You know that thing where you put a drunk offer in on some vinyl on eBay knowing that even though it is a bit more than you want to pay, it is still way below market value and you will be outbid, then you wake up a week later with a hangover to an email saying you have won? Yeah, that is how this compilation made its way into my collection.
I’m not a hardcore fan of Led Zeppelin, I’ve liked pretty much everything I’ve heard but haven’t been inspired to go out and pick up the individual albums so I figured this compilation would be a good place to start.
The collection was curated by Jimmy Page and is a digitally remastered version of their best works. I remember reading at the time that digitisation sat uneasily with many fans who enjoyed the raw, analogue quality of the original recordings. I haven’t heard the originals but what I can say is this compilation sounds utterly stunning.
Everything the casual fan like me can want is on here, from big rock tracks like ‘Whole Lotta Love’, ‘Black Dog’, ‘Kashmir’ and ‘Immigrant Song’, to mad stuff like ‘Dazed And Confused’ through to all-out classics like ‘Stairway To Heaven’.
There are also a lot of songs on here that I’d never heard before but have enjoyed to varying degrees. This is a collection that I will need to invest more time in, something I really looking forward to.
If you fancy a copy, it is available on Discogs from around £35 for a ‘fair’ copy up to over £400 for a sealed copy.
I would grade my copy as near mint for the media and excellent for the sleeve (the stupid price sticker has removed the glossy coating in the top corner). How much was it? Well, the boss reads this so let’s just say it was somewhere between £35 and £400!!! ;)
Tracks To Try: Any Of Them