Back on Black: LED ZEP 1-3


Available on preorder through Music Direct and Acoustic Sounds. Remastered by Jimmy Page on Atlantic label. The fact they are available packaged with a CD is kind of a red flag for me. Hopefully they are sourced from the best available masters, and there is NO NO NO digital in the chain. Slab weighs 180 grams, $24.99 US!
fjn04
Phase- agree about the production quality being lackluster. These are not 'audiophile' records. That's why, in my estimation, fans who are into sound quality are on a constant, almost futile quest for the best sounding copies. The 'RL' of II is killer, despite the heavy use of effects and tape loops in the production where you can hear generation loss. LZ1 always sounded 'canned' and 'closed in' to my ears, although the Monarchs (and the Classic 45) improve on it. I don't listen much to the other albums, though i have some 'good' copies. The Classic of III has decent sound (i forget which side sounds better).
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Obviously no substitute for good music...I will start with 1 and IV, as these are the most in need of sonic. Improvement...I don't have the famous RL of II...but my copy is quiet and acceptable...ditto for III...after that houses, PG, presence, etc sound pretty decent on orig Lp...
IV has always been a muddy mess until the Classic version...but that had very little bass in my sysytem
Thanks. No idea how I missed that. Based on what I read there I cancelled my pre-order for these reissues. I may try one later but if they turn out like the Beatles did recently they're just not necessary.
I'm surprised to hear some people think "Mothership" sounded good. To me it was unlistenable. It was mastered ridiculously low and sounded so anemic an Enya record would have more kick and dynamic drive. I found it impossible to bear a full side the many times I attempted to give it another and yet another try. I ended up getting rid of it.
Actusreus...Whenever I've voiced my complaints about Mothership, I appear to be in the minority of opinion.
When listening to this boxed set, I always have various copies of the Atlanic releases to use as a baseline; they are no high-quality sound achievement, but I can hear the cohesiveness of this great combo as I remember them.

The good...the Mothership remaster has almost none-existent tape hiss, air around the instruments, Plant's voice sounds very clean; IOW, they did a great job cleaning up these old recordings. But where is the deep soulful bassline, and where is the thunderous boom of Bonzo's 26" kick-drum ... it's gone. I don't mean to turn this into a review, but it lacks dynamics. I would rather hear some tape hiss in lieu of a lifeless recording.

That's why I was looking forward to these new releases in the hope that they reproduce that LZ monster sound.