If I had to pick one besides Achilles though, it'd be For Your Life, I love that groove in the middle ("Do you really really wanna?")
― on entre O.K. on sort K.O. (man alive), Monday, 31 August 2015 18:51 (eight years ago) link
Hots on for Nowhere because of the amazing drumming, the false ending, and the "la-la-la"s.
― Mr. Snrub, Monday, 31 August 2015 21:47 (eight years ago) link
I could go with any one of these but Play Count says "For Your Life."
― Gett Off, Eileen (WilliamC), Monday, 31 August 2015 22:39 (eight years ago) link
I have hard time thinking anything could top Achilles Last Stand although Nobody's Fault But Mine is a nasty riffer and played much, much more often on FM radio over the years.
Achilles Last Stand to me is their wildest epic tune. It wasn't a radio hit at all and it's kinda gnarly and speeded up. It's about as manic as Led Zep got. Wheels of Confusion is a similar epic tune for Sabbath.
Tea for One is one I dig quite a bit now that never really caught with me as a teenager. It is Zep getting back into the slow and intense blues burners like "I Can't Quit You Baby" or "Since I Have Been Loving You". I think this particular type of Led Zep song could have been the style an older Zep could have embraced and perhaps even extended. Plant surely from "The Big Log" on has done plays off that style quite a bit in his solo career. That recent version of "Morning Dew" he did a few years ago gets that vibe. (I'd figure it possible that the original Zep might have done "Morning Dew" as it was such a popular song in various singers and bands repertoire.)
― earlnash, Monday, 31 August 2015 23:10 (eight years ago) link
man 'achilles' is a godhead and i almost feel like i'm homer saying barney's movie had heart but football in the groin had a football in the groin but 'hots on for nowhere' is maybe the zenith (ok maybe 'the ocean' is the zenith) of that loose tossed off mode that is zep at their most charming to me
― balls, Monday, 31 August 2015 23:12 (eight years ago) link
yeah I voted for "Hots" with "Tea" second
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 31 August 2015 23:17 (eight years ago) link
Voted for the one that's over 10 minutes long, begins with the letter 'A', is the opening track on the album and is the best thing on this record by miles.
― You’re being too simplistic and you’re insulting my poor heart (Turrican), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 04:57 (eight years ago) link
i also voted for "tea for one"
― insufficiently familiar with xgau's work to comment intelligently (BradNelson), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 05:51 (eight years ago) link
N-N-N-N-N-N-N-O-O-O-O-BODY'S FAULT
― droit au butt (Euler), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 06:56 (eight years ago) link
'nother vote for Adrian Chiles Last Stand
― feargal czukay (NickB), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 07:21 (eight years ago) link
"Achilles" by miles and miles. Towers over the rest of the album in my opinion.
― Acid Hose (Capitaine Jay Vee), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 12:07 (eight years ago) link
http://hedvigmollestadtrio.bandcamp.com/track/achilles
― rushomancy, Tuesday, 1 September 2015 12:21 (eight years ago) link
Here's where I show my age: Wanted to vote for "In the Evening" here.
That four-CD set they put out in the early 90s, where the sequencing wasn't in chronological order, did a number on my memory.
― pplains, Tuesday, 1 September 2015 13:38 (eight years ago) link
Here's where I also throw down the dare to combine Presence and In Through the Out Door into one single LP.
― pplains, Tuesday, 1 September 2015 13:39 (eight years ago) link
interesting idea but they are probably the two zep albums that sound the most differernt from each other production wise, presence is so dry and stripped down, out door is synthy and proto 80s
― Ma$e-en-scène (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 13:42 (eight years ago) link
I could probably get it down to an EP for you.
― Simply Sensational (Old Lunch), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 13:43 (eight years ago) link
presence is so dry and stripped down, out door is synthy and proto 80s
I agree with those descriptions, but they're closer together in my mind than any of the others.
― pplains, Tuesday, 1 September 2015 13:54 (eight years ago) link
the historical consensus, that Achilles Last Stand is greater than anything else on this album by a good distance, is correct.
― tremendous crime wave and killing wave (Joan Crawford Loves Chachi), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 13:58 (eight years ago) link
― pplains, Tuesday, September 1, 2015 8:54 AM (23 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
i agree with the concept just saying, unfortunately unlike trying to do a mix of, like, i don't know Houses of the Holy and Physical Grafitti into one album or I and II into one album or something like that it'd be hard to make it sound like one album because the production differences are so stark but yeah Zep breaks down pretty nicely into 2 album "eras" for me:
I & IIIII & IVHouses of the Holy/Physical GrafittiPresence/ITTOD
works pretty neatly
― Ma$e-en-scène (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 14:20 (eight years ago) link
They really dropped the ball on not having a song called "Physical Graffiti" appear on The Song Remains the Same soundtrack.
― pplains, Tuesday, 1 September 2015 14:23 (eight years ago) link
I always found the cover art on this one to be out of character -- it looks like a post punk record.
― on entre O.K. on sort K.O. (man alive), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 14:40 (eight years ago) link
― pplains, Tuesday, September 1, 2015 8:39 AM (1 hour ago)
I'll go you one better and add their best outtake.
Side A, 23.58In the Evening — 6.53For Your Life — 6.25Achilles Last Stand — 10.30
Side B, 23.11Royal Orleans — 2.59Carouselambra — 10.34Candy Store Rock — 4.11Wearing and Tearing — 5.27
Total time about 47 minutes, tight but doable.
― Gett Off, Eileen (WilliamC), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 15:12 (eight years ago) link
JPJ's 8-string bass playing should have taken over the world but didn't.
― Three Word Username, Tuesday, 1 September 2015 15:22 (eight years ago) link
"Hots on for Nowhere" for its general funkyness and that really weird hanging-on-a-note guitar solo
― Lee626, Tuesday, 1 September 2015 15:31 (eight years ago) link
That would work for me, WmC. Might try that out in a bit.
― pplains, Tuesday, 1 September 2015 17:14 (eight years ago) link
Presence/ITTOD combined: Achilles, Royal Orleans, Hots On, Carouselambra, Southbound, Fool, Hot Dog
― Mr. Snrub, Tuesday, 1 September 2015 18:05 (eight years ago) link
iiin the eeeeeeevvvennniiiiiiiiing
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 18:06 (eight years ago) link
is boring
― Mr. Snrub, Tuesday, 1 September 2015 18:18 (eight years ago) link
My combination of Presence/ITTOD as one LP:
A1 Achilles Last StandA2 For Your LifeA3 Royal Orleans
B1 Nobody's Fault But MineB2 Candy Store RockB3 Hots On For NowhereB4 Tea For One
― rushomancy, Tuesday, 1 September 2015 18:23 (eight years ago) link
lol
― insufficiently familiar with xgau's work to comment intelligently (BradNelson), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 18:35 (eight years ago) link
otm
I would at least throw 'South Bound Suarez' a bone.
― Simply Sensational (Old Lunch), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 18:37 (eight years ago) link
Holy shit, I just noticed for the first time ever that it's 'Saurez', not 'Suarez'. As in 'dino-saurez'?
― Simply Sensational (Old Lunch), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 18:39 (eight years ago) link
My combination of Presence/In Through The Out Door as one LP:
A1 Achilles Last Stand
Followed by turning it off and putting Physical Graffiti on.
― You’re being too simplistic and you’re insulting my poor heart (Turrican), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 18:43 (eight years ago) link
aw
― Gett Off, Eileen (WilliamC), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 18:48 (eight years ago) link
I like the way you think, Turrican.
― Simply Sensational (Old Lunch), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 18:51 (eight years ago) link
stop with the paring down. theyre both great all the way through
― flappy bird, Tuesday, 1 September 2015 19:03 (eight years ago) link
Page on "For Your Life" is a nice mix of precision and absent-minded whammy bar-testing.
― bentelec, Tuesday, 1 September 2015 19:04 (eight years ago) link
man I was nine years old on the floor of my babysitter's teenage son's bedroom going through his LPs to try and understand the music these grown-up boys listened to and just TRIPPING on the Presence sleeve. It would have been new or nearly brand new and it felt like it was something so weird and deep and impenetrable, I would look and look and look. At that one, and at Wish You Were Here. It is a weird fit for the sounds, but since IV they'd been going for a pretty mysterious vibe with Hipgnosis.
― tremendous crime wave and killing wave (Joan Crawford Loves Chachi), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 21:12 (eight years ago) link
I like WmC's reduction, makes for a muscular listen, especially with Wearing and Tearing. Seems like mixing the best of Presence (achilles) with ITTOD (carouselambra) yields... Trans Am.
For all the chops and power of Achilles tho I'm going with Tea For One, cos of the aura.
― Portugal minus Pedro Foster Cage (Spectrist), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 23:37 (eight years ago) link
For Your Life needs to be half as long and twice as fast.
― kornrulez6969, Wednesday, 2 September 2015 00:47 (eight years ago) link
^ i did this in audacity last night and it was fucking awesome
― flappy bird, Wednesday, 2 September 2015 17:52 (eight years ago) link
Haha, me too.
― pplains, Wednesday, 2 September 2015 17:57 (eight years ago) link
Canyuknowwhoaowitrollsanyureallyfeeelit? UH - OH OHH.....
― pplains, Wednesday, 2 September 2015 17:58 (eight years ago) link
You'll all be slowing down Achilles to half-speed to make it last the length of a 20 minute side next!
― Turrican, Wednesday, 2 September 2015 17:59 (eight years ago) link
I think part of what makes Achilles so masterful is that it'd just be a boring, gradually deflating jam in the hands of almost any other band, but they're able to both sustain and control such a high level of intensity throughout the track, kicking it up just a little bit more and then bringing it back down when needed.
― on entre O.K. on sort K.O. (man alive), Wednesday, 2 September 2015 18:07 (eight years ago) link
never feels like ten minutes either, more like five
― flappy bird, Wednesday, 2 September 2015 18:11 (eight years ago) link
'Achilles' is already a masterpiece, but imagine what it would have been if Plant had been at full fitness in the studio... fuck!
― Turrican, Wednesday, 2 September 2015 18:24 (eight years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scz-omSoQb0
― rushomancy, Wednesday, 2 September 2015 18:29 (eight years ago) link
lol sounds like a shreds video
― on entre O.K. on sort K.O. (man alive), Wednesday, 2 September 2015 18:33 (eight years ago) link
Why wasn't this well received when it came out? It's one of the most well produced rock records I've ever heard, and it's the most muscular thing they ever did. Over saturation after conquering the world in the first half of the '70s? I don't find Plant's vocals strained at all, despite his condition.
― Naive Teen Idol, Monday, 20 February 2017 12:32 (seven years ago) link
(everyone immediately disagrees on said third track)
― Naive Teen Idol, Monday, 20 February 2017 12:33 (seven years ago) link
Plant was always the weakest link in this band.
― Working night & day, I tried to stay awake... (Turrican), Monday, 20 February 2017 19:31 (seven years ago) link
Οὖτις OTM, these are both insane positions imo:
The way I see it, Plant and Bonham were the core of LZ, with Page and Jones adding colorPlant was always the weakest link in this band.
― My Body's Made of Crushed Little Evening Stars (Sund4r), Monday, 20 February 2017 19:33 (seven years ago) link
Well, let's think about this...
Remove Bonham and you remove the excellent, hard-hitting rhythms.
Remove JPJ and you remove the excellent, often intricate bass work and superb keyboard and/or string arrangements.
Remove Page and you remove the riffs.
Remove Plant and you remove the guy that goes "oOoOoOoOoOo" and shrieks half-inched blues lyrics and stuff about Lord of the Rings over a superbly played backing track.
― Working night & day, I tried to stay awake... (Turrican), Monday, 20 February 2017 19:42 (seven years ago) link
I mean, I wouldn't want to remove any one element from Zeppelin's music, but if I had to...
― Working night & day, I tried to stay awake... (Turrican), Monday, 20 February 2017 19:44 (seven years ago) link
― Working night & day, I tried to stay awake... (Turrican), M
so replace him with Bryan Ferry then
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 20 February 2017 19:45 (seven years ago) link
Ian Gillan.
― Working night & day, I tried to stay awake... (Turrican), Monday, 20 February 2017 19:46 (seven years ago) link
Shakey OTM. The focus shifts continually, but they all have to be in the frame.
― scattered, smothered, covered, diced and chunked (WilliamC), Monday, 20 February 2017 20:13 (seven years ago) link
Plant's the guy writing the melodies over the tunes. I don't think any other vocalist of his generation would have made the same melodic choices; put any other hard rock vocalist of the era in Plant's position and the lyrics would remain baby-baby British blues stuff anchored to the tonic. Plant's solo work, whose peaks are lofty indeed, bears this out: he's a great musician with real vision.
― though the tempest rages, (Joan Crawford Loves Chachi), Monday, 20 February 2017 20:58 (seven years ago) link
Put any other hard rock vocalist in Plant's position and the singing on 'The Song Remains The Same' may have been far more tolerable.
― Working night & day, I tried to stay awake... (Turrican), Monday, 20 February 2017 21:00 (seven years ago) link
#hotsonfornowhere
― calstars, Thursday, 23 November 2017 00:43 (six years ago) link
The assessment of this album being 'Achilles Last Stand' and 'Nobody's Fault But Mine' plus a lot of sub-par Zeppelin is still OTM.
― Gholdfish Killah (Turrican), Thursday, 23 November 2017 07:19 (six years ago) link
you're so wrong I don't even know where to start
― calstars, Thursday, 23 November 2017 12:18 (six years ago) link
― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Thursday, 23 November 2017 14:31 (six years ago) link
― calstars, Wednesday, November 22, 2017 7:43 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
otm. the rhythm section is so weird on this song. the way the drums switch to doubletime but the rest of the band keeps the same tempo so funky and disorienting
― voodoo chili, Thursday, 23 November 2017 18:37 (six years ago) link
Very difficult song to play drums on, for sure. Even air drumming the fills on the “oh oh” part is hard as fuck
― calstars, Thursday, 23 November 2017 20:26 (six years ago) link
my favorite Zeppelin album
― flappy bird, Thursday, 23 November 2017 22:28 (six years ago) link
Yeah, I'll never understand that - not when this band released six stone cold classics in a row prior to this, which was their weakest record up to that point until they followed it up with one worse.
It's another one of those records that suffers from "Gaucho syndrome" - where people actually got it right first time around.
― Gholdfish Killah (Turrican), Thursday, 23 November 2017 22:55 (six years ago) link
It's easy to understand if you consider every Zep LP (exceot ITTOD) the best one.
And yeah, HOFN is a jam
― Scape: Goat-fired like a dog! (Myonga Vön Bontee), Friday, 24 November 2017 00:47 (six years ago) link
Presence isn't as good as most of the other Zeppelin albums, no. It's more fragmented. It suffers by comparison. It's still considerably better than "two good songs and nothing" -- that's, like, weirdly "is it a banger or not???" thinking. Zep are considerably more interesting than that imo
― she carries a torch. two torches, actually (Joan Crawford Loves Chachi), Friday, 24 November 2017 00:51 (six years ago) link
― flappy bird, Thursday, November 23, 2017 4:28 PM (two hours ago)
same, by a mile
― WilliamC, Friday, 24 November 2017 01:18 (six years ago) link
and this isn't the fault of any of the records, but Presence is also the least culturally saturated Zep LP. I didn't listen to Led Zeppelin until about 2 years ago (right around when I made this poll). but songs like "Heartbreaker," "Kashmir," "Immigrant Song," "Dazed & Confused," "No Quarter," "When the Levee Breaks," "All My Love," "Whole Lotta Love," "Black Dog"... they're inescapable. And I love all their records. But the combination of Presence being completely fresh to me, along with its very straightforward no-frills meat&potatoes rock sound, appeal to me much more than all of their other records, which have much more dramatic narrative and sonic arcs. The epics, the acoustic songs, the drum solos, the riff-dozers. Presence is also one of the greatest examples of a band that's just really fucking tight and together with each other and well oiled and powerful, the kind of power and chemistry that can only come from years of playing & touring, and obviously the talent of the individuals.
― flappy bird, Friday, 24 November 2017 01:41 (six years ago) link
thank you Greta Van Fleet for bringing me back to this record
― flappy bird, Saturday, 27 October 2018 04:45 (five years ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/jaVmPCm.jpg
― calstars, Friday, 22 May 2020 00:48 (three years ago) link
precience
― budo jeru, Friday, 22 May 2020 00:50 (three years ago) link
oh hell yeah
― Yanni Xenakis (Hadrian VIII), Friday, 22 May 2020 00:50 (three years ago) link
"alexa, what is the strange plastic alien object in the center of the room that this entire family seems creepily infatuated with ?"
― budo jeru, Friday, 22 May 2020 00:59 (three years ago) link
yikes i made a typo i meant prescience **
― budo jeru, Friday, 22 May 2020 01:16 (three years ago) link
if you're not taking advantage of quarantine to carve/whittle your own Object it's probably never going to happen
― Yanni Xenakis (Hadrian VIII), Friday, 22 May 2020 01:20 (three years ago) link
fortunately i have insurance that will cover that and don't need to DIY
― Kate (rushomancy), Friday, 22 May 2020 02:32 (three years ago) link
Want to hear a mashup of Royal Orleans and steely’s Green Earrings
― calstars, Sunday, 4 September 2022 02:45 (one year ago) link
I've often thought that The Object anticipated the mobile phone by several decades.
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Sunday, 4 September 2022 05:27 (one year ago) link
wow do i not miss turrican
― mookieproof, Sunday, 4 September 2022 06:28 (one year ago) link
This is an amazing record where every song (except "Royal Orleans") has flashes of tedium about 80% of the way through - not because the band's energy is flagging, but because they're trying to goose the songs past their natural lengths.
Presence is also the least culturally saturated Zep LP.
I was visiting a woman who had all of the Zeppelin CDs except for this. "Oh, you don't have Presence!" "What's that?"
― Halfway there but for you, Sunday, 4 September 2022 14:31 (one year ago) link
― When Harpo Played His ARP (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 4 September 2022 14:36 (one year ago) link
I think “Achilles’…” is perfect. No flashes of tedium there.
― SQUIRREL MEAT!! (Capitaine Jay Vee), Sunday, 4 September 2022 14:51 (one year ago) link
"Tea For One" is my favorite Zep closer.
― Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 4 September 2022 14:53 (one year ago) link
I think this album has perhaps the weakest *songs* of any Zeppelin album (not that there aren't also flashes of genius, ie Achilles), but even when the songs aren't thrilling, the machine powering through it all, the band, is still a remarkable thing.
― politics is about vibes and the vibes are off (stevie), Sunday, 4 September 2022 19:48 (one year ago) link
Did Turrican leave ILM? Also, I like Robert Plant a bunch, but I think his is at least a reasonable perspective.
― Naive Teen Idol, Tuesday, 6 September 2022 21:06 (one year ago) link
"Nobody's Fault But Mine".
I'd never heard this album until a couple of days ago. I can't say I like it very much - despite the best efforts of JPJ and Bonham. "Achilles Last Stand" is good but it's really a bit too prog metal for my tastes - I find some of it really clunky. The rest of the album just isn't very memorable.
― Bulky Pee Pants (Tom D.), Tuesday, 23 January 2024 21:32 (two months ago) link
u mad broAchilles is like their best song
― calstars, Tuesday, 23 January 2024 21:54 (two months ago) link
I'm mad? One person thinks "Royal Orleans" is better!
― Bulky Pee Pants (Tom D.), Tuesday, 23 January 2024 21:56 (two months ago) link
“tea for one” is dreamy and incredible
― brimstead, Tuesday, 23 January 2024 22:27 (two months ago) link
"Tea For One" and "Hots on For Nowhere" on two ends of their spectrum are marvelous; the latter is top ten Zep imo.
― poppers fueled buttsex crescendo (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 23 January 2024 22:38 (two months ago) link
― WilliamC, Thursday, November 23, 2017 7:18 PM (six years ago)
a hundred miles by now
― that's when I reach for my copy of Revolver (WmC), Wednesday, 24 January 2024 02:24 (two months ago) link