On March 31, 1976, "Led Zeppelin" released their seventh studio album - "Presence".
It's an album that quite a few fans will tend to skip, but it's an excellent album, no less, and our enjoyment of listening to it only grows with time. It is different from Zeppelin's musical landscape, both in terms of sound and production. It starts with the sound of Jimmy Page's guitars, it continues with Robert Plant's vocals and it even reaches the playing style of John Paul Jones.
So let's tell you 25 facts about this band's different and special album:
1. It was an unplanned album by the band, which was scheduled to go on a world tour to promote the double masterpiece album "Physical Graffiti".
2. An accident involving Robert Plant on a trip to Rhodes, Greece forced the band to change its plans and work on a new album instead of a tour.
3. The album was recorded while Robert Plant was in great pain, sitting in a wheelchair.
4. Neither Jimmy Page nor John Bonham were at their peak and were suffering from a severe addiction to alcohol and drugs at the time.
5. Due to tax weights, the album was recorded in a small and crowded basement of a Munich hotel, which made it even more difficult for Robert Plant.
6. The main idea was to go back to the band's Hard Rock roots, so this is the band's first album not to include keyboards and acoustic guitars, other than the song "Candy Store Rock".
7. The album was recorded and mixed within 18 days. The band was under pressure to vacate the studio, that was scheduled for the recording of "The Rolling Stones'" "Black and Blue" album.
8. In order to finish the production work on time, Jimmy Page negotiated with "The Rolling Stones" and received from them two more days in which he only worked on the guitar parts. Towards the due date, Page stayed in the studio for 18-20 hours every day in a row, until he fell asleep.
9. The album cover as well as the inside covers were inspired by Stanley Kubrick's film "2001: A Space Odyssey", and include images of people with an obelisk-shaped black object, which was defined on the inside cover as the "object".
10. The album cover designer thought of calling the album "The Obelisk" after the object that appears on the covers. He felt that the object represented power and "presence", just like the band.
11. The album was ready for release the day before Thanksgiving. Therefore, Robert Plant suggested calling it "Thanksgiving".
12. Both names were rejected in favor of a name that displayed the power and "presence" of the band.
13. All the songs on the album were written by Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, except for "Royal Orleans", which was written by all four band members.
14. The opening song "Achilles Last Stand" is one of the band's longest songs in its entire repertoire and is the longest opening song in all of its albums.
15. The song includes a combination of 6 different guitar channels to create the "big" sound of the guitar.
16. The lyrics were written by Robert Plant after his trip to Morocco, Greece, and Spain. The music was written under the influence of oriental and Spanish music.
17. John Paul Jones plays on 8-string bass and uses a very unique playing technique with a pick to create the galloping sound.
18. "For Your Life" was written about Robert Plant's friend who became addicted to drugs. Jimmy Page rarely plays here on the 1962 Fender Stratocaster guitar.
19. The song "Royal Orleans" is based on a hotel in New Orleans, that was a favorite of the band. It tells of a guy who picks up a girl at a bar and the next day finds out she's a man. Just like "It's not a lady, it's a gentleman" by Shalom Hanoch...
20. Contrary to fan rumors and speculation, the song "Nobody's Fault but Mine" was inspired by blues singer Blind Willie Johnson. Jimmy Page's special guitar sound in the intro was achieved by combining 3 different guitar recordings each in a different octave.
21. "Candy Store Rock" was influenced by 1950s rock. Robert Plant wrote the lyrics while borrowing from Elvis Presley's songs. The song was written within an hour at a studio in Munich. This is one of Planet's favorite songs from the album.
22. The lyrics to the song "Hots On for Nowhere" with the rockabilly riff were written by Robert Plant in Malibu during the injury recovery period. They were written about his relationship with Jimmy Page and Peter Grant the band manager.
23. "Tea for One" was written by Robert Plant about the difficulties he went through during the band tours. "Tea for One" illustrates the loneliness and longing for home. It's a blues song that is very reminiscent of the legendary "Since I've Been Loving You".
24. The album went straight to number one on the Billboard album charts, but did not stay there long.
25. It does not include "hits" and most of its songs were not played in the band's live performances.
For Listening: Spotify, Apple Music