s when classic rock was cemented thanks to the fellas from Led Zeppelin. And on this tune, Wolf sings,

We’ve come a real long way to be with you
It’s not that easy doing what we do
There are those lonely times and then there´s happiness
Now it´s time we gonna do what we do best
Get it on
Get it on

There’s an electric feeling in the air
The night is young and there is lots to share
Don´t you feel the storm
I feel it raging on and on

“Heat Above” by Greta Van Fleet from The Battle at Garden’s Gate (2021)

This epic song from the Michigan-born family rockers Greta Van Fleet is one of the most amazing rock songs from the 21st century. But it also very much resembles Led Zeppelin. While the boys consistently say they are not trying to mimic Led Zep (and we believe them), it also happens that lead singer Josh Kiszka’s voice is just cut from the same cloth as Plant’s. Springy, bright, and falsetto, he sings of love, poetry, and philosophy. They could be family of the same misty mountains. Either way, we love this tune and on it Kiszka sings,

Sorrows of the Earth
May our tears of rain wash down to bathe you
This is what life is worth
When the fires still burn and rage all around

Can you hear that dreadful sound?
Fire still burning on the ground

Photo by Per Ole Hagen/Redferns