Bad recordings and high end audio

There are needledrops of the 1st vinyl pressings of the first 5 Led Zeppelin albums available on the internet as downloadable files if you poke around, or as actual redbook cds from several purveyors of "import" products from Japan. Both sound light years better than any of the official cds, remastered or not. There is an openness, crunch and presence from them that simply doesn't exist on subsequent releases.

Same holds true for Adele's last album and Metallica's Death Magnetic - there are well balanced versions that you can find online that beat the "official" versions hands down.

Led zeppelin is my favorite rock band of all times. I was in high school when the bulk of their albums came out. Me and 4 other friends did what we thought was the first ever air guitar gig in front of a large crowd. We had professional band speakers that filled a high school gym and in front of 3 different high schools we performedan air guitar of Led Zeppelins "How Many More Times". Drums, vocals, guitars, the works. We practiced for weeks before putting on the show at our high school assembly. By the end of the song, the crowd was clapping along with the song. It was crazy...... So I know where you are coming from.

Fast forward to 2019. Sold by K-horn knock offs and decided to get serious. All new equipment. Pre amp, power amp, dirac correction, streamer all wired into a lovely set of Legacy Audio Focus XD's. Those alone are around 16k. I have a fabulous system and with that comes critical listening and a system that has no mercy for lousy recordings. Unfortunately, Led Zeppelin falls into that category. I never listen to any of it on this system. Sounds awful and I wound never embarrass myself by waltzing into a high end shop and ask to listen to Led Zeppelin..... and yes, it is heartbreaking as the performances are forever stuck in lousy recording pergatory. What a loss. To bad Jimmy page didn't have enough sense to have demanded a recording engineer that knew what the hell he was doing. So, you are not missing something. When you get your new speakers, put on "Dancing Days" then after that, put on "Creep" by Radio Head or Def Leppard "Back in Black" and you will immediately understand why the greatest rock band of all times f'ing blew it!

@Mikekollar- Among all the copies of LZ 1 I have, including the 45 rpm Classic, the second Japanese press is my go to, is not terribly expensive (haven't checked lately) and if you can find a Japanese dealer that has a DHL Express account, a copy could be in your hands in a week. Just my take after having listened to quite a few copies of the first album. 

Ones' background in that era, halcyon or no....colors our current perception of what we now hear....;)

"....I took a whole lotta drugs...*eeeuuuuu*...
I felt a whole lotta bugs...*eeeuu*'..."
*drum echoland...* (more cymbal, pleze....)
 
We -had- to have been There.....we were....

...it just doesn't sound the same, now....:(

There was a lot of LP's issued then that now.....*dry fart*
...well, that about sez it....

...all the subtlety of an 10# sledge on a full soda can....

Now is much improved...and more subject to scrutiny....