Presence

Underrated album for sure. An album that can be improved with changing running order. Should have opened with Nobodys Fault But Mine and ended with Achilles Last Stand. The other songs not so important.For Your Life and Tea for One are exemplary songs although Tea for One sounds too much like Since I've Been Loving You, only the attitude is much darker on Tea for one, but still a great song. Maybe Page should have changed the key of the song or something. Just me sayin... The bonus cd is nothin to write home about really but...just me sayin Play loud ,pf course, for maximum enjoyability. Achilles is just a stone cold classic. With the multi-layering of guitars it's one of Zep's finest Enjoy

Could very well be so. I know it's Pagey's 2nd favorite LZ record. For me, "Achilles Last Stand" is possibly the best song the band ever composed. Yes, better than "Stairway." Only "Kashmir" rivals it. It is the ultimate demonstrate of what a musician can do with an electric guitar in a great sounding studio. The song has innumerable overdubs which were improvised on one evening on the spot. "For Your Life" features what might be the most underrated Page riff ever. "Royal Orleans" is a funny based on true life stories of the band. It's a superior "funk" song than "The Crunge." Plant feels "Candy Store Rock" is one of Zep's greatest songs of all time (see Uncle Joe's Guide on Hard Rock Bands, Vol. 1). "Nobody Knows but Mine" speaks for itself. Another great tune with amazing guitar overdubs. "Hots on for No One" goes back to the "Dazed and Confused" jams of the early 70's. I know this sounds nuts, but is feel the closing track, "Tea for One," is the best blues that LZ ever composed because it is so TRUE. It so heartbreakingly speaks of Plant's isolation in L.A. while his wife was suffering from life threatening injuries. Around 1997 British taxed successful rock artists/bands at a 90%+ rate. He was forced to relocate. At the time he wasn't sure if he wanted to continue with Zep - it took Bonham's persuasion to get him to return to the band. So, it wasn't like he could afford to bite the bullet with the tax issue. Queen, Bowie, the Stones, Yes, Genesis, and innumerable artists/bands had to live outside of Britain at the time until the English government came to its senses. To sum it all up, "Presence" is the most REAL and HONEST record they ever made. It also brought them back to the "Led Zeppelin II" days in terms of its rawness, although the album features what is possibly Pagey's best studio guitar orchestration in his recording career.

Created at a time of intense turmoil for Led Zeppelin -- they scrapped a planned international tour in the wake of Robert Plant's car accident in Greece in August 1975 -- Presence is a strange, misshapen beast of a record that pulls upon its own tension. With Plant somewhat on the sidelines -- he recorded many of the vocals while in a wheelchair -- Jimmy Page reasserted himself as the primary creative force in the band, helping steer Presence toward a guitar-heavy complexity, perched halfway between a return to roots and unfettered prog. This dichotomy means it feels like Presence sprawls as wildly as Physical Graffiti even though it's half its length: the four epics tend to overshadow the trio of lean rockers that really do hark back to the Chess boogie and rockabilly that informed Zeppelin's earliest work. Each of these three -- "Royal Orleans," "Candy Store Rock," "Hots on for Nowhere" -- plays as snappily as the throwaways on the second half of Physical Graffiti, containing a sexy insouciance; the band almost seems to shrug off how catchy Page's riffs and how thick the grooves of John Bonham and John Paul Jones actually are. No matter how much fun this triptych is, they're lost underneath the shadow of "Achilles Last Stand," a ten-minute exercise in self-styled moody majesty and the turgid blues crawl of closer "Tea for One." In between, there are two unalloyed masterpieces that channel all of the pain of the period into cinematic drama: a molten blues called "Nobody's Fault But Mine" and "For Your Life," as sharp, cinematic, and pained as Zeppelin ever were. Added together, Presence winds up as something less than the sum of its parts but its imbalance also means that it's a record worth revisiting; it seems different upon each revisit and is always compelling.

It has extras this was my replacement of the original one if you like Led Zeppelin you need to add this to your collection

This 1976 release found the group in a bit of a rough spot – evidently Robert Plant sang the entire album in a cast after an accident. To make matters worse, a large slug of material had been used for the excellent Physical Graffiti album (1975), which left them with little new material. Surprisingly though, in spite of it all, this is actually a pretty good album. That and it has one of my favorite Zeppelin tunes – the near epic Achilles Last Stand. Musically, Presence has some really excellent compositions, although I caught the faintest whiff of arena rock on some tracks – the “sword and sorcery” mysticism of earlier albums was definitely wearing off. Then again, this was 1976 and flower power was ancient history. In terms of the performances of the group members, they really are very good –John Bonham in particular does a fantastic job on Achilles Last Stand. I guess my only regret is that they didn’t save some of the Physical Graffiti material for this album – Presence would have been spectacular. Then again, had they done that, we would not have Physical Graffiti. This remastered album is not bad – it has good sound quality and some generic liner notes that include the track listing, production credits etc. All in all this is a good album by the group and has enough to offer the Led Zeppelin fan that it should provide some good listening. Recommended along with II (1969), III (1970), IV (or ZoSo) (1971), Houses of the Holy (1973) and Physical Graffiti. Although I enjoy the 1979 follow-up album In through the out Door, it does not have the energy of Presence.

Muy buen producto

Great Album. Greatest band!

Vinyl plays perfect 0 skips, even zeppelin at their lowest is still better than most many modern band today. This album is my least favorite by the band but it has some great songs and riffs. This was the last zep album I needed:D

The name “Led Zeppelin” brings up the idea of “heavy and light”, or of extreme differences in volume level, particularly in the bass region. Much of LZ’s music can be compared to a roller coaster ride, with peaks and valleys, and sudden changes, and such a style may have been magnified by the frustrations and struggles that the band members had when trying to get the success that they wanted. This album, “Presence”, shows that the desired success was achieved. The music is smoother and better-flowing than that in previous albums, and the vocals and instruments are not battling each other for supremacy, but are well-integrated to create seven outstanding hard-rock tracks. This is the only LZ album that I am able to listen to completely, from beginning to end.

Led Zeppelin's another masterpiece. Their 7th studio album. Beautiful gatefold cover by Hipgnosis with the famous 'object'. Wonderful sounding 180 gm vinyl remastered. With songs like 'Achilles Last Stand', 'Nobody's Fault But Mine', 'For Your Life', this isn't to be missed.

Presence es el séptimo álbum de Led Zeppelin, grabado en tan sólo 18 días en los Estudios Musicland de Munich (Alemania). El grupo venía atravesando problemas personales y de salud de varios de sus integrantes. Robert Plant tuvo un terrible accidente automovilístico en Grecia que lo llevó a la silla de ruedas por un largo período; John Bonham recayó en sus problemas de alcoholismo y Jimmy Page lidiaba una dura batalla contra la heroína. Quizás debido a esa problemática, el resultado final no está a la altura de los seis discos anteriores de la banda, de gran calidad todos ellos. Fue sumamente complicado grabar el disco, Plant lo hizo sentado en su silla de ruedas y los demás integrantes de igual modo tuvieron que grabar por separado, complicado panorama. A pesar de lo anterior, el álbum alcanzó el “número uno” tanto en EE UU como en Reino Unido y contiene clásicos imperecederos como “Achilles Last Stand”, un tema de diez minutos y medio que se cuenta entre los mejores de la banda. En el segundo disco de esta nueva edición remasterizada consta de cinco canciones entre las que destaca la instrumental inédita “10 Ribs & All/Carrot Pod Pod (Pod)” y algunas versiones curiosas y alternativas de de “For Your Life” y “Royal Orleans”. Un material que vale mucho la pena tener para verdaderos fans además que la remasterización hace justicia al sonido del disco.

Achilles Last Stand is one of Zeppelin’s greatest songs but the rest of this album pales compared to all their previous albums.

The seventh album by Led Zeppelin, 'Presence' tends to suffer from being the one straight after the masterpiece that was 'Physical Graffiti'. While it doesn't match up to that album it is still an essential listen. Known to be the favourite of Jimmy Page, it's important to recognize the circumstances in which it was made. Recorded during a particularly difficult time for the band, and for Robert Plant especially, it is for this reason that Page in particular regards this album as a triumph against adversity. The production is deliberately hard and loud and is Zeppelin going back to basics. No keyboards or orchestras on the final track listing, just guitar, bass and drums played by musicians at the top of their game. The new deluxe edition continues the good work done by Jimmy Page and John Davis, with the welcome return of the longer mix of 'Nobody's Fault But Mine' that appeared in 1990 and was then ditched for all subsequent re-issues which reverted the track back to it's original vinyl length. Note also a longer fade out on the monumental opener 'Achilles Last Stand'. As for the bonus disc, it must be said that for an album with so little outtake material there is actually some essential stuff here. Zeppelin forums are already full of discussion about the alternate mix of 'Royal Orleans', containing as it does a bizarre vocal that appears to be John Bonham (Jimmy Page has said it's Plant but that can't be the case) and the mysterious '10 Ribs & All/Carrot Pod Pod (Pod). This latter track is a huge surprise - A beautiful, piano-led instrumental that sounds like it belongs on the end credits of a movie (If it isn't used soon I'd be very surprised) it's worth the price of the deluxe edition alone. The other alternate mixes are interesting but not radically different. Still great to have though. As pointed out earlier, some Zeppelin fans find 'Presence' a tough listen and tend to dismiss it rather too easily. It deserves better. Certainly, John Bonham drums superbly throughout, John Paul Jones uses his newly-acquired 8 string bass to great effect and Jimmy Page gives possibly his best ever solo's in 'Achilles Last Stand' and 'Tea For One'. Of course, Robert Plants' vocals are rather strained at times but then again he was confined to a wheelchair for the sessions and his anger and unhappiness are clearly evident - Emotional on 'Tea For One', railing against the whole LA drug/groupie scene in 'For Your Life' and having a pop at some of his fellow band members and management in 'Hots On For Nowhere'. ("Now I got friends who will give me their shoulder/ When I should happen to fall/ With time and his bride growing older/ I got friends who will give me f*** all"). The only expletive ever used in the whole of the bands recorded output, it shows just how low he had sunk. Of course, further tragedy and trouble would strike Plant personally and he continued his diatribe on the groups final album 'In Through The Out Door'. (the track 'Carouselambra' is widely believed to be a bitter attack on Jimmy Page). That's not to say there isn't some lighter moments here. 'Candy Store Rock' features Page pulling out as many rockabilly licks as he can muster, complete with 50's style slapback echo and although the track doesn't really go anywhere it's not that bad. Elsewhere, 'Royal Orleans' is a short and snappy groove that's said to be about a true-life incident involving the normally reticent John Paul Jones and a 'female' conquest who wasn't all 'she' appeared to be! To sum up, I regard this album as a fantastic statement and the companion disc and improved sound are the icing on the cake. Don't leave this out of your Zeppelin library.