Back on Black: LED ZEP 1-3

Mmm- I'm sure there are many different sounding Originals, 1st press, 2nd press.... I can't comment on the NEW Zep 3, because I only have Zep 1. Glad you are enjoying it.

Thanks! My original looks to be a first pressing. It has the Crowley messages and the mastering info in the dead wax. Plus, it has the old Atlantic address on Broadway printed on the label. It was pressed by Monarch to boot. Anyway, the new reissue has much more air and life in the upper octaves. Some may call this bright, but it's what I prefer rather than a dull presentation with rolled off highs, which the original tends to go towards.

Does anyone know, wasn't Mothership just a taste of these albums that are slowly being released? I kinda doubt Jimmy Page would do an entirely new remastering compared to the one for Mothership six or seven years ago.

Geoffkait...These 3 new remasters clearly do not sound like Mothership. To my ears, they are new mixes with excellent dynamics and separation of instruments. They have good detail in the bassline and a powerful sound from Bonham, something that Mothership lacked. IMHO.

Plant's voice was out in front and may have sounded better on Mothership; here it is mixed closer to how the original albums sounded.

It's possible that after Page saw the enthusiastic response to Mothership, he wanted to remix the entire collection.

I thought Page's whole pitch was that a (digital) remaster hadn't been done in 20 years. I suspect Mothership (which I did buy on vinyl when it came out) was probably derived from those older digital masters. I haven't compared CDs of Mothership (which I don't own) to any 'native' digital files of the 2014 releases, but would assume they improved things- my only focus has been on the vinyl. I already wrote up my preliminary comparisons of the 2014 vinyl of LZ 1 and II to a couple of the highly regarded earlier pressings in a different thread here, but didn't bother with Mothership (vinyl). Since I now also have clean UK first pressings of LZII and III, I can do a short write up of the 2014 LZIII to a Classic III and a UK first pressing.