Buy 1994 Remasters (not box set) or wait?

[StarkRavingCalm]

When Zep released the Complete Studio Recordings Box Set in '93, I got rid of all my orignal LZ CDs. I didn't like the packaging of the Box Set and never bought the individuals again (no flaming please) (I had the 4 CD Set and the Remasters 2CD Set). With the release of Mothership and Song Remains The Same (both of which I bought) etc..., has there been anything official about re-issuing the individual albums again?

Should I wait or buy the '94 remastered editions? I thought that the entire collection was remastered for the iTunes collection so it would only make sense to release them on CD again.

[feather in the wind]

imo, if u have all the songs now in your collection, then keep what u have.

sure it's nice to have it all, but where would u put it?

anything remastered for an ipod/itunes is not 'true'. i read an article about mp3s and cds. mp3s are 'boosted' giving the highs mids and lows the same volume, thus, imo, losing the quality of the song. songs are meant have distinguishable highs and lows, as a cd does replicate true.

i'm NOT saying that this remastered release is done in this way. just a fyi.

but my first line i hold, just crank it!

[solar]

By '94 remasters, are you talking about the 2-disc Box Set 2 (small green/turquoise box)? Because the 2-disc Remasters is an entirely different entity, a greatest hits package similar to Mothership. The Box Set 2 from '93 is actually the songs that were not on the first 1990 4-disc box set.

[StarkRavingCalm]

imo, if u have all the songs now in your collection, then keep what u have.

sure it's nice to have it all, but where would u put it?

Don't have the whole collection, just the 4CD Box Set 2CD, Remasters Set and 2CD Mothership collections (and SRTS DVD)

By '94 remasters, are you talking about the 2-disc Box Set 2 (small green/turquoise box)? Because the 2-disc Remasters is an entirely different entity, a greatest hits package similar to Mothership. The Box Set 2 from '93 is actually the songs that were not on the first 1990 4-disc box set.

By '94 Remasters. I mean the albums themselves, not the 2CD "Remasters" Set.

I am merely wondering if there was any "Official" word on if they plan to re-issue each album in newly remastered form. Or if I should go and buy them all in their 94 remastered versions.

[solar]

Don't have the whole collection, just the 4CD Box Set 2CD, Remasters Set and 2CD Mothership collections (and SRTS DVD)

By '94 Remasters. I mean the albums themselves, not the 2CD "Remasters" Set.

I am merely wondering if there was any "Official" word on if they plan to re-issue each album in newly remastered form. Or if I should go and buy them all in their 94 remastered versions.

If I were you, I'd wait. You do have the complete collection of songs with Box Set 1 and 2, albeit well out of order. Or am I reading this wrong and you have each album remastered individually?

That said, I prefer having the albums in their original running order ... especially for things like Heartbreaker/Livin Lovin Maid and the cough sequence at the end of IMTOD leading into Houses of the Holy on Physical Graffiti. For the record, I have both box sets and each individual album on CD, not the 10-disc box set.

[manderlyh]

^Oh yeah? I have both box sets, each individual album and the complete recordings set! Not to mention all the LPs....

I would wait too. I'm hoping for some remasters soon that will knock the socks off what I already have.

[SilverVishnu]

i read an article about mp3s and cds. mp3s are 'boosted' giving the highs mids and lows the same volume, thus, imo, losing the quality of the song. songs are meant have distinguishable highs and lows, as a cd does replicate true.

Not entirely true. An MP3 which has been converted from a lossless CD will generally have no distinguishable quality difference - the reason why live shows are traded in lossless FLACs is to keep the integrity and 'purity;' if something is compressed as an MP3 and then compressed again as another MP3, you'll start to notice a quality difference.

Anyway, the other thing you might be on is something called the 'loudness war,' which is an unfortunate phenomenom in which record companies produce modern music to be as loud as possible, often to gain attention on radio. Unfortunately, they often compress the lower volumes, decreasing the dynamic range and making the album sound like shit. HTWWW is an example of this.

Loudness war example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Cd_loudness_trend.gif

Video explanation:

[StarkRavingCalm]

I don't want to veer to far off from my original post. But do the processes mentioned above; mp3 'boosting' and 'loudness war' do the same thing as Normalizing? I always understood Normalizing as bringing the entire soundfile up together, so the lows stay at the same proportionate volume as the loud parts.

[feather in the wind]

from what i learned, normalizing brings the volumes up on the songs to match the highest sounding song. when i normalize in itunes, i see some songs that will have its DB increase or decrease, to 'normalize' across the board.

but ya, mp3s for ipods have been 'boosted' (on itunes or any mp3s for sale download) to make all sounds (highs lows mids) at the same level. so that all sounds are distinguishable thru headphones. this is what i read.

[StarkRavingCalm]

Ok, I have decided to buy the '94 Remastered versions. At least that way, if they do re-release them again I can have a side by side comparison. Plus, I can pick them up fairly cheap these days.

On that note, has anyone noticed a difference, fidelity-wise between the 94 editions and the previous pressing on CD?

[jaimerosario]

Buy the damn 10 CD Box Set

[kaztor (slight return)]

Keep what you've got. Screw those re-releases.

Record companies are flogging the same dead horses again and again, often with extra outtakes that deserved to be outtakes, where's the end?

It's just a lot of moneygrabbing. I rather have new releases.

Admittedly the old Zep-cd's are extremely crappy (bar LZ2, which has the complete Ramble On), so if you've got 90's Zep-cd's I don't think there's a reason to upgrade it to SACDFKETHFW-or-whatever-the-latest-fashion-is.

[Mountain Hopper]

When Zep released the Complete Studio Recordings Box Set in '93, I got rid of all my orignal LZ CDs. I didn't like the packaging of the Box Set and never bought the individuals again (no flaming please) (I had the 4 CD Set and the Remasters 2CD Set). With the release of Mothership and Song Remains The Same (both of which I bought) etc..., has there been anything official about re-issuing the individual albums again?

Should I wait or buy the '94 remastered editions? I thought that the entire collection was remastered for the iTunes collection so it would only make sense to release them on CD again.

Depends on how much disposable income you have.

[kaztor (slight return)]

Well.... I rather would spend my money on new music when I had the Zep catalogue remastered already...

[Ashoka1961]

Well.... I rather would spend my money on new music when I had the Zep catalogue remastered already...

Has anyone compared the 94 re-masters (Which includes the first three box-sets) to the "Mothership" re-masters? 90% of the reviews I've read on Amazon were adamant that the new re-masters by John Davies and the band were dramatically better than early versions.

I'm usually very suspicious in most cases about repeated re-masters and record companies giving the shaft to consumers with repeated versions of previously available material.......however.....it does seem that the consensus is that the new remasters for the Mothership release are spectacular!

Has anyone done a comparison? Thoughts, opinions?

[kirchzep27]

In regards to the first 90s remaster cds and mothership, possible new cds. I would buy both, i've heard the difference in the mothership stuff with bass and vocals enough, to warrant myself buying the new versions. But, you can play the 90 remasters louder....as a basic response and not being an audio tech.