Presence - LED ZEPPELIN***

Achilles Last Stand/For Your Life/Royal Orleans/Nobody's Fault But Mine/Candy Store Rock/Hots On For Nowhere/Tea For One

Despite the high chart placing critics considered that Presence was the weakest Led Zeppelin album. It is certainly uninspiring, deserving the dismissive comment that it is a bored parody of the group. (US:1 UK:1)

“It is a hard, screaming, multilayered electric guitar album with no pretence to the softer acoustic music Led Zeppelin were famous for as well.”

“Many felt it lacked the diversity of the earlier Zeppelin albums. A lack of experimentation and very little light and shade on the album, with no acoustic tracks saw it alienating the more folky Zeppelin follower.”

“Not horrible, but the band's best moments Achilles Last Stand and Nobody's Fault are overshadowed by the weaker filler. All things must end.”

“Led Zeppelin’s worst record, and by considerable distance. And yet it features Achilles Last Stand, which could well be in their top five best songs. Nobody's Fault But Mine is also good, but not great. Sadly those are the only songs on here of any real worth. The rest sounds like a bored parody of the group. This is not a particularly long record, but it's a draining one. It really takes an effort to sit through this.”

“Jimmy Page is on the top of his game with his solos. However, I don't like the wide array of guitar effects he uses on this album, and I think it is clear by this point that his songwriting partnership with Plant is beginning to struggle in terms of creativity.”

“Achilles Last Stand is a truly great track and arguably one of their finest, with great riffs and solos all over the place. With the exception of the decent blues-rocker Nobody's Fault, the rest of the tracks range from mediocre to very boring. Uninspired and generic melodies and even Page solos are far from creative.”

“This album shows Zeppelin at their most tense and energetic. A very electric and muscular album that has no acoustic guitar at all. This album is desperate and powerful Zeppelin.”