Best Led Zeppelin Album?

and i think plant's performance on presence is tremendous given the circumstances, he invests a lot in the songs regardless

Presence is an example of biography influencing reception. I don't have beef with anyone who calls it undistinguished but I couldn't tell this from what kind of chair Plant's sitting in.

I didn't know the biographical details behind its recording until nearly twenty years of listening to it pretty regularly. The background just helped make sense of why it felt a little off.

alfred otm

it's good that I can't make out Plant's lyrics tbh

Presence has two tracks on it which are as brilliant as anything they ever did: 'Achilles Last Stand' and 'Nobody's Fault But Mine', which are automatic inclusions on any Led Zeppelin playlist I make without even having to think about it. As an album, though, it's nowhere near as consistent in terms of quality as the albums that came before it, IMO, and that's why I could never rank it as Zeppelin's best album. I do think it's better than In Through The Out Door, though.

Today I'd agree. Add "Hots On for Nowhere" though.

"for your life" rules, though

xxpost:

I mean, I'm all up for reappraisal of what are generally perceived to be "lesser moments" in a bands' discography. In the case of Presence though, the general assessment has always been completely OTM, and will always be so.

it's good that I can't make out Plant's lyrics tbh

Generally speaking, pretty OTM.

Just imagine how many "does anyone remember laughter?"-s there are buried within any of his more inscrutable vocals.

Pictures at Eleven > ITTOD overall.

Presence all rules except for "Tea For One"

i love that weird effect they put on on Plant when he says "tryaaan fry iiit" or whatever he says

actually tea for one is p good too

this album rules

"tea for one" is the best

better than "Since I've Been Loving You."

yeah i would agree with that
tho the lugubrious slow blues burner is my least fav zeppelin mode

do ya wanna you wanna co-co-co-co-co-caaaaiiiine?

lol I kind of enjoy just how far Plant is willing to take it on that song. If he had toned it down it would have failed much harder.

Plus I dig the chord progression that hits every time he says "worried mind"

"Tea For One" is the Presence song on which I can believe something went wrong in Plant's life, based on his performance.

Presence really falls off for me after Nobody's Fault -- if not for the last few tracks it could compete for my favorite.

I used to loathe the bluesy 36 bpm Zep as a teen; now it's like, please give me an album's worth of Tea For One.

same. gimme

Also Bonzo kills it on Since I've Been Lovin You

tho the lugubrious slow blues burner is my least fav zeppelin mode

best one of these has got to be "Baby Come On Home"

Presence really falls off for me after Nobody's Fault

wha--??!

I mean, I can see "Tea For One," but "Hots On For Nowhere" is just the BEST

Did we poll Presence? I can't find it in the search.

Apparently not! I thought ILM had polled every album ever released by this point.

That'll be a tough poll but can't see not voting for ALS

Listening to ALS again after years, I'd never noticed how much JPJ drives that galloping groove. His muted bass chug on the up beats is killer.

Say what you will about that Pitchfork review of Presence, but that part about this album being a Page / Bonham album and ITTOD being a Plant / JPJ album is pretty spot on (if somewhat reductive). Never really thought of these albums in those terms, but it makes perfect sense.

I'd rank them as:

III
Houses of the Holy
IV
Physical Graffiti
I
II

Havent heard them:
Presence
In Through The Out Door

IV
Physical Graffiti (Disc 1)
II
I
Houses of the Holy (would be 2-3 spots higher if not for "The Crunge" and "D'yer Maker")
Physical Graffiti (Disc 2)
Presence
In Through the Out Door

With HOTH, it's like Led Zeppelin were saying, "Yeah, here you go, an album so great that even 'The Crunge and 'D'yer Maker' can't ruin it." It's definitely #4 of the Big Four, though, for that reason.

For shame, I primarily listen to I-IV and Houses of the Holy. Haven't much heard Physical Graffiti all that much and I am a worse person for it. Should get to fixing that ASAP.

IV
Physical Graffiti
III
Presence
I
Houses of the Holy
II
In Through the Out Door
Coda

Houses in my favorite and imo their best-SOUNDING album in part because those goofy slight genre exercises somehow fit within it, and further demonstrate the sonic range of Page and the rhythm section

Mine too. I don't even own the first album.

that part about this album being a Page / Bonham album and ITTOD being a Plant / JPJ album is pretty spot on (if somewhat reductive)

Def. been a part of LZ lore for some time. Other guys, esp. Page, apparently hated "All My Love," which if you think about it is the most JPJ-side of Zep plus the most personal of Plant lyrics. Interesting sidenote: Bonham, Plant's bestie from back in the day and his perhaps unlikely closest compatriot in LZ, is the only member of LZ who attended the funeral of Plant's son.

further demonstrate the sonic range of Page and the rhythm section

Irony here being that the rhythm section absolutely hated "D'yer Mak'er."

IV
II
Houses of the Holy
Physical Graffiti
I
Coda
In Through the Out Door
Presence

I never cared much for 'All My Love' but it was hard to feel much antipathy towards it once I discovered why it was written.

Are people excluding III from their rankings unintentionally or is there some weird 'acoustic Zep is BULLSHIT!' backlash I'm unaware of?

Whoops I meant to include III after Physical Graffiti.

IV
II
Houses of the Holy
Physical Graffiti
I
Coda
In Through the Out Door
Presence

― Darin, Friday, August 7, 2015 6:23 PM (9 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

heresy

darin coming in w/some hot takes on the zep like woah

Other guys, esp. Page, apparently hated "All My Love," which if you think about it is the most JPJ-side of Zep plus the most personal of Plant lyrics.

I wonder how much of this was Page just not being into the song, and how much was resentment of JPJ and (especially) Plant having a hit that he didn't have a hand in writing. The Barney Hoskyns oral history has more than a few instances of Page's acute jealousy of any adulation Plant got (and vice-versa).

I'm not sure I could really rank these albums. First song, first album pretty much epitomizes the band and its greatness. The rest is just riding the same high, more or less. But "Houses of the Holy" may be the best "yeah, we're that good" follow-up to a slam dunk, a really huge exclamation point stuck at the end of a particularly awesome sentence.

Reading that oral history really underscored both how huge and how hated Led Zeppelin was, not least for being huge. They really had few friends or peers, in every sense.

before the book, i didn't know that bonzo and tony iommi were that tight and also that zep was tight with fairport convention (which actually makes sense on both counts)

Yeah, doesn't the book hint that someone, somewhere has a recording of LZ and Fairport jamming one night at the Roxy?