Led Zeppelin Remasters Question (1 Viewer)

[Angelo.M]

Folks:

I have the individual albums on CD, all of which are labelled "Digitally remastered from the original master tape by JP and GM at Sterling Sound." They're in standard jewel cases, and no issue year is indicated except for the issue year of the original LP (e.g., 1970 for LZIII).

Are these the same versions, in terms of the remastering, as the complete recordings boxed set?

 

[Mike Broadman]

Yes.

The reason I got the box instead of the individual albums is because there is no (to my knowledge) individual CD of the remastered Coda, and the one on the box set is both remastered and contains 4 bonus singles, including Travelling Riverside Blues, which is one of my favorite Zep tracks.

 

[Ron Reda]

Wow, blast from the past...I love that song!

 

[DonRoeber]

Is the version of Travelling Riverside Blues that is on the BBC Sessions set the same as the one that is included in the remastered boxed set?

 

[Mike Broadman]

No, all the stuff on the BBC set was recorded at the BBC )natch). The box set version was recorded in the studio and is the one played on the radio.

 

[Angelo.M]

Mike: thanks.

 

[Brian L]

Maybe I missed something here, but IIRC, there are actually two boxed sets.

One is in a box the size of an LP, and contains a large format booklet, and 4 CDs. These discs do NOT include every single Zep song from every album.

The second box set augments the first, and contains 2 CDs, and has all the songs left off of the 1st box set.

Its the 2 CD set that, I think, has all the remaining album cuts, as well as cuts that were on Coda, as well as "B" sides. If you wanted to burn CD's of antire albums (LZ II, Houses, etc.), you would need both sets to do it.

IIRC!

BGL

 

[Larry Geller]

You are forgetting about the 10 disc Complete Recordings box.

 

[Jesse Lawson]

There have been Japanese mini-LP versions of the Led Zep catalog, and recently WEA in the EU has issued another set of mini-LPs. Does anyone know if the latter are newer remasters?

 

[GuruAskew]

The recording of "Traveling Riverside Blues" that's the bonus track on "Coda" in the "Complete Studio Recordings" box set IS identical to the one on "BBC Sessions".

 

[Brian L]

How can I forget what I didn't know in the 1st place?

BGL

 

[Greg_S_H]

I have the original CDs. Is it worth it to upgrade? It's common to hear from music fans about how remasters have ruined the albums because of changes to the mixing (or, when errors are introduced, such as swapped channels), and I'm wondering if there are any complaints here. If there aren't any problems, are these night-and-day differences from the initial releases? I'd love to hear the Ocean without all the static.

If an upgrade is recommended, the box set is a simple decision. It'll be one of the few times where I buy a box set and know the entire thing inside and out.

Oh, yeah. When I first heard about the box set, one of the main selling points was the inclusion of all original cover art. Are there any differences between the individual remaster releases and the ones included in the box in terms of art? Also, how are special covers handled, like III with its wheel, and Physical with the window cutouts? Is there an attempt to replicate that, or is that something lost in the CD era?

 

[LanceJ]

I know this is completely off-topic but many people here on the Music Forum don't visit any of the equipment forums (speakers are my favorite audio component) & I had to let lovers of LOUDspeakers be aware of these super-cool new "Classic Series" Cerwin-Vegas. They look like tame versions of what you see at a concert venue. And a Led Zeppelin thread sure seemed like an appropriate place to do this!

LJ

 

[Kevin C Brown]

Greg- One other advantage of the remasters, is the intersong banter on Physical Graffiti for example. I was really pissed this was removed on the original issues.

All the artwork is included, but nope. No spinning wheel for III.

Oh yeah, Coda also has a bunch of extra tracks on it.

 

[Greg_S_H]

Those two examples sound like reason enough to upgrade. I've seen the box at Circuit City, so I'll have to pick it up when I can.

Do you know if the Ocean still has the static? Since that's the only song I've noticed it on, it may be inherent in the masters. Hopefully, they didn't remove the phone.

 

[Brian Perry]

I would definitely recommend the remasters. Layers of hiss were removed from most songs, notably Stairway to Heaven, yet there is still plenty of air.

 

[Sean Cauley]

If I remember it right, the boxed sets were issued like this:

1990: Boxed Set. Four-CD/Four-cassette/Six-LP 54-song box set. Crop circles with a zeppelin shadow, orange-tone color. Box for all formats was shaped in LP dimensions (roughly 12" X 12"). Songs taken from all Led Zeppelin albums (including Coda), plus "Traveling Riverside Blues" and "White Summer/Black Mountain Side," and the combo "Moby Dick/Bonzo's Montreaux," which combined a Led Zeppelin II track with a Coda track.

1991/1992: Led Zeppelin Remasters, 3-CD set, originally sold via television ads, soon released to record stores. Longbox format (1 CD wide by 2 CDs high; 2 CDs and a booklet deep). The cover was a "Warhol'ed" multi-color rendition of the crop-circle/zeppelin art. This mostly consisted of songs from Boxed Set, but added a couple of things, like its first track, "Good Times, Bad Times," which was the first song on Zeppelin's first album.

1993: Boxed Set 2. Two discs, separate jewel cases with an accompanying booklet, in a nice cardboard box. Cover art was, again, the crop-circle/zeppelin image, this time in some sort of photo-negative or infra-red color scheme. This set included all album tracks not included on the first Boxed Set, plus "Moby Dick" and "Bonzo's Montreaux" as separate tracks. "Good Times, Bad Times" kicked off the first disc here, as well.

There was also The Complete Recordings, which, as mentioned above, included all of the studio albums in recreated cover art, with extra songs on Coda, all in a gray outer box. I think this release either coincided with Remasters or Boxed Set 2. The only album missing is The Song Remains the Same, the live concert album recorded in 1973 and released in 1976.

I've got Boxed Set and Boxed Set 2, which gives me all of the studio recordings, plus a couple of bonus tracks. No album is spread out over more than five of the six discs (though a couple do spread that far), so anyone with a five-disc carousel and the ability to program it can listen to an approximate recreation of a full album (the book with Boxed Set has a discography with track listings in order, which helps in programming).

 

[neil wilkes]

AFAIK, the boxed set of "complete" studio recordings has everything.
I hope so, as I just spent 2 days putting the whole caboodle, and the BBC sessions double CD, onto 2 DVD-A discs.

 

[Kevin C Brown]

Neil- We can take this private if it detracts too much from the thread...

DVD-A, recordable, 16/44? How did you do it?

(I want digitally record 24/96, but 16/44 is the 1st step...)

 

[neil wilkes]

Private it is - a bit OT.
I have given some basics, but can go deeper if necessary.