Just go to Hoffman's site- there's a ton of comparisons there with all sorts
of pressings of Zep and other things. I've barely scratched the surface, and
I'm hardly an expert, on Zep vinyl or other records- just done the research
and listened. (I have a friend that knows matrix numbers and first pressings
off the top of his head- I'm not anywhere close to that level of knowledge).
(Occasionally, I get lucky too!)
I've found that the albums I buy the most pressings of are
those which aren't terribly good recordings in the first place. I can't tell you
how many different pressings of Aqualung i have (i could, but it would be
embarrassing); all in the quest to find one that sounds 'good.'
Zep 1 is probably my favorite of their catalog, first heard it when it was
released, and for me, that combo of blues-based hard rock was the most
interesting to me- granted, other people like other Zep albums as the band
evolved. Unfortunately, to me, the first album always sounded a little
'canned'-
congested, sluggish, and lacking in 'life' and vividness. But, when you hear
a better sounding pressing, you realize it doesn't have to be that way. None
of these pressings get to the level of 'audiophile' (in the non-pejorative
sense of the word). The Classics, imo, give you a more open, detailed
sound; the Monarch Piros of LZ 1 seems to have more drive. The RL of II is
a well-known grail record- pretty pricey even for a VG+ and elusive as hell
in really minty condition.
That's one of the reasons I'm interested in these newest remasters. Not
everybody is going to go to the trouble to track down the 'right' old
pressings, or pay the prices some of them (the LZII RL) command, and the
Classics aren't really cheap either. But, dig in, the research is actually kind
of fun if you are patient; and if you are a bottom feeder, you can sometimes
find some of these early pressings in the bins or on the Bay.
