The article says Robert Plant regarded Steve Marriott as a singer who operated on a level above most of his peers, presenting Marriott as a rare talent who even Led Zeppelin’s frontman felt he could not match. It matters because it reframes Plant not just as a towering vocalist in his own right, but as an admirer shaped by another British rock singer’s voice, style and intensity. The piece uses that comparison to underline Marriott’s influence and to argue that his legacy is often smaller than his ability deserved.

It focuses on Marriott’s work with Small Faces and Humble Pie, and on Plant’s long-standing admiration for him from the 1960s onwards. The article also places Marriott in the musical lineage behind Led Zeppelin, particularly around the bluesy, high-powered vocal approach that Plant later became famous for, including parallels often drawn with Small Faces’ version of ‘You Need Lovin’ and Zeppelin’s ‘Whole Lotta Love’. In that context, the “better than we were” idea is used to stress how highly Plant rated Marriott, despite Led Zeppelin’s far greater commercial success and global fame.