Pretty awful stuff.

Robert Plant should be so proud!

I'm not so sure about that.  I do know I'd pay to hear that at least once though. 

Amen brother.  That's one thing that just bothers me to no end.  Like, this isn't Opera.  Would Pavarotti singing this song sound very good?  Of course not. 

I view Jack White cautiously—so much of him seems to be bluster and bluff. Nonetheless, Blunderbuss is a masterpiece. It is as complex and challenging an album I've heard in some time. There's no filler, no ear candy, no polite balladeering recess; just densely packed, dazzling, difficult, majestic rock'n'roll. It's like reading Virginia Woolf or James Joyce: tough slogging, but in the end exhausting and rewarding.

I hear shades of Steve Forbert, I thought he had a great voice.

All of you arm chair vocal critics slay me.  Many, if not most, of the most memorable singers have voices that are "unusual". Whether you like them or not is immaterial, the public has voted and Bill apparently agrees.  If you want to argue about banal lyrics, poor production, or a general lack of musical talent in a band... fine.  But complaining about the voice of the lead singer is fruitless and adds nothing intelligent to the conversation.

In the end, having a great singing voice from a technical standpoint could be more of a negative than a positive.  Give me Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Jack White, John Hiatt, Robert Plant, Mick Jagger, et al anyday over these pitch corrected crooners that make up the middle-of-the-road offerings in popular music.  

Creativity and originality are the key (Jack White has that in spades).  Maybe you need to be patronizing all of those American Idol stars that don't seem to be going anywhere after winning their "singing competition".