Jimmy vs. Robert ad nauseum

[Glenn Saunders <mos6507@xxxxxxxxx>]

As far as the relationship between the performer and the fanbase, Jimmy > 
Robert many times over.

Robert is very skilled at saying things that piss off Zep fans, and then having 
to slowly claw back to some neutral point through a lot of qualification and 
rationalizations afterwards.

As far as merely looking at the two of them as musicians, surely Robert is more 
prolific than Jimmy, several times over.  But is quantity worth more than 
quality in the end, to a Zep fan who is interested in harder-edged performing 
than Plant perferred in most of his solo career?  I think not.

So from the musical establishment, i.e. the Grammys, Robert has accomplished 
more.  But Jimmy is the standard bearer for Zep.  Robert can wax philosophical 
about what Zep means, but it only means something to him locked safely away in 
a chest in the attic.  Jimmy attempts to embody the Zep sprit as the elder 
statesman.  The thing at the olympics was kind of like having an old war hero 
on a float in a memorial day parade.

So am I pissed off that Jimmy has kept his sword sheathed all these years?  
Damn straight, but I'd probably have been underwhelmed had he gone into 
non-rock directions as Robert did.  Only an increasingly small part of Robert 
still resides in a hard rock domain.  Jimmy is all rock to the end.