[Heeplist] Initial Led Zep remaster thoughts

[Jay Pearson]

Hey y'all!

One of the guys at work got all three remasters yesterday morning and has let me listen to the bonus discs. 

I have not been able to compare the quality of the remasters to previously released versions, so no comment yet.

Led Zep I - Bonus disc is live show from 1969. Excellent performance, mostly good sound quality, but guitar sometimes sounds muffled. Well worth having!
Led Zep II - Bonus disc is mostly Robert Corich-quality alternate versions (that is, very little difference from the original!) Most "alternate" versions simply sound like a few guitar fills are missing, if any difference at all. Backing tracks are simply that, and quite boring, and Moby Dick is pretty much the original without the drum solo! The only thing of note is the last track "La La" that sounds like an R&B jam with lots of funky organ from JP Jones. I will simply rip this track and skip buying the album.
Led Zep III - This bonus disc is the exact opposite of II! This is like the Beatles Anthology takes, very different for the most part, and the backing tracks sound more like true instrumentals. Immigrant Song is a true alternate mix (unlike the vast majority of "alternate mix"es on deluxe editions). "Bathroom Sound" is simply Out On The Tiles instrumental. "Jennings Farm Blues" is an electric jam based on Bron-Y-Aur Stomp, but lasts way too long. Finally, it ends with the gem of all three bonus discs, the new song, Key To The Highway/Trouble In Mind, an incredible acoustic blues performance in the same vein as Hats Off to Roy Harper, and sounding very much like a Robert Johnson recording from 1935. I've listened 3x so far, this is possibly the best Zeppelin outtake (including the Coda album) of all.

Booklets are pretty good, reminiscent of the last round of Heep remasters. And I do like these alternate covers!

Overall judgment: I & III are very worth buying, but I'd skip II.


Jay