Not many singers have the innate ability to be exceptionally gifted from birth. Years of experience play a big part in talent, and no matter how much you believe that you are God’s gift to singers everywhere, there’s only so far your voice will take you. Though Robert Plant believed that Led Zeppelin III marked the first time he truly began sounding like a singer, he could have legitimately been regarded as a virtuoso from the moment he started working with the band.
Granted, Plant’s vocals on the early Zeppelin albums didn’t exactly sound like Bob Dylan with a sore throat. A listen to the back catalogue of songs like “Whole Lotta Love” and “Dazed and Confused” and you’d think most artists could never hope to sing with such passion on a record. When Plant sang, he sounded like a banshee compared to all other rock singers. He frequently threw in some blues shoutouts.
Since the group originally intended to be a reincarnation of The Yardbirds, it made sense for Plant to revert to classic blues customs. Particularly when he was belting out “The Lemon Song.” Fans could sense a little change as soon as they heard Led Zeppelin III.
The band’s third album has a homespun vibe and emphasizes acoustic guitars. Even though songs like “Immigrant Song” and “Since I’ve Been Loving You” are still fantastic bluesy hard rockers. They frequently lose out to slower tracks like “That’s the Way” and “Tangerine.”
Plant told Cameron Crowe his vocals on the early albums weren’t up to par with what he did here. “I was shouting too much on the first album,” Plant said. I think by the second album, I had somewhat stopped yelling. And, I eventually mastered singing by the third one.
When it comes to singing diversity, it’s easy to understand where Plant is coming from. Even though it would be treasonous to argue that the early Zeppelin albums sounded terrible. The songs unquestionably differed from the hard rock everyone knew. However, switching up the first three tracks of an album from “Immigrant Song” to “Friends” to “Celebration Day” required vocal care that not everyone possessed.
This kind of diversity presumably propelled Zeppelin forward as well. Plant did still occasionally veer into slower tracks, such as “Thank You.” However, it’s hard to say if they could have pushed themselves harder on Physical Graffiti. This is especially true in the absence of the wide range of inspirations on this album.
Above all, Led Zeppelin III captures the essence of Plant’s transformation from the charismatic front man to one of the greatest vocalists of all time. Here, “Percy” tried to become more than just a belter and strive to become the kind of singer who only comes around once every generation. Most artists didn’t worry about proper technique every time they went into the studio.
