Led Zeppelin remasters

[Masterlu]

I'm way in too!

[John49]

Originally Posted by John49

New date for your diary - October 27/28 2014 Led Zeppelin IV and Houses of the Holy

Or should that be new date for your wallet!?!

[crwilli]

On the calendar!

[antipop]

There is a super deluxe set which will be numbered. 120€ in France according to Amazon

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/m...t-28/13306039/

[Whart]

I received the first three as vinyl-only "Deluxe' editions shortly after the June 3 release date, and wrote some mini-reviews of the first two albums on other fora. These are exceptionally good for reasonably-priced remasters and don't suffer from the flat sterile sound that can often result from a digital remaster (I don't have an absolute across the board negative view of digitally sourced or remastered vinyl because it really is case by case, sonically). That said, compared to some of the vaunted pressings, here's my take:
LZ 1 is one of the worst recordings among the early albums- original, early pressings tend to sound muffled and dynamically constricted. Last year, we did a comparison of LZ 1 first pressings (UK, US (east coast) and US (Monarch)) and it was immediately apparent that the Monarch had more punch and clarity. This is the copy with the AA lacquers and 'RG' in the deadwax, pressed in 1969 at the Monarch plant. I have yet to find a clean playing copy of that one. I do have a Piros CC remaster from 74 pressed at Monarch - the forum fav at SH fora- and it is also great, though I have not compared it directly to the AA '69 Monarch. Both Monarchs have the same characteristic 'drive' that seems to punch through the muddle of that original LZ1 recording. The Classic 33 is good, but the Classic 45 is probably the most 'audiophile' -very open, detailed, particularly in the midrange, but it seems to lack a little of the punch of the Monarch/Piros 74.
LZII- The RL/SS/narrow side 2 deadwax is the clear winner here among what I have (I don't have a Classic of LZ II, either 33 or 45) but the UK plum first A2/B2 is almost its equal, though it sounds distinctly different- bigger bass, darker overall, a little less punch than the RL, but its virtual equal as a hard rocking enjoyable record.
How do these compare to the new releases? The new releases have bass, have clarity in the mids but don't have the punch of the Monarch LZ1 or the RL or plum LZII; nor do they have the open, airy quality of the Classic 45 on LZ1.
Considering how costly the grail pressings are, and how hard it is to find the RL that is in clean, unmolested playing condition, I'd say these are a bargain. Do you give up something compared to the grail pressings? Yes. Are the grail copies worth the time, money and effort to seek out? Yes, if you are after the best possible presentation, but even then, I think you'll find that each of the uber pressings of these bring a little something different to the proceedings, so I often find myself changing off between the Classic 45 and Monarch of LZ1 and the RL and UK plum of LZII.
Haven't gotten to LZIII listening comparisons yet with the new remaster. The Classic 33 has always been considered a very good remaster and as far as I know, the 45 was never available separately from the now very expensive roadcase. The UK plum first is substantially better than the Classic 33, but is also a very expensive record and one that requires some searching to find a clean, quiet player.
My conclusion is that they are highly satisfactory remasters of LZ1 or LZII; getting the full breath of life that the best pressings offer over these will take time, effort and some frustration (I went through many RLs to get a M- player), as well as some large stacks o' cash if you are buying the grail pressings now, in today's market.