I started this blog off stating that I preferred the earlier works of Led Zeppelin, particularly the vocals of a younger Robert Plant and the guitar prowess of a clean(er) Jimmy Page, before he got addicted to heroin. For this song, all of those judgements can be thrown out the window. “Achilles Last Stand” off of Presence is arguably their most intricately composed song.
The song kicks off with what Jimmy Page once called “tuning his army of guitars”. Page has called this song his favorite in all of Led Zeppelin’s catalog, perhaps because of how many guitars are overdubbed throughout the song (at some points, there are over half a dozen guitars playing at the same time). He has also suggested that his guitar solo is on par with his solo in “Stairway To Heaven”, which needs no explanation.
John Paul Jones plays an eight string bass, together with John Bonham’s pounding drums creating a driving force that gallops like a band of horses throughout much of the song. The instrumentals make an epic sound that feels mystical or otherworldly and when combined with Plants shrieking vocals, all 10 minutes and 22 seconds seem to fly by in an instant.
The lyrics were influenced by Page & Plant’s trips throughout Morocco, written while Plant was wheelchair-ridden due to a car accident that broke his leg (he officially took this ‘golden god’ thing literally). Plant’s metaphoric usage of mythology and folklore turns the stories of he and his friends’ view of the Atlas mountains into what sounds like an epic story from Homer:
"The mighty arms of Atlas,
hold the heavens from the Earth"
These lyrics are implying the Atlas mountains are holding up the sky, as well as a reference to the Greek titan Atlas and his duty to hold the world on his shoulders. Not quite as touchy-feely as a love ballad, but a deep thought nonetheless.
“Achilles Last Stand” ranked #3 in Rolling Stone Magazine’s readers' poll of the greatest Led Zeppelin songs of all time and although it shows up on my list at #9, I would say that it depends on the day you ask me!
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