Track Listing

1. Achilles Last Stand
2. For Your Life
3. Royal Orleans
4. Nobody's Fault But Mine
5. Candy Store Rock
6. Hots on for Nowhere
7. Tea for One

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12342 in Music
• Released on: 1994-08-16
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .21 pounds

Album Description
Japanese-only SHM-CD (Super High Material CD) paper sleeve pressing of this absolute classic album from the Rock legends, originally released in 1976. SHM-CDs can be played on any audio player and delivers unbelievably high-quality sound. You won't believe it's the same CD! Universal. 2008.

Amazon.com
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 Stubbs

Customer Reviews

Jimmy Pages crowning achievement
When Robert Plant and his family sustained serious injuries in a car accident on the Greek island of Rhoads in August 1975, the future of Led Zeppelin was immediately thrown into question. To further complicate matters, the band was spending a year of non-residency outside of Britain due to said countrys tax laws. Unable to tour, and unable to live with their families, the band decided to record a new album, "Presence". Recorded and mixed in just 18 days in Munich, West Germany, the results are striking and easily Led Zeppelins most personal album.

The epic "Achilles' Last Stand" catches Zeppelin at their most powerful and desperate as Jimmy Page builds track upon track of harmonized guitars while the rest of the band thunder maniacally behind him and Plant. It is certainly a task to follow this piece, and sure enough, the other songs don't quite measure up to "Achilles'". The rest of the album is mid-tempo guitar rock inspired by Plants frame of mind post-accident. "For Your Life" is depressing song about drug abuse which contains another fine Page solo. "Royal Orleans" is a short, compact funk-rock piece which supposedly cronicles John Paul Jones' misadventures with a drag queen in New Orleans 2 years previous. "Nobodys Fault But Mine" is a pounding blues-rock song with the Jones-John Bonham rhythm section caught in fine form, making the stop-start riffs sound easy. Pages lead is again worth mentioning. "Candy Store Rock" is a throw-away old-time Elvis-esque rock-and-roll piece which finds Page doing his best Jimmy Burton/Scotty Moore impersonation. "Hots On For Nowhere" is one of Zeppelins minor league masterpieces which has a swagger and a hacked off Robert Plant taking shots at his friends. Pages solo again is excellent, with plenty of Strat abuse as he pounds his whammy bar. "Tea For One", which closes the album, is often compared to "Since I've Been Loving You". It is a slow minor blues which has yet another classic Page solo and a desponant Plant lamenting his seperation from his wife and family.

"Presence" is arguably Jimmy Pages best work as a guitarist. The quality of his rhythm and lead work easily surpasses his work on the rest of the Zeppelin canon. "Achilles' Last Stand" alone is worth the price of the album, but the remaining six tracks also have plenty to offer. It is a personal album which may not immediately hit you hard, but over time will become a favorite.

Unlock the sequence of its success!
Presence was the last, and my least favourite, of the great Led Zeppelin albums, viz. I'm not including Outdoor (more like Outhouse!) or CODA.

Presence was always inaccessible to me for some intangible reason and I rarely played it. I had read interviews with Page years later where he was bemused that no one liked Presence, as he personally liked it.

Following the recent 30th anniversary of the release of Presence, there were a number of music magazine articles I read saying the usual deal about what an under rated & over looked album Presence was.

Being a big fan of Led Zeppelin (especially Page's guitar playing & production) and given they aren't making any new Zeppelin albums, I decided I should "study" Presence more closely.

After revisting it and living with it for a few weeks I realised that a number of the filler tracks were quite good and Tea for One was a hidden gem of blues/rock guitar playing - a kind of latter day Since I've Been Loving You. I also came to the conclusion that the tracks were badly sequenced on the album contributing to its inaccessibility.

My solution has been to notionally resequence Presence, as below, and I personally play the album in that order. It's become a completely different (new!) album to me and I have unlocked the sequence of its success!

"Side One"
4. Nobody's Fault But Mine
6. Hots On For Nowhere
7. Tea For One
3. Royal Orleans

"Side Two"
2. For Your Life
5. Candy Store Rock
1. Achilles Last Stand

Overlooked Zeppelin that rocks harder than previous disks
It's hard to be objective with Presence when comparing it to the releases that came before it. How does one top "IV," "Houses of the Holy," and the sprawling "Physical Graffiti?" Also, this disk was recorded at a time when the band was suffering a bit from its lifestyle and Robert Plant was recovering from a serious auto accident.

What they do is take a back to basics approach, performing as a band with guitars, bass, drums and Plant's vocals. No acoustic guitars or keyboards, just hard rocking Led Zeppelin. While this is effective, there is a noticeable lack of the dynamics of earlier releases and the eclectic variety that made Led Zeppelin be able to pull off a hard rock tune with mandolins.

The two key tracks on Presence are "Achilles Last Stand" and "Nobody's Fault But Mine."
"Achilles" has a galloping triplet bassline, some of Bonham's best drumming, and layers of Page guitar lines. It's an epic cross of "Immigrant Song" and "Song Remains the Song."
"Nobody's Fault But Mine" begins with a classic Page guitar lick, drenched in effects and gradually building in volume, then mimicked by Plant's vocals. The bass/drum rhythms are tricky here, with lots of stop/start mechanics. Plant's performance is memorable, with such gems as "m-m-m-monkey on my back" or "no-no-no-no-no-nooooo...nobody's fault but mine" plus the return of the harmonica.
"For Your Life" is okay, but kind of a castoff from Physical Graffiti. "Royal Orleans" has some cool funk rhythms. "Candy Store Rock" was a single issue from this release, but I don't think it stands up against their other, more superior work.
"Tea For One" closes things out with a return to the blues.

Some may have thought that Led Zeppelin was burned out, but they would make an excellent return with "In Through the Out Door" followed by their greatest band tragedy.