Why Led Zeppelin’s ‘Achilles Last Stand’ Always Reminds Robert Plant of John Bonham
John Bonham was an incredible drummer for Led Zeppelin. He was so irreplaceable that after he died in 1980, the band decided to break up instead of continuing with another drummer. His death was a shock to the other members, but they all try to keep his memory alive. Lead singer Robert Plant said one Led Zeppelin song, in particular, reminds him of John Bonham.
Robert Plant says John Bonham’s drumming on Led Zeppelin’s ‘Achilles Last Stand’ overpowered his vocal performance
Led Zeppelin was one of the first bands from the U.K. to introduce heavy rock to a mainstream audience. Bands like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones popularized rock ‘n’ roll, but Led Zeppelin pushed the boundaries of what bands could do with instruments. Bonham was an intense drummer and played many impressive solos that added a hardcore beat to each track.
In an interview with Vulture, Robert Plant was asked which Led Zeppelin song reminded him of Bonham. Plant selected “Achilles Last Stand” but also threw in “When the Levee Breaks”. Both are examples of how the instrumentals overpowered Plant’s powerful vocals.
“We go back to ‘Achilles Last Stand’, which is probably what I’d first say,” Plant said. “I could say, ‘When the Levee Breaks’. It was an absolutely stunning recording. John is playing such a sexy, ridiculously laid-back and held-back groove — he bought us a lot of credits when sometimes we were the guys at the front of the band and behaving a little coquettish.”
“But I keep thinking of him playing on ‘Achilles Last Stand’. You just needed to listen to what those three guys were doing in the studio,” he continued. “Listen to Jonesy with the eight-string Alembic bass. And Jimmy’s solo? It’s just really, really something. Sometimes I really just had to get some super glue and stick myself onto the tape somehow with a countermelody because it was relentless. There was almost no way in to write something and make it a vocal performance along with the incredible instrumentation. There was not really a great deal for me to do except what I ended up doing.”
Plant wrote ‘Achilles Last Stand’ after an injury
“Achilles Last Stand” debuted as the opening track on Led Zeppelin’s seventh album, Presence. It received mostly positive reviews from critics, with many praising the heavy instrumentals from Bonham and guitarist Jimmy Page. Page considers it one of his favorite Led Zeppelin songs.
Plant and Page co-wrote the song, referencing mythology, including the Greek hero Achilles and the Atlas myth. The mythology used in the track paralleled what Plant was going through at the time as he was in a wheelchair after a 1975 automobile accident. After spending some time in Greece, Plant found inspiration for the song through his desire to get out of the wheelchair.
“I spent some time in Greece, probably about six or seven months, after a car wreck in 1975,” Plant told Vulture. “I was unable to walk. That particular song’s lyric relates to the absolutely desperate need to get out of the jail, out of the wheelchair, or out of the whole syndrome of being stuck in wherever I was. I longed to head back to the Atlas Mountains, to the place where it was solace and joy, but at the same time, intrigue and adventure.”
