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Topic ClosedLed Zeppelin - Kashmir vs Achilles' Last Stand

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Poll Question: Which do you prefer?
Poll Choice Votes Poll Statistics
26 [35.14%]
48 [64.86%]
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Direct Link To This Post Topic: Led Zeppelin - Kashmir vs Achilles' Last Stand
    Posted: May 18 2012 at 08:54
I did a forum search but didn't find a similar poll so I thought I'd make one myself.
 
Which do you prefer of these two songs, arguably Led Zep's two greatest epics?
 
Personally, I'd say Achilles by a mile, I'm not fond of Kashmir at all.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 18 2012 at 09:00
Achilles for me to, but I prefer Stairway to both of these actually.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 18 2012 at 09:21
Love both, but Achilles Last Stand gets the vote fairly easily here. It's one of their most 'exciting' songs. I love the drive of it, and Bonhams drumming is magnificent.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 18 2012 at 09:59
The mighty Achilles over the mighty Kashmir.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 18 2012 at 10:03
Two of their finest pieces.  For a long time, Achilles was my favorite Zep song overall, but I think I overplayed it so I'm a little tired of it now.  And Kashmir is just a mindblowing piece, even if it's a little overexposed.  It's very close, but in a pinch I have to say Kashmir is the superior piece.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 18 2012 at 10:45
Achilles' Last Stand by far.

Kashmir is a 4 minute song, and then, it's entirely repeated for another 4 minute song. I hate Kashmir.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 18 2012 at 11:06
Achilles!   
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 18 2012 at 11:27
Achilles Last Stand might be their best song (although stuck on one of their worst albums), and I prefer it over the also great Kashmir. Saying that Kashmir is overlong isn't the whole story. Achilles is also a normal-length song drawn out into an "epic". The real question is: Why doesn't Achilles feel overlong despite being overlong?
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 18 2012 at 11:34
It's a much more well written song than Kashmir. Also, Kasmir is slower, so that may add to the overlong feeling.

Kashmir literally repeats the first 4 minutes, whereas Achilles' does not do something so blatant. There are different things that happen.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 18 2012 at 11:51

For me, Kashmir is the best tune what Led Zep ever made..

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 18 2012 at 12:06
Achilles' Last Stand  - action packed, the layered approach that JP was so good at is on full display here.


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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 18 2012 at 12:18
Kashmir. The Zeps going Mid-Eastern? And it works? Cool ! 

Achilles' Last Stand? I must say that the intro to the song is legenwait for it ....


... dary. But the main body of the song is really tedious. They run a very limited set of ideas across the span of 10 minutes. Christ. But the foreign power of Kashmir just barely gets tiresome compared to Achilles.

Voted for Kashmir.


Edited by Dayvenkirq - May 18 2012 at 12:20
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 19 2012 at 00:34
Originally posted by darkshade darkshade wrote:

Achilles' Last Stand by far.

Kashmir is a 4 minute song, and then, it's entirely repeated for another 4 minute song. I hate Kashmir.


In fact it's less than that - it's a 20 seconds bit that keeps being repeated. Page himself said this in an interview bit I streamed years ago on their official website, and he plays the the on the acoustic guitar to prove his point.

Kashmir has though Plant's best lyrics (or my favourite, at least), and it's very evocative.

But I would still go for Achilles'.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 19 2012 at 00:52
^ 20 seconds is a bit of a stretch ... or, should I say, a bit of a compression. There have to be at least four different musical ideas on it, ... and Achilles suffers the same problem.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 19 2012 at 01:32
^ of course. But most musicians will narrow it down to the main theme when they're asked what a certain piece essentially is. On Kashmir they do build a bit on it, but much less than what they normally did - which makes it so special in the Zepp cannon, too (IMO). 
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 19 2012 at 11:52
Achilles by far. Kashmir bores me most of the time. Achilles is an exciting, daring, epic piece of music - one of my favourites from Zep. 
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 19 2012 at 17:15
Kashmir. I love both songs, but I think Kashmir has more of a sweep and grandeur. Great drums on Achilles though.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 20 2012 at 21:11
Two of my favourite Zeppeling songs, along with Stairway to Heaven, and No Quarter. Somehow I feel like voting for Achilles, but I could just as well have voted the other way.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 20 2012 at 21:14
Originally posted by darkshade darkshade wrote:

Achilles' Last Stand by far.Kashmir is a 4 minute song, and then, it's entirely repeated for another 4 minute song. I hate Kashmir.



Perhaps it would be interesting for you to hear the live version presented by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant on their "Unledded, No Quarter" album (some sort of "Unplugged"), that one doesn't repeat the main melody so much. As a matter of fact, it begins very quietley for a few minutes, only with the vocals and soft instruments, and then starts with the main melody, and so on.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 20 2012 at 21:41
What's amazing is that they actually played ALS in concert almost every night on the '77 tour (and again in '79 for Knebworth I think).   Though it often was a mess, they had the balls to perform such a difficult, physically demanding (I worked the piece out and performed it once with a band, it's a killer) and lengthy piece in front of huge audiences is a testament to their courage and skill as a band.

Hard choice, it's a matter of musical taste.   I'll vote with Achilles.

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