DBJ Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 I always thought plant sounded worst at the very beginning (live anyway). It was powerful yeah, but not a lot of control. It also seemed on songs like C'mon Everybody from 1970 RAH that his voice sounds unnaturally lowered. I suppose the mid 70 would be would be the typical Led Zeppelin Style highpoint, but I actually like his voice the most from 1979 to about 1984. A that point he was still very capable of doing the Zeppelin Catalog, but his vocal sound much more musical. His voice from the live cuts from his early solo albums are phenomenal. I also liked his performance of late of the song "The boy who wouldn't hoe corn" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eternal light Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 He strained his voice at times during the early performances. All that passion that came through occasionally took its toll on the vocal cords. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matjaz1 Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 Yes, this subject has been covered many times, but here I go again: My opinion is that Robert's voice burned out around end 1972. Specific problems appear right at the beginning of the Japanese tour. His incredible head voice / falsetto which propelled many Zep tracks became a problem and he had to force himself to sing in his real voice in 1973 - adding to the power of the track (WLL in TSRTS is a good example). Generally his voice became less reliable - if you listen to "Rock and Roll" from 1973 - it was evident that he had (1) a bad case of the nerves most times he went on and (2) his voice would take time to warm up. Robert wasn't a trained singer and like many, he developed nodules in the throat which added to the rough and raspy sound you hear in his voice in TSRTS and some Physical Graffiti tracks like Custard Pie. It really didn't help with booze, parties, cigarettes, drugs and long concerts either. By 1975, with Robert having the flu - his voice is pretty much shot for the tour. He regains some power here and there, but he actually sounds much clearer in 1977. He does regain some clarity in his notes. By 1980, his voice has mellowed a tad more, but he's able to hit Stairway to Heaven notes again. In a sense, Robert's notes were mostly always there - his struggle was really psychological and having enough practice and being in a comfortable zone. I think he could hit the notes on Black Dog if he wanted to generally (not now) but it became a matter of being able to sustain that. Without his patented head voice and shriek, it became less natural for him to do that. Robert in that sense, stopped being a rock singer and evolved into his own voice. Which enabled him as some pointed out, to develop new styles of music. It would've been odd for him to sing in his 1969 voice moving onwards. Everyone mellows out. When we listen to other rockers like Coverdale and Hagar, they still pretty much have their high screaming notes intact, but they never produced the music that Plant and Zep did. Also, unlike Daltrey or Bowie, Robert had a lot more notes in his range and consequently, had more to lose. Generally, Robert's voice by his own admission - has been plagued by inconsistency and rustiness. I think he got really comfortable with his voice just before the Fate of Nations album when I saw him live and he began doing Zep songs again. He was finding the balance. Just a thought: I don't think Robert ever sang in falsetto!! As far as i know he also sang in full voice, even when he sang the highest notes!! What changed was his range and the sound of the voice, so perhaps that's what made you think he switched from falsetto to normal voice in 73!! What does anybody else think?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eternal light Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 Robert Plant did not sing in falsetto. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
namregoob Posted December 30, 2009 Share Posted December 30, 2009 I agree. He was a strong natural tenor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matjaz1 Posted December 30, 2009 Share Posted December 30, 2009 This is a bit of topic, but i always wondered in what way are the vocal cords of great tenors like Robert, different form the vocal cords of males, who can only sing low notes.?? I know that tenors are rare and i know most men can only sing low, but i was never able to find the answer on the question i stated above. I searched for answers and i know vocal range depends on the vocal cords, but i could never find the information how!!! Anybody know??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Led Zep Girl Posted December 30, 2009 Share Posted December 30, 2009 Yes I agree with you. His voice has changed. It got deeper. He def can't hit the high notes anymore. But I am thankful he is still here with us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
namregoob Posted December 31, 2009 Share Posted December 31, 2009 This is a bit of topic, but i always wondered in what way are the vocal cords of great tenors like Robert, different form the vocal cords of males, who can only sing low notes.?? I know that tenors are rare and i know most men can only sing low, but i was never able to find the answer on the question i stated above. I searched for answers and i know vocal range depends on the vocal cords, but i could never find the information how!!! Anybody know??? It's in the genes. There are four natural ranges for the male (adult) voice,starting with bass and ending in tenor. A bass singer will have longer,fatter vocal cords than a tenor,who will have shorter,thinner vocal cords. This is similar to stringed instruments,but unlike a stringed instrument,the pitch is varried soley by tensioning. The tenor range tops off at high c, where as a good bass should be able to sing a low f. Some singers can break out of their range,which brings us terms such as bass baritone,or at the exstream end,meso saprano,for the female voice. Often a bass singer can sing tenor notes by breaking(switching to falseto)their voice. On the other hand a natural tenor will find it difficult to sing very far into the bass range but can often sing saprano notes in falseto. Yodleing is usually done in falseto. With practice the break over can be done very smoothly. The vocal cords are just two muscular bands suspended in a cartalagenous frame work,positioned so air can be forced thru them. It's a simple structure,but a well trained human voice produces more overtones than most stringed instruments! This is what makes vocal harmony sound so good. Black singers naurally have a more robustly structured larnyx,producing a stronger sound. That's why Tina can still nail it!! And tenors are not that rare,me son,I is one. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zepps_apprentice Posted December 31, 2009 Share Posted December 31, 2009 duh, a lot changed as Zep "matured". how they dressed acted, performed, etc. i love how jimmy in 1970 goes from a vest 3 years later a dragon suit, 4 lears later a white dragon suit, then 2 years later a blue collared shirt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matjaz1 Posted December 31, 2009 Share Posted December 31, 2009 Thanks namregoob!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgio Posted January 1, 2010 Share Posted January 1, 2010 I used to think that Robert did not use falsetto but upon closer listening - he did indeed have a powerful falsetto. The scream that you hear most rock singers use is often a powerful falsetto that doesn't sound like one. If you listen carefully to OTHAFA - Plant slips into falsetto for some notes. Same for Boogie w/ Stu, Four Sticks, Misty Mountain Hop...it is absolutely falsetto at superpowered levels when Plant used to hit it. Read this anyway. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_voice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryD Posted January 1, 2010 Share Posted January 1, 2010 duh, a lot changed as Zep matured, how they dressed I'd say so! Robert certainly matured and dressed with confidence of finding his inner female self! 1969 1973 Only a manly man could wear such a blouse! He handled those young birds quite well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pat14 Posted January 2, 2010 Share Posted January 2, 2010 possibly smoking may have played a factor as well, just take a look at slash's voice from in the earlry years of gnr to now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zepps_apprentice Posted January 3, 2010 Share Posted January 3, 2010 I'd say so! Robert certainly matured and dressed with confidence of finding his inner female self! 1969 1973 Only a manly man could wear such a blouse! He handled those young birds quite well. 1977 1980 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BonzoLikeDrumer Posted January 3, 2010 Share Posted January 3, 2010 Yeah much had changed over the years, they got older, they partied there buts off, they did a lot of shows each year. One other thing you can add in the equation is the the way the equipment advanced over the years. I don't know if any one in here remembers any of the old sound systems of the late 1960's and early 1970s or not. Maybe some of the one's who have been playing music longer than me can reflect on how bad the PA & Monitors where then. I remember when I was young and my first bands (early 1980's), we only had some old gear from the 1970's that was not able to equal my drumming volume, much less a few years later when one of the guy's got a Marshall 100watt half stack! I seem to remember reading about Woodstock and how the engineers where all excited about the new Crown DC 300 power amp that they only needed about 3 of them for the whole show. This was a brand new power amp with 300 watts per channel and with 2 channels that would give you a whopping 600 watt's! So when you go to a show today and see a rack full of 2 and 3 thousand watt amps just for the stage monitors, and you won't even believe how many power amps are used in the main PA! Just do the math. It's a wounder any of the guy's from the early day's of rock can even talk much less still sing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgio Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 Agreed. But Robert really pushed his voice hard. The fact that his voice comes across super loud on audience tape recordings is testimony to his volume...he blows the mike on the bbc recordings a few times too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Achilles Last Stand Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 in 1975 there is a noticable change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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