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plant can still hit the high notes


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Now please, let's get real. No matter how much some of you worship Robert Plant, anyone who's not completely deaf or unmusical will notice that Plant can NOT hit the high notes the way he did in the early 70s. He can hit some high notes here and there (very rarely), but not with the same power he had behind even the highest notes in the past. Listen to New York 70, Hampton 71, Japan 71, or even LA 72, and then listen to the O2 show. Plant is still a great singer, but why can't you admit the obvious, that he's lost part of his range? It's not his fault, but it's a fact. I would agree that his current range and power is much better than in 1975 though.

Signed, sealed and delivered.

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Now please, let's get real. No matter how much some of you worship Robert Plant, anyone who's not completely deaf or unmusical will notice that Plant can NOT hit the high notes the way he did in the early 70s. He can hit some high notes here and there (very rarely), but not with the same power he had behind even the highest notes in the past. Listen to New York 70, Hampton 71, Japan 71, or even LA 72, and then listen to the O2 show. Plant is still a great singer, but why can't you admit the obvious, that he's lost part of his range? It's not his fault, but it's a fact. I would agree that his current range and power is much better than in 1975 though.

I think I kindofmaybesortof have to agree with this post. *ducks*

The fact that he's lost some of his range isn't a bad thing, though. Now he has more taste and knows what he can and cannot do, and uses his voice accordingly. Its not what you have but HOW you use it. :D Probably the most valuable skill a singer can have!

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It is clear his voice changes from record to record. I get some of what I want some of the time. Remember though, my friends, ashes to ashes dust to dust. I WILL see Robert Plant with whomever he chooses to tour with, every chance I get. I won't miss out on appreciating the night-time stars dreaming about how bright the morning sun was.

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With the exception of the period following his throat surgery for polyps in 1974, Robert has always retained his range. He's just conservative with it. The endless years of wailing took a toll and he learned that to keep it, you can't abuse it. That sensibility has served him well. Now he has not only the range, but a refinement and a soul that only a lifetime as an artist can infuse. He may have matured, but he can still get that knee to tremble when necessary. He can use those high notes as punctuation, as an emphasis. As a climax. The tool may spend more time in the belt, but it's not blunted.

Okay, enough metaphoric blathering. Point has been made! :lol:

Gone, Gone Gone from Raising Sand is one great example of his judicious using the hight notes for emphasis and accent. Towards the end of the song Robert starts wailing "well.. well.. well.. well.., weeellll!! yeah!"

The first time I heard this I just laughed with glee and said to my friend. No man near sixty should be able to hit those notes!", but when he needs to, Robert can and does hit those high notes"

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He can still hit high notes better than 99% of all singers. Just listen to the Kashmir in that concert last month and tell me he can't hit any high notes. He is not the singer he was in 1970. But he still can sing. He is a much more brilliant singer now then he was 35-40 years ago.

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With the exception of the period following his throat surgery for polyps in 1974, Robert has always retained his range. He's just conservative with it. The endless years of wailing took a toll and he learned that to keep it, you can't abuse it. That sensibility has served him well. Now he has not only the range, but a refinement and a soul that only a lifetime as an artist can infuse. He may have matured, but he can still get that knee to tremble when necessary. He can use those high notes as punctuation, as an emphasis. As a climax. The tool may spend more time in the belt, but it's not blunted.

Okay, enough metaphoric blathering. Point has been made! :lol:

Nice, Ev. Couldn't agree more...

LMAO re the tool, BTW. Which one were you referring to? Oh, yes...THAT one. :lol:

Cheers!

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  • 2 weeks later...
i watched the whole concert from the 02 and i came to the conclustion that plant can still hit the high notes like he used to in the 70's . but he rarely shows it. he showed it on kashmir . in the middle part... at the 02. and sibly as well . but thats about it. and a whole lotta love to . but when he played with the strange sensation he never sang high at all. . its weird cause . in some stuff today like in that rising sand cd he sound great but when u hear him live he sounds so different . i guess he picks his momments to sing high . hes only 59 . he can still sing . thats not old .. what do u people think about this topic???

I think he has no need to try all the really high register screaming anymore.

It's obvious (and understandable) that the part of his voice where the power lies has dropped down an octave or so. This doesn't make his voice any better or any worse, it just makes it different. He knows how to work it just as well now as he did in Zeppelin's heyday when it was a whole different kettle of fish.

Personally I'm not keen when he tries to do all the screamy stuff these days. He just can't quite pull it off if you ask me, and I find it slightly contrived and certainly unnecessary. It's like a "token scream", to show that he can still do it.

Well, he doesn't have to still do it. There's just no need.

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Personally I'm not keen when he tries to do all the screamy stuff these days. He just can't quite pull it off if you ask me, and I find it slightly contrived and certainly unnecessary. It's like a "token scream", to show that he can still do it.

Well, he doesn't have to still do it. There's just no need.

Token scream ! :lol:

I kinda felt that the high wail in SIBLY from the O2 fell into that category....like he did it just to do it...but it sounded to me rather...ummm......forced...and barely hanging on to the thin line between holding the note or cracking....but overall..I loved his voice on the O2....:)

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Token scream ! :lol:

I kinda felt that the high wail in SIBLY from the O2 fell into that category....like he did it just to do it...but it sounded to me rather...ummm......forced...and barely hanging on to the thin line between holding the note or cracking....but overall..I loved his voice on the O2....:)

Yeah, I was thinking exactly of that particular scream when I was typing, actually!

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When his high end was at its peak was when he was 19. In college a music professor told us that in the mid-19th century if a young boy had a particularly great high voice they would actually de-nut him to prevent it from changing! These people were called "castratos," I think.

As you get older your voice deepens in both men and women, so it was bound to weaken, though singing with the flu and smoking around the clock didn't help at all. When I was about 30 I was singing along with a Zep record while I had a sore throat, and I can't sing in a falsetto now! Trying to do that with a cold changed me in a single go! So imagine how he went at it night after night.

Geddy Lee and Rob Halford are examples of guys who can still get up there with a little re-tuning by the band, but I think they were more careful than Robert. Oh, well, he still sounds good, and personal charisma is 80% of the job.

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Geddy Lee and Rob Halford are examples of guys who can still get up there with a little re-tuning by the band, but I think they were more careful than Robert.

Very true, Geddy and Halford still have their mojo and most of their impressive range, which is amazing at their age, yeah they all tune down here and there live, which sometimes can be cool sounding. They are both great and their respective bands would not exist without their unique voices, their chemistry is right. Plant, Lee, Halford, and Glenn Tilbrook are my favorite singers (I'm addicted to Zep, Rush, Judas Priest, and Squeeze), and Glenn Tilbrook, the singer/guitarist/songwriter of Squeeze, still has 100% of his range (Tilbrook also plays guitar as good as he sings). All these guys are mid-late-50's if not older, but are pro's, they mentally know how to improvise around the aging vocal chord factor, while keeping it interesting. Another great singer who kept alot of his range is Fee Waybill from The Tubes (She's a Beauty, Talk To 'Ya Later), he has an incredible voice, range, and style (you gotta see The Tubes live, unbelievable band, plus Waybill's hilarious stage antics).

Plant lost a little but definitely still has more steam under the hood than people realize, he saves it for certain moments, but can still summon it up when he wants. He's still got a good amount of power and range. But listening to Plant's incredible range of his first solo album "Pictures At Eleven", he sings so f'in high, yet on some songs has that cool Knebworth '79 style, he's fantastic. I feel "Pictures At Eleven" was the best Plant has ever been. Burning Down One Side, Fat Lip, Moonlight in Samosa, Mystery Title, damn was his voice STELLAR, listening to it right now...

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