Not to be argumentative but if the Zep catalog was completely out of print none of the albums would be available at all. As for the price, new vinyl is generally pretty high anyway, especially if you want the high grade stuff. Also figure in the oil factor and the price of petroleum in general these days since vinyl is made from those resources. Otherwise, raising the price on Zep vinyl just because it's the last known pressing would be considered price gouging which is illegal (which obviously doesn't stop some people). Also, let me make it clear that I'm no expert on Zep vinyl or vinyl in general. As I mentioned, it's my understanding that there's been several pressings. The most recent I'm familiar with is a Japanese pressing of the entire Zeppelin catalog. If I remember correctly, those are the ones that are now out of print. Any clarification would be welcome.

Yeah, because there were also other formats such as 8-tracks and cassettes. To the best of my recollection vinyl in general was around $8-10 (for a single LP) before it was removed from the shelves in my area in 1989 to make way for compact discs. It's strange because now it's not unusual to be able to find CDs on sale for around $10 but high grade vinyl can go for up to $35 a pop. Vinyl pressings are also configured a bit differently these days. Most of them are 45 rpm so a lot of what's available are in 2 LP sets. I find the whole thing a bit intriguing myself. I prefer the convenience of CDs but think they could have been introduced on the market without removing vinyl from store shelves. Prior to that vinyl co-existed with tapes (8-track, cassettes and reel-to-reel) so there's no reason why vinyl couldn't have co-existed with CDs. That's what makes me believe the whole thing was just a scheme by the industry to force CDs on us (the same way the vastly inferior mp3 format is now). All of us that grew up on vinyl replaced a lot of our collections with CDs along the way (though I still have my vinyl collection as well as tons of cassettes, homemade and otherwise). When sales of CDs went down they were sold to us again in "deluxe, remastered" formats to get us to buy the same albums again. Now, suddenly vinyl is back in when it never should have disappeared from the market in the first place.

Hasn't there been multiple pressings? At any rate, the site I posted a link to in my previous post still has some Zep on vinyl.

I'm not sure how hard you've been looking but this site has some Zep on vinyl. Not sure if you're looking for new or used but either way it's not the only site out there that stocks Zeppelin vinyl.

Remastered Rock CDs - Better or Worse?

Nice article penned by Dave Alvin of The Blasters, X and the Knitters who now tours with his backing band The Guilty Men: The night Bo Diddley banned the Beat How do you play with a legend without doing it the legendary way? By learning his lesson of keeping himself new. Bo Diddley, 79; singer-songwriter's beat marked rock 'n' roll By Dave Alvin, Special to The Times "Whatever you do, do not play 'the Beat!' " That was the first thing Bo Diddley said to us before we walked onto the stage of the Music Machine club in West L.A. for two sets in 1983. We were a mix of members of the Blasters and X who had agreed, with great enthusiasm, to back up one of our greatest heroes for free at a benefit show for the Southern California Blues Society. To say that we were upset by his announcement/warning would be an understatement. How could you play Bo Diddley songs and not play the powerful, infectious and sensual Bo Diddley Beat? To read the rest of the article click here.

Not Dead Yet: Why the Album Isn't Going Anywhere by Adam Bunch The album is dead. Or so they tell us anyway, over and over again. Steve Jobs declared it obsolete years ago. USA Today claims that "the very concept of songs integrated into a whole faces extinction." The New York Times has featured one expert after the next making dire predictions: "The album is going to die," they say. "An album-centric plan will be a thing of the past." And frankly, it's hard to argue with them; the stats do seem to be on their side. By 2007, just four years after the very first iPods hit the shelves, single-song sales were already accounting for two-thirds of the music market. Individual tracks outsell albums online 19 to 1. And between 2000 and 2005, CD sales plummeted by 25 percent. Tower Records has crumbled. iTunes has exploded. It's pretty easy to imagine that an album-less society is just around the corner. It seems like a foregone conclusion that, in just a few short years, we'll have trouble even finding a dozen or so songs strung together in a pre-determined order. To read the remainder of the article click here.

Not really. They're all rock n' roll.

With Anderson Ailing, Yes Cancels Summer Tour Mitchell Peters, L.A. English progressive rock act Yes has canceled its upcoming 26-city North American amphitheater and area tour, citing its founding vocalist Jon Anderson's recent health problems. "In the wake of my recent respiratory attack, doctors have advised me to spend the coming months resting and recovering," Anderson said in a statement. "I'd like everyone know how deeply disappointed I am by this turn of events." To read the remainder of the article click here.

You're shopping at the wrong stores. Hell, I even saw the soundtrack to the Who's Amazing Journey documentary on vinyl at Best Buy. I wonder what the clueless fucks that call themselves clerks there think it is. If you're searching out new vinyl and none of your local record stores stock any, your best bet is to see if they can order it for you or order it online yourself. As for the longevity of CDs, they may well continue to stick around well after their demise just as vinyl has. Or they may go the way of 8-tracks and cassettes. I think it's anyone's guess at this point. With the way technology is advancing there's no telling what the popular format for music will be in 10-20 years but it's sure going to be interesting to find out.

To see some of Mouse and Kelley's work click here.

By the same token, a Perry soundalike does not equal Journey.

No, it won't have to be mp3s. At least as long as there's lossless formats around like FLAC.

The original version of Journey didn't even include Perry. When they changed lead singers they didn't try to find a Greg Rolie clone, they got Steve Perry. The current version of Journey is clearly a nostalgia act still coasting on it's past. That's why they've sought out Perry clones rather than trying to be more original by forging a new sound with a different singer. Do you think Zeppelin fans would be accepting of a lead vocalist that was nothing more than a Plant clone?

Or as Shelby Lynne is quoted on the Record Store Day website, "you can't roll a joint on an iPod". As for your question, I think the answer is rather obvious but can't completely be answered until we see the complete demise of the CD. Hopefully with the renewed popularity of vinyl we won't ever see record stores disappear completely from the landscape. As for the artwork, some sites still make that available, you just have to use your home computer to print it off. In other cases, the DVD format is being used to replace artwork and liner notes by providing some multimedia content to go along with the music. How it will all pan out remains to be seen.

Alton Kelley, left, and Stanley Miller, right, are seen in this 1967 photo PETALUMA, Calif. — Alton Kelley, an artist who helped created the psychedelic style of posters and other art associated with the 1960s San Francisco rock scene, has died. He was 67. Kelley died Sunday of complications from osteoporosis in his Petaluma home, according to his publicist, Jennifer Gross. Kelley and his lifelong collaborator, Stanley "Mouse" Miller, churned out iconic work from their studio, a converted firehouse where Janis Joplin first rehearsed with Big Brother and the Holding Company. To read the remainder of the article click here.

I have no idea what the industry standard will become but if that decision is reached by going by what the average casual listener wants, it will indeed be mpg3s. It is just that very mindset that caused Lou Reed to rail against the prevalence of mpg3s during his keynote speech at SXSW earlier this year. As for music stores becoming obsolete. Not to be a smartass but have you not seen the many, many articles that have been posted here about the rash of record store closings in recent years?

How is finding a vocal clone of Steve Perry "impressive"? Wouldn't it be much more impressive if they moved on with another singer that didn't sound like him at all rather than trying to find someone that sounds just like Perry just to please the fans?

While I'm not a huge fan of Pete Seegar or most traditional folk music in general, I did enjoy that documentary.

Buffett Busy With Live DVD, Tour, Kids Book Jimmy Buffett Gary Graff, Detroit Jimmy Buffett is in "no hurry" to make his next album, but he still has plenty to offer his faithful Parrotheads this year. Yesterday (June 3), Buffett released a new DVD, "Scenes You Know By Heart," that will be sold exclusively by Wal-Mart and Sam's Club and the Web site of the artist's Mailboat Records. The 15-song collection, modeled after Buffett's popular 1985 hits set "Songs You Know By Heart," features live performances of each track, some taken from existing Buffett DVDs ("Mini Matinee," "Live From Anguilla," "Live at Wrigley Field," "Live in Hawaii") as well as previously unreleased performances such as "He Went to Paris" from Paris, "Fins" from Cincinnati and "Grapefruit-Juicy Fruit" from Las Vegas. Click here to read the rest of the article.

So, XM plays mpg3s? I was under the impression that it was just their signal that is compressed.

Speaking just for myself, I still have a vast collection of vinyl, one I've been adding to since I was just a child. CDs were introduced as some sort of indestructible, superior format when in fact, they're not. Yes, much has been done to improve the sound quality of CDs since they were first introduced but in no way are they "indestructible". Hell, they may even more delicate than vinyl. Then comes the digital age. Anyone with any knowledge of the mp3 format can tell you they are also not superior to CDs or vinyl, yet they are quickly becoming the most sought after format because the industry is driven by what the casual listener wants, not the avid music listener that knows mp3s are shit. So, once compact discs have disappeared from the shelves and all we are left with are compressed files what do you think I'm going to go with it? Vinyl. It doesn't have a fucking thing to do with trendiness but it does have everything to do with sound quality.

Mp3s are the bane of the music listener and everyone from Lou Reed to Tom Waits have been doing their best to let the music industry know they don't want mp3s to become the standard.

You might actually find something closer to Greensboro but the stores I was referring to are Nice Price in Raleigh and Chapel Hill. They also stock tons of used books.

Early U2 Reissues Packed With Rarities U2 Jonathan Cohen, N.Y. A wealth of previously unreleased and rare material will be found on reissues of the early U2 albums "Boy," "War" and "October," due July 22 via Universal. Each album will be available as a remastered single CD, a deluxe set with a second disc of extras and on vinyl. U2's 1980 debut album, "Boy," features the previously unreleased tracks "Speed of Life," "Saturday Night" and "Cartoon World" and a previously unreleased mix of "I Will Follow." "Boy-Girl" and "11 O'Clock Tick Tock" are captured in live versions taped at London's Marquee. You can read the rest of the article here.