Re: LED ZEPPELIN FINALLY AVAILABLE ON iTunes

[Steve Thomson <stevethomson_mtl@xxxxxxxx>]

> Whilst revisiting the entire Zep catalogue would
thrill 
> audiophiles worldwide, I think a couple of new notes
> on wax from him would leave a bigger impression on
all. 

While I agree that new music from Page would be great,
revisiting the catalogue doesn't need to be an
intensive, difficult affair unless they go for 5.1
remixes from the original multitracks, and even then
someone with the resources of Jimmy Page can easily
afford to pay talented professionals such as Kevin
Shirley to replicate those original mixes for 5.1
(Imagine how hard the middle section of WLL would
be!).

However, for simple stereo, there is (or was) a
simple, cost-effective way to please the audiophiles
and preserve the Led Zeppelin studio canon. With two
(possibly three) exceptions I'll mention in a minute,
the general consensus seems to be that Bernie Grundman
at Classic Records did incredible work when he took
the LP master tapes and ran them through his all-tube
cutting system to recreate the Led Zeppelin LPs on
vinyl. Classic Records has a series of high-resolution
digital discs that also offer for a select few titles
that are basically digitized files of the vinyl
mastering sent to the cutting machine. Titles from
Pete Townshend and Alan Parsons were released this way
to great reviews. If they had done this with the Led
Zeppelin albums, they'd have their high-resolution
versions of the studio albums and believe me, they'd
be selling like crazy! I read several audio forums pro
and otherwise, and the demand for definiteive hires
Led Zeppelin releases is right up there with that of
the Beatles. People want it. A lot of people want it.
With the music industry in such bad shape now in terms
of sales, I don't know why they haven't pursued this
more. In 1979, Led Zeppelin was generally credited
with reviving a sagging industry by simply releasing
ITTOD. People had been pushed out of the record stores
by all the crap music in the late 70's even though
some good albums were released. Suddenly all those
people came rushing in to buy ITTOD and they started
looking at other titles on the racks. They found new
LPs from Pink Floyd, Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles and
others and bought them along with LZ.

Anyway, the only real technical problem I see is Led
Zeppelin II. Most people I know (including me)
consider the Classic Records reissue of II a botched
job. It just doesn't sound nearly as good as old
pressings (if you can find them in good shape).
Neither CD version (original or remaster) sounds as
good either. The original, absolute master of II
(which contrary to some rumors, supposedly still
exists somewhere in Jimmy's archives) needs to be
digitized and preserved with the highest quality
medium possible. Some dislike Classics III and HOTH as
well, but they're not as bad as their II. 

Anyway, the whole digitization of the Classic
remasters would be simple to do and fill the demand
(if II were redone). This could in turn be resampled
down to regular 16/44.1 commercial CDs that would
absolutely incredible compared to the 90's remasters
or the originals. Meanwhile, Jimmy would be free to do
his new music, or enjoy his growing family.

Or, if they want to really preserve the catalog,
someone should give Steve Hoffman's phone number to
Jimmy. This guy does some pretty magical stuff with
music remasters. His work on the DCC compact disc
version of the debut Bad Company album is stunning. He
also did a tremendous job on the vinyl version of Icky
Thump this year, the reissue of the Creedence catalog
on SACD and LP, and is currently doing the definitive
masters of Van Morrison, Fleetwood Mac, ZZ Top and
others. Man oh man what this guy could do with the
Zeppelin master tapes!


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