Led Zeppelin on Live Downloads

Live Downloads, a website which last year began releasing Robert Plant's live shows, now has the Led Zeppelin catalogue available for download. The entire catalogue is available album by album or singly by songs.

Albums are available in MP3, lossless FLAC or Apples ALAC for $9.99 for MP3 or $14.99 for FLAC or ALAC. individual songs, with some exceptions, can be purchased n MP3 only for $1.29.

John Paul Jones to Join Seasick Steve on Later... with Jools Holland

Next Tuesday, April 30th, John Paul Jones will join Seasick Steve on Later... with Jools Holland to play songs from the upcoming Seasick Steve album, Hubcap Music.

Meanwhile, Patty Griffin has released a video of her first song from her upcoming album, American Kid.

The song, Ohio, is an historical piece about slaves escaping via the underground railroad. Robert Plant sings a harmony vocal throughout the haunting, evocative song.

Griffin first premiered the song at a Sensational Space Shifters show in London last July.

Update: The latest podcast is now available. Listen or download through iTunes.

iTunes UnLedded

During the New York press conference for Celebration Day last October, Jimmy Page remarked on listening to Led Zeppelin, "don't listen to it on MP3." One could be forgiven if you thought he meant all digital portable formats, but apparently, he didn't.

iTunes today released the entire Led Zeppelin studio catalogue, "mastered for iTunes." The songs from all 9 studio albums, including Coda, remastered specifically for iTunes. These are new remasters, improved, one imagines, from the iTunes collection released in 2007 and available until now.

Are they better? I downloaded Fool in the Rain and listened to it side by side with the MP3 I currently have on my iPhone. The verdict? The bottom end is much cleaner, bringing a fuller sound to the song. It's not a big improvement, not a wow! but it is a noticeable improvement.

Each album is available for $9.99 ($12.99 for Physical Graffiti) and songs are $1.29 each, except for In My Time of Dying, Achilles Last Stand and Carouselambra, which are only available as part of their respective album downloads.

Needless to say, this remastering is available only on iTunes.

Battle of Evermore Cover

Shel is a band of 4 classically trained sisters, ranging in age from 18-23 who's debut album was released on August 7. The album features a wonderful version of Battle of Evermore.

Below is a live version of the song, and it is wonderfully done, I must say.

New Robert Plant Album "Two-Thirds Done"

In a short interview with Classic Rock Magazine this week at the Jim Capaldi book signing, does Robert Plant let slip that he is working on, and close to finished, a new album? Listen below, starting at 3:00.

Patty Griffin there (possibly pointing her out), Grammy winning Gospel singer, songwriter, she and I have been travelling together with the band of joy for 14 months. Now she's just finished her new album, and I'm 2/3 of the way through mine in Nashville.

Sounds like new Robert Plant music may be coming soon, although no word on what musicians he recorded with.

Death Wish II Re-Release

From JimmyPage.com:

Jimmy Page's Death Wish II Collectors' Edition LP is released this Thursday (December 1st 2011) at 15:00 GMT (07:00 PST / 10:00 EST) exclusively through JimmyPage.com. The heavyweight vinyl package includes previously unreleased material, all-new 2011 sleeve notes and updated artwork.

There are only 1000 individually-numbered copies available and Jimmy Page has personally signed the first 30 copies of this limited edition release.

The standard Collectors' Edition of Death Wish II is priced at £30.00 with signed copies available for £195.00.

Explaining the release of the album, Jimmy said: “In 1981, Michael Winner asked me if I would compose the soundtrack to Death Wish II. The songs with vocals were only going to appear in the film for a matter of seconds but I had recorded full versions of them anyway - which is how I ended up doing my first soundtrack and soundtrack album. I’ve re-released this because I wanted it to be available again.”

Editions will be sold on a first come, first served basis, so you'll need to be quick tomorrow to reserve a low number edition. Numbers 1-30 have been signed by Jimmy Page, while numbers 31-1000 are available unsigned.

You know, if I could guarantee I'd get one of those signed copies, I might just get this. But they "can't" (read: won't) let you know what edition number you are getting.

If you are interested, the Shop section of the webpage will be available from the top navigation bar of the website.

Shipping will be by courier, costing £10 in the UK, £15 international. Here in North America that's $41 for the record plus $20 for the shipping - between $60 and $65 all in.

IV@40

If you came of age in the mid-1970’s, as I did, Led Zeppelin IV (aka ZOSO) was always there. You go to the carnival, and the Tilt-a-Whirl guy is blasting Rock and Roll, Black Dog and When the Levee Breaks. Guys driving down the street would be blasting it out of their 8-track player. You didn’t hear it for the first time, you absorbed it over time.

IV wasn’t even the first Zeppelin album I found and loved. That honour would fall to their third album, which I “borrowed” from my older brother on such a regular basis he bought me my own copy for Christmas the next year.

The follow up fourth album soon joined III as a staple of my record player. Mostly side one, it has to be confessed, for the obvious reasons. Frankly, song  for song, I’ll still take side one even now, with the exception of When the Levee Breaks which may be my favourite song on the album.

Everybody has favourites, and most Zeppelin fans will probably chose an album other than IV as their’s. But make no mistake, none will deny the greatness of Led Zeppelin IV. From song 1 to song 8, it contains no flaws, no misses. And in fact, in age when artists worried about the flow of the entire album, IV has two very different, but flawless sides, and still works as a complete unit. In other words, whether you throw on side 1, side 2 or the good old standby, 8-track and hear the whole thing through, it works.

But it’s still the songs that make the album, and IV features Led Zeppelin at their best. Rock and Roll, the bands answer to critics who said they had gone soft. Black Dog, a unique call and response style song unlike anything recorded before or since.

Battle of Evermore, the prelude to Stairway: Angry Hobbits with mandolins. Page and Jones, with just mandolins, acoustic guitar and, reportedly, a Dulcimer make the earth shake. Stairway to Heaven, in the aftermath of Battle of Evermore is like the dawn after battle. It’s message of hope in direct conflict with Evermore’s war call. Stairway to Heaven, the song that ended a thousand dances, more of a ritual than a rock song.

Side 2, if your using old school formats like me (or actually track 3 and 4, which is how I have listened to IV the last few times I’ve had it on), starts with the albums two weakest songs. Misty Mountain Hop, the hippy anthem. This falls in the category of second tier Zeppelin songs that prove just how good Zeppelin was. Four Sticks is a drum driven song with rather complex time structure. Again, most bands would kill to have this song in their repertoire, for Led Zeppelin in 1971, it was weak.

Going to California is the ultimate Zeppelin folk song. They had done folk before, had built the third album around folk songs, but Going to California trumps them all. Give Led Zeppelin acoustic guitars and mandolins and they were still the best rock band in the world, and Going to California is exhibit A.

Finally, the tour de force. Of all the songs on Led Zeppelin IV, When the Levee Breaks may have aged the most gracefully, which is odd considering it has all the grace of a charging Rhino. Built around John Bonham’s great drum pattern, the most sampled drum pattern in all of rap, Zeppelin rolls for 7 minutes of chicago blues like no other. It is pure driving rock yet, thanks to Bonham, swings like an old soul song.

Left off the album destined to  appear on 1975's Physical Graffiti, the songs Night Flight, Down By the Seaside and Boogie With Stu. Those three songs, the afterthoughts, those are a career for some bands.

Forty years ago today, November 8, 1971 Led Zeppelin IV was released. It  may have been the best album of the rock era, yet not Led Zeppelin best album. It is good enough to be called that, and Zeppelin good enough to transcend it.

Robert Plant and Alfie Boe: Fair or Foul

Even though the official release date is still a few days away, if you live in the UK you can download the Alfie Boe and Robert Plant duet, Song to the Siren, from iTunes now.

As it's not available by means fair or foul outside the UK, here in Canada I can only speculate that it is a surprisingly good duet. Boe is a magnificent singer, and Song to the Siren is in his wheelhouse.

The revelation is Plant. Not that he can sing, of course, but that his voice works so well in the style with which this song is done.  Plant has changed his singing style dramatically over the last ten years - maybe it's even fair to say five. Nowhere does the positive aspects of that change come across as well as it does singing next to a very musical operatic singer.

An Alfie Boe and Robert Plant duet is, to use a phrase I frankly don't like, outside the box. Yet it works far better than I expect most fans of either artist expected it to. Wether Alfie Boe can sing Black Dog remains to be seen, but this combination works.

At least that's what I might say, if I had means to access the iTunes download. If only I had relatives in the UK to do a £1 favour for me.

Death Wish II Soundtrack to be re-Released

Jimmy Page announced today on his personal website, JimmyPage.com that he will be re-releasing a special edition vinyl Death Wish II: The Original Soundtrack
.

From jimmypage.com

To mark today’s 30th anniversary, jimmypage.com will be re-releasing a special, limited, re-mastered vinyl edition of the soundtrack to Michael Winner’s Death Wish II, featuring a previously unreleased instrumental version of the death wish main title and new liner notes by Jimmy Page…

Only 1,000 copies will be released next month from the forthcoming Jimmy Page shop, so stay tuned to jimmypage.com over the coming weeks to find out more information about this exciting release.

Death Wish II was released to accompany the movie in February 1982. It was Page’s first album after the death of John Bonham and dissolution of Led Zeppelin. Recorded in late 1981 at Page's own Sol Studio, music from the album was also used in 1985's Death Wish III, also directed by Michael Winner.

The re-release of the album also marks the first item to be sold at the Jimmy Page Shop, which will hopefully provide some real product for fans of the guitarist over the next while.

Led Zeppelin I - on 8 Track

At Christmas time I won, courtesy of ZepFest 2011, an 8-track of Led Zeppelin's first album. I did promise at the time that I would post on it. Well, I took my sweet time, but you do have to understand, t took me a while to find an 8 track player I liked. C'est La Vie.

Here's my first ever home produced video of me trying out my Led Zeppelin I 8 track.



Click here for information on tickets for ZepFest 2011.
**************************
Update. The video is not currently working. I don't know why, but t will be a day or more before it's corrected. I will post to twitter when it is updated

Record Store Day

Saturday April 16th is Record Store Day, a day when music fans can celebrate their community record store through special releases, both old and new.

Last year Led Zeppelin fans had something new to line up for outside their local record store: Them Crooked Vultures Mind Eraser, No Chaser picture disc EP.

This year it is something old: a 7” 45RPM vinyl re-release of The Yardbirds last single, Goodnight Sweet Josephine. The Jimmy Page era single is from the Little Games sessions, but did not make the cut on the original album. It was released on 1992’s Little Games Sessions & More CD.

The b side is Jimmy Page, Jim McCarty, Keith Relf written song, Think About It.

The single will come with a black and white picture sleeve, with a picture of the four Yardbirds standing sideways and looking at the camera. A smiling Jimmy Page is prominent on the cover.

Visit Record Store Day’s website to find a participating store near you and a comprehensive list of records being released for Record Store Day.

New Yardbirds Boxset

Easy Action Records is set to release a 5CD box set on the Yardbirds called The Yardbirds: Glimpses 1963-68.

The set is promising previously unheard tracks and unseen photos in an in depth booklet. The set is also fully licensed by EMI, BBC and the Yardbirds.

For Led Zeppelin fans, and specifically Jimmy Page fans, this set offers a fair bit of Jimmy Page material, including Stroll On (the Yardbirds take on Train Kept a Rollin’ for the film Blow Up), plus early versions of Dazed and Confused and White Summer. White Summer was a Zeppelin live staple and appeared in altered form of the first Led Zeppelin album as Black Mountain Side. The set also includes two Jimmy Page interviews broken into three parts.

The last disc has live BBC material throughout the Yardbirds career, including two performances from the Jimmy Page era.

The Yardbirds: Glimpses 1963-68 took five years to compile and is not available to order as yet.

Band of Joy: The Three Sided LP

I picked up the LP of Robert Plant and the Band of Joy today, and found an interesting surprise. Here's the tracklist:

Side 1

• Angel Dance


• House of Cards


• Central Two-O-Nine


• Silver Rider

Side 2

• You Can't Buy My Love


• Falling in Love Again


• The Only Sound That Matters


• Monkey

Side 3

• Cindy, I'll Marry You Someday


• Harm's Swift Way


• Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down


• Even This Shall Pass Away

That's it. A three sided LP. I opened it expecting some triangular variation, but no such luck. Instead, side 4 was engraved with the same ring that adorns the front and back cover, as well as a quote from Beowulf in Olde English: þa gyt hie him asetton segen gelden heah ofer heafod, oleton holm beran...

[caption id="attachment_863" align="aligncenter" width="491" caption="Click to Enlarge"][/caption]

Vinyl albums are more collector piece than musical experience these days. Personally, I like that: better quality albums; some thought put into the presentation of the albums. In this case, Robert Plant came up with a first for my collection, the three sided LP.

Alison Krauss Follows Up Rasing Sand

In 2009, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss returned to the studio to record the follow up to their Grammy winning album, Raising Sand. "The sound just wasn't there," Plant told Rolling Stone about those sessions.

Plant then called on the guitarist on the Raising Sand tour, Buddy Miller, who told Plant, "go back to Alison." They collaborated on Plant's new album, Band of Joy instead while Krauss turned back to her old band, Union Station.

Alison Krauss and Union Station's new album, Paper Airplane, will be released April 12th. It is her first album since Raising Sand was released in 2007, and her first with Union Station since 2004's Lonely Runs Both Ways.




Track list for Paper Airplane:

• Paper Airplane


• Dustbowl Children


• Lie Awake


• Lay My Burden Down


• My Love Follows You Where You Go


• Dimming Of The Day


• On The Outside Looking In


• Miles To Go


• Sinking Stone


• Bonita and Bill Butler

Robert Plant and the Band of Joy released today.

Robert Plant and the Band of Joy hit the stores this morning. It is available on CD, Vinyl LP, on iTunes, and probably a hundred other formats I have never heard of.

Robert Plant himself was on Jimmy Fallon last night to promote the album (note: Fallon holds up an LP). He did not, however, play any songs.



My review of Band of Joy.

Fourty Years Ago

The ball was already rolling on January 12, 1969. Led Zeppelin had performed a small Scandinavian tour the previous September,. before recording the first album. They landed in America on Christmas Eve, 1968, and gave their first American performance in Denver two days later.

Many of those early performances are legendary, including four nights at Bill Graham's Fillmore  West, ending on this night. But a rock band may be conceived on stage, it is born with it's recordings. On that last night at Bill Graham's Fillmore West, Led Zeppelin was a band with an album. Their first, self titled Led Zeppelin, was released earlier in the day.  In Frank Reddon's Sonic Boom, it is recounted how the record hit the streets and took the rock world by storm.

Forty years later what's surprising is how many of the elements that would make Led Zeppelin the biggest band for the next ten years were already there: Hard driving in Communication Breakdown, Bonham's superior stand out drumming in Good Times Bad Times; the acoustic side of Babe I'm Going To Leave You, the Indian influence and Kashmir tuning of Black Mountain Side; the blues in You Shook Me and I Can't Quit You Baby; and reminiscent of their live shows, in Your Time is Gonna Come and How Many More Times, the band catches a groove and rides it straight through.  Led Zeppelin would grow, develop and mature, but Led Zeppelin, the album, showcased what they were, and what they would always be. The production is startling as well with Led Zeppelin is an album that sounds fresh even today.

Led Zeppelin is the album that started it all, not an album that changed music, but an album that signalled the birth of the band that would do so. However, throwing on the LP and listening to it after forty years, it's an album that deserves to be celebrated on it's own merit alone.

Led Zep Go Back to the Future

The current thinking in the music biz is that Vinyl records are back, and the next big thing. Reasoning is that they are gaining traction amongst younger fans, the CD's convenience has been replaced by the MP3's super convenience, better packaging in albums, and that long rumoured warmer sound.

I mention this because Led Zeppelin will be releasing Mothership and the new Song Remains the Same on vinyl record.

Mothership will be a 4 LP audiophile quality vinyl with collectible memorabilia listed at $75US. It is set for a March 31st release date, and can be pre-ordered now from Acoustic Sounds for $60.

Track Listings

Side one
Good Times Bad Times
Communication Breakdown
Dazed And Confused
Babe I’m Gonna Leave You

Side two
Whole Lotta Love
Ramble On
Heartbreaker
Immigrant Song

Side three
Since I’ve Been Loving You
Rock And Roll
Black Dog

Side four
When The Levee Breaks
Stairway To Heaven
The Song Remains The Same

Side five
Over The Hills And Far Away
D’Yer Maker
No Quarter

Side Six
Trampled Under Foot
Houses Of The Holy
Kashmir

Side seven
Nobody’s Fault But Mine
Achilles Last Stand

Side eight
In The Evening
All My Love

The Song Remains The Same will also be a four LP set (I am assuming audiophile quality as well) available on March 31st - pre-order for $60.

Track Listings

Side one
Rock And Roll
Celebration Day
Black Dog (including Bring It On Home)
Over The Hills And Far Away

Side two
Misty Mountain Hop
Since I’ve Been Loving You
The Ocean

Side three
The Song Remains The Same
The Rain Song

Side four
No Quarter

Side five
Dazed And Confused (Part 1)

Side six
Dazed And Confused (Part 2)
Moby Dick

Side seven
Stairway To Heaven

Side eight
Heartbreaker
Whole Lotta Love

Note that Dazed and Confused will be broken into two parts, reaching across side 5 and side 6. That is certainly not an improvement over the original release, but also serves to remind us of vinyls limitations.

Led Zep Go Back to the Future

The current thinking in the music biz is that Vinyl records are back, and the next big thing. Reasoning is that they are gaining traction amongst younger fans, the CD's convenience has been replaced by the MP3's super convenience, better packaging in albums, and that long rumoured warmer sound.

I mention this because Led Zeppelin will be releasing Mothership and the new Song Remains the Same on vinyl record.

Mothership will be a 4 LP audiophile quality vinyl with collectible memorabilia listed at $75US. It is set for a March 31st release date, and can be pre-ordered now from Acoustic Sounds for $60.

Track Listings

Side one
Good Times Bad Times
Communication Breakdown
Dazed And Confused
Babe I’m Gonna Leave You

Side two
Whole Lotta Love
Ramble On
Heartbreaker
Immigrant Song

Side three
Since I’ve Been Loving You
Rock And Roll
Black Dog

Side four
When The Levee Breaks
Stairway To Heaven
The Song Remains The Same

Side five
Over The Hills And Far Away
D’Yer Maker
No Quarter

Side Six
Trampled Under Foot
Houses Of The Holy
Kashmir

Side seven
Nobody’s Fault But Mine
Achilles Last Stand

Side eight
In The Evening
All My Love

The Song Remains The Same will also be a four LP set (I am assuming audiophile quality as well) available on March 31st - pre-order for $60.

Track Listings

Side one
Rock And Roll
Celebration Day
Black Dog (including Bring It On Home)
Over The Hills And Far Away

Side two
Misty Mountain Hop
Since I’ve Been Loving You
The Ocean

Side three
The Song Remains The Same
The Rain Song

Side four
No Quarter

Side five
Dazed And Confused (Part 1)

Side six
Dazed And Confused (Part 2)
Moby Dick

Side seven
Stairway To Heaven

Side eight
Heartbreaker
Whole Lotta Love

Note that Dazed and Confused will be broken into two parts, reaching across side 5 and side 6. That is certainly not an improvement over the original release, but also serves to remind us of vinyls limitations.

Review: Led Zeppelin Mothership

Putting together a Led Zeppelin greatest hits package is a daunting task. They were never a hit single band, so the obvious, "these 20 songs sold the most singles/reached highest on Billboard" simply doesn't apply. And while such songs do exist, Zeppelin released 10 singles, it is too few, and not at all representative of the Zeppelin output. Ironically, one of the songs that did chart, In Through The Out Door's Fool in the Rain didn't even make the cut.

A second method would be to use their songs that have become Zeppelin standards, either then or now. Certainly at present some songs get more radio play than others: D'yer Maker; Kashmir; Rock and Roll; Black Dog; Stairway to Heaven; All My Love; Immigrant Song and Whole Lotta Love are all here. Again the missing element from this requirement is Fool In The Rain. Further, you could add in the songs that would have been considered musts on a Zeppelin compilation in their heyday: Ramble On; Dazed and Confused; Heartbreaker; Over The Hills and Far Away; Achilles Last Stand and No Quarter are also all here. But such a list doesn't explain Houses of the Holy, Night Flight or When the Levee breaks making the list. Surely by any of the above two standards, Dancing Days would be here before Night Flight, even if I personally would chose the latter.

What the members of Zeppelin, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones, did do was chose the songs themselves, for their own reasons. Thus what we end up with is an a eclectic mix that showcases a band that was, at it's best, eclectic. Many of the song choices can be argued on their own merit, what can not be argued is the final product, which takes you chronologically through each of Zeppelin's 8 studio albums (there is no material from Coda, Zeppelin's post Bonham collection of outtakes). The history of Zeppelin, while incomplete, is covered throughout this set. The only complaints really amount to songs that could be added in, but not really at the expense of anything on the list. Really, what I am asking for here is a three CD set, which is probably more than necessary.

Finally a word on the re-mixing of the set, which has garnered much attention. While the sound is crisp and clean, what it really sounds to me is over-compressed. I kept reaching for the treble slider on my CD player, trying to get more high end, even though it was already on high. And Plant's voice sounds uninterested, as though he is going through the motions. There is something dead sounding about the songs. Yes it's sonically better sounding, but some life has come out of the songs. Not a lot, not enough to ruin the set, but it's noticeable.

One final moan: the packaging. I bought the special edition set, with the DVD included (review coming later), and found the CD's, DVD and booklet difficult to get out of the sleeves. The package is a cardboard, with slots on top for removal. It won't be long before the package is damaged as it is all far too tightly packaged, and getting it back in was even harder.

Overall though, these are mere issues. It is a well put together set that has two+ hours of great Zeppelin music on it. It works very well, and will be an integral part of my future collection - 4/5.

Standard Edition:


Disc One

1. Good Times Bad Times
2. Communication Breakdown
3. Dazed And Confused
4. Babe I’m Gonna Leave You
5. Whole Lotta Love
6. Ramble On
7. Heartbreaker
8. Immigrant Song
9. Since I’ve Been Loving You
10. Rock And Roll
11. Black Dog
12. When The Levee Breaks
13. Stairway To Heaven

Disc Two

1. Song Remains The Same
2. Over The Hills And Far Away
3. D’Yer Maker
4. No Quarter
5. Trampled Under Foot
6. Houses Of The Holy
7. Kashmir
8. Nobody’s Fault But Mine
9. Achilles Last Stand
10. In The Evening
11. All My Love

Deluxe Edition Same as standard plus

Disc Three: DVD (Deluxe Edition)

1. We’re Gonna Groove
(Royal Albert Hall)
2. I Can’t Quit You Babe
(Royal Albert Hall)
3. Dazed & Confused (Royal Albert Hall)
4. White Summer (Royal Albert Hall)
5. What Is & What Should Never Be
(Royal Albert Hall)
6. Moby Dick (Royal Albert Hall)
7. Whole Lotta Love (Royal Albert Hall)
8. Communication Breakdown
(Royal Albert Hall)
9. Bring It On Home (Royal Albert Hall)
10. Immigrant Song (Audio: 1972 /
Pics, Australia 1972 Super 8)
11. Black Dog (Madison Square Garden)
12. Misty Mountain Hop (Madison Square Garden)
13. The Ocean (Madison Square Garden)
14. Going To California (Earls Court)
15. In My Time Of Dying (Earls Court)
16. Stairway To Heaven (Earls Court)
17. Rock And Roll (Knebworth)
18. Nobody’s Fault But Mine
(Knebworth)
19. Kashmir (Knebworth)
20. Whole Lotta Love (Knebworth)

Review: Led Zeppelin Mothership

Putting together a Led Zeppelin greatest hits package is a daunting task. They were never a hit single band, so the obvious, "these 20 songs sold the most singles/reached highest on Billboard" simply doesn't apply. And while such songs do exist, Zeppelin released 10 singles, it is too few, and not at all representative of the Zeppelin output. Ironically, one of the songs that did chart, In Through The Out Door's Fool in the Rain didn't even make the cut.

A second method would be to use their songs that have become Zeppelin standards, either then or now. Certainly at present some songs get more radio play than others: D'yer Maker; Kashmir; Rock and Roll; Black Dog; Stairway to Heaven; All My Love; Immigrant Song and Whole Lotta Love are all here. Again the missing element from this requirement is Fool In The Rain. Further, you could add in the songs that would have been considered musts on a Zeppelin compilation in their heyday: Ramble On; Dazed and Confused; Heartbreaker; Over The Hills and Far Away; Achilles Last Stand and No Quarter are also all here. But such a list doesn't explain Houses of the Holy, Night Flight or When the Levee breaks making the list. Surely by any of the above two standards, Dancing Days would be here before Night Flight, even if I personally would chose the latter.

What the members of Zeppelin, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones, did do was chose the songs themselves, for their own reasons. Thus what we end up with is an a eclectic mix that showcases a band that was, at it's best, eclectic. Many of the song choices can be argued on their own merit, what can not be argued is the final product, which takes you chronologically through each of Zeppelin's 8 studio albums (there is no material from Coda, Zeppelin's post Bonham collection of outtakes). The history of Zeppelin, while incomplete, is covered throughout this set. The only complaints really amount to songs that could be added in, but not really at the expense of anything on the list. Really, what I am asking for here is a three CD set, which is probably more than necessary.

Finally a word on the re-mixing of the set, which has garnered much attention. While the sound is crisp and clean, what it really sounds to me is over-compressed. I kept reaching for the treble slider on my CD player, trying to get more high end, even though it was already on high. And Plant's voice sounds uninterested, as though he is going through the motions. There is something dead sounding about the songs. Yes it's sonically better sounding, but some life has come out of the songs. Not a lot, not enough to ruin the set, but it's noticeable.

One final moan: the packaging. I bought the special edition set, with the DVD included (review coming later), and found the CD's, DVD and booklet difficult to get out of the sleeves. The package is a cardboard, with slots on top for removal. It won't be long before the package is damaged as it is all far too tightly packaged, and getting it back in was even harder.

Overall though, these are mere issues. It is a well put together set that has two+ hours of great Zeppelin music on it. It works very well, and will be an integral part of my future collection - 4/5.

Standard Edition:


Disc One

1. Good Times Bad Times
2. Communication Breakdown
3. Dazed And Confused
4. Babe I’m Gonna Leave You
5. Whole Lotta Love
6. Ramble On
7. Heartbreaker
8. Immigrant Song
9. Since I’ve Been Loving You
10. Rock And Roll
11. Black Dog
12. When The Levee Breaks
13. Stairway To Heaven

Disc Two

1. Song Remains The Same
2. Over The Hills And Far Away
3. D’Yer Maker
4. No Quarter
5. Trampled Under Foot
6. Houses Of The Holy
7. Kashmir
8. Nobody’s Fault But Mine
9. Achilles Last Stand
10. In The Evening
11. All My Love

Deluxe Edition Same as standard plus

Disc Three: DVD (Deluxe Edition)

1. We’re Gonna Groove
(Royal Albert Hall)
2. I Can’t Quit You Babe
(Royal Albert Hall)
3. Dazed & Confused (Royal Albert Hall)
4. White Summer (Royal Albert Hall)
5. What Is & What Should Never Be
(Royal Albert Hall)
6. Moby Dick (Royal Albert Hall)
7. Whole Lotta Love (Royal Albert Hall)
8. Communication Breakdown
(Royal Albert Hall)
9. Bring It On Home (Royal Albert Hall)
10. Immigrant Song (Audio: 1972 /
Pics, Australia 1972 Super 8)
11. Black Dog (Madison Square Garden)
12. Misty Mountain Hop (Madison Square Garden)
13. The Ocean (Madison Square Garden)
14. Going To California (Earls Court)
15. In My Time Of Dying (Earls Court)
16. Stairway To Heaven (Earls Court)
17. Rock And Roll (Knebworth)
18. Nobody’s Fault But Mine
(Knebworth)
19. Kashmir (Knebworth)
20. Whole Lotta Love (Knebworth)