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BBC sessions deluxe out September 16!!!!


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18 hours ago, Mook said:

Has anyone else in the UK ordered from Amazon & if so, has it appeared in your library yet?

I can't see it in mine & have been refreshing it like someone playing Honda in Streetfighter 2, circa 1993.

The Honda reference - LOL!!!!! So many hours spent on that great game. I still have it in the cupboard somewhere.

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I am really on the fence about this. The prices 'offered' by sellers in my area, are so astronomical! :o These prices have got to come down before I can even think of buying this! Or I have to make alternative arrangements and use Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk. *Sigh! Anyway, this is all way too complicated. So for now, I am putting off my purchase. Besides, another band's live releases (that I discovered recently) have got my attention. 

Edited by Kiwi_Zep_Fan87
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^ Do you get those kinds of displays for Zeppelin anywhere else? Here (BrisVegas in Oz) there was nothing. JB HiFi had the deluxe box up on the shelf with a "NEW!" sticker on it, that's about it. The CD only version was just in amongst the Led Zeppelin CD's in the A-Z section.

I'd love to see pics of any fan-fare that may go on elsewhere like above.

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I quite enjoy the remastering. Especially the first cd sounds much better with less compression.

The companion disc is quite good, solid zeppelin. I like the vintage sound of the lost rhythm and blues sessions tracks.

 

This has always been the led zep release i like the least. It has felt like a mishmash of half live half studio takes done in a rush. It does not have the excitement of a concert nor the precision of a studio album.

With the release you get a more complete view of what they did, with the aid of the booklet you can make playlists and listen to the tracks in the order they were originally played, which will probably make for a less boring listening experience.

 

My first time hearing Sunshine Woman which i love. :)

One thing i noticed, JPJ played bass on You Shook Me at the March Top Gear session and then on the second session recorded two weeks later (Rhythm and Blues) he played the organ.Like on the Session V June Top Gear one. 

Maybe it was simply a matter of the trouble of bringing the organ to the studio. BTW was the 1970 British tour the first tour where JPJ brought his organ with him?

 

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1 hour ago, Rubberfist said:

Picked up a copy of the 3CD set yesterday at HMV. The pages in the booklet are assembled out of order making it a bit of fun to read. Does anyone else have the same issue?. I will do a listing of the page sequence once I have the time to figure it all out.

My Booklet is fine.

My local record store guy said that he was warned by the distributor that in some copies the album might have a wrong cd(s) inside.

Or atleast that was his excuse on why the copy i bought was unsealed:lol:

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Received the Deluxe Box Set today and listened to the 5 lps and enjoyed it. I was worried about the production quality of the set due to previous problems with the studio releases but there were none for this BBC set. 

The tracks for the lost second session are not the best of audio quality and one of the tracks fades early before the end but for historical purposes it is better to have something rather than nothing.

The BBC engineers messed around with the levels too much with some of the tracks to my liking, (Probably never worked a band that loud before) For example, one track has Bonzo's bass drum buried in the mix that gets louder seconds later and Jimmy's guitar gets louder in some tracks as well.

The booklet is not  a hardcover like the studio releases and mainly contains images of contracts, other  documents, the halls plus a few images of the band already seen before.

The band produces great performances (especially the full show from 1971). 

I wonder if Plant plays bass on Sunshine Woman. It could have been an overdub (there are overdubs on other tracks) but the bass playing doesn't sound like something Jones would play. Maybe Jimmy will shed light on this in future interviews.

Edited by sixpense
grammar
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My booklet is fine too (purchased from Amazon US).

RE the store display - or lack thereof - my understanding is that digital physical media, i.e. CDs, SACDs, etc., are still very popular in Japan, moreso than in the US and Europe. So I don't think you're going to find anything like that HMV Japan display in the West.

As for the sound, I have gone from mildly pleased to overjoyed as I've listened to this new mastering. The clarity is unparalleled, and all the sonic problems with the original 1997 John Astley mastering have are gone - no screechy, piercing high end, no noise reduction, more bass, and much better definition and instrumental separation, particularly of Bonham's drums.

For me, the album is now so much fun to listen to, whereas before I never could get into it. I thought maybe the early '69 performances were too rough for me, or perhaps the BBC tapes were just engineered strangely. But no, it turns out it was just sucky mastering that was standing in the way.

Finally, when I first saw the bonus disc track listing, I though, "Geez, do we really need a 4th and 5th version of Communication Breakdown?!?" But I must admit, these are my two favorite bonus tracks. When you put all the tracks in their true chronological session order, it turns out the newly released versions of this song are the first and last songs Zep ever played for the BBC. The first one starts things out much better than You Shook Me does IMHO. And the last one is a scorching encore that ends things for the '71 show on a very different note than Thank You does.

I've ripped all the tracks and renumbered them in iTunes so they play in their true order (excluding the 3 shortwave radio-based tracks - too disruptive sonically for me), and I've listened to them that way several times, all the way through. Phenomenal.

EDIT: I agree with sixpense - the feedback so far on the vinyl version has been universally positive - flat, centered, quiet pressings. I also agree about the BBC engineers playing with the levels. It's especially apparent, and irritating on How Many More Times. That said, I think they did a great job overall, especially considering that Zep was by all accounts the loudest band they'd ever had to accommodate at the time. By comparison, look at how the engineers handled the October 10 '69 Paris show that's on the Zep I reissue companion disc - the levels and mix are up and down and all over the place throughout most of the show.

Edited by tmtomh
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I love Sunshine Woman (some of Page's funkiest playing) & the '71 Communication Breakdown on the 3rd disc is absolutely killer.

I also spent Saturday afternoon listening to the '71 show (second CD) & had forgotten how good it was, great versions of Since I've been loving you, Stairway to Heaven, Whole lotta love & Thank You. Does anyone else think that Page's guitar could do with more distortion on that gig though, especially on the first two numbers & Black dog?

Another minor criticism is the track listing, my booklet is a nightmare to read & I feel that a track listing for each disc should've been somewhere on the inside cover. 

Edited by Mook
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13 hours ago, tmtomh said:

RE the store display - or lack thereof - my understanding is that digital physical media, i.e. CDs, SACDs, etc., are still very popular in Japan, moreso than in the US and Europe. So I don't think you're going to find anything like that HMV Japan display in the West.

Essentially correct. Note also the Japanese store displays are often unofficial, "homemade" efforts put together by the store's promotional retail display staff.

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I ask this in all sincerity.  :rolleyes:Is there any really good reason, music wise, to get this new release if one already has the Empress Valley box set or other releases of this material? Is it sonically superior than previous releases, particularly the '71 show? Also, when I previewed Communication Breakdown on Spotify it was missing the Feel So Bad bit.  Seems to me there is nothing revelatory with this set. 

Edited by porgie66
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23 hours ago, porgie66 said:

I ask this in all sincerity.  :rolleyes:Is there any really good reason, music wise, to get this new release if one already has the Empress Valley box set or other releases of this material? Is it sonically superior than previous releases, particularly the '71 show? Also, when I previewed Communication Breakdown on Spotify it was missing the Feel So Bad bit.  Seems to me there is nothing revelatory with this set. 

It's all subjective of course, but the EVSD generally gets praise for the '69 sets, but not the '71 sets. So I would say sound quality wise, this new release certainly is better than EVSD for the '71 show. However, Whole Lotta Love is edited, losing three bits from the melody, a total of 6 minutes (same edits as on the original 1997 official release). The best combo of good sound and a (nearly) complete Whole Lotta Love is the Japanese FM/pre-FM source that circulates here and there. It's got one minute cut but otherwise is complete.

 

11 hours ago, drpete said:

Is the medley on the 71 show edited or complete?

Edited, same as with the original 1997 official release.

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30 minutes ago, tmtomh said:

It's all subjective of course, but the EVSD generally gets praise for the '69 sets, but not the '71 sets. So I would say sound quality wise, this new release certainly is better than EVSD for the '71 show. However, Whole Lotta Love is edited, losing three bits from the melody, a total of 6 minutes (same edits as on the original 1997 official release). The best combo of good sound and a (nearly) complete Whole Lotta Love is the Japanese FM/pre-FM source that circulates here and there. It's got one minute cut but otherwise is complete.

 

Edited, same as with the original 1997 official release.

Thanks, I agree the sound isn't so clear on EVs set for the 71 tape. It's a bit distorted , not crank-able.  There have been a couple newer releases on boot labels , one is a 6 CD set, that looks intriguing. It has the Pre FM Japanese Broadcast and a Pre FM Master. I read somewhere that Scorpios 4 disc set is also a good transfer from the Pre FM recording.  

Feel So Bad is missing also from Communication Breakdown? 

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21 minutes ago, tmtomh said:

Do you mean the "It's Your Thing" vocal snippet from the final 1969 performance? If so, yes, still missing.

No, from the '71 version.  I just checked it and there are about 12 bars missing at around 3 min mark. Plant sings 12 bars of Feel So Bad before singing " feel like my engine ain't got no".  I haven't seen anyone else mention this edit, but it's definitely there. Small but nonetheless significant. 

 

Wow, so It's Your Thing is missing too from the Playhouse '69 version?? Bummer, that's such a funky ass moment!  What else is chopped I wonder? 

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Minor gripe but I'm a little perplexed as to why they changed the design of the deluxe box set.  The box itself is somewhat less attractive than the previous ones and they downgraded to a paperback book. Minor details, of course, but it doesn't make much sense to change the presentation after 9 releases.

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This is how I split the medley in WLL from The complete 71 BBC show from discs I made for my car, I don't know what version or where or when I got it, too lazy to note the version at the time

 Let that Boy Boogie/Truckin' Little Mama  3.53.

Fixin' to Die   0.29

That's Alright Mama  1.51

For What it's Worth  1.51

Mess o' Blues  2.00

Honey Bee  3.27

Lemon Song  0.57

 

Edited by JTM
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On 19/09/2016 at 5:52 PM, Mook said:

I love Sunshine Woman (some of Page's funkiest playing) & the '71 Communication Breakdown on the 3rd disc is absolutely killer.

I also spent Saturday afternoon listening to the '71 show (second CD) & had forgotten how good it was, great versions of Since I've been loving you, Stairway to Heaven, Whole lotta love & Thank You. Does anyone else think that Page's guitar could do with more distortion on that gig though, especially on the first two numbers & Black dog?

Another minor criticism is the track listing, my booklet is a nightmare to read & I feel that a track listing for each disc should've been somewhere on the inside cover. 

Yes, I agree. Needs way more distortion 

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Peculiar noise in Dazed from 6/27/69 (Playhouse Theater-disc 3) at 3:02.  Never noticed it before. Right before the bow solo, Page gets a bit of feedback then some kind of reverse tape ZWIIIP noise. It sounds like an edit but it's not, the drums keep going uncut, maybe he turned on the echoplex there or something, very weird

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My 2cents. 

Don't know if it was mentioned but, the version of Sunshine Women. Now i know that this is the only version of that session ,but i'd hoped that Jimmy had found a better, cleaner one.

I was disappointed with the packaging of the super deluxe. I had assumed that, with all the contents being identical to the other boxes, that it would be the same clamshell box packaging as all the others.

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