60s<King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King It was the best thing from that decade dont diss emo yo <American Football
I always thought you couldn't compare metal to classic rock, it's just completely different. I mean if you just want hard core riffs like that, that's great. I enjoy that sometimes, but to compare that to stairway to heaven for instance isn't fair for either genre.
Slash and Ringo recently made the argument that it isn't dead. I respect their opinions a hell of a lot more than Mr. Merchandise.