Classic Rock Vocal Showdown #17: Plant vs Mercury

[sueño]

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.

This.

[jingle.boy]

hhhmmm... well, Perry is gonna compete with the 80s era vocalists, so I guess we'll never know who wins Perry vs Mercury.

[TAC]

Perry vs Tate! 

[jjrock88]

Perry vs Tate! 

That would be interesting!

[Perpetual Change]

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

Pretty much the entire latter half of Queen's career is a long annoying moment, and plenty of those annoying moments for me are vocal ones.

I just prefer Plant's voice. And I prefer Plant creatively. Plant was a huge creative for in LZ, and still is with his solo records. After Plant got bored with rock, he delved into all sorts of other music. His latest album is Americana and I think it's terrific.

After Freddie got bored with rock, he delved into some really bad dance club music that sounds extremely dated by today's standards. He never really had much artistic vision beyond what he did when Queen were still playing rock aside for a few one-off moments. After Queen stopped being rock, it seems like lots of Freddie's music just became another outlet for his hedonism.

[KevShmev]

I just prefer Plant's voice. And I prefer Plant creatively. Plant was a huge creative for in LZ, and still is with his solo records. After Plant got bored with rock, he delved into all sorts of other music. His latest album is Americana and I think it's terrific.

Has Plant ever written a song on his own as awesome and creative as Bohemian Rhapsody?

After Freddie got bored with rock, he delved into some really bad dance club music that sounds extremely dated by today's standards. He never really had much artistic vision beyond what he did when Queen were still playing rock aside for a few one-off moments. After Queen stopped being rock, it seems like lots of Freddie's music just became another outlet for his hedonism.

Oh, come on. 

First off, outside of Hot Space, Queen never really stopped being rock.

Second, implying that Freddie was the sole reason Queen delved into dance stuff is unfair, especially since their biggest hit and danciest song ever, Another One Bites the Dust, was written by John Deacon.

Serious question: what songs do you think are the best indicators of Robert Plant's vocal talent?

[jingle.boy]

Second, implying that Freddie was the sole reason Queen delved into dance stuff is unfair, especially since their biggest hit and danciest song ever, Another One Bites the Dust, was written by John Deacon.

Radio Gaga would like a word with you.

Serious question: what songs do you think are the best indicators of Robert Plant's vocal talent?

Battle of Evermore comes to mind. Since I've Been Loving You as well.

[Perpetual Change]

Oh, come on. 

First off, outside of Hot Space, Queen never really stopped being rock.

I strongly disagree with that statement. I mean, they never stopped bringing the rock, especially in concerts, but they stopped writing good rock halfway through.

Second, implying that Freddie was the sole reason Queen delved into dance stuff is unfair, especially since their biggest hit and danciest song ever, Another One Bites the Dust, was written by John Deacon.

That's way more funk than dance.

Serious question: what songs do you think are the best indicators of Robert Plant's vocal talent?

As jingle.boy said, Battle of Evermore is certainly one that absolutely nails everything I love about his timbre and delivery.

Recently his cover of "Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down" is also just haunting and beautiful.

[KevShmev]

So, first it was, "Queen stopped being rock," and now it is, "Queen stopped writing good rock."  Nice job moving the goal posts there, man.

And the second statement, that they stopped writing good rock, isn't even true.

Funk, dance..eh, that is semantics.  But if we want to look at jingle.boy's example of Radio Ga-Ga, Freddie Mercury didn't write that one either. 

The Battle of Evermore is a very nice song vocally, but I can think of dozens of Queen songs that are better in that regard.

[jingle.boy]

So, first it was, "Queen stopped being rock," and now it is, "Queen stopped writing good rock."  Nice job moving the goal posts there, man.

And the second statement, that they stopped writing good rock, isn't even true.

Funk, dance..eh, that is semantics.  But if we want to look at jingle.boy's example of Radio Ga-Ga, Freddie Mercury didn't write that one either. 

The Battle of Evermore is a very nice song vocally, but I can think of dozens of Queen songs that are better in that regard.

I was just pointing out that Radio Gaga was way more dance than Another One Bites the Dust. 

Bottom line, it comes down to personal preference... hence why I word the poll's exactly that way - which do you PREFER?  I don't dispute that Freddie is one of the, if not the, best voices in rock - ever.  But, I prefer Plant.

[Perpetual Change]

So, first it was, "Queen stopped being rock," and now it is, "Queen stopped writing good rock."  Nice job moving the goal posts there, man.

I'm not "moving the goalposts", jeez. I'm just elaborating on my initial statement, based on what you said. Sorry if I'm not gonna stubbornly stick to a statement I made despite what everyone else points out. Obviously Queen didn't stop being rock completely, they just stopped trying to write good new rock after a certain point.

Funk, dance..eh, that is semantics.  But if we want to look at jingle.boy's example of Radio Ga-Ga, Freddie Mercury didn't write that one either.

How is that semantics?

So, first it was, "Queen stopped being rock," and now it is, "Queen stopped writing good rock."  Nice job moving the goal posts there, man.

And the second statement, that they stopped writing good rock, isn't even true.

Funk, dance..eh, that is semantics.  But if we want to look at jingle.boy's example of Radio Ga-Ga, Freddie Mercury didn't write that one either. 

The Battle of Evermore is a very nice song vocally, but I can think of dozens of Queen songs that are better in that regard.

I was just pointing out that Radio Gaga was way more dance than Another One Bites the Dust. 

Bottom line, it comes down to personal preference... hence why I word the poll's exactly that way - which do you PREFER?  I don't dispute that Freddie is one of the, if not the, best voices in rock - ever.  But, I prefer Plant.

Yes, this, though I'd take Plant's voice over Freddie's any day, even if Freddie is technically better or whataver.

But yea, preference.

GOD FORBID

[KevShmev]

I never said there was anything wrong with anyone having a preference, but you were the one whose first post in this thread said that Freddie Mercury was a shooting star who burned out quickly (a ludicrous statement).  Just saying...

It is semantics because you can dance to funk, so a funk song is still a dance song.  You can dance to Another Bites the Dust.  Therefore, it is a dance song. 

The point being that you implied that Freddie Mercury was the sole reason Queen delved into dance music and away from rock, and I am simply pointing out that all of the members of Queen wrote songs that had, shall we say, strong dance influences, so pinning them all on Freddie seemed a bit unfair.

[masterthes]

I think that's the first time I ever heard Radio Ga Ga being considered a dance tune. I don't think I've ever heard a DJ play that song

[Perpetual Change]

I never said there was anything wrong with anyone having a preference, but you were the one whose first post in this thread said that Freddie Mercury was a shooting star who burned out quickly (a ludicrous statement).  Just saying...

He was, relative to Plant.

It is semantics because you can dance to funk, so a funk song is still a dance song.  You can dance to Another Bites the Dust.  Therefore, it is a dance song. 

I'm just usind "dance" to describe the different kind of music Queen started making between "The Game" and "Hot Space".
I'm not trying to be semantical about it at all. Only you are doing that.

The point being that you implied that Freddie Mercury was the sole reason Queen delved into dance music and away from rock, and I am simply pointing out that all of the members of Queen wrote songs that had, shall we say, strong dance influences, so pinning them all on Freddie seemed a bit unfair.

Again, I did not even say that. He was certainly a main driver of the sound. He was into the whole 80s party scene in a pretty hedonistic way, which was absolutely his downful, and is certainly reflected in his contributions to Queen from that era. That's all I said. I never said that it was ONLY him. Obviously the other guys were onboard with that music too. But Freddie especially. If you compare his solo album with May's it's pretty obvious who was really into what.

[KevShmev]

Well, it's not like his love for theatrical flare didn't often show up in the songs he wrote.  He was responsible for such early Queen songs like The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke, Bring Back That Leroy Brown, Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon, Seaside Rendezvous and The Millionaire Waltz, so it is not like he all of a sudden decided to get campy.

By that shooting star standard then, anyone who hasn't been around as long as Plant is a shooting star, which is probably 99.99999% of the musicians out there, so it is a silly comment to make.  I guess The Beatles as a band were shooting stars since they weren't even around for 10 years!!!

[Jaq]

Actually, the guys who wrote the songs that could be seen as more "dancey" were Roger Taylor and John Deacon. While the band was crediting songs to the entire band by The Miracle, the truth was that individual writers were still actually writing the songs. Freddie wrote the heaviest song on The Miracle in Was It All Worth It and one of the heaviest songs on A Kind of Magic in Princes of The Universe. Most of the poppier, synth driven songs were written by Roger Taylor, in the main, and interviews at the time largely cited Taylor as being the biggest fan of new wave music in the band.

Sorry, facts don't check out.

[Perpetual Change]

By that shooting star standard then, anyone who hasn't been around as long as Plant is a shooting star, which is probably 99.99999% of the musicians out there, so it is a silly comment to make.  I guess The Beatles as a band were shooting stars since they weren't even around for 10 years!!!

But we're not comparing everyone. We're comparing Plant and Mercury. When you compare the best, everything has to be on the table. Just like athletes. The premier athelete who put in 20+ seasons  is going to look better than the guy who was great, but fizzled out after 9 or 10.

Certainly similar logic would have me place Dylan ahead of Lennon (well, not in a vocal showdown, but in an overall importance/influence showdown).

[jingle.boy]

But we're not comparing everyone. We're comparing Plant and Mercury. When you compare the best, everything has to be on the table. Just like athletes. The premier athelete who put in 20+ seasons  is going to look better than the guy who was great, but fizzled out after 9 or 10.

Case in point... compare Jagr vs Lindros (drafted in 90 and 91 respectively).  Who was "better"?  Both are comparable on a points-per-game average.  Jagr is 8th leading scorere all-time, Lindros in low 100's (couldn't find the exact all-time rank).

Neither side is going to convince the other... that's why everyone has their own preferences.  Although, I'll admit it would be a lot easier if you all just saw things my way.   

[Nekov]

Freddie. Best singer ever

[rumborak]

Freddie, without a doubt. Robert Plant isn't really all that good a singer IMHO.

[kirksnosehair]

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.

Every word of this.

[KevShmev]

Actually, the guys who wrote the songs that could be seen as more "dancey" were Roger Taylor and John Deacon. While the band was crediting songs to the entire band by The Miracle, the truth was that individual writers were still actually writing the songs. Freddie wrote the heaviest song on The Miracle in Was It All Worth It and one of the heaviest songs on A Kind of Magic in Princes of The Universe. Most of the poppier, synth driven songs were written by Roger Taylor, in the main, and interviews at the time largely cited Taylor as being the biggest fan of new wave music in the band.

Sorry, facts don't check out.

*golf clap*

Well said.

By that shooting star standard then, anyone who hasn't been around as long as Plant is a shooting star, which is probably 99.99999% of the musicians out there, so it is a silly comment to make.  I guess The Beatles as a band were shooting stars since they weren't even around for 10 years!!!

But we're not comparing everyone. We're comparing Plant and Mercury. When you compare the best, everything has to be on the table. Just like athletes. The premier athelete who put in 20+ seasons  is going to look better than the guy who was great, but fizzled out after 9 or 10.

Certainly similar logic would have me place Dylan ahead of Lennon (well, not in a vocal showdown, but in an overall importance/influence showdown).

First off, I am not taking the bait on that Dylan/Lennon comparison, but nice try.

Second, longevity does not always equal better, especially if the guy with the long career never did anything that touches the best stuff the guy with the shorter career did.  It's like why most would say that Jim Brown was a better RB than Emmitt Smith, even though the latter had a longer career, Plant cannot touch Mercury cause his 40 years of good, and occasionally very good, singing, does not touch Mercury's nearly 20 years of phenomenal singing.  To use a sports analogy, since you introduced it in this thread, Plant is what we would call a compiler (many years of good, vs fewer years of great).

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

I think I'm gonna need a poncho and some galoshes if this pissing match keeps up.

[KevShmev]

Nah, it's all in good fun.  Like has been said, it is merely a matter of personal preference, but it is still a fun debate.

[jingle.boy]

Nah, it's all in good fun.  Like has been said, it is merely a matter of personal preference, but it is still a fun debate.

Agreed... no one's getting too testy.  I like the healthy discussion.

But Emmitt>Brown

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

Nah, it's all in good fun.  Like has been said, it is merely a matter of personal preference, but it is still a fun debate.

Agreed... no one's getting too testy.  I like the healthy discussion.

But Emmitt>Brown

[Orbert]

Great Scott!

[Perpetual Change]

Second, longevity does not always equal better, especially if the guy with the long career never did anything that touches the best stuff the guy with the shorter career did.  It's like why most would say that Jim Brown was a better RB than Emmitt Smith, even though the latter had a longer career, Plant cannot touch Mercury cause his 40 years of good, and occasionally very good, singing, does not touch Mercury's nearly 20 years of phenomenal singing.  To use a sports analogy, since you introduced it in this thread, Plant is what we would call a compiler (many years of good, vs fewer years of great).

Well, we fundamentally disagree. Even if you isolate like the best decade from each guy and ignore everything else, I think Plant's still the winner. He's just the consumate rock vocalist. Freddie was a great vocalist, but to be honest, he sounded best on his own theatric stuff. The most awkward and bad Queen songs from the heydey are often the ones where Freddie's required to be all rock and no theatrics. So there ya go. Then again, you probably don't believe there are any bad Queen songs, so, we're not gonna meet much closer than agreeing that Freddie is still awesome.

First off, I am not taking the bait on that Dylan/Lennon comparison, but nice try.

It's OK. There's really no discussion. Without meeting Dylan, Lennon and the Beatles never even think to write something like Rubber Soul, and John goes down as a brief teeny-bopper idol rather than a legend. That Lennon basically admitted to that is all that's needed to quell that discussion lol

[El Barto]

I think this is apples and oranges. Mercury is clearly the better singer. He's got power and range that most, including plant, can only imagine. At the same time, Plant had more soul than damn near anybody of that era. Nobody would expect Plant to sing what Mercury had to sing every night, but I'm pretty sure Mercury couldn't sing Since I've been Loving You or I Can't Quit You Babe; it'd lose all of it's impact.

Regardless, this is about personal preference and I'd rather listen to Plant wale any day, easily.

[KevShmev]

PC, if you think that I think there are no bad Queen songs, you have obviously not seen my comments on Hot Space before.   And even a lot of the songs on Jazz, which is pretty highly-regarded by the fan base, do little for me, so I am hardly a Queen apologist who worships every single thing they have done.

[lonestar]

I think I'm gonna need a poncho and some galoshes if this pissing match keeps up.

 

[JayOctavarium]

Freddy

but Robert comes way close

[Unlegit]

Easily Mercury, but Plant is still amazing.