Octo_Russ

Led Zeppelin [Presence] 

My second favourite Led Zeppelin album [Physical Graffiti is my first], somehow this album is underrated, song are overlooked, this is where the true worth of Led Zep lies, they pull off tremendous songs tucked away on mid side two of albums, even their 'obscure' stuff is excellent, and there isn't a dud on this album at all, they pull off long songs perfectly, mixed with short songs, and mid length songs, they're unlike any other band, the only drawback of this album in a way, is the length, it's short measure at just under 44 minutes, however this was exactly a full album of vinyl music when it first came out, and it would spoil the feel of the album to add more music to it, so it's only a moot point, loved listening to this today.

Led Zeppelin are an English Hard Rock band, active from 1968-1980, 'Presence' was their seventh studio album, the photographs used throughout used photos from the fifties, each with the 'object' superimposed, it's a nice theme with a mysterious twist, even the title gives a sense of intrigue, possibly a play on words [presents?, in both senses of the word], the front cover is wonderful, a family sitting around the table, very dated stylistically, each looking at the 'object', the background comes from the Earl's Court Boat Show from the mid seventies, i'm almost certain that they're two separate pictures merged together, but they work perfectly, it looks like some sort of restaurant at a harbour or marina, upstairs overlooking the boats, i love it, on this album there was no lettering, left blank as part of their style, but i actually don't like this, so i rubbed on some transfers in the place where they are found on certain copies of this album, i think it improves things, i like what i've done.

I enjoyed every single track immensely, my favourite is probably 'For Your Life', though i think 'Nobody's Fault But Mine' is tremendous also, though on this listening i couldn't help but be wowed by track 6 'Hots On For Nowhere', it has such a strong vibe to it, there's this incredible start / stop motion about it, i love the way the guitar and the drums go together, Robert Plant felt that his vocal performance was 'pretty poor, sounding tired and strained', but i think it's so strong and articulate, the way he emphasises words perfectly, usually the last word in the third line of every verse [backbone / matter etc], the chorus is strange in that it's merely 'la la la', but it works so well, coming out of the start / stop verse and into the stronger drum rhythm of the chorus, it's a grooving acceleration force, the lyrics at the start of the third verse are the best, 'As the moon and the stars call the order, Inside my tides dance the ebb and sway', nicely mystic, and yet meaningful too, i like the way he uses imagery to explain things, the start of each new verse brings a degree more frantic than the last, because of the lead guitar in the third verse, it overcomes by filling in the stop / start rhythm, it flows stronger, also in the fourth verse Drummer John Bonham dispenses with the start / stop drumming, also making the verse flow stronger, so the whole song seems to progress harder and more articulate, wow that really gets my vibes going.

Here's Led Zeppelin singing 'Hots On For Nowhere' on YouTube.