Led Zeppelin: Classic Or Dud?

There's got to be something to that (xpost). I mean, there are dozens of pro quality (radio broadcast, etc.) Springsteen bootlegs, but he's never released any of them. But neither has he made an effort to shut the bootleg sites down. I bet Page figures that so many decades down the line, anyone really interested in outtakes has heard a bunch of them. So I think of the extra stuff on these (so far) as bonus discs in the truest sense. The remastered albums are the real selling point, and always will be.

Page seems to be operating on the assumption that bootlegs are already in the hands of most people who would buy the reissues.

this is unfortunate if true, cuz even pseudo-dedicated muso like me is daunted by wading into the black hole of Zep bootlegs

Yeah, I mean, I love most of the studio stuff, love most of HTWWW and the DVD, but I'd rather Page & co. cleaned up and doled out shows than having to dive into that rabbit hole. I suspect many casual-ish Zep fans feel similarly. If I want a show where they play "Fresh Garbage," I'd rather not download 15 torrents of crappy audience recordings before finding a listenable one only to find that Plant mumbles the words "fresh garbage" once during a 20-minute D&C jam.

Haha yes exactly

They're probably trying to keep the lid on any Spirit connections at the moment.

Been disappointed and baffled so long it's not true / Page wants the headlines, I don't know what he's trying to do.

My in-laws got me the zep 2cd reissues for my birthday. Only listened to the companion audio of II so far and, La La aside, these are the least revelatory extras I think I've ever heard. Like, Disk 2 is, essentially, a CD of a shitty cassette dub your mate made of the album in the 80s. The brass balls of you, Jimmy Page.

Are the remasters of the albums themselves worth swapping onto my ipod? Hoping the extras for III are better - at this rate, I have no interest in any of the further rereleases.

the remasters sound fantastic and the new vinyl pressings are great IMO, you're buying for the remasters not the extras on all of this stuff

the live disc on LZ I is the only thing really intruiging

Yeah, the live disc on I is the shit.

Page really needs something non-Zeppelin to do.

Take up golf, or get a fantasy football team together for christs sake

Page will begin inundating Plant with Farmville requests.

Yeah, the live disc with I is really great. As soon as I saw that I was all, "fuck, I really am going to buy this again, aren't I?".

i can't find the LZ1 reissue anywhere, i mean just the straight up single LP as opposed to the double LP. is the double worth the extra $$$?

Like, Disk 2 is, essentially, a CD of a shitty cassette dub your mate made of the album in the 80s.

Correction: a CD of a shitty cassette dub your mate made of the album in the 80s that hasn't (to Page's knowledge) been bootlegged, and is therefore fair game for the reissues.

you know, i think that live show on the first album reissue is actually not all that great - pretty sure I've heard better bootlegs from that era.

really enjoyed the bonus stuff on III, though.

the remasters sound fantastic and the new vinyl pressings are great IMO, you're buying for the remasters not the extras on all of this stuff

oh no, I'm definitely buying these for the extras - I've already had all these albums twice on CD!

WOW! This rare version of "Black Dog" sounds exactly like..."Black Dog."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPGfDx6mB8w#t=52

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaOgZwk9rN8

lol

Plant is very wary of being drawn into a war of words with Page. “He should get on and do something, he’s a superb talent. That’s the sad thing for Jimmy, he knows that I’m his guy, I’m his pal, but the warmth that he needs to actually enjoy the world, it’s all there. Come on and give it to us.”

Led Zeppelin loses first round in Stairway To Heaven lawsuit

Zeppelin and their music companies have requested that the case be dismissed, as the “individual defendants are British citizens residing in England, own no property in Pennsylvania and have no contacts with Pennsylvania, let alone ties sufficient to render them essentially at home here,”

lol @ this transparent delaying tactic

you mean standard litigation practice?

of course

the law is funny!

"c'mon don't make me spend any time in Pennsylvania" is a totally legitimate legal complaint imo

Their lawyers would probably be guilty of malpractice if they didn't raise potential jurisdictional and/or forum non conveniens arguments in this case (IDK which of the two it is from that description). Why is it in PA in the first place - does one of the members of Spirit live there or did they just pick a court friendly to copyright plaintiffs?

you mean standard litigation practice?

― my jaw left (Hurting 2), Tuesday, October 21, 2014 3:01 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Sure, but Zeppelin is claiming sole credit for it as a new tactic in litigation.

c'mon don't make me spend any time in Pennsylvania" is a totally legitimate legal complaint imo

― some dude, Tuesday, October 21, 2014 3:05 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

It sounds funny, but this is actually a huge part of civil procedure in the united states. There's this whole due process concept that someone shouldn't just be able to drag you into court wherever the fuck.

WOW! This rare version of "Black Dog" sounds exactly like..."Black Dog."

By contrast, the new "Rain Song" mix is incredible.

My gosh this "Houses Of The Holy" reissue has leaked and the bonus track alt mixes are sweet sweet sweet. The "IV" reissue is nice, sounds great, but now I'm really anticipating "PE".

also - fuck Spirit.

haha I meant I'm anticipating "PG"

100% on board with "fuck Spirit."

Non-hit-having-motherfuckers wanna get paid for coming up with a chord progression that lasts 5 seconds

Maybe they should ask themselves why Taurus is the only Spirit song 95% of the people who know who Spirit are can even name.

yeah lawsuit is bullshit

I'm totally rooting for Spirit, even though I don't think they have a case. I just like to see Page squirm.

Hurting 2 OTM.

I generally think music copyright is way too broad and really should not protect artists' right to not have songs that sound kinda like their songs, or even pretty strikingly similar (cf "My Sweet Lord"/"He's So Fine"). It really should only be for literally stealing someone's song or very close to it.

Man, Spirit's version of the progression is so much worse too - the way it clumsily drops to that d-minor, like it doesn't know where the fuck to go, whereas Stairway has the guts to hang on the Fmaj7 for as long as it can before returning to the Am.

er sorry that's misexplained, they stay both stay on the fmaj7 for the same amount of time, but nonetheless zep did it better, w/e

I finally heard the remasters of the first three albums this weekend. Bonus tracks (even the live stuff) totally inessential, but holy shit, the albums really do are improved. I may wind up buying these fucking things and selling my 1993 box after all. But I'll wait till the whole series is out; there'll probably be a price drop.

not to excuses actual rip-offs committed by Zep but I hate nebulous music copyright lawsuits like this one.

Still pissed that Men At Work ended up owing millions for quoting "Kookaburra" in "Land Down Under".

So given his range, why are there so many instances c. "Houses" that Robert Plant seems to be pitch shifted even higher? "Song Remains the Same," "The Ocean" ...

Zep messed around with tape speed and vocal processing all the time, didn't they? "No Quarter" was slowed down, I thought? Isn't there some varispeed fuckery on "Four Sticks" as well? In the case of the songs you mention, I'm not sure if it was just sonic experimentation or if Plant was losing his highest register a little already.

Plant was losing his range pretty early on; I don't think he ever sang "Rock & Roll" live with the same melody as on the record.

It's mostly all that one album, though, isn't it? Those two tracks and "The Crunge" sped up, "No Quarter" slowed down? Do they mess with tape speed much on "Physical Graffiti?"

I'm totally rooting for Spirit, even though I don't think they have a case. I just like to see Page squirm.

― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Tuesday, October 21, 2014 4:25 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

OTM, im totally on Spirit's side in this. Page is one of the all time ripoff artists.

Thanks for weighing in.