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Rebuilding Humpty (slight Who content)



>> It's the same band and the same songwriters in the Moodies. They made the
>> decision to change...and while I like it about as much as you do, I don't
>> think it applies to this debate.
>
>Maybe not to you, but the fact that both the Moodies and the Who headed 
>in the same depressing direction is still there. 

Ian:

I have no idea what you mean by "the same depressing direction." Before they
broke up in `72, The Moody Blues' sound remained the same (for the most
part); that SGT. PEPPER'S orchestrated sound that was their trademark. The
Moodies reformed in 1978 (OCTAVE) and changed the topic of their songwriting
from the mystic to love songs, while updating their music slightly an album
at a time. The Who never changed the focus of their songs and were updating
(or leading, until `75) their sound constantly from the beginning. The only
shift in songwriting was after Keith died, and that was a musical one. The
Moodies' songs haven't changed that much musically even to their latest album.
Two completely different things. I cannot see why or how you could compare
their careers, other than they are both British.
 
>> It must be easy to imitate Bonham; Phil Collins could do it. 
>
>You obviously don't listen very closely to drummers.  Collins never 
>produced that trademark thunder Bonham was known for.  In comparison 
>Collins is a lighter player.  

As Keith Moon once said about getting the more powerful drum sound: "Hit
them harder." So Collins has weak arms; it's merely a matter of degree.
Listen to him on Live Aid, where he backs the rest of Zep along with Tony
Thompson of Power Station.

>I think his voice changed on Houses, he didn't lose it. Plant could 
>certainly sing (the only way Plant knows how) on Physical Graffiti.  And 
>again on ITTOD you hear Plant's solo album voice taking shape.  

Oh, thanks for that Ian. I haven't had a laugh like that in a long time.
What a rationalization! I've never seen the like since the second election
campaign of Reagan.
Now, I know that you really don't believe that the voice change was in any
way intentional. It had to do with a car accident, too much cocaine and
other abuses, and simple fatigue...if one is going to use his voice to such
an extent, one must realize that it will burn out. And it did.
Plant could no longer produce that high clear vocal, so he adapted to what
his voice could still do (on HOTH, I'm talking about here). It's a whiney
sort of vocal, with a bit of questionable sexuality in the mix (of course,
it was after Bowie had started THAT revolution). But it was only what he
could do; if you've heard his voice live in `71 & `73 you know that there is
a weakening. This weakening continued...the vocals on PG aren't nearly as
strong (wish I could attach a wav. file, but compare his vocal on In The
Light to the Immigrant Song opening). At the time, I thought the HOTH change
was intentional, but PG made it clear that he just couldn't do it anymore. I
saw them on that tour, BTW.
His solo vocals compare to those on ITTOD merely because that was where his
voice had deteriorated to at that point. Really, Ian...listen to the live
shows where he does old songs! He just couldn't do that high, clear,
powerful, and very impressive vocal any more...or anything close to it. It's
sad to hear him try.
During the first 4 albums, Plant could have been considered the best
vocalist in Rock music (amid stiff competition). By ITTOD, he was rather
ordinary and often not very good and struggling to do what he still could.
This has continued through his solo career without any improvement (after
all, one cannot put Humpty Dumpty together again).
It's easy enough to verify this by listening to the live shows through the
course of Zep's career. Very easy.
Daltrey, on the other hand, started weaker and gained in strength (reaching
it in `68)...until `78, where his vocals began to get a touch weaker.
Thankfully, they haven't gotten any worse from there...and they are still
quite strong.



                   Cheers                   ML

"Never underestimate the power of human stupidity."  L. Long