Led Zeppelin - Presence
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Music CD Cover
Artist: Led ZeppelinEdition: Music CD
Format: Original recording remastered
CD Release Date: 1994-08-16
Music Label: Atlantic / Wea
Soundtracks:
- Achilles Last Stand
- For Your Life
- Royal Orleans
- Nobody's Fault But Mine
- Candy Store Rock
- Hots On For Nowhere
- Tea Is For One
Free Music Notes for Presence
Free Music Review: Listen to it REALLY LOUD
Hit: 4 Stars
Presence is Led Zep's overlooked, underrated, and often hated album. Why? Because of such heavy funk as 'Candy Store Rock' and 'Royal Orleans', not to mention the fact that people argue whether 'Achilles Last Stand' and 'For Your Life' are good or not. My answer to all this is: take the time to listen to the album and listen to it full volume! The album seems to be all about volume and you could hear where the energy is coming from.
First there's 'Achilles Last Stand', a ten minute + epic that only Led Zep could pull off at a time when punk was starting to dominate the scene. People often complain about "how long it is", and that it could have been "shortened to three minutes". But here's the thing: there was no possible way of doing that. They had to make it ten minutes because it wouldn't have built up enough to mean anything otherwise. Sure they've done 3 minute epics before like 'Black Dog' and 'Immigrant Song', but 'Achilles' needed more time for it to build up into something special. We have the two solos, Plant's vocals mimicking Page's guitar, and the lyrics, all of these had to be incorporated into the song because this song defines what Led Zeppelin were all about. That's why it's ten minutes. This song deserves a 10 out 5.
As the opening track one expects the rest of the album to be as epic, but under the circumstances in which the album was recorded, the boys just seemed to tire out.
'For Your Life' at first seemed to be a filler going nowhere, but when the second riff comes along, this songs kicks you right in the face. For the rest of the song the energy is felt and the song is extremely exciting. 5 out of 5.
'Royal Orleans' is the first song on here to showcase the 'pseudo funk' that Zep plays in songs like 'Hots On For Nowhere', and 'Candy Store Rock'. These songs are ugly, no doubt, but the energy is somewhat exciting. But this is Led Zep we're talking about. What the hell are they doing making pseudo funk songs? And for that to be most of the album? What bugs me the most about these songs is that it seemed like Led Zep were trying too hard to come up with something, but they ran out of ideas. This is why this album is looked upon in such a bad light. Granted 'Royal Orleans' may be the worse song on the album (and maybe even the entire Zeppelin catalog), but the song is STILL interesting even tough it's bad. Must be the energy. 2 out of 5.
'Hots On' is pretty bad, and that song doesn't even have energy, but it's not as ugly and clumsy as 'Royal'. 3 out of 5.
'Candy Store Rock' is the best one out of the three, with Plant mimicking Elvis, it's kind of funny. The song is still below the Zep standard though. 3.5 out of 5.
That being said, 'Nobody's Fault But Mine' is excellent. This song is said to be about Page's heroin addiction and it is a strong confession. The start-stop structure and Plant's vocals work so well together here, not to mention that distorted harmonica solo! The drums are immense and the energy is massive. When Plant stutters his lines it's as if he's on heroin himself. 5 out of 5.
Then there's 'Tea For One'. Sure it's a rewrite of 'Since I've Been Loving You', but it is slower and more sophisticated, it seems like. I love the way Plant sings this one, it's very heartfelt. The song is a great closer for the album too. 5 out of 5.
So yeah, most of the album is great. Sure its not as good as the untitled album or Physical Graffiti. The album is small, often times feels empty (no keyboards found in the album at all), but Presence seems to have a style of its own. Presence is a good 4 out of 5 in my book.
Presence Poster
Presence is one of Led Zeppelin's more overlooked albums, languishing in the monstrous shadow of its predecessor, Physical Graffiti. It's more noted in Zeppelin mythology for the circumstances in which it was recorded, in double-quick time with vocalist Robert Plant's leg in plaster after a car accident. The lack of time does show--much of the album feels like generic heavy rock, bigger on volume than variety. It's worth the price of the album, however, for the 10-minute-plus "Achilles Last Stand" (a crashing, galloping epic with John Bonham sounding like he's replaced his drumsticks with tree trunks) and "Nobody's Fault but Mine," a Blind Willie Johnson blues regenerated with a 3,000-watt boost by Jimmy Page. --David StubbsPop Music CDs
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