Scooter Chronicles

Led Zeppelin - “Presence”

Tracks:

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

I don’t think I need to really explain how I came across Led Zeppelin. Even those that don’t like rock know who Led Zeppelin is and have probably heard “Stairway to Heaven” a few times in their life whether they liked it or not. Eventually every kid that listens to rock at least starts listening to Led Zeppelin. And yes, I am still listening.

(From left): John Bonham (drums), John Paul Jones (bass, keys), Robert Plant (vocals), and Jimmy Page (guitar).

Now if you asked a hundred Led Zep fans to tell you their favorite album, “Presence” probably would not get mentioned once. The obvious choices are their untitled fourth album, “Led Zeppelin II”, and “Physical Graffiti”. So why is it the first Led Zep album to appear in my favorites? Probably because it speaks volumes of their styles. Led Zeppelin is always considered the premiere heavy metal / hard rock band of all time, and for good reason. But one thing that they could also do is groove and boogie, and sometimes even get a little funky live. That’s right, I just used three words used to usually describe Sly and the Family Stone and applied them to Led Zeppelin. But it’s true!! And this is the studio album that proves my claims.

“Candy Store Rock” is a great example. Perfectly named, too. It has nothing like the metal, spacey raucous of “Dazed and Confused” or “Whole Lotta Love” or “Kashmir”. But it rocks along, with a boogie feel to it. The same can be said for “Royal Orleans” and “Hots on for Nowhere” as well. Again, not stellar-typical-Led-Zep, but still some groovin’ tunes that are hard not to tap your foot along with while listening.

And as much as I like those tunes, that is just the beginning. Though “For Your Life” is good too, it gets stuck in the middle. The real “meat” of this album is “Achilles Last Stand” and “Nobody’s Fault But Mine”. To me, these are two of the best songs that Led Zeppelin ever recorded. They are phenomenal!

“Achilles” seems to be Zep’s answer to the progressive rock movement, by putting together a real ripping 10 minute tune, with great musicianship, and yet still rocks. As for “Nobody’s Fault But Mine”, Page’s guitar screeching and whining throughout and Plant’s harmonica solo show just how far they developed, yet still could write songs that would compare to their earlier material like the before mentioned “Dazed and Confused” and “Whole Lotta Love”.

The album closer, “Tea for One”, is the continuation of Zeppelin’s habit of recording a blues song from time to time. For me personally, this is the best of their blues tunes, other than “In My Time of Dying”, though more true blues.

“Presence” is not the most beloved of Led Zeppelin’s material, but it finds a soft spot in my listening heart.