Led Zeppelin's Best Album

Presence. It gets a mauling. People moaned when there were acoustic numbers, then when there were none they moaned about the absence on Presence. No radio hits here really. This was and is deep cut stuff. Their Wish You Were Here to Zep IV's Dark Side. Throw in Station To Station and we have a trifecta of what great 70s rock was really about.

Achilles Last Stand with that minor 6 intro and the journey and sections throughout. Outstanding drumming and restraind solos as Jimmy Page applies his art. The reason I lik listening to Zeppelin is listening to this guy play (which he does very well here). For Your Life is what happens to You Shook Me (also brilliant). Exceptional solo.

Royal Orleans. Rhythm section madness as Plant negotiates the dynamics. Bonzo exceptional as the band, under pressure at the time, delivers material that even if a sog was not great is easily disguised by their stunning ability to play the hell out of anything.

Nobody's Fault But Mine. Unlike Whole Lotta Love only the lyrics are nicked - Zeppelin took all of Bukka White's riff (his arrangement for the number) and Willie Dixon's lyrics and "wrote" that one. (White's was on utube for a while but seems to have vanished. Worse than their "writing" In My Time Of Dying  ten years or so after Bob Dylan first covered it. But other than that, for me unforgivable blemish, deliberate plagiarism Nobody's Fault is bliss. Here Page has a killer riff. Never fouled up in concert it is a sublime piece of how blues can really be progressed. Stunning solo and the band are just fantastic.

Next up Hots On For Nowhere and Candy Store Rock are the only weaker moments. Good performances on songs that are is search for a melody or hook. Nice rhythmic approach but that's it... Ok but needed some more thought.

I know Page Plant made Tea For One into a medley with SIBLY but really they are very separate. Another ultra cool opening riff and then of all things it slows down to a crawl. The ride cymbal guides us through this desperate blues. The lyrics are complemented by the deep soul of Page's guitar work which both understated and sublime in it's haze. It's long but it is worth every moment.

More solos, more performance, more spontaneity more cohesion, no stupid lyrics (That Going to California moment). No excessive vocal ad libs that annoy some. Epics standing toe to toe with the best of the others, though really only Kashmir is equal. Levee and Stairway are sublime and close and Dazed is possibly a good source of many ideas they get for this. No pop songs, this is hard core rock at it's most uncompromising. It is dripping in atmosphere as well.