Classic Rock Vocal Showdown #17: Plant vs Mercury

[jingle.boy]

Are there any two better frontmen?  I think not, and there's no way anyone could convince me otherwise.  They are/were both the complete package (and I mean that literally with Plant ) - amazing vocals; impeccable stage presence; fantastic delivery; great song-writing; unbelievable range and diversity; and both were incredible lyricists.  IMO, these are the two gods of classic rock.  And of course, there is only one choice for me.

Just finished watching Live from O2 today - he's still got it.  It's a shame we lost Freddie 20+ years ago ... he could have been one of those eternal presences - actually, he kinda is. 

But it's still Bobby Plant for me

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Plant

[TAC]

Just finished watching Live from O2 today - he's still got it.  It's a shame we lost Freddie 20+ years ago ... he could have been one of those eternal presences - actually, he kinda is. 

The Page/Plant tours notwithstanding, Freddie certainly would've made more of the last 20 years that Plant has.

[sueño]

Mercury

[wolfking]

Freddy, easily.

[jjrock88]

Respect the hell out of Freddies talent, but got to go with Plant

[Cool Chris]

Mercury, by a small margin. Just personal taste.

[Elite]

This is just a mean matchup. Slightly leaning towards Plant, though I love Fred.

[adace]

Freddy, easily.

[MoraWintersoul]

Wait, there's people who wouldn't go with Freddie?

[Jaq]

Oh you...  What a tough choice for me, given how much I love both bands.

Hmm. Freddie. Plant blew his voice out in the early 70s, and while he learned to work with it, he wasn't the same singer afterward. Freddie was still amazing while dying from AIDS (though of course that was only in the studio.) While we don't know what Freddie today would sound like, his body of work as a vocalist AND a front man wins out. Barely.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

Huh. This is a lot closer than I would have expected.

[Mister Gold]

I definitely have to go with Freddie here. That man was quite probably the single greatest rock singer of all time.

[nicmos]

I definitely have to go with Freddie here. That man was quite probably the single greatest rock singer of all time.

Agreed.

[Nick]

Plant was an average singer, this isn't even a contest in my mind.

[BlobVanDam]

I went with Mercury. He had more range in tone and style, and his voice was so controlled and pure on record. But Plant is up there as one of the great rock 'n roll singers of the era though, and has been very influential too.



Both vocalists phoned it in big time live though.

[Zydar]

Freddie.

[Lolzeez]

Wait, there's people who wouldn't go with Freddie?

So much this.

[lonestar]

Very close, but I'm going with Freddie.

[Fisi]

Easily Freddie with his vocal harmonies and unique voice. Plant is a tough opponent though, but still Freddie all the way for me.

[Lowdz]

Ones voice is a joy to listen to, the other like fingernails on a blackboard.

Mercury for me. Can't stand Plant at all. Not dissing his contribution to music history, just can't stand him or his voice!

[Kwyjibo]

Have to go with Plant

[masterthes]

Freddie

[Rattlehead]

Zeppelin is one of my favorite bands, but I still went with Freddie.

[KevShmev]

Wait, there's people who wouldn't go with Freddie?

This. 10 votes out of 42 is less than 25%, but is still way too many.  I know Plant is a legend, but from a strictly vocals standpoint, he cannot touch Freddie.  Few rock singers can, and Plant ain't one of 'em.

[Perpetual Change]

Plant by far.

Freddie peaked higher, but he was a shooting star who burnt out quick. Plant is an immortal, who never wavered even on a creative level. He will never die.

[jingle.boy]

Wait, there's people who wouldn't go with Freddie?

This. 10 votes out of 42 is less than 25%, but is still way too many.  I know Plant is a legend, but from a strictly vocals standpoint, he cannot touch Freddie.  Few rock singers can, and Plant ain't one of 'em.

My intention on these polls though was for it to be about preference ... not the matter of "quality", or who is "better" which brings in the usual debate of subjectivity.  Considering the general lack of discussion about Queen around here, I am surprised it is this one-sided.

If not Plant, who would be on par with Freddie then?  Perhaps my viewpoint (or listening-point) is jaded given Zepp is and always will be my #1 band, but I thought Plant was generally considered to be one of the very best vocalists of that genre?

Kinda agree with Joe... Freddie was a bit of a shooting star, where Plant (despite TAC's claims) has been chugging along for the last 20 years - maybe not in Rock, but he has still been a force in the music industry as a whole.

[KevShmev]

First off, a shooting star burns out quickly.  Freddie was around for nearly 20 years in the public eye.  That is not a shooting star.

Second, are we really gonna be so shallow as to hold Freddie's death against him? 

Third, LZ was awesome, but that doesn't mean Plant was automatically a great singer (kind of like how I would call Rush the best band ever, but wouldn't call Geddy Lee one of the best rock singers ever).  He was a good singer, but he had the tendency to sound kind of annoying at times (the end of You Shook Me, for example).

[jingle.boy]

First off, a shooting star burns out quickly.  Freddie was around for nearly 20 years in the public eye.  That is not a shooting star.

True... and I didn't mean to imply that he was a flash in the pan.  I just thought the irony of saying "Shooting Star" (ie, Paul Rogers taking vocal duties for Queen) was kinda funny.

Second, are we really gonna be so shallow as to hold Freddie's death against him? 

Didn't realize I was holding it against him??  Was just trying to imply that his body of work isn't as long or diverse as Plant's.

Third, LZ was awesome, but that doesn't mean Plant was automatically a great singer (kind of like how I would call Rush the best band ever, but wouldn't call Geddy Lee one of the best rock singers ever).  He was a good singer, but he had the tendency to sound kind of annoying at times (the end of You Shook Me, for example).

Doesn't every vocalist have their 'annoying' moments?  I don't know Queen's entire catalogue, but I'd be surprised if there isn't at least one cringe-worthy vocal moment... at least in someone's opinion

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

*raises hand*

Not for a specific song or specific moment.  He was an awesome singer, but his voice irritated me sometimes.  Sometimes it completely blew me away.

[Jaq]

The funny thing is that, to me, Plant is closer to being a shooting star-in terms of his overall vocal talent. The man was never the same after he blew out his voice in the early 70s, and live Plant was almost always hit or miss from about 1973 on with Zeppelin. It wasn't until the 80s that he found a happy medium for the voice he had left. Freddie never really had that problem.

[Mister Gold]

Wait, there's people who wouldn't go with Freddie?

This. 10 votes out of 42 is less than 25%, but is still way too many.  I know Plant is a legend, but from a strictly vocals standpoint, he cannot touch Freddie.  Few rock singers can, and Plant ain't one of 'em.

My intention on these polls though was for it to be about preference ... not the matter of "quality", or who is "better" which brings in the usual debate of subjectivity.  Considering the general lack of discussion about Queen around here, I am surprised it is this one-sided.

If not Plant, who would be on par with Freddie then?  Perhaps my viewpoint (or listening-point) is jaded given Zepp is and always will be my #1 band, but I thought Plant was generally considered to be one of the very best vocalists of that genre?

The only singer that comes to mind that may have had a chance here is Steve Perry. Granted, my vote would remain in Freddie's favor, but I think that would probably be a closer match for most people.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

I'd have voted for Steve Perry as well.

[KevShmev]

Regarding annoying moment, sure, you can always find someone who will pick nits here and there, but that aside, if we talk about vocal moments that utterly blow me away, Freddie had countless moments on literally every record; Plant hardly has any, ever.  Like I said, Plant is a good singer, but he has never been a singer that does stuff vocally that makes my jaw drop. 

Honestly, the only rock/metal singers, off the top of my head, I would say can touch Freddie are Steve Walsh (although his prime years as a vocalist were shortened thanks to his smoking), Dennis DeYoung and Rob Halford.

[Zook]

I enjoy Led Zeppelin so much more than Queen. I'm really not even a Queen fan. I'll acknowledge Mercury as the better singer, but I still prefer Plant.