Robert Plant

Well, Zeppelin… Hmm as a drummer that had the pleasure of playing in a Zepp Tribute I can say I have a unique perspective on the music and the band. As a life long fan, seeing TSRTS many, many times at midnight movies I didn’t really get it. I never paid attention to the intricacies of the band and the way the songs were crafted. I will say this, JPJ hands down was the bedrock of the band. Page and Bonham both could get a bit lost in the moment, at times brilliantly, others not so much. Most of the guitar parts in TSRTS are overdubbed from the studio, I would love to hear the full original tracks. Maybe one day they will get released. I don’t listen to Zep as much these days, I spent 4 years essentially in a Zep/Bonham master class, playing that stuff is hard and fun but it dulls the desire to just listen. They were a great band, one of the all time biggest bands ever. Were they the “best”? No… others surpassed them easily. But their staying power says everything. There will never be a band like them again, and I can absolutely say those four kids and the way they played together was simply sublime. It was truly an honor to attempt to play those songs.

I own a copy of the Honeydrippers album and it is pretty good, but the first album with Alison Krauss, Raising Sand, is fantastic!  Well worth owning a copy.

Had the pleasure of seeing Zeppelin twice back in the 70's. They were everything you hoped they would be. Loud, very dramatic, great musicians and Robert Plant was everything that every teenage boy dreamed of being. Long blond curls, sweaty, bare chest, way too tight jeans and the focus of every girl in the audience.

Everything that a rock and roll band should be.

I had a different experience. I saw them in 1973, at Madison Square Garden, and they were way too loud, and at least at that time, Robert was so full of himself that he talked his way through most of the lyrics. It was very disappointing, and my ears are still ringing.

Awesome story, acman3!

Not a genre I listen to much anymore.  Not because I dislike it.  Simply only so many hours in the day.  For whatever it’s worth and as much as I dislike “best of” surveys, whenever I see a “best R&R vocalist” survey, Robert Plant is the name that always comes to mind first. 

Sorry if someone already commented on The Honey Drippers but that’s an excellent album featuring Robert’s better vocals .

A bunch of jerks at my high school were into Led Zeppelin so I stayed as far as I could and never cared about it, and still don’t.

@tkukielk  why would you let some jerks make up your mind for you?

This band is incredible. We go see them every year when they come through town. Have tickets for them in February. Sells out EVERY show.

.

Robert Plant is obviously one of the best singers ever to come from rock; he's become over the years a truly stellar singer. He's released quite a few absolutely excellent solo works and a couple of collaborations with Alison Krauss. He's never become boring.

Just listen Kashmir, Live from Celebration Day. Plant’s voice matured, Page’s guitar is wild, but under the Master’s control, Jason truly follows his Father’s footsteps and JPJ is freakin’ awesome foundation to this enormous energy release. Like H bomb slowly went off on that stage.
Okay: JPJ and Jason are foundation worthy of any R’N’R Gods there was, is, and ever will be; those two can lay over it their sound and words as they see it fit, and we will be blown away. If we are not blown away, we should call 911 and ask for help, for we are dead.
Yes, I am blown away by that particular version of Kashmir. Yes, I was teenager when they were in orbit - therefore I am biased; NO, they are not my favourite band.
1974, New Year: my sister came back to the middle of nowhere from University and brought me a present: Pink Floyd’s Meddle. I pulled the LP out, see 5 songs on A side, flip it over and it says only one thing: Echoes.

So, my No1 song in modern music is Echoes. But surely, that Kashmir is easily between best 10.
If you wondering, my No1 is Beethoven’s 7th, and 2nd is Khachaturian’s Masquerade:

3rd is Echoes, 4th is Hendrix’ Little Wing, 5th is Moonlight Sonata, 6th is Band’s Load...
Emotional bias is dictating No 7 to be When The Levee Breaks. Only because the town I am from was flooded in 2014 severely despite a "big and strong" levee system. However... there is much better, much more emotional version than Minnie and Led Zeppelin: Playing For Change.

8th is easily that Kashmir. THAT live version.

9th should be the most spiritual song I ever heard: Brian Blade and Fellowship Band, Improvisation. Mortals, drop on your knees. Seriously, unbelievable.
10th: Doors, The End. Vinyl, original issue. No, not Apocalypse Now. Original LP version, rising more questions with every verse... just imagine hearing it for the first time, but now. All the children are insane. Waiting for the summer rain. Yeah.
So, Led Zeppelin is just one snippet of the times long gone. And they were considered POP MUSIC at the time. Let that sink in. Pop music. Yep.
11th: Cash, Hurt
12th: Trucks, This Sky
13th Queen, Propeth’s Song
14th Led again Zeppelin, No Quarter
15th Beethoven’s 9th - if not jumping to 8th and pushing everything down...
16th Bach, Ave Maria
17th Jethro Tull, Thisck As A Brick, entire freakin’ album.
18th Beetles, Let It Be - actually, that entire album. Yes. Everything else was... not quite honest. Except maybe
19th All Things Must Pass, entire album, of course...
20th ...

I should the same feelings regarding Led Zeppelin and Plant from my early childhood. These BBC recordings are particularly good and their quality is not bad for the year. Led Zeppelin remains my favorite rock band along with Emerson Lake & Palmer. 

It's been rumored for a long time that Jimmy Page stole melodies from other songs.  Don't believe it.  Listen to the song 'Taurus' from Spirit (available on Qobuz & TIDAL) that was published well in advance of 'Stairway to Heaven'.  I never liked Page's style of playing lots of notes at the mercy of carrying a memorable melody.  Page couldn't hold a candle to guitarists such as Hendrix, the late Jeff Beck or Eric Clapton.

As to Plant being the greatest Rock & Roll singer, I've seen him in Led Zepp several time in S, Florida in the late 60's and 70's in small and large venues and he's nowhere close to Freddie Mercury, Roger Daltry, Rod Stewart or Paul Rodgers.

After 7 long months renting a house while our new one was being built, we finally moved in.  My audio system was in storage the entire time and I was listening to blue tooth streaming on a Marshall Stanmore BT speaker.  Great for the garage, but not for hours of listening.

Yesterday I got my system set up and upgraded to the DAC2 module in my McIntosh MA-8900.  When the tech was finished and we fired it up, the FIRST “record” I played was “Celebration Day” streamed via Tidal through my Aurender N100C.  All I will say is GLORIOUS.  I grew up on Zeppelin, Floyd, Rush, Genesis (before top 40), Stones, Beatles, Kansas, Frampton and Elton John.  I don’t listen to much that was produced after 1990 because it’s mostly garbage and today NO ONE plays an instrument.  

Keeping physically fit, being active and stimulating the mind with music are sure fire ways to delay the inevitable and really enjoy life!!  Rock On people!!!!!

As I get older the acoustic version of Going to California on How the West was Won is stil one of my favorites.

Absolutely +1000.  I believe that performance, IIRC, was at Earl's Court.  Probably my favorite Jimmy Page acoustic performance of all time, at his zenith as rock's premier guitarist of the time (IMO).

@decooney thank you!  I Amazon’d the Celebration Day CD/DVD/BlueRay right after I read your thread.  WOW!  I’m playing it on a Sony 75” with an Oppo 203 player and no external DAC thru a PrimaLuna Dialogue Pre and Quicksilver Mid Monos (a few tubes there) into modified Klipsch Belles with an SVS double 12” sub.  I had to turn the sub off.

Love Jimmy with the Les Paul bow work on Dazed and Confused!

Great audio and video.  Highly recommended!

I am also a huge fan of the Plant/Krauss project  

@chcumo63 

Ridiculous post regarding your opinions about music.

@whiteknee decooney thank you!  I Amazon’d the Celebration Day CD/DVD/BlueRay right after I read your thread.  WOW!  

Cool, enjoy. Glad you like it! 👍  I'm an old Zep fan myself, and yet some of the old 70s recordings were pretty limited. Finding this concert dvd and others like David Gilmore, anything played at Royal Albert Hall or O2 arena since Blue Ray came out can offer something else to explore. Each time I play that Blue Ray, totally enjoy it. 

@nitrobob, you are so right.  Get The Led Out is just an amazing show.  front row center for their show coming up in March.  Last year, they were EPIC.  I was looking around at all of these old geezers singing along, with their walkers etc., and then I realized . . .  I AM ONE OF THEM! LOL!  I highly recommend them for any Zep fan.

I grew up on Led Zeppelin in the '70s, and remember going to the store as soon as their album dropped, going home, smoking some weed and carefully putting it on the turntable.  IMHO, there is Led Zeppelin, and then all other bands.  Ironically, with my relatively nice system, I find myself playing Led Zep bootlegs, especially remastered soundboard recordings, much more than the studio albums.  Although obviously not as good as How The West Was Won (recorded in LA venues, FYI), some of the soundboard recordings are shockingly good, especially given the recording technology of the time.  I have had experiences listening when it sounds like I am in the first row and Robert Plant is singing right in front of me, up about three feet. I am still trying to remember what strain I was smoking, LOL!

One sad thing about Led Zep is the lack of good pro shot video of their concerts.  Why hasn't someone taken the raw footage from The Song Remains The Same and re-released it minus what I consider to be idiotic fantasy sequences and stupid low end "special" effects? 

Well, now I must go put on a bootleg!!!

do yourself a favor and DO listen to Zep old LPs ...they are still one of the best bands of all time if not the best...highly recommend Houses of The Holy (Rain Song) masterpiece LP ....along with ll & iV 

Yes Led Zeppelin 1,2,3 are great...Robert Plant fantastic vocalists...I remember seeing Led Zeppelin at MSG in 1971 i was blown away... as a Babd they were unreal...

Zarhoff on Plant

This is my favorite of opera singer Elizabeth Zharoff's analyses - in this case of Plant's "Since I've Been Loving You" during the 1973 Madison Square Garden performance when they were at the pinnacle.

I have always had a great time experiencing Led Zeppelin recordings, their is something about much of their music that attracts me and compels me to stick around. I have not seen these Live, a shame really, as I did get to see some other mega star performers from their successful era.

I have always had a deep rooted passion for Chicago Blues, the genre really is attractive to me. It sort of helps with adding value to the mutual influence this music has had on others.

When Page first met Plant with the intention to make a decision about working together, they stayed in London on a Floating Home belonging to Jimmy. The story is, the both of them played their collections of Chicago Blues throughout the few days together, from this music was started to be created and eventually become performed by Led Zeppelin.

The Boys done well.

It's a shame Jimmy notoriety today as a pensioner, mainly is from his fighting with his neighbour Robbie Williams. Could have been another World Shattering Collaboration, but hey ho, Beef is Beef. Can one say the word Beef, if those who are having Beef with each other are both Vegans 🤼. 

@bato1965 ... Just listen Kashmir, Live from Celebration Day. Plant’s voice matured.

Had not listened to that Kashmir Celebration Day 2007 performance in a while, and came across it again last night on Youtube. Had forgotten how good it was. What struck me is how all of them are really into it, giving it 200%. "Matured" is a good word to describe it. The BlueRay DVD is really something. Appreciated revisiting it all over again. Quite a treat to watch and listen on a nice home theater setup.

@cycles2 said:

"As to Plant being the greatest Rock & Roll singer, I’ve seen him in Led Zepp several time in S, Florida in the late 60’s and 70’s in small and large venues and he’s nowhere close to Freddie Mercury, Roger Daltry, Rod Stewart or Paul Rodgers."

Of course there is no right or wrong in these types of comparisons. It is always a matter of opinion of course.

Of those you’ve listed I would only agree with Freddy Mercury. For pure chops and range he was hard to top. Roger Daltry wouldn’t make my top ten list even though he’s one of my top 4 or 5 favorite singers. Rod Stewart, also one of my favorites has a distinctive and soulful voice but he’s pretty much a one trick pony. Paul Rodgers is the real deal. Right on up there of course but then there is the matter of his body of work. Its pretty small. Awesome stuff but not a ton of it.

And that brings me to why I put Plant at or near the top: not only did he have the range and the power (he no longer does by his own admission), the soul, the timing, the bravado (like Mercury) but he also has a massive body of work and is still going strong. Mercury has a stellar but fairly small body of work and, alas, he’s been gone a long time. Daltry has done very little of note since the Who’s heyday. Stewart does a little bit from time to time. Rodgers is in terrible health.

So when you put the nature of his voice, how it suited and still suits his work and the fact that Plant is still touring AND putting out new work I see him at or near the top.

That is why I would always list the Stones as the best band in history and I’m not even a fan. But they were there at the beginning and are still here now. Touring and new music. And that has to count for something.