My conclusion is Led Zeppelin Presence my #1

Presence as an album is OK, but it does have a few solid-to-standout tracks in Achilles Last Stand, Nobody's Fault But Mine, Tea For One and For Your Life. The other three tracks are pretty weak and really pull the whole affair down.

 

What about “royal orleans”..., JPJ waking up with a transvestite... heh heh... hilarious...”whiskers..”

 

Yes, I always liked "Royal Orleans". It's a brisk and fun little tune and adds a slice of humor to the record (a la The Crunge and later, Hot Dog) to remind us all that, despite the less than ideal conditions we are in right now, we still are here to have fun doing what we love - making (hopefully) great music.

It's probably my favorite of the three Presence tracks that are most often criticized or forgotten (For Your Life, Royal Orleans, Hots On For Nowhere).

 

IV

I
II
III

Presence
Physical Graffiti

In Through The Out Door
Houses Of The Holy



Coda

 

I think highly of the album, but at the same time I think your 2nd sentence is dead accurate.
I would add that IMO the vocals are underproduced and could of used more overdubs and layers/doubling. It would be cool to see what Roy Thomas Baker could do with those tapes...or what he could of gotten out of Plant...

ALS is an amazing track but doesn't have the chest pounding testosterone of another mythology based Zep tune "Immigrant song". It's pure doom, a different thing.... I mean not to take anything away from it's greatness though.

 

It has its moments but it is not my overall favorite. It ranks where it stands as far as release goes. Only the next album is below it. Still, it is LZ.

 

Presence is my favorite Led Zeppelin album - no keys, relentless drums, bass and layered guitars. And impassioned gritty vocals, along with great heavy riffs. It's not their best album but definitely my favorite.

 

Apart from Jeff Lynne, Roy Thomas Baker is the last person I would want anywhere near the production of a Led Zeppelin album.

 

I must admit I’ve never heard of Roy Thomas baker, but he looks like a freak

 

Those are the only tracks on Presence that I enjoy. I also like the drums on Royal Orleans, but the song itself doesn't do a whole lot for me.

 

Love it! As much as -- and at times more than -- Physical Graffiti.

 

I love Bonzo's little "triple cymbal hits" that he interjects between the main riffs at certain points of the song.

 

I think it’s great. It might not be their best album from a classic rock historical perspective, but it was daring and modern-sounding in its day. These days I reach for it more often than the others.

 

Rockabilly on steroids. A real tour-de-force of rock guitar, no jazz, no acoustic anything, an absolutely twisted/drunk solo, just dripping with decadence. Great playing from Bonzo and JPJ too, and perfect counterpoint from Plant, with lyrics that have always stumped me. It's brilliant. "Hots On" is one of my favorites.

Presence came out just before I started to get into Zeppelin music. Out of all the albums, it took the longest time to digest. Commercially, it's their weakest, but that might have something to do with when it was released.

 

I truly love all of LZ's albums.......yes, even Coda. It's hard for me to rank them, so I try to give em all equal love.

 

I came of age with an In Through The Out Door 8-track. From there, both IV and Houses of the Holy were residing with my circle of friends. As I have filled in the rest, latter period LZ has risen to the top of my list which means Presence is held in high esteem. Much to the chagrin of many who are probably more in the know, I through III are my least favs, in reverse order.

 

Big drop off after their first 6, but it would get worse...

 

I have a long history with this album and I've tried to think more highly of it, but my conclusion is that it has three really good tracks on it, and the rest is kinda throwaway or retread. The good tracks are "Achilles Last Stand", "For Your Life", and "Nobody's Fault But Mine." "Tea For One" gets a lot of respect but I think it's an inferior retread of "Since I've Been Loving You."

The overall sound of the album seems bright and clangy, which probably contributes to its problems.

 

I figured somebody might weigh in with that type reaction.
A lot of people feel he over produces, but I like his work with Queen and Cheap Trick among much else. I guess I would feel the same way if we were talking Bob Ezrin. I don't find Lynne offensive on most of the non ELO stuff I've heard. ELO is a wash of effects that to me doesn't sound very good. IMO he can give mellow rock an edge, but he's wrong for hard blues based rock.

What is it with Baker people don't like? Is it too many overdubs? I'm not sure anybody was ever better at getting so much out of 24 track analog.

 

In the Zeppelin Canon it ranks near the bottom.Not an indication of how but how strong everything else is.

 

I like to hear the artist & not the producer.

 

Not exactly high praise there . . .

 

Lol I just mean there is no song on presence I don’t love.even what some people consider the weak songs on it I can think of much worse on the other albums.

 

I love it. Right up there with the best for me.

Physical Graffiti
Presence
III

those are my top three, the only ones that never get played out for me. not that anyone asked.

 

Any album that has...

Achilles Last Stand
Nobody's Fault but mine
Tea for One
Hots On for Nowhere

…is fine by me!!