Led Zeppelin - Presence - Arises From Absence

Led Zeppelin’s Presence, their seventh official album, is perhaps the group’s most underrated effort. At the time, it bridged an important gap created by an unfortunate accident and a shift in consumer taste toward punk music.

In May of 1975, Led Zeppelin performed a sold-out five-date stand at Earl’s Court in London, England. It was the first time the group was able to use its full-scale U.S. show with state-of-the-art lighting, pyrotechnics and special effects.

The music critics were impressed and the capacity crowds loved it. The band considered it a triumphant tour finale. Next up? Some downtime for Zeppelin’s musicians and then they’d kick off their world tour on August 23, 1975.

But on August 14, Robert Plant suffered multiple fractures of his ankle and elbow in an accident on family holiday in Greece. Plant repaired to the Isle of Jersey. His long recovery forced Zeppelin to cancel their planned world tour.

The Silver Lining

This unexpected absence from touring afforded time to work on Presence, while Plant recuperated. His band mates joined him on Jersey. When he was well enough to travel, rehearsals began at Hollywood’s SIR Studio.

There’s a sense of strain and urgency on this record. Jimmy Page produced the entire album in a mere three weeks, at Music Land Studios in Munich. Released on March 31, 1976, the album helped keep the band’s momentum going.

Page was anxious to get the LP out there. He’d noticed the advent of punk rock was poised to change the musical landscape. He didn’t want fans to forget about Led Zeppelin just because they weren’t visible on tour.

It’s interesting to see how Plant’s injury affected many tracks on this album, both in terms of composition and performance. Note that it’s also the only album in the group’s catalogue devoid of acoustic and keyboard tracks.

Achilles’ And Possibly Plant’s Last Stand

At over ten minutes, the first track on Led Zeppelin's Presence is the longest song Zeppelin ever chose to lead off an official release. Achilles Last Stand is an elaborate composition in the style of a patrol.

Page’s ominous-sounding arpeggios crescendo in the intro and fade into oblivion in the outro. The romping riffs in the middle section, punctuated by Jones’ pulsating bass and Bonham’s complementary chops, recall their African travels which originally inspired Page and Plant.

Leading up to Earl’s Court, Plant must have felt as invincible as Achilles of Greek mythology. Zeppelin was on top of the music world. To then be so vulnerable, his ankle his personal Achilles heel, couldn’t help but colour this album.

At the time the song was recorded, it was uncertain whether he’d ever walk normally again. It may have been Percy’s last stand.

photo credits

For Your Life And More

Jimmy Page decided to debut his “new” guitar on Presence: a 1962 Lake Placid Fender Stratocaster. The heavy For Your Life perfectly harnesses the instrument’s power. Page connects the main riff several times, with acrobatic use of the whammy bar.

By contrast, Plant’s lyrics are reflective, pensive and full of trepidation. In a sense, he was singing “for his life”. His career was still uncertain. The urgency of his circumstances transcends the stop and go crunching of the instrumentals.

Royal Orleans is the only track credited to all four members. It provides an upbeat contrast to the preceding songs. Its funkiness is reminiscent of The Crunge, from Houses of the Holy.

Nobody’s Fault but Mine is a traditional blues song that Zeppelin covers and brilliantly transforms by fusing blues, Eastern tunings and rock. Here Robert Plant’s playing what is arguably his best harmonica solo of any in the group’s repertoire.

Jams And Tea Zep-style

Once again, the somber melancholy of Led Zeppelin's Presence is lifted with Candy Store Rock. Jimmy jams the intro and Robert seems to channel Elvis to create a rollicking song with a decidedly 1950s flavour and beat.

Some musical statements on this album were conceived during the Physical Graffiti sessions from 1974, when Zeppelin was recording at Headley Grange. Bootleg material from those sessions surfaced in1997, revealing an embryonic version of Hots on for Nowhere.

The first few guitar breaks almost have the feeling of a big band construction that’s unique to this album and the rest of the band’s repertoire. Despite its upbeat music, the lyrics continue to reflect Plant’s frustration of being sidelined.

Zeppelin serves up Tea for One to end the album. Plant’s lyrics speak of isolation and how slowly time is passing for him. Meanwhile, Page plays a wall of blistering, rather dissonant barre chords that set your teeth on edge!

And, as usual, John Paul Jones and John Bonham are in perfect synch between themselves and with the rest of the group. Led Zeppelin’s musical brilliance continued to shine throughout this dark period of the band’s history.