Joy of joys, Jimmy confirms in this interview with Classic Rock that he did indeed find unreleased material for the Presence reissue!! The relevant part of the interview starts at 2:38.

I've traditionally had a fractured relationship with this album. I've gone through times of loving it and times of hating it. But what strikes me about it now is the sheer genius - that is, the genius of approaching this, the album to follow up the monolithic IV, in total freedom. The guys in Zeppelin had the cojones to grant themselves total and utter freedom on this album (as indeed they did on all their albums), and throughout there is an exultant, celebratory tone, from Song Remains right through to the jubilant The Ocean. It deserves its many plaudits, even though I still at times can't stomach the more jocular cuts from the album.

I adore this song, unreservedly. All four musicians are pumping along, Jimmy's tone (as usual) is gorgeous, Plant is forceful and stern. Bonham and Jones are a delight as always,

I've caught up with the purchase of I II and III and of the three - and they are all fascinating - I'm finding III to be my favourite. Love the previously unheard stuff, in fact I think I would have preferred Jennings Farm blues to Stomp

Interesting. There is definitely acrimony there, no question. I wouldn't be at all surprised if at least some of this is true - after all, Plant is on record as saying he "resented" Grant and Page around the Presence era.

Great job BecZep I am getting really toey for singing again. My band from the mid 90s used to do Rock and Roll, and Houses of the Holy. I wanted to do more, but the rest of the guys were into variety so that's what we did. I really want to get something going again, with good blokes (or gals, I suppose) who don't want to muck around but have a genuine desire to express the music and the integrity of it. I'm in Sydney (not meaning to hijack the thread, but the title is have YOU ever been in a tribute band! )

Gee that's not very nice! Uncalled for I would have thought. Thank you Matjaz1. To me its completely valid, because I for one - get ready for sacrilegious comment coming up - really don't have a lot of time for vast swathes of PG. So much of it is just filler, its just the guys clearing out the backlog of tracks they had kicking around, much like a bowel movement. I will back up my opinion in the following manner - to me, Zeppelin were at their best when they were lean and to the point. Led Zep IV is a classic album because there's no filler - its 8 tracks of glory, Zeppelin punching straight to the point. Similarly, Presence retains its re-listen appeal because its just 7 tracks that get right to the heart of the matter. And the musical ideas on all the first 5 albums were (on the whole) challenging and satisfying. But then you get to PG and there are so many tracks that feature chromatic movements down and up their respective scales (Custard Pie, In the Light, Sick Again) and after a while it just starts to sound like Jimmy was running out of truly inspired song ideas. The fire and the passion of the first 5 albums is waning - no doubt in part due to certain substance problems. And THAT'S why I started this thread, To celebrate the very best of PG, because for my money its a much punchier album, with more lasting value and worth, once you cut out the filler and focus on the truly great tracks which for me are: The Rover Kashmir Trampled Underfoot Ten Years Gone... etc So that's it. I know other fans are not going to like this approach and that's fine. I bet there's plenty dumber threads on this forum than mine I can tell you that right now.

That's a great story, and back OT I gotta say I will never complain about the present young generation ever (again)!! You guys have fantastic taste

Looks like Jimmy is giving the thumbs-down to the whole situation...

Far out !!! I think I would be absolutely terrified for the first minute, then after a while I think I would start to enjoy it !!

Yeah...I think Robert in particular was just such a freedom lover, with all the bounty that West Coast life had to offer he wasn't going to just say no and not indulge to some degree. Although I do remember reading somewhere that after a few years of that he got tired of the new wave of really young groupies coming in and he would just get a house in Malibu and generally avoid the craziness.

Agree with earlier poster, even the old features are new to me as its the first time I've been keeping track of them. Ah yes, Lime Grove Studios - as every Doctor Who fan knows, they were the bane of any production team! Such a pity that the footage doesn't exist. The BBC curse strikes again!

Personally I like knowing the facts about my heroes' pasts. Its good to know, purely from the point of view of being enlightened about what really went on. Not that we can really know what was in people's hearts but for me its not about being salacious - its about seeing past the wearying, carefully constructed public image to the truth of the lives they lived. I would much rather at least know stories like the one posted in this thread than not. At the same time I don't believe in judging the people involved either. Its just what happened - we can't judge unless we go back in time and live the life these people led, with their choices and their lifestyle factors. As I say its really simply about knowledge. Oh and sidebar - I think the one Robert really loves is himself, personally Oh and children, I think he has a soft spot for kids.

Plant himself has said, particulary in the autobiographical doco that he was brought up pretty comfortably. He is a self-described "grammar school boy" and he had all the opportunities in the world, apparently. The thing with Planty is, he is appropriately named because he has always tried to stay true to his roots (boom-tish!) and he is a pretty down to earth guy from what I can tell. Certainly he loves nature and the Welsh countryside and its history - he calls his dog Arthur, for gods sake! So I think really its more a question of attitude - Plant and Bonham being the more knockabout, down to earth, happy go lucky types and Page and Jones being the more studious, cerebral types. Giving them the impression that they were more "upper class", when really its a question of how they conduct themselves, the "air" about them if you will and their general approach to life. Make no mistake though - Bonham and Plant were every bit as intelligent as the others, no doubt about it.

Ha ha that's the one! Classic