PRESENCE

This album frustrates me so much! Why would the band write their best song and throw it on an album with a handful of their worst!i!i!i!i!I!? "Achilles Last Stand" is the greatest thing the band has ever done.

Yes, "Achilles Last Stand" is Led Zeppelin's greatest musical triumph!

Of course, it doesn't seem too outlandish coming from a fan of progressive rock. I still don't feel like the song gets enough recognition, even in the recondite circles of Zeppelin fans. I see a lot of high praise, but no one else seems to think it's unmatched within the band's catalog. Everything about it is just so awesome. The guitar riffs and solos, the drumming frenzy, the bass lines, the vocal delivery. Goodness, I was floored by this song even when I listened to punk rock.

So anyway, that awesome-fest of an opener seems to have drained the band of their energy or something. Or maybe they just took so much time perfecting that song that they just had to throw the rest together to get the album out in a timely manner. The rest of the album stands in stark contrast with the goodness of the epic. Aside from the mildly enjoyable bluesy fun in the closer, "Tea for One," the remainder of the songs are just lacking something. They are boring, and entirely forgettable.

So, thanks to "Achilles Last Stand" and, to a lesser extent, "Tea for One" (luckily the two longest tracks on the album) Presence is noteworthy. Just think of this as a delicious double cheeseburger where the buns and the patties roles are reversed. It's difficult to hold onto, and the buns seem pointless where they are, but the patties are good, so you just eat them and leave the buns on your plate, or wrapper, depending on where the burger came from. It should also be noted that you didn't feel like having anything else on your burger