Led Zeppelin
Presence

THE REVIEW

August 4, 1975: Robert Plant, on vacation in Cyprus, is involved in a terrifying car accident with his wife and children, and he breaks his left ankle. He is therefore confined to a wheelchair, and the rehabilitation time is not short. So, the remaining dates of the tenth U.S. tour of Led Zeppelin are all canceled. Page decides to use the downtime to work on a new album and joins Plant in convalescence in Malibu to write the songs, while Jones and Bonham return to their families. Therefore, the compositional contributions of the bassist and drummer are practically nil: this is why "Presence" turns out to be the most guitar-centered album of any other Led Zeppelin album: it is, in fact, Page who composes all the songs, except for the lyrics, which are written, as usual, by Plant.

The first track of the album is "Achilles Last Stand," the last true great masterpiece of the Zep. Here all four musicians push their skills to the limit: Bonham delivers the best performance of his career, making his drumming explosive; Plant screams and yells despite being in a wheelchair, delivering an exceptional vocal performance; Jones once again demonstrates his incredible rhythmic solidity on the bass and Page amazes by creating a wall of guitar overdubs and painting a memorable solo, perhaps the best of his career, alongside "Stairway To Heaven" and "Since I've Been Loving You." "Achilles Last Stand" is a phenomenal hard-rock track that hits with intensity and power, and Plant's lyrics, with references to Greek mythology, contribute to giving this song an epic feel. The second piece is "For Your Life," a fine song characterized by Page's raw and lacerating riff, making it sticky and obsessive, while Plant sings a straightforward story of drugs. It continues with "Royal Orleans," a rather hurried funky track that is truly negligible before reaching the other masterpiece of "Presence": "Nobody's Fault But Mine," a rock-blues introduced by Page's menacing guitar with which Plant then duets, repeating a lazy and hypnotic phrase that then bursts into the vigorous riff masterfully supported by Jones and Bonham's phenomenal rhythmic work and the solo first by Plant with the harmonica and then by Page with his Les Paul. The song from which the Zep took inspiration to write this track is an old Blind Willie Johnson blues. But right after this brilliant episode, the Led fall lower with "Candy Store Rock," a very trivial '50s rock'n roll piece that Page and company could have spared themselves. Then comes "Hots On For Nowhere," a cheerful and delightful track with a funky rhythm that proves very enjoyable, after which to conclude the album, the Led decide to return to their roots, and in particular to their main source of inspiration: the blues. "Tea For One" is a slow blues in C minor, attempting to recall the other fantastic blues, also in C minor, from "III," "Since I've Been Loving You." However, the attempt fails: "Tea For One" offers very few emotions and proves to be a rather 'tired' piece: even Page himself would say that "Tea For One" was the only time the Led repeated themselves.

Recorded in just 18 days, "Presence" had already obtained platinum status with reservations alone, even before its release on March 31, 1976. However, the album didn't stay at the top of the charts for long, both because it was overshadowed by the release, also in '76, of the live album "The Song Remains The Same," and because it effectively highlighted an initial decline in the compositional level of the Zep. "Presence" is, therefore, a good album, but not a masterpiece like the group's previous 6 works. Here, taken by surprise by Plant's accident, the Led try not to give in and seek to prove they are still themselves by composing very hard tracks and retracing with vigor and little clarity the paths previously taken that made them immortal. Unfortunately, the result does not fully satisfy: the decline of the Zep has begun, and the airship is slowly but inexorably losing altitude.
N. B. The rating is not a full 4, it's closer to 3.5