{"id":57311,"date":"2025-04-28T11:24:08","date_gmt":"2025-04-28T11:24:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/57311\/"},"modified":"2025-04-28T11:24:08","modified_gmt":"2025-04-28T11:24:08","slug":"robert-plant-picks-out-the-best-led-zeppelin-vocal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/57311\/","title":{"rendered":"Robert Plant picks out the best Led Zeppelin vocal"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Robert<\/p>\n

(Credits: Far Out \/ YouTube Still)<\/p>\n

Mon 28 April 2025 10:15, UK <\/p>\n

Following The Yardbirds\u2019 exodus, guitar virtuoso Jimmy Page took it upon himself to rebuild a band to rival the likes of The Who and The Rolling Stones. With Led Zeppelin<\/a>, joined by Robert Plant, John Bonham and John Paul Jones, Page did just that. The band\u2019s heavier blues approach, fuelled by Bonham\u2019s thunderous percussion and Page\u2019s rapturous guitar command, would become the perfect conduit for Plant\u2019s powerful yet dynamic vocals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As Page built his new incarnation of the Yardbirds, he carefully selected bandmates for both talent and demeanour. After catching wind of a unique rock singer from Birmingham, Page put his nose to the trail and found Plant at the other end. He was a golden-haired god who has since formed the very image of a rock \u2018n\u2019 roll frontman. If you think of a rock star, you invariably think of Plant.<\/p>\n

However, the musical edifice hailed from humble beginnings. \u201cI was appearing at this college when [manager Peter Grant] and Jimmy turned up and asked me if I\u2019d like to join the Yardbirds,\u201d Plant recalled of his first meeting with Page in a 2008 interview with Classic Rock. \u201cI knew the Yardbirds had done a lot of work in America \u2013 which to me meant audiences who would want to know what I might have to offer \u2013 so, naturally, I was very interested.\u201d<\/p>\n

The frontman sang Jefferson Airplane\u2019s song \u2018Somebody To Love\u2019<\/a> to Page during this first encounter. Tackling anything sung by Grace Slick is always inherently difficult, but he matched her soaring power with aplomb in a way that Page found almost peculiar. The guitarist later recalled the moment: \u201cWhen I auditioned him and heard him sing, I immediately thought there must be something wrong with him personality-wise or that he had to be impossible to work with because I just could not understand why, after he told me he\u2019d been singing for a few years already, he hadn\u2019t become a big name yet.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Awed by his seamless performance, Page added, \u201cSo I had him down to my place for a little while just to sort of check him out, and we got along great. No problems.\u201d He remained puzzled by his unrealised greatness for the foreseeable. Eventually, 300 million record sales later, he would become puzzled by his realised greatness, such was the virtuosity of the singer he had unearthed.<\/p>\n

With a big check mark next to social compatibility and vocal talent, Page and Plant got on like a house on fire and entered one of the finest partnerships in rock history. After establishing Led Zeppelin\u2019s bold sound over two albums in 1969, they began the 1970s poised for dominion. Flower power was out, and their unique brand of heaviness was in\u2014a more fitting encapsulation of the ruptured era.<\/p>\n

It is widely accepted that Led Zeppelin hit an artistic peak between 1970\u2019s Led Zeppelin III and 1975\u2019s Physical Graffiti. Throughout this period, the band\u2019s burgeoning capability was complemented by optimal intra-band chemistry. They had arrived at their heyday.<\/p>\n

In a 1980 interview with journalist Tony Bacon, Plant was asked to appraise the band\u2019s work. Firstly, he was asked to pick out what he deemed Page\u2019s finest guitar work<\/a>. After a pause for thought, he picked out \u2018In My Time of Dying\u2019 from Physical Graffiti. \u201cIt goes on and on,\u201d Plant admitted playfully. \u201cBut it\u2019s a great ramshackle blues slide. Straight off the top.\u201d<\/p>\n

Later, Plant was challenged to pick out his finest vocal contribution. Picking out \u2018The Ocean\u2019 from Houses of the Holy as his finest vocal achievement. It saw the singer go back through the repertoire of sounds that had inspired him throughout his life. Plant revealed how he used slapback echo, inspired by Gene Vincent\u2019s 1956 song, \u2018Woman Love\u2019. However, he brought this classic rock groove forward with a bold dose of experimentation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe more you listen to rock \u2018n\u2019 roll and early rockabilly, [you realise] there\u2019s some incredible echo effects,\u201d he added. \u201cThey were promising you something that actually wasn\u2019t for real, you know? The very idea of putting an effect on the voice, in this dream wonderland, this promise of safe love and no tears, whatever it is [laughs]. That\u2019s what it all started from.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, in typical Led Zeppelin fashion, he was already assured enough of his quality that it was the moment he played around with new ways to package it that stood out as his crowning achievement. It\u2019s a roving, rollicking yet highly nuanced take that isn\u2019t just Plant\u2019s best, but perhaps one of the best in rock \u2018n\u2019 roll history.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Related Topics<\/p>\n

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