Album of the Day #114: PRESENCE - Led Zeppelin

Title: Presence
Artist: Led Zeppelin
Label: Swan Song/Atlantic
Released: 1976
Songs: Achilles Last Stand/For Your Life/Royal Orleans*/Nobody’s Fault But Mine/Candy Store Rock/Hot On For Nowhere/Tea For One
Written by: Jimmy Page & Robert Plant, except *by Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones & John Bonham
Produced by: Jimmy Page
Thoughts: I really like the last two Led Zeppelin albums, and you can tell how much I loved In Through The Outdoor if you go back to my review on that. Presence is a pretty good, fun LP, where you can just hear how loose the group was. After the obvious indulgence of Physical Graffiti and the over-abundance of experimentation on Houses Of The Holy, it’s nice to hear the group return to their loose, free-form roots that made Led Zeppelin and Led Zeppelin II so much fun.
My main gripe with it is that, as amazing and powerful as “Achilles Last Stand” and “Tea For One” are, these two ten-minute book enders really feel like they go on forever. Especially “Tea For One”, which is really just one long blues groove that goes go on throughout. “Achilles Last Stand” is a little more varied and a great album opener. The stuff in between are mostly quick, sort of forgettable tracks. However, “For Your Life” is pretty cool.