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Led Zeppelin Remasters

Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin Remasters Audio CD

A fair review of the Led Zeppelin "Led Zeppelin Remasters" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Led Zeppelin reviews here, or go back to the Led Zeppelin tabs.

Band: Led Zeppelin
Title: Led Zeppelin Remasters
Rating:

Release Date: 1992-02-21
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Communication Breakdown 2: Babe I'm Gonna Leave You 3: Good Times Bad Times 4: Dazed and Confused 5: Whole Lotta Love 6: Heartbreaker 7: Ramble On 8: Immigrant Song 9: Celebration Day 10: Since I've Been Loving You 11: Black Dog 12: Rock and Roll 13: Battle of Evermore 14: Misty Mountain Hop 15: Stairway to Heaven 16: Song Remains the Same 17: Rain Song 18: D'Yer Mak'er 19: No Quarter 20: Houses of the Holy 21: Kashmir 22: Trampled Under Foot 23: Nobody's Fault But Mine 24: Achilles Last Stand 25: All My Love 26: In the Evening

Best Led Zeppelin Remasters Comp!
Not only was this the origional LZ compilation, but also features remixed cuts from the fabulous LED ZEPPELIN box set! I'm sure glad Jimmy Page decided to mix special versions for this! They sure sound better than even the rereleases that are out now! Really good clarity! Not to mention the 3-CD (or cassette) set of this features a good collectors item with interviews with Page, Plant and Jones chatting everything from influences to studio techniques to formation and even Jimmy Page discusses how the box set came about! Not to mention the few radio station liners that were recorded by Jimmy Page that you may hear on the radio from time to time!

I'm sure the two-CD set version featuring the songs is still available, but I'm not to sure if the 3-CD set is though! Anyway, this is a great set that all LedHeds should have!.

GETTIN' THE LED OUT
Chronologically skimming the cream from all their classic albums, disc one is pretty much one of THE definitive histories of heavy metal, from the bombastic first track COMMUNICATION BREAKDOWN to the last, that eight minute all-time FM radio juggernaut that need not be mentioned by name here. LED ZEPPELIN-REMASTERS: If the Led Zep box set is too much of a good thing for you (or too tough on your purse strings), then this two CD abbreviated set (plus an interview disc) is the next best thing. In between, you get the psychedelic blooze of DAZED AND CONFUSED, the stereo headphone demonstrater WHOLE LOTTA LOVE, the gargantuan crunch of IMMIGRANT SONG, and most of LED ZEPPELIN IV. The second, weaker disc represents the less interesting last half of their career, tho' the cuts from HOUSES OF THE HOLY and PHYSICAL GRAFFITTI are on a par with anything from Zep 1-4 (the reggae-accentuated D'YER MAK'ER, KASHMIR's hypnotic pulse). The wimpy ALL MY LOVE especially sounds like a final gasp, and it was, actually. There will never again be another partnership as musically volcanic as that of Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, and at long last, Led Zeppelin gets a greatest hits treatment worthy of its legacy. RATING: FOUR STICKS .

Not a Knockout, but still a TKO
But I have come to have enormous respect for the quartet of Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham. I am not a die-hard Led Zeppelin fan. I have come to realize that the efforts of a great work ethic have produced some of the stuff that legends are made of - and Led Zep takes the cake. As a 30 something music fan, I decided this would be one of my first entry points into the Led Zeppelin music library. 'Remasters' seemed like the perfect entry point - most of Zeppelin's great songs remastered on 2 CDs - plus a third 'Interviews' CD to get insight into the band. This box set is very good. It doesn't deliver that knockout punch or homerun, but it is very good.

First the packaging - It seems that nowadays everything that is above 2 CDs that is considered a "Boxed Set". There really have become 2 categories of Boxed Sets. The first is a "Classic Boxed Set". This comes in a covered box about the size of an LP and contains CDs (sometimes in jewel cases, sometimes just on the bottom of the box) and a book about the same size. The second type is more like a 5. 5" x 10" hardcover book which I term "Hardcover Box Set'. The CDs basically are stored in the hardcover binding and the book is in the middle. I much prefer what I call the Classic Boxed Set to the Hardcover format. The 'Led Zeppelin Remasters' set is a subset of Hardcover format. The disappointing thing - no book in the middle. Just two little booklets in the upper left corner. I know Led Zeppelin has more comprehensive boxed sets (The Complete Set and the 4 CD set), but I still would have liked to see a little more here.

The music is on 2 CDs and basically is divided into Early Zeppelin and Late Zeppelin. The first CD encompasses songs through the 'Led Zeppelin IV' album while the 2nd CD takes us to the end with songs from 'In Through the Out Door'. I think the Zeppelin fan will be satisfied here. I am more of a fan of the later stuff. I was very disappointed to find that 'Fool in the Rain' was not included on this set. However if you want to hear remastered versions of 'Stairway to Heaven', 'Kashmir', and 'Trampled Underfoot' - you won't be disappointed. On a side note, I think those are the three best Zep songs.

The third CD is divided into 3 sections over 43 tracks. The first section is a profile of the band which is 28 minutes long, but much of that is taken up by replaying songs such as Kashmir. I think it would have been nicer to go deeper with the band profile. The 2nd section is Station Liners and if you are a die-hard fan, this is perfect. I wish more boxed sets had preserved this type of stuff. The third section is individual Q&A with Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, and John Paul Jones. Much like the first section, it doesn't go as deep as I would have liked to hear. The potential is there, it just doesn't deliver the depth.

All and all, I'm still happy I got this and it left me for wanting more.

Question
Is this the album in which "Stairway to Heaven" is an instrumental? Played with an electric guitar for about 5 1/2 minutes.

Whew!
By the mid 70's "Stairway to Heaven" was a staple of midnight rock radio, and already acquiring the varnish of an FM "classic. I saw Zeppelin back in 1970. " But by then I had already lost touch with their album output. Now, thirty years later I've got my hands on this remastered set. Given that I used to listen to them on an 8 track player in my car, this is a revelation. I had to wait a long time to hear Zep on a decent stereo system, but better late than never.

That Zeppelin was a blues based band was always overshadowed by their popular acclaim as a "heavy metal" band. This set sets the record straight. They kicked [. . . ] as a rockin' blues band. Period.

You can see a complete list of all Led Zeppelin discography, or go back to the Led Zeppelin tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.