Led Zeppelin - Achilles Last Stand (REACTION)
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- Опубліковано 19 лип 2023
- @AirplayBeats reacts to Led Zeppelin - Achilles Last Stand
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This song completely demonstrates why John Bonham was considered one of the greatest drummers in Rock History.
THE greatest! nobody else could do THIS
@@eatthisvr6 AGREED IM A OLD-SCHOOL ROCK DRUMMER BONZO IS MY FAVORITE DRUMMER HANDS DOWN
Not one but is the greatest drummer in human history
Now you see why this band could not go on without their drummer 😢
The live Knebworth performance of this song from 1979 is ridiculous !
Airplay Beats
, youdo have to check their performance of that song!
Been awhile, but if I remember correctly...it's even faster and heavier.
agreed, highly recommended
Exact right word
I was there!
It's not only their most underappreciated, it was their best album
I agree whole heartedly!
Totally agree
You MUST watch this live at Knebworth 1979 to see them play this. Jimmy attempting to recreate all the guitar parts at once on stage. Masterpiece
I don't need to. I saw them do it live in 1977 at the world's most famous venue :)
I totally concur. Live At Knebworth is brilliant.
The knebworth performance of this song is their best ever performance.
@@featherinthewind333 Interesting. Have you heard every single live performance of this?
@@steverickenbacher7110 nope, maybe generalising, but its completely captivating
One can make an argument that this song is their masterpiece
Yes!!!!!!
I think Plant's "weary" vocals suit the song perfectly. And as others have mentioned, he was in a wheelchair while recording this album.
The whole band was kind of weary by this time. Presence is a downer of an album compared to Graffiti, but it is as brilliant as any Zep offering.
I don't know what it is exactly...but when Zeppelin drifts into the realm or genre of "fantasy" is when I think they sound most like themselves. Its almost as if drawing upon our most classic literary traditions helps to make them more timeless. Hearing some Zeppelin material is like hearing tales of yore from the clan elders. Sometimes it comes across as camp...Sometimes its a masterpiece...I think this one is in the latter category.
classic literature is like a bottomless well of free source material for any songwriter who wants to use it.
thousands of ideas, covering the full range of human experience -- all free for the taking.
Feel the same way when I listen to this song and No Quarter
Bonzo sounds like a squad of riflemen. Just unrelenting force sounds like it is moving towards inevitable explosion. Epic.
The Holy Grail of Zeppelin in my opinion. Achilles Last Stand is a perfect song.
Bonzo’s drumming on this song is immense. Outstanding performance.
The man was absolutely relentless. What a pairing of him and Jimmy. Then you have a wizard in JPJ and the golden god in Plant. Incredible.
This song is epic. Bonzo is shot out of a cannon, and JPJ has that Chris Squire tone that I love.
Yes I noticed that too but that's a great comparison.
Bingo! Thanks!
I caught a wicked Feel of Yes in this as well!!!
We stood about 20 feet away at eye level when they played this the last time they were here. It was hard to believe we were really there that night watching four of the most famous people on the planet doing their thing.
This is a real galloping rhythmic track and it's relentless. Jonesy's playing an eight string Hagstrom bass, Jimmy's ripping on his Les Paul on multiple tracks on the song and Bonzo is beating the drums like they said something bad about his mom.
The syncopation with Bonzo/Jonesy against Jimmy guitar playing and soloing is lights out.
Robert recorded this whole album in a wheelchair. The studio was a darkish, dank dreary basement studio in Munich, Germany, in the winter of 1975.
Robert had gotten into a car accident in early Aug of 1975 and they canceled a short but huge stadium only tour, which was to start in late Aug of 1975.
In Plant's really bad car accident, he shattered his ankle in multiple places and was told he might not walk properly again. His wife, Maureen, had a massive skull fracture and almost died. Their two children were shaken up as well. This happened on the Greek island of Rhodes, so the medical attention wasn't the greatest.
They had to be airlifted off the island for proper medical care.
The band Heart snagged the drum, bass and guitar from this song for their song "Barricuda" a year later.
The black object throughout the album artwork is called an obelisk. There was an odd presence around the band, but everything was still connected.
This album has some tension in the music for sure.
They played this song at every show for their 1977 US tour all the way through to the end, except on June 26th and their very last show ever, in Berlin, West Germany, July 7th, 1980 on their tour of Europe.
Thrre is a fantastic raucous pro shot live video officially released in 2003 and it was from Aug 4th, 1979 at the Knebworth Festival played in front of 220,000 people. It's killer!
Fantastic post! I definitely hear Barracuda 100%. Almost copyright infringement LoL!
Dude, that was so well worded, checked off all the key points, and all that I had to fight the urge to jump out my chair and cheer you on while reading that comment.
Lol.. 😂
@CANDOKNOWHOW obviously a smarty pants 😂
Well said...! Great post..! Heart started as a Zeppelin cover, so its only natural for their music to be heavily influenced... I bet the farm, the Zeppelin boys love "Barricuda".... ;)
This comment should get Pinned...
Presence was and I think still is Zeppelin's most under appreciated album. Its got a few bangers on it!
It lacks much of the creativity of their previous albums, but it's basically a straight-ahead hard rock album, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.
I'm glad they're listening to the albums in order. You get a feel for the journey they're on. It actually continues with Plant's first two solo albums. I was fortunate to see the tours, one of them he had Phil Collins on drums.
@@peterhineinlegen4672 Yeah, Pictures at Eleven and The Principle of Moments still get regular play in my house.
Even though it is their least selling album, it was platinum before it was recorded.
Nobody's Fault but Mine and Tea for One are 2 more great ones off this Album
One of their masterpieces for sure. Plant recorded this album in a wheelchair while recovering from an auto accident that almost killed his family. He was pissed about doing it too soon, but they had a contract to honor. The album artwork represents a fifth unknown element to the band that made them special. Like a chemistry thing. Great reaction boys.
They did not have a contract to honor. The car accident caused them to cancel their upcoming tour, and Page was concerned that the band had too much time on its hands and was falling apart.
@LzCoda Yes they did. They had to produce another album within a certain time period or they would lose the studio. Page even had to borrow the stones mobile studio to finish. Plant was upset that he had to work under pressure. Facts
Aaaw shit!
It's not fair they have to go through life as well. My brother, big Zep fan and can't listen to any zep without sobbing at some point. decades later my son was starting out with his metal band - almost lost him the exact same way. ❤❤
He had so many, but surely this is one of Bonham's greatest recorded performances...
Easily their most underrated song of all time. Greatest band ever!
So glad you didn't say "criminally" underrated 🤮
I would often wonder how Bonzo’s drum set didn’t explode on this track. It always felt like a thoroughbred running a race for me
This is the song they opened with in 1977 in Louisville, KY. I cried. Seeing these guys was all I wanted at that time. I was a Sophomore in high school..
This live at knebworth In 1979 was unbelievable!!
This song was an epic showcase for John Bonham. A master class performance. A true master of his craft.
I've only once, taken a date straight home. I had bought this 8-track during the day (must have been a Friday, payday) and listened to it in the car immediately. That night I, and a girl I had been on a few dates with, who was very pretty, drove to the backwoods road where everyone our age parked. I was excited for her to hear it and waited until we were there, and stopped. It was Summer, probably June, fireflies were lighting the darkness outside the car. I put this in and I was transported in time and space to somewhere else. But then, towards the last few minutes, the volume was turned off and I came out of my space and quickly turned to her, my date., who's fingers were on the round knob (not that knob) She said, "Gawd, this is awful. When will it end?" Slowly, I turned the ignition on, put the car in gear, turned around, took off, and turned the volume up to it's highest. I drove to her front door and barely glanced at her. I guess that I'm fortunate in only having to do that once in my lifetime. 🙂
Here's the deal with Mr Plants voice not sounding as strong as usual. He was in a wheelchair while he sung this immaculate song. Plus, Robert always knew when to sing very strong or not, cause he always wanted to match the song, in this song the music is amazing, he didn't have to sing his heart out. Thx guys. Signed the GOATS
Plant was involved in a car accident while on holiday not long before they recorded this album. He broke a leg and tore his achilles heel (hence the song title). He recorded all the vocals for the album while sitting in a wheelchair. Not the best position for singing. That's why his voice does not seem as strong.
And yet...Nobody's Fault But Mine has some ripping vocals.
OH WOW, I knew about the accident but never knew the Achilles Heel part...amazing trivia dude!
@@tstoneami Even a broken clock is right twice a day :)
This album was beyond rock and roll....it was way ahead of its time. This album was not talked about much when I was growing up in the 70s
Songs like this is what separates Zep from the rest. This is one of several they have on this level of uniqueness & skill level.
I agreed.
Always made music that was out-of-this-world GOAT
There are times when a song is just so effing great that anything you could possibly say does not do the song justice. Achilles Last Stand is that song. Bonzo grabs you by the short hairs and just does not let go. 🔥🔥✌️
It was an April morning when they told us we should go... I've loved this song for 40+ years. Been waiting for this reaction. 👍
This song just drives hard, like an army charging to meet the battle. Epic tune.
Their only album with no keyboards or synthesizers !!!! Awesome Album !!!
Achilles last stand live @ Knebworth…. Great performance from John Bonham, before he passed.
They can do prog. They can do anything. This album was a lot to wrap your head around when it first came out. Excellent.
Achilles is an epic... Robert recording vocals while in a wheel chair from surgeries... It took 24 hrs to record.. A.L.S. an LZ Classic.. and as I do love Presence... this was the No.1 from it.. Nobody's Fault ..Awesome.. ForYourLife..Funky..Tea for One.. Sneaky Blues.. Enjoy Boys!
Nasty, filthy, badass rock and roll masterpiece right there gentlemen. One of my favorite songs of all time. Gets me amped every time I hear it, and I've been hearing it since it came out 😊
Jimmy’s first solo in this song is glorious.
The most talented musical band that ever walked the planet, and I love The Beatles.
This is proto power metal! This song inspired iron maiden ! Steve Harris from Maiden said he loved the galloping rytham that Bonzo and Jones did! That galloping became iron maiden's signature sound!
That's some great info right there. Maiden was one of my first favorite bands.
So, Plant's vocals may not be as forceful or powerful as you're used to, but I guarantee you'll hear him belting it out in Nobody's Fault but Mine. And, he kills it on the harmonica, too. Don't worry guys, he comes back with a vengeance!
And La, you're gonna love Bonzo's drumming, too.
Yeah, I always felt Plant held back on the vocals on this one. They don't really match the galloping rhythmic intensity of the music.
@@kbrewski1Agreed. I don’t know, but I wonder whether that was solely due to his singing volume, or whether part of it was in the recording mix. It’s possible that due to Plant’s car accident, and being in a wheelchair, they made a conscious choice to feature the instruments on this song, maybe Plant wasn’t feeling great that day due to pain. Hard to say.
If I remember right this whole album was recorded in about three weeks, they were under pressure due to contract, but Plant really needed to be resting. People have bad days, especially when they’re injured and haven’t had enough sleep, and who knows what painkillers/other drugs they had him on… or self-medicating, lol. Plus the psychological/emotional toll and trauma of what he and his family went through (in the accident).
I guess my point being, I’m just speculating, but many factors could explain his less powerful vocals in this song. Rock on!! 🙏🏻
@@kbrewski1 I think his diminished vocals were meant to represent Atlas's weary struggles to maintain balance to the earth. His vocals were weary from the struggles
In terms of Robert's voice, this wasn't right after his surgery but it was after he was recovering from the effects of a car crash. He sang this sitting in a wheelchair. I think the title of the song was inspired by the classic Greek myth of 'Achilles' heel'. Robert had badly damaged his ankle in the road accident and it wasn't clear for a while whether he would be able to walk on it again.
Page: this shall be my guitar army masterpiece.
Bonzo: in gonna kill this drumset
This will be your favorite album - No air play, just musicianship
Wikipedia says : The album was written and recorded in the last months of 1975, during a difficult time in the band's history. Singer Robert Plant was recuperating from serious injuries he had sustained earlier that year in a car accident; this led to tours being cancelled and the band booking studio time to record Presence instead. The entire album was completed in a few weeks, with guitarist and producer Jimmy Page putting in several long shifts to complete recording and mixing. The title came from the strong presence the group felt as they worked together. The LP's artwork from Hipgnosis featured several photographs focused on a mysterious black object, called "The Object".
Plant, I believe, recorded the whole album from a wheelchair.
@@markdrechsler5660 That is the official story
To me, this one has always been their best song. Yes, even better than Stairway to heaven. The mightiness, the force of this track...of the drums (best studio performance by Bonham according to me and Robert Plant), the bass, the countless guitar patterns layered by mr. Page...unbelievable stuff
This is one of those songs that the more you listen to it the more you appreciate its complexity. I've had to hear it hundreds (maybe more) times and I love it more each time
The Bonham drum sound production is the very best on this album ..You can hear every detail of high hat taps down to the kick drum as if it is in your very own room space
This is probably one of the lesser known Led Zeppelin albums that should be in every musician' archive. "Tea For One," is chewy ear candy.
This is my favourite Led Zep album, it has the best drumming of Bonzo's career, Page is on point, it rocks like hell and there are no bad songs. Some are better than others, but it's all good. And even though Plant isn't at his best he still pulls it off nicely. He was recovering from a serious car accident and recorded most of the album sitting in a wheelchair in addition to his voice issues.
i see all these comments. Never knew that!
The things I love about Led Zeppelin is how the next second in there music tops the last ! They spoiled us with there craft never to be reach again .
Artistically stupendous song, and yes, very underrated. I suspect this because most Zep fans prefer their bluesier songs. This is Progressive, but Hard Rock at its best, but a rare departure from their blues base, and is a complex structure without a more simple groove or hook. Their musical diversity is apparent once again. Great artists across all the various Rock sub-genres.
Their answer to Rush...who actually covered Led in the beginning
You say it right; Although I'm not a hard rock fan and rather come from the blues, I always found the song great, especially live. The whole album seems to get by without keys.
This track, For Your Life, Nobody's Fault But Mine and Tea For One are the best from this album.
Tea for one is such a good journey. Close your eyes and enjoy
@@algoner4421agreed. Tea for One is one of my fave Zep songs.
Next song is one of my favorites LED....For your life!!! Lets go!!!
An awesome song! The drumming on this song was epic. Seeing drummers cover this song gives me appreciation of John Bonham’s performance and talent. Great reaction!
This whole album is a kind of unicorn..........I've never heard anything from anyone else that reminded me of the Presence album, in whole or in part. It's the Zep album that took me the longest to appreciate, that's for sure.
I’m convinced that the members of Zeppelin are not human. Whatever planet they’re from is where I’m gonna live in my next life 😂
Many Zep fans consider this to be their best song. Hard for me to pick a single track but it's definitely up there.
I'm really enjoying your reactions to the music that has been the soundtrack to my life and times 🤘💯
Tioraidh an-drasta 🏴
It is the best opening track in rock music history.
@@edwardcoit9748 My vote would be "Purple Haze" on the original north American release of Are You Experienced? I was still a wee laddie in Scotland when my cousin introduced me to the album. That version started with "Foxy Lady" and hit me like a tonne of bricks 🧱
Like I say on EVERY Single Led-Z React vid. ,,, One of ''THE'' !!! GREATEST Rhythm Sections In ALL of Rock/Metal History!!! \m/ Nuff Said..... Peace, Love & Music From South TX :)
Rock Gods being Rock Gods building a timeless Legend known as Led Zeppelin
Continuing the journey was 100% the right call. I mean hell, you came this far.
I knew you’d like this! As far as RP’s vocals though recovering from his accident his softer vocals seem to be a welcoming coolness that soothes the pallet to the beautiful frenzy of Bonz, Page and JPJ, a perfect balance. Great reaction and thanks for getting around to an otherwise overlooked Zeppelin album. 👏😊✌️
As others have mentioned achilles last stand live at Knebworth is amazing. My brothers were lucky enough to be at the concert. Robert Plant mentioned that song at Knebworth - in an interview he said it was an example of how in tune Bonzo and Page were with each other and that’s why, after he died they couldn’t recreate that with anyone else.
He fully recovered from surgery but this just how he wanted the vocals to go for this song, as you know he's vocally eclectic he switches up just like the band can
One of my two favorite album openers. The other is The Song Remains the Same. Both are driving, proggy, and leave you feeling that you've been run headlong to the edge and left to topple over.
This track along with The Song Remains The Same have both grown on me immensely over the years.
Forget ATLAS! The mighty arms of BONZO hold the heavens from the earth!!!
{I think they upped the tempo even MORE in the live version I've seen! ) The man was a force of nature! Bonzo the GOAT!
It's amazing to hear the orchestration of guitars in this song and Page having to choose which part to play LIVE on stage. And this song was considered Bonham's most difficult drumming of all their songs.
presence is the most underrated Zeppelin album there is,
It is
This is my favorite Zep tune and IMO the fullest display of their collective power. This is some of Jimmy's most modal playing and Bonham playing with a more "up" feel vs the usual behind the beat. The "ascending" part of the song comes out of their live jams on Dazed and Confused. the "San Francisco" jam. Check it out at 5:45ish ua-cam.com/video/6DnGQHGLzYQ/v-deo.html
Jack Black in the Kennedy Centre honors calls their music complex and beautiful.. cannot find a better example than Achilles Last stand .. great reaction guys !!
Bonhams drumming here is some of the best work ever.
Only Led Zeppelin was bold enough to open an album with a 10 min song 🤩
Always expect the unexpected with Led Zeppelin even though you think you have heard it all.
Well, not ONLY Zeppelin (Rush, 2112, to cite just one other example), but, yeah, it may have hurt them a bit commercially, not having a standard "hit" (which they really didn't, anyhow, and certainly never aspired to, God love 'em), but bully for them, and then to CLOSE it with ANOTHER ten minute+ tune, the magesterial slow bloozy AF "Tea For One," well, bookending genius, that!
This track gets better every time I hear it....and I've been listening to it since it came out. One of Bonham's greatest drum tracks, which says a lot. The live version from Knebworth, 1979, is well worth a listen. TY.
A song about Robert Plant's vacation from hell in Morocco and then Greece (sandy lands on holiday) and his struggle with a shattered ankle recovery from a car wreck and forced to record from a wheelchair. For what they went through to record this album, with Plant's near death car accident and his wife hanging on by a thread, this one has some urgency. It took away all the summer stadium dates left on the Graffiti tour in 75, and all of 1976. The didn't hit the road again until 77, and then Plant's son died from illness while he was over here on tour. A really tough period for the world's biggest band at that time.
The guitar part in Heart's "Barracuda" was inspired by this song.
Legend has it that Plant sang this whole album from a wheelchair. Thanks for continuing this journey.
Listen to Achilles w/out stopping. And then do that 100 or so times.
Song is truly an epic in all sense of the word
NEXT LEVEL Zepic!!
One of Bonzo’s finest moments, along with Nobody’s Fault But Minre..
The cover design firm Hipgnosis (who had done hundreds of covers by this time, for bands like Pink Floyd, Genesis, Wings, 10cc - and if fact did the cover for "Houses Of the Holy") did this cover as a whole concept, where they just used the title Presence as a jumping off point for all the pictures on the sleeve (front, back, inner gatefold). The idea was that there was this mysterious object that people were obsessed with and worshiped, and it was in all these old pictures of people gathering around to look at it and stroke it, but it was somehow able to erase itself from memories when you weren't looking at the pictures. Hipgnosis made the object specifically for the front cover shoot, but most of the photos were actually old pics from the 40s and 50s, so the object was just manually dropped into them.
Plant sang this song and the entire Presence album from a wheelchair resulting from the serious car accident both he and his wife had in '75 while on vacation in Greece. He also had surgery to remove vocal chord nodules around '74 and sounded noticeably different afterwards..
This is my favorite Led Zeppelin song. This album is so underrated.
Really..?? When it came out I think it was VERY well received at the time! ALL of these songs were on that radio every 10 minutes all through the late 70's!!
No doubt. I love this album. For your life is a great song and Achilles last stand is an ass kicker. Led Zep doesn't miss ,ever!
@@mr.snicker-doodles7081 you are so right!
Smiling and waiting for them to hit Nobodys Fault
I'm 57 and all Zep has touched me, this tune however, is in their elite stratosphere. It is a punch in the nose that won't stop bleeding. Oh Yeah!
My favorite guitar work by Jimmy is all over this album. .. great reaction guys!
So glad you’ve decided to do this album. It’s often overlooked but worth a full reaction.
As said b4 this is one of the most under rated songs, bcuz they LZ has so many bangers like you 2 guys!!!, so glad you guys are doing Presence!!!
What a piece of music that is, and what a way to open their seventh and most underrated album. Dive in guys, I have a feeling you're going to love it.
Page and Bonzo at their best!!!!!
Achilles Last Stand is absolutely amazing and definitely progressive, I mean, that whole riff that keeps coming in machine-gun style and then they stay on it a lot at the end before going back to straight-time, is in 5's or 10's, depending upon how you want think about it.
So many others have commented below and I have to concur: you guys have got to listen to this song recorded live at Knebworth. It’s truly amazing that they could make a complex piece sound so good live. These guys are genius level musicians.
I think the way Plant's voice sounds on this track varies. These were all mixing choices by Jimmy. You'll notice how there's not much lower end except for when the lead guitar comes in at times. Layers and layers of guitar parts. Another Page masterpiece. Despite his attempt to put the spotlight on the guitars here, Bonzo shines through on this one (again).
As I understand it, The black obelisk-shaped object on the cover and inside sleeve of the album, ‘Presence,’ was designed to represent the group’s strength and presence.
Yay! Keep going until the end with Led Zeppelin - there is still so much more - I cannot wait until you get to Nobody's Fault But Mine - it is just *filthy*. They are badasses, even with their singer in a wheelchair. And my personal favorite, Fool in the Rain on the next album...you will really enjoy all of it.
Great, great epic song, one of their best. This bookends the album with their blues classic Tea for One. Enjoy as your Led Zeppelin journey continues. 🎵🎸🎤🎹🎶
This was after the horrible car accident that Robert and his family were in in the summer of 1975. He was still in a wheelchair when they recorded this. The tale is that he was so jubilant when he got through Achilles that he jumped out of his wheelchair in excitement and fell. Everyone was terrified he had reinjured himself. Luckily, he had not.
My favorite Zep album. Hots on for Nowhere and Nobody's Fault but Mine..... you will see. And Plant sat in a chair for all singing. Cast on leg. 😊
Awe yeah, one of their best
I used to get really stoned on my bike and listen to this song back in the day. It hit so hard, and still feels great to think about.
You guys will not be sorry you do this album. People slept on it--very underrated. One of my fav's!
Might just be Bonzo’s best ever drum performance. His beat absolutely drove this song. Also have to bend at the knee for Jimmy’s ethereal solo! 👏
"drove" is right. bonzo told page, "i'll take the wheel on this one, you just sit shotgun and play those cool riffs".
Take a listen to them playing this at LA Forum bootleg titled; “Listen to this Eddie” June 25, 1977. Bonham just kills it.