LED ZEPPELIN: Definitive Collection CD Box Set Due In November

Pierre!

 

I've seen that on other Japanese releases. For instance, I have a Japanese issue of The Stones' Through the Past Darkly LP with the UK song line-up and even a UK flag on the Obi. I think they just put on a mock-up of an old UK red/plum Atlantic label on the LZI CD to give it a little more of a nostalgic look. After all if they're not going to bother remastering the audio, they have to do something to make this package stand out.

 

Is this worth buying if you have the Jimmy Page remasters?

 

Only if you like the packaging and don't want to buy The Song Remains The Same by itself. All the studio albums are the same as the 1994 remasters (done by George Marino but often credited to Jimmy Page).

 

if MOFI was mastering them then i might just bite.

 

It looks like the Japanese SHM set includes the new, extended "The Song Remains The Same" as well as the extended "Coda" (with the four additional tracks).

So, is the Rhino box the same and the tracklisting wrong? Does the Rhino box also have the SHM CD's?

 

elusivedisc also has this set, and they list it as a Japanese import and show the extended track lists.

 

This is what someone on amazon.com had to say about this release:

The Best Zep Yet...., September 16, 2008
By Richard R. Byers "Oddeophile" (California, USA) - See all my reviews


OK, so you thought you already owned Zep and had the best, if they ever do remaster and remix the whole shootin' match like Jimmy Page did for the Mothership set. Since there are as many reviews that pan the Mothership set as there are the love it, it seems to me that it is not the universal Zep panacea one would have thought. To me, it is "in your face", mixed/mastered at way too high a gain level that clips off dynamic expansion critical to rock and roll, and hides the small nuances of the recordings. You may love that. Fair enough. Then enjoy.

Having owned the 1993 complete studio recordings box set and the remix from that, I felt I had probably owned the best sounding versions on CD. That is, until I purchased a few of the 2005 Japanese mini LP releases from the Japan remasters in 2003. The 2003 masters were taken from the 1993 mixes, so they are not new mixes. However, the 2003 masters, as pressed in 2005, sounded more full, sweeter, cleaner and, well, more involving. Same mix from 1993, just a better mastered pressing, plus the venerable Japan perfection in their pressing plants. Lower jitter, finely milled edges to the discs, etc. Nice. Plus, having the mini LP style jackets - based off the USA original releases, was very fine, indeed.

Along comes an all new, completely redone box for 2008. Using the same 1993 mixes with the 2003 Japan masters, the discs have been pressed in the SHM CD format which is NOT available in the USA on USA pressed discs. These are only available from Japan pressings and boy are they some of the best sounding CD's I own in my vast collection. Very nice, indeed.

The SHM pressings allow for a much cleaner, and very dynamic performance to come through. Plant's vocals are nice and focused, more up front and "there". Impressive, since they are the same 1993 mixes and masters used prior. So, the SHM pressings allow for a much more involving Zep experience. Simply the Sin Quo Non right now on CD for Zep.

If you want the best Zep on CD, this is it. Expensive, to say the least (I bought mine from CD Japan direct and it was $286 including EMS shipping from Japan).

The box is simply superbly produced, as are the mini LP jackets, this time based on the UK original pressings and releases along with th UK reproductions of the center labels from the records. Marvelous. Extra bonuses include additional jackets, alternate jackets, etc. from a two of the original albums.

There is nothing like this produced in the USA.

For those who are Zep fans and keep waiting for Page, etal, to remix/master the catalog again, it is not worth waiting for. To be honest, if they mix it like they did Mothership, that is simply not Zep the way I want to hear it. Maybe you do and that is fine. Your ears are your ears.

But, for me, this is the ultimate Zep possible in redbook CD digital. If you have an upsampling DAC or player, look out. You are in for a real treat.

Enjoy.

 

Thanks for quoting that review, Roland. Good news about them adding the bonus stuff to CODA too!

 

I don't understand this point. You can throw the OBI's away or store them somewhere else. They are not attached to the mini-LP sleeves.

Of course, it remains a replica of the original artwork, one important difference being the size (approx. 5" instead of 12").

Still, I think they did a nice job with the artwork. If you want to own the 1993 remasterings in a nice package, this is probably the way to go.

Also, I think this release might gain some value over time. If the total number of sets is indeed only 2,000 (or is that just the number of sets made available for the US market), they probably won't last too long.

I mostly prefer the original mastering for the Led Zeppelin catalog, but the 1993 remasters are not that bad, and some albums sound quite decent. It's nothing like the totally compressed mess we get nowadays.

 

One BIG error in the review and one I see repeated quite a bit everywhere is the notion that Page "remixed" the masters in 1993. He did not remix anything. He sat in a control room and listened for some sessions while George Marino EQed, compressed and applied noise reduction to Sony 1630 flat digitized copies of the analog master tapes.

 

I'd like to see a "Deluxe Edition" of just one record. If they want my money again, they should earn it.

 

He (the reviewer) seems to be confusing remixing with remastering. The only real alt mix I know of is of "The song remains the same" (which it did not) on the original 4 cd crop circles box.

 

There were rumors of a 30th Anniversary Led Zeppelin IV set in 2001 that was to have alternate mixes, outtakes, etc - but it obviously never happened.

 

Eddie Kramer is supposed to have told someone a few years back that he was approached to do a 5.1 remix of Led Zeppelin II but then he never heard about it again.

 

Is that so?

 

Al you have to do is look at waveforms to see that the levels were boosted and transients squashed. They certainly weren't terrible the way post-2000 mastering is often done, but if you compare them to Barry Diament's originals or the vinyl pressings, it's obvious compression was done.

As for noise reduction, you can clearly hear it was applied to the beginning of acoustic songs. Check the beginning of The Rain Song or Gallows Pole. Again, comparing the remasters to the originals makes it quite plain.

 

This was quoted from the amazon review that Roland posted. For all of the reviewers raving, I think it's important to underline the fact that these are the same mixes and same mastering as the 1993 ones. Though I have heard a few good things about the SHM pressings in general, I suppose it would only make sense to get this set if one was a fan of the 1993 mastering. Seems like buying this set would be a nice upgrade of the 93 mastering, but if one is a fan of the earlier Diament masterings, this would be a release to pass on.

 

Just noticed the amazon ad for the new box says REMASTERED.

http://www.amazon.com/Definitive-Co...=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1225757541&sr=1-3

 

Wow, they have it for $139.99 at the moment at amazon.com. Is this the same set as the Japanese SHM-CD's? I sort of doubt it, but maybe it's the exact same thing.

It is available as a pre-order since the release date for that set is November 11, 2008 (listed on amazon).

The original Japanese set is already released and available. Amazon also has this one, but it is over $400.

http://www.amazon.com/Definitive-Co...TVP6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1225778975&sr=1-2

This link specifically mentions SHM-CD's, and the one above does not.

I would assume the following:

1) SHM-CD's set as released in Japan on Sept. 10, 2008
This set has the SHM-CD's and the OBI's etc.

2) Regular CD's set as to be released in the US on Nov. 11, 2008
I don't think this set will be 100% identical to the Japanese set. In fact, I think that this is a set pressed in the US, not limited to 2,000 copies, not including the OBI's, and we have to see if it actually uses the bonus material for "Coda" and "The Song Remains The Same".
I think amazon just used the same picture for this item. I don't think a Rhino release would contain OBI's.

 

It says the same thing on the regular album releases (with a release date of 1994). You can never fully trust Amazon with that "remastered" tag. All signs point to these being the same ol' same ol' just repackaged.

 

I think the box is not worth getting unless the CDs are the Shm versions, which I'm nearly sure they are not. I compared the standard and the Shm (same questionable Marino/Page mastering) and the latter offers a not-so-subtle improvement. I couldn't/didn't want to believe it; I thought Shm was pure marketing jive and that bit are bits. That is, until I heard them ... I was just shy of shocked.

 

The listing for the Rhino set on elusivedisc.com states that it's SHM and limited to 2000 copies. It seems Rhino just imported 2000 copies of the Japanese set and are selling this as a 40th anniversary set. Coda has the bonus tracks, and TSRTS is the 2007 remastered version, but everything else is from the 1990's Marino masters.

 

What makes you think that the box listed on elusivedisc.com is the Rhino box and not the original import from Japan?

Edit: I see that elusivedisc does mention Rhino in the text

I ordered the box from elusivedisc.com, and it already shipped yesterday. The release date for the Rhino box is Nov. 11, and it is only available as a pre-order at the moment (on Rhino.com and amazon.com).

My understanding is that the box available at elusivedisc.com is the original, limited to 2,000 copies, SHM-CD's release. I am not sure what exactly the Rhino box will be, but I sort of doubt that it is SHM-CD's.

 

Rhino doesn't mention SHM-CDs, but it does refer to the set as a Japanese import: