Last three LZ albums - available 31st July (Coda massively expanded)

Posted by: Kevin-W on 03 June 2015

Let the moaning, bitching, accusations of deafness and recriminations begin! The final three Led Zep studio albums will be available at the end of July.

 

Usual format - single CDs, double (or triple in Coda's case) deluxe, single/deluxe vinyl, hi-res download and super deluxe set. Difference this time round is that the extra stuff (in the case of coda, a lot of it), is very interesting.

 

 

Here's an extract from the Warners press blurb:

 

 

Originally released in 1976, Presence was recorded during a whirlwind 18-day session at Musicland Studios in Munich, Germany. The album—which peaked at #1 in both the U.S. and UK and was certified triple platinum—crackles with energy on Zeppelin classics like “Nobody’s Fault But Mine” and  “Achilles Last Stand” and delivers powerful jolts of the group at its visceral best.

 

The companion audio disc that accompanies Presence has five unreleased reference mixes from the sessions, which reveal works in progress. Along with alternate incarnations of “For Your Life” “Achilles Last Stand” and “Royal Orleans,” there is also the previously unheard instrumental curiously titled “10 Ribs & All/Carrot Pod Pod (Pod).”

 

On its release in the summer of 1979, In Through The Out Door topped the U.S. and UK album charts and has since been certified six-times platinum. Sadly, it would be the last album that Led Zeppelin recorded prior to drummer John Bonham’s passing the following year. Among the seven album tracks are “Fool In The Rain” and “All My Love,” two songs that remain rock radio staples to this day.    

 

The album’s companion audio disc features an unreleased rough mix of every track from the original album, including early versions with working titles such as “The Hook” (“All My Love",  “The Epic” (“Carouselambra", and “Blot” (“I’m Gonna Crawl").

 

The appropriately titled Coda was Led Zeppelin’s final album of studio recordings. Released in 1982, it was comprised of eight unreleased tracks recorded between 1970 and 1978. It peaked at #6 on the album charts and has been certified platinum in the U.S.   

 

The reissue campaign ends with a double-barrel blast of Led. Coda will be the only Led Zeppelin deluxe edition to include two companion discs, featuring 15 tracks recorded between 1968 and 1974. The oldest song in the collection is also perhaps the most interesting. The frenetic blues jam “Sugar Mama” was recorded in 1968 at Olympic Studios during sessions for the band’s eponymous debut. The song was completed but never officially released until now. “Baby Come On Home” from the same session is also included in the set. Also included is the previously unreleased “St. Tristan’s Sword,” a rollicking instrumental recorded during the Led Zeppelin III sessions in 1970.

 

In 1972, Robert Plant and Jimmy Page took a fabled trip to India to perform with the Bombay Orchestra and now, for the first time, recordings from these sessions will be officially released with dynamic takes on “Friends” and “Four Hands” (“Four Sticks” from Led Zeppelin IV). Among the many other highlights featured here is an early version of “When The Levee Breaks” from 1970 titled “If It Keeps On Raining”; rough mixes of “The Wanton Song” and “In The Light,” from the Physical Graffiti sessions at Headley Grange, the latter a different alternate version than the one included in the Physical Graffiti deluxe edition; and an instrumental mix of “Poor Tom” from 1970.

 

In 1968, Jimmy Page formed Led Zeppelin, one of the most influential, innovative and successful groups in modern music, having sold more than 300 million albums worldwide. The band rose from the ashes of The Yardbirds, when Page brought in Robert Plant, John Bonham and John Paul Jones. In 1969, Led Zeppelin released its self-titled debut. It marked the beginning of a 12-year reign, during which the group was widely considered to be the biggest and most innovative rock band in the world.

 

Led Zeppelin continues to be honored for its pivotal role in music history. The band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1995, received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005, and a year later was awarded with the Polar Music Prize in Stockholm. Founding members Page, Plant, and Jones, and along with Jason Bonham, the son of John Bonham – took the stage at London’s O2 Arena in 2007 to headline a tribute concert for Ahmet Ertegun, a dear friend and Atlantic Records’ founder. The band was honored for its lifetime contribution to American culture at the Kennedy Center Honors in 2012. In January of 2014, the band won their first ever Grammy award as Celebration Day, which captured their live performance at the Ertegun tribute concert, was named Best Rock Album

 

 

 

Presence

Track Listing

  1. “Achilles Last Stand”
  2. “For Your Life”
  3. “Royal Orleans”
  4. “Nobody’s Fault But Mine”
  5. “Candy Store Rock”
  6. “Hots On For Nowhere”
  7. “Tea For One”

 

Companion Audio

  1. “Two Ones Are Won”  (Achilles Last Stand      – Reference Mix)
  2. “For Your Life”  (Reference Mix)
  3. “10 Ribs & All/Carrot Pod Pod (Pod)”           (Reference Mix)
  4. “Royal Orleans” (Reference Mix)
  5. “Hots On For Nowhere” (Reference Mix)

 

 

 

In Through The Out Door

Track Listing

  1. “In The Evening”
  2. “South Bound Saurez”
  3. “Fool In The Rain”
  4. “Hot Dog”
  5. “Carouselambra”
  6. “All My Love”
  7. “I’m Gonna Crawl”

 

Companion Audio

  1. “In The Evening” (Rough Mix)
  2. “Southbound Piano” (South Bound Saurez -      – Rough Mix)
  3. “Fool In The Rain” (Rough Mix)
  4. “Hot Dog” (Rough Mix)
  5. “The Epic” (Carouselambra - Rough Mix)
  6. “The Hook” (All My Love - Rough Mix)
  7. “Blot”  (I’m Gonna Crawl - Rough Mix)

 

 

 

Coda

Track Listing

  1. “We’re Gonna Groove”
  2. “Poor Tom”
  3. “I Can’t Quit You Baby”
  4. “Walter’s Walk”
  5. “Ozone Baby”
  6. “Darlene”
  7. “Bonzo’s Montreux”
  8. “Wearing And Tearing”

 

Companion Audio

Disc One

  1. “We’re Gonna Groove”  (Alternate Mix)
  2. “If It Keeps On Raining” (When The Levee   

        Breaks - Rough Mix)     

  1. “Bonzo’s Montreux” (Mix Construction In        Progress)
  2. “Baby Come On Home”
  3. “Sugar Mama” ( Mix)
  4. “Poor Tom” (Instrumental Mix)
  5. “Travelling Riverside Blues” (BBC Session)
  6. “Hey, Hey, What Can I Do”

 

Disc Two

  1. “Four Hands“ (Four Sticks - Bombay Orchestra)
  2. “Friends” (Bombay Orchestra)
  3. “St. Tristan’s Sword” (Rough Mix)
  4. “Desire” (The Wanton Song - Rough Mix)
  5. “Bring It On Home” (Rough Mix)
  6. “Walter’s Walk” (Rough Mix)
  7. “Everybody Makes It Through” (In The  Light - Rough Mix)

 

 

 

Posted on: 03 June 2015 by Kevin-W

I should add, it's well worth shopping around on these, some of the pricing (eg The River) is outrageous! £132 for ITTOD?

Posted on: 03 June 2015 by ianrobertm

Interesting. So Coda, gets a Coda - !!  

 

Will be interesting to hear the official versions of Companion disc 2's tracks.

 

IanM  

Posted on: 03 June 2015 by Kevin-W
Originally Posted by ianrobertm:

Interesting. So Coda, gets a Coda - !!  

 

Will be interesting to hear the official versions of Companion disc 2's tracks.

 

IanM  

Yes Ian, I'm particularly interested to hear the Bombay tracks in pristine SQ after years of having to listen to poor quality boots!

Posted on: 03 June 2015 by ianrobertm
Originally Posted by Kevin-W:
Originally Posted by ianrobertm:

Interesting. So Coda, gets a Coda - !!  

 

Will be interesting to hear the official versions of Companion disc 2's tracks.

 

IanM  

Yes Ian, I'm particularly interested to hear the Bombay tracks in pristine SQ after years of having to listen to poor quality boots!

Kevin,

 

Lols. I have a CD version....  Not bad quality, really. In a way, the Page & Plant versions are where it was going. 

 

IanM

Posted on: 03 June 2015 by joerand
Originally Posted by Kevin-W:

Let the moaning, bitching, accusations of deafness and recriminations begin!

I'll defer . A very well presented and organized post. Kudos Kevin!

 

I'm most intrigued by CODA. It's an album that tends to get some rather dismissive comments here, but I quite enjoy it and find the SQ on my original vinyl copy to be very good. I'd be interested to hear the alternate mixes and for me the CD would suffice for that purpose. I won't be pre-ordering or standing in line for it though. 

Posted on: 04 June 2015 by Bert Schurink

Thanks for the heads up. I will be definitely up for the high res version of this. While I found the first albums better remastered than the last ones. So I hope these ones will meet the first remastered in quality.

Posted on: 23 June 2015 by Kevin-W

The other week I went to a playback/Page Q&A at Olympic Studios in Barnes. Over the studio's sound system (the studio isn't a working studio any longer, but a cinema/eat and drink facility/playback centre), Page played a selection from the forthcoming sets, including the Bombay tracks, Sugar Mama, bits from ITTOD and Presence. I must say that they sounded hugely impressive, SQ-wise, especially the fabulous Bombay tracks, which I'd only heard on bootleg quality up till then.

 

No idea what the source was - presumably hi-res digital files - or the equipment, but will, try and find out. Ironically it was better than last year's playback of the Beatles mono LPs at Abbey Road, which featured a Statement, Vertere turntable (the ugliest thing you ever did see) and big Focal speakers which boomed all over the place.

 

Even Page said he was impressed, and said he'd never heard the music in that quality before...