 Led Zeppelin "Led Zeppelin"
(A.K.A. Zeppelin I) Atlantic, 1969
It was bound to be on the list sooner
or later so I might as well get it out of the way now. Zeppelin I, as it is
usually called, is the genuine article, the original, the prototype for
all of the future rock and rollers who would follow. But who would have thought
that such a fantastic original could spawn such miserable copies for so many
years to come. Led Zeppelin is credited with inventing hard rock; some even say
heavy metal. But the Zep imitators most of us are familiar with are a far cry
from what you'll hear on Zeppelin I.
We are way out of ‘audiophile recording’ territory here, aren't we? Well, yes and no. Musically, this stuff is
too real and full of energy to be confused with most of the sleepy, empty, and
contrived audiophile stuff. But sonically it's actually quite amazing. Recorded
back in 1969 onto analog tape, Zeppelin I can sound spectacular on a good
system. Oh it's not perfect, but strikingly vivid sounding at times, especially
for a studio album of that era. Just listen to Robert Plant's vocals on Dazed
and Confused or How Many More Times. I don't know if I've ever heard
a human voice come across with more conviction and intensity. This recording
captures Plant when his voice was young and powerful. He is probably better
recorded here than on any of the other nine Zep albums. Many of the tunes are
blues-based but twisted in the way that only Led Zeppelin could manage to sound,
where the line between blues and rock is completely blurred. If you enjoy a good
scream, Plant will oblige on plenty of occasions, but most notably on "How Many
More Times" where his range climbs so high that you wonder if he's going to
explode. For those who might be scared away by the mere discussion of screaming
and quality of screams, there is more going on here than you think. You may not
enjoy the heaviest tunes (i.e. "Dazed and Confused") but the other stuff may be
up your alley.
I suggest you listen to "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" and "Your Time is Gonna Come" first. The latter is one of Jon's
favorite Zeppelin tunes, by the way. There is, of course, some great guitar
playing from Jimmy Page and some spectacular drumming from John Bonham. But at
the end of the day, it's the band as a unit that is such fun to listen to. If
there is such a thing as telepathy in a rock group doing a studio recording (and
I'm not sure that there is) Led Zeppelin had it on their first effort.
Everything just flows and comes together perfectly. Even when things sound
sloppy (and they do at times) it just comes across as right.
As for the recording quality, it is damn good. The vocals sound particularly good. If I had to nit-pick about
something, I would say that there is some thickness in the mid-bass that can
make things sound a little bloated at times, but it isn't severe. If your system
makes the bass/mid-bass sound completely overblown or out of control, it is your
system and not the album. A good system won't "let go" of the bottom end. As for
different versions, the regular CD is really good, about a B+ in my book. The
re-mastered version is also good although the channels have been reversed for
some reason. The LP remains a mystery because it goes against my theory that LPs
always, always, always win. For some reason, I have not yet found a copy of the
LP that can convincingly beat out the CD. And I have tried at least 30 different
copies from originals (which actually are the worst!) to more recent copies,
which are pretty good. A good copy of the LP will have some advantages over the
CD, but also some disadvantages. NEWSFLASH!!! I have just learned that Classic
Records is about to reissue Led Zeppelin I on 180g virgin vinyl. See our
recommended recordings section for more information.
-Dave
(Note- Since the writing of this
review, Classic Records has released Zeppelin I on vinyl. It is the best
sounding version of the album I have heard, but not by the wide margin that LPs
typically beat out CDs. For the record, Classic has since released Zeppelin II,
III, IV, Houses of the Holy, Physical Graffiti and Presence. The sound quality
varies dramatically, but in each case the Classic re-issues sound more true to
the master tapes than any previous versions on LP or CD.)
|
