Achilles Last Stand
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "Achilles Last Stand" | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
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| Song by Led Zeppelin | ||
| from the album Presence | ||
| Released | March 31, 1976 | |
| Recorded | November-December, 1975 | |
| Genre | Hard rock | |
| Length | 10:25 | |
| Label | Swan Song | |
| Writer(s) | Page/Plant | |
| Producer(s) | Jimmy Page | |
| Presence track listing | ||
| "Achilles Last Stand" (1) |
"For Your Life" (2) |
|
"Achilles Last Stand" is a song by English rock group Led Zeppelin. It is found on their 1976 album Presence.
Led Zeppelin was working on this at the time Robert Plant was recovering from a car accident. Coincidentally, he got so excited while recording this that he fell and re-injured his ankle, similarly to the song's namesake, Achilles. The song is one of the longest Zeppelin songs, at 10 minutes and 25 seconds. The song is famous for John Bonham's immensely powerful drumming, John Paul Jones's galloping bass line (played on a custom made eight string bass), Jimmy Page's overdubbed orchestral guitar arrangement (incredibly the dozen or so guitar tracks on this song were recorded in one session), and a dramatic, epic guitar solo which is considered by many to be among Page's best. It has similar qualities to a song in the speed metal genre.
Robert Plant wrote the song based on his near death car accident while traveling in Rhodes, Greece. The music is based on that of Morocco, Greece, Spain, among other countries. The music was inspired by Flamenco and Moroccan traditions. The lyrics were inspired not only by the travels but also by some of the poetry Plant was reading at the time, which includes William Blake. "Albion remains/sleeping now to rise again" is a reference to Blake's engraving The Dance Of Albion. The following is an excerpt from the poem that goes with the song:
- Albion rose from where he labour'd at the Mill with Slaves.
Giving himself for the Nations he danc'd the dance of Eternal Death.
Interestingly enough, a piece of the song's rhythm section would be played during live performances of "Dazed and Confused" on the 1973 and 1975 tours. This prelude to the song can be heard on the concert film The Song Remains the Same, five minutes and thirty seconds into the recording, at the "San Francisco" section. This suggests that the band had been working on "Achilles" for some time, since Presence wasn't recorded until late 1975.
Jimmy Page has been quoted as saying that Achilles Last Stand is his favorite Led Zeppelin song. Not surprisingly, it became an integral component of almost every Led Zeppelin concert from their 1977 tour of the United States onwards. Though Page initially expected that he would need to use his Gibson EDS-1275 double-necked guitar to play the song live, he realised that it was possible to use the Gibson Les Paul.
[edit] Trivia
- The references to the Atlas mountains, "The mighty arms of Atlas hold the heavens from the Earth," are simply a clever double-meaning to imply the Atlas mountains in a physical sense seeming to hold up the sky, as well as the reference to the titan Atlas and his task to hold up the sky on his shoulders and thus separate it from the earth.
- The title was both an acknowledgment of Plant's broken ankle as well as to the mystic location in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco which inspired the lyrics.
- Page and Plant wrote this at a house in Malibu where they stayed for a month while Plant recovered from a car accident.
[edit] External links
- Review: All Music Guide
- Performance at YouTube - at Knebworth, 1979
[edit] Sources
- Led Zeppelin: Dazed and Confused: The Stories Behind Every Song, by Chris Welch, ISBN 1-56025-818-7
- The Complete Guide to the Music of Led Zeppelin, by Dave Lewis, ISBN 0-7119-3528-9
| Led Zeppelin |
|---|
| Jimmy Page · Robert Plant · John Paul Jones · John Bonham |
| Discography - (Category) |
Studio albums: Led Zeppelin · Led Zeppelin II · Led Zeppelin III ·  (Led Zeppelin IV) · Houses of the Holy · Physical Graffiti · Presence · In Through the Out DoorLive albums: The Song Remains the Same · BBC Sessions · How the West Was Won |
| Films |
| The Song Remains the Same · Led Zeppelin DVD |
| Other |
| Peter Grant · Richard Cole · Swan Song Records · The Yardbirds · XYZ · The Firm · Page and Plant · Strange Sensation · Bootlegs ∙ Concerts ∙ Songs |
