In his career, Robert Plant has had plenty of imitators. Some of his early vocal performances sent some seeking teachers, and others required surgery; later performances led singers who loved them to try to understand where that kind of soulfulness and restlessness are required to produce that kind of sound.
Robert Plant is one of the greatest rock singers of all time, whether exercising his banshee howl, speaking the language of the blues, or murmuring songs of hope. Here’s a look at his finest vocal moments.
Robert Plant’s Best 10 Vocal Performances
10.“You Shook Me”
Look, if Led Zeppelin decides to reunite in 10 years’ time, it’ll still be a really good band. And, the group had 12 great years together. All of that’s true.
What is also a reality is that in those first couple of years of their career as a band, Led Zeppelin was simply untouchable. There was a force that simply shouldn’t come out of a four-piece blues-rock combo.
And, much of that had to do with Robert Plant’s singing. Now, he’d sung the blues all his life. And, he’d been backed by John Bonham through much of it. But he didn’t have the support of John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page until 1969.
“You Shook Me” is all that you need to know about why Zep was the premier blues-rock of its time, not Cream, the Jimi Hendrix Experience or anyone else.
Plant sounds like a kid who’s just found a new toy and is testing just what it can do. This approach would have repercussions to his voice. But thankfully, we have proof of what it sounded like at its very best.
9. ”Stairway to Heaven”
The next time you hear some band do a slow dance version of “Stairway to Heaven” in some schmaltzy restaurant, try to do two things. First of all, forgive them. Secondly, try to play the original in your head and decide if it sounds nothing short of an ancient battle story brought to life.
Robert Plant’s softly sung verses and powerful crescendo became something of a standard for power ballad hit seekers. But this is much more than that. With his vision, Plant helped turn this, arguably, into the world’s most famous prog-rock number.
8. ”Calling to You”
Everyone was getting on the act. You could argue, in fact, that every couple of years since the originals called it a day, some band is greeted as the “New Led Zeppelin.” It’s often forgotten, unfairly, that Robert Plant did make a real comeback of sorts circa the early 1990s. He was in great physical shape, he was belting high notes, and he was doing, or referencing Zep material.
However, on “Calling to You,” Plant also uses the Zep-baiting to plan a way forward. This is world music, specifically Northern African music, infused with hard-rock guitar riffs. It’s no wonder that the Page & Plant project essentially starts here.
7. ”Rock and Roll”
It’s just one great thrill! Led Zep did plenty of smart things. And you can spend years trying to learn the appropriate technique to play their music.
Still, at the heart of the matter, they were a band that could play Elvis-styled rock n’ roll like few others. Plant doesn’t just hit high notes with ease here. It’s the way that improvises along to Jimmy Page’s spontaneously constructed riff and the way he captures that pure excitement that really sells the song.
6. ”City Don’t Cry”
Not many successful bands see the need to change. Not many artists have the energy to change once they’ve firmly reached middle age. Robert Plant, on the other hand, is restless. And, judging by his output, this is led by genuine curiosity. “Can’t you just sing the hits, Robert?” is what his manager and spouse tell him every day, I imagine.
The first Page & Plant collaboration was wildly brilliant. I used to listen to it all the time and still think that the collaborations with Northern African musicians are the real highlights.
On “City Don’t Cry”, without much fuss, Plant shows everything he’s learned about Moroccan roots music. Part of what he’s learned is restraint. It’s hard to say if it’s Plant’s vocals that are central stage here, and it’s hardly important.
This is soothing, trance music. And, in many ways, it’s something that early Zeppelin had hinted at before Plant and Page had even had a chance to visit the Atlas Mountains.
5. ”The Ocean”
By the time that Led Zeppelin recorded “The Ocean,” they’d achieved nearly everything that a rock band could achieve. Plant’s singing is the sound of a king surveying his kingdom.
But, listen closely, and there’s also an ache. Plant’s always been a hippie at heart, even when forced to fly in private planes and live in expensive hotels. There’s great confidence in how he approaches singing, especially in that final verse, but there’s also a sweet melancholy to it.
4. ”Big Log”
It’s taken a while and several late-career hits for people to come back around to Robert Plant’s 80s solo career. Let’s not forget that he was, for a while, a genuine pop star. And, songs like “Big Log” helped him earn some hits without sacrificing his vision, which, fortunately, rarely included Zeppelin-styled belting.
The atrociously titled “Big Log” is one of the great road songs recorded during that period, an achingly beautiful song about running away from love.
3. ”How Many More Times”
If you want to catch a glimpse of the best live rock band of all time, my suggestion is to seek out the “Led Zeppelin DVD.” True, there isn’t a great deal of recorded content out there. However, the band’s Royal Albert Hall recording in early 1970 is simply sensational.
What makes Robert Plant a fantastic singer, beyond the range, is his ability to tell dramatic stories. “How Many More Times” starts, stops, and spooks you, and is flanked by a few verses in which Plant’s vocals are so powerful that you think it’s not unlikely that the walls of the Albert Hall will start coming down.
2. ”Communication Breakdown”
“Communication Breakdown” is one of the first punk-rock-sounding records. You must imagine in that case the shock Robert Plant got when the 1977 London punk bands started slagging off Zep. To anyone imagining that the band merely did 30-minute songs about wizards, please revel in the electroshock that is “Communication Breakdown.”
1. “Since I’ve Been Loving You”
Singers go to teachers who make them sing scales. They go to karaoke clubs and practice. If they’re confident, nowadays, they go on television singing shows and do their best not to miss a note.
Robert Plant, however, came from a tradition that included Janis Joplin or Sam Cooke, where the vocals didn’t merely sing a bunch of notes. The singing on “Since I’ve Been Loving You” transforms into a gut-wrenching scream, then to a whisper. It takes centre stage, and then it disappears.
Yes, yes, Plant sings some notes that, should you attempt them without practice, you’ll ruin your vocal cords. It’s true, he possessed a vocal range extending from a F#2 to a C#6.
Still, nobody who hadn’t bought into the whole potential of rock n’ roll as a mystical ceremony could’ve sung it this way. “Since I’ve Been Loving You” is the shining moment from one of rock’s greatest singers.
