"Achilles Last Stand" is a song by the English rock group Led Zeppelin released as the opening track on their seventh studio album, Presence (1976). Guitarist Jimmy Page and singer Robert Plant began writing the song during the summer of 1975 and were influenced by Eastern music, mythology, and exposure to diverse cultures during their travels. At roughly ten-and-a-half minutes, it is one of the group's longest studio recordings and one of their most complex, with interwoven sections and multiple, overdubbed guitar parts. The song received mainly positive reviews from music critics, with some comparing "Achilles Last Stand" to other Zeppelin songs such as "Kashmir". The band featured it during concerts from 1977 to 1980, and a 1979 live performance is included on the Led Zeppelin DVD (2003). Page called it his favourite Led Zeppelin song in several interviews, and considers its guitar solo on a par with his "Stairway to Heaven" solo. Background and lyrics After their 1975 US tour and London concerts, Led Zeppelin took a break from performing. In order to remain tax exiles, the group members needed to limit their time in the UK. This is alluded to in the song's opening lines: "It was an April morning when they told us we should go, and as I turned to you, you smiled at me, how could we say no". Jimmy Page and Robert Plant went to Morocco in June 1975, where they developed material for their next album. Page heard local music, which influenced his guitar parts on "Achilles Last Stand". North African and Middle Eastern music had inspired earlier Led Zeppelin songs, such as "Friends", "Four Sticks", "No Quarter", and "Kashmir". Although "Achilles Last Stand" uses mythological imagery drawn from William Blake's Albion, the Atlas myth and the Greek hero Achilles, its lyrics centre around the group's travels during their exile. The title is an ironic reference to Plant's August 1975 automobile accident, in which he severely injured his ankle, as Achilles was brought down by an arrow to his calcaneal tendon. Plant was unable to walk for a year, and recorded much of Presence in a wheelchair; the working title of "Achilles Last Stand" was "The Wheelchair Song". Group biographer Martin Popoff described Plant's lyrics: Composition and recording "Achilles Last Stand" opens with Page's Moroccan-influenced solo guitar arpeggios, which Led Zeppelin biographers have described as haunting and mysterious. Drummer John Bonham and bassist