10 Hyped Hard Rock Albums That Weren't Worth The Wait

Ask anyone what their favourite Led Zeppelin long-play is and you are unlikely to hear 'Presence'. In fact, many casual fans may not even be aware of its existence, which should be surprising given not only the reach of the legendary four-piece, but the fanfare in the run-up to the album's release.

Coming off the back of an exceptionally strong six-album run, Zeppelin fever was running high and, though there was only a year's wait between this record and its predecessor, Physical Graffiti, tours had been cancelled after Robert Plant's car accident and fans were desperate for anything they could get their hands on. The delay caused by the completion of the album's artwork only heightened tensions further.

With a simplicity compounded by Plant and Jimmy Page's domination of the writing process (unlike prior records, which had substantial input from all four band members) and a lack of the kind of layering expected of a typical Zeppelin composition – with little acoustic guitar and no keyboards – Presence was a pronounced critical and commercial dip for the band.

Granted, the ten-minute opener Achilles Last Stand is something of a classic in the Led's oeuvre now, but there are few other tracks on the album to really sink your teeth into.

While, for many artists (not least Greta Van Fleet), this record would be their best, for an outfit so steeped in musical greatness as Zeppelin, it falls far short of what it could or should have been.