Achilles Last Stand (10:23)
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“Achilles Last Stand” is a song by English rock group Led Zeppelin, featured as the opening track on their 1976 album Presence. It was written by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant at Page’s house in Malibu, California where they stayed for a month while Plant recovered from a serious car accident he had sustained in Greece in 1975. The song was then recorded at Musicland Studios in Munich, Germany.
“Achilles Last Stand”, at 10 minutes and 25 seconds, is the third longest studio recording released by Led Zeppelin (after “In My Time of Dying” at 11:06 and “Carouselambra” at 10:34). It is famous for John Bonham’s powerful drumming, John Paul Jones’s galloping bass line (played on a custom-built Alembic eight string bass) and Jimmy Page’s overdubbed orchestral guitar arrangement (the dozen or so guitar tracks having been recorded in Munich in a single session). It is also known for its dramatic, epic guitar solo which is considered by many to be among Page’s best. The guitarist applied vari-speed during production of this song to speed it up, one of the few times he employed that device in the studio for Led Zeppelin songs. In 1977, he explained:
I’ll tell you about doing all the guitar overdubs to “Achilles Last Stand.” There were basically two sections to the song when we rehearsed it. I know John Paul Jones didn’t think I could succeed in what I was attempting to do. He said I couldn’t do a scale over a certain section, that it just wouldn’t work.
“Achilles Last Stand”, at 10 minutes and 25 seconds, is the third longest studio recording released by Led Zeppelin (after “In My Time of Dying” at 11:06 and “Carouselambra” at 10:34). It is famous for John Bonham’s powerful drumming, John Paul Jones’s galloping bass line (played on a custom-built Alembic eight string bass) and Jimmy Page’s overdubbed orchestral guitar arrangement (the dozen or so guitar tracks having been recorded in Munich in a single session). It is also known for its dramatic, epic guitar solo which is considered by many to be among Page’s best. The guitarist applied vari-speed during production of this song to speed it up, one of the few times he employed that device in the studio for Led Zeppelin songs. In 1977, he explained:
I’ll tell you about doing all the guitar overdubs to “Achilles Last Stand.” There were basically two sections to the song when we rehearsed it. I know John Paul Jones didn’t think I could succeed in what I was attempting to do. He said I couldn’t do a scale over a certain section, that it just wouldn’t work.
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Led Zeppelin tribute band from Norway...Four young guys playing Led Zeppelin. These guys are only 13-15 years old. See more at http://new-zeppelin.homedns.org
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Presence
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For Badgeholders Only
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Shouts
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Pewizzle wrote:
Most badass drum fills ever.
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somnambulance wrote:
definitely the essential zep epic.
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Scrivy86 wrote:
ALS > Stairway. Hell, there are plenty of LZ songs that are better than Stairway.
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Jamesismynamo wrote:
to hell with Stairway to Heaven, this is the true Led Zeppelin epic [2]
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Jakubowsky wrote:
the greatest!
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BFD31095 wrote:
Ten minutes of perfection against eight minutes of perfection.. Yeah, this one is better than Stairway To Heaven.
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mynystry wrote:
this could be the rock above which the NWOBHM was built... solid heavy metal! \m/
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sfakianos7 wrote:
Only the best song ever.
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aalraeim wrote:
Led Zeppelin = epic. This song = epic. Bonzo's drumming on this one = epic.
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to0my wrote:
power metal my balls.... this far any music style tag.... it's just EPIC.
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yendorsretaw wrote:
Impressive
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mererhetorix wrote:
This for me is the Quintessential Zeppelin.
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cjackb wrote:
whoa, just-- whoa
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scfx wrote:
this song just freaking takes me away. incredible.
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xerch wrote:
reminds me of lord of the rings... hehehehe... damm tolkien fans!
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kemming wrote:
one of their true best , amazing Plant , awesome song
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joetrizzle wrote:
to hell with Stairway to Heaven, this is the true Led Zeppelin epic
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unref wrote:
Fucking great riff.
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Cassandra-Leo wrote:
Zeppelin recorded a lot of great tracks, but this is far and away the greatest.
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tsunamishadow wrote:
This isn't power metal, it's good old heavy metal...
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KConn3711, ylvasjorgen, Mango_Kid and 9 other people loved Led Zeppelin – Achilles Last Stand. yesterday evening
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Juthael tagged Achilles Last Stand with ‘rock’. Saturday evening
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Raredrum added Achilles Last Stand to the playlist Epic Prog Songs. Wednesday afternoon
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Arhippigo tagged Achilles Last Stand with ‘songs over 10 minutes long’. Tuesday evening
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