Is physical graffiti a well recorded album?

Well recorded, poorly mixed. The "Oh My God" bootleg tape (where you can actually understand the lyrics) is a much better mix, IMO.

 

Fun fact: The Stones used the same building’s front stoop for the video of Waiting On a Friend.

 

That makes the most sense

 

Like some others who've already commented, Physical Graffit is my favorite Zep album, and the rawness and murk is part of the charm, at least for some tracks.

It does have a sludgly, and variable, sound quality to it, though, and in my experience it's very easy to get a copy of it that sounds murky, muddy, and veiled - only the better masterings/pressings have some real degree of clarity to them, and even then it's hit and miss.

The 2015 John Davis remaster is without a doubt the clearest-sounding version. But some (many?) folks don't like it because they feel it sounds too clean, to modern, too boosted in the highs, not organic, etc.

Personally, I love the Davis remaster and listen to it all the time - but I also love the Barry Diament CD because of the warmth, the cohesiveness of the sound, and in particular the very natural-sounding tone he got out of Bonham's drums.

Where I part ways with probably a lot of folks here, is on the vinyl: I've heard the US Monarch, the UK, and the Classic, and I think they're all very good but for me they don't offer anything in particular that I can't get from the Davis and Diament CDs.

At any rate, though, I think Nevison's engineering is a big part of the sound, for better and worse. Just compare it to Glyn Johns' work on Zep I and it's night and day in terms of murk (PG) and clarity (Zep I). Not to mention, compare the stripped-down "Brandy and Coke" version of Trampled Under Foot on the reissue companion disc with the regular album version of the track. Brandy and Coke is far clearer, even though it probably comes from a 7.5ips reel.

And Custard Pie - yes, that one drum hit is amazing, but the entire song before it is a thin, muddy-sounding mess (still love it though!).

Also, Bron-Yr-Aur is a Zep III outtake, but it sounds markedly worse than the acoustic tracks that wound up on Zep III - the acoustic guitar on the Davis Zep III remaster, the orignal UK Plum Zep III vinyl, and the vaunted Canadian red label Zep III vinyl, sparkles compared to how Bron-Y-Aur sounds on any version of Physical Graffiti.

Similarly, The Rover sounds like total crap - even the newly surfaced "bin reel master" with all its clarity reveals the tape overload and distortion all over that track. Part of the problem is that Nevison accidentally erased a lead guitar track and someone else had to salvage it and re-overdub it, resulting in a loss of quality. But even the vocals sound terrible, much worse than anything on Houses of the Holy (the Houses sessions are when The Rover was recorded).

The only tracks that I think sound more or less as good as the sessions they came from are the 1971 Zep IV-era tracks. I've never found a mastering/pressing of Zep IV that I love, and Night Flight and Down by the Seaside on PG sound more or less as good as the Zep IV tracks to me.

Overall, though, I'd have to say that Glyn Johns, Eddie Kramer, and Andy Johns were just better engineers than Ron Nevison.

 

All good stuff. Although I think Nevison is a great engineer but clearly didn’t click with Page. Tough client I would imagine.

My go-to master for PG is the MFiT.

It works best for my ears, warts and all.

 

Great thoughts and review. Completely agree with your assessment. PG is Zeps Exile in my opinion. Holy does sound pristine compared to PG

 

Thank you. Yes, it's interesting to note the quite drastic differences in sound between those two back to back albums. And yet both sound great for what the material suggests (Houses especially if just because it is more focused with fewer songs to juggle).

 

This. It's a drum clinic on how to drive the song, melody and all.

 

I agree. Nevison had just finished recording the first Bad Company album at the same location a couple of months before starting Physical Graffiti, and that’s a great sounding album IMO. It just wasn’t good chemistry, although I’m a bit surprised Page didn’t simply bring in a replacement.

 

That was a detailed and well written answer, thank you!

 

Ask Ron Nevermind...

 

Great post!

I, too, immediatedly noticed how Robert's lyrics for "Trampled Underfoot" were a bit more decipherable on the companion track (Brandy & Coke). And is it just me, or am I the only one who thinks that in that one instance, the title of the song was better as "Brandy & Coke" than what they ultimately chose?

I also immediatedly liked that the lyrics were slightly more discernible on the companion tracks for "In The Evening" and, to a lesser degree, "Carouselambra" as well. It's one of the reasons I really enjoy the companion material on the recent remasters. Not every song is something "new" in terms of being an outake or an alternate take, but even the subtleties like those above are nice to hear/have.

 

I think one reason why this album might not be the best, most consistent sounding album is all the older material added to the new stuff. I'm not a revisionist, but Physical Graffiti is an album that I sometimes speculate how mindblowing a single LP would have been. Think about this LP. They just released all of this together, sounding all cohesive and awesome, probably better mastering than what we got because they didn't have to compromise to make all the songs sound uniform. I think all of these are '74 tracks:
Side 1: In the Light, Kashmir, Trampled Underfoot
Side 2: Sick Again, IMTOD, Ten Years Gone

This would have been such a cohesive and powerful artistic statement. It's one time I might advocate a drastic change to a masterpiece, but only as long as we got all the rest by the time of Coda. I noticed that these songs are all fairly long. I compromised a bit on my ideal running order to get side 1 a bit shorter but it's still a long LP. That might have helped nudge them towards the double LP.

 

Listening to side one of the vinyl LP (1975 RI pressing) and possibly one of the differences is the miking techniques used.

I'm assuming, as I don't have photos in front of me, just going by the sound, that Ron Nevison has more of a distant technique on the drums, probably 2 or 3 mics not close to the kit, introducing some phase issues and since they were recording "live" in a large live room, causing some of the wash/murkiness that is inherent to the recording. Again, I'm not knocking this because I like a live sound as well and the 70s were a time when "dead" studios was the norm, just to control sound.

Comparing tracks 1 and 3 versus 2, "The Rover", with Eddie Kramer's engineering, the sound difference is apparent. The kick drum is breathing...there's space around it, probably because he close mic'd it. Then he had his technique with Mitch Mitchell, which was more of a tight mic technique.

It would quite interesting if anyone out there has some photos or track setup sheets on what mic techniques were on the drums for this LP.

BTW, this LP is my fave Zep and my introduction to them as a 14 year old back in '75.

 

Web search yielded the following:

from a Guitar World mag. interview:
"We were working on another song in the front room of Headley Grange when a second drum set showed up. Rather than stop what we were doing, we told the people bringing it in to just set it up in the entrance hallway. The hall was massive, and in the middle of it was a staircase that went up three stories. Later Bonzo went out to test the kit and the sound was huge because the area was so cavernous. So we said,"We're not going to take the drums out of here!"

Andy Johns hung a couple of M160 microphones down from the second floor, compressed them, added some echo and compressed that as well, and that was all we needed. The acoustics of the stairwell happened to be so balanced that we didn't even need to mic the kick drum."

 

I've had a love hate relationship with this album over the years........that's actually a lie, I've never hated a Led Zeppelin album. But I have had mixed feelings that caused me not to listen to it for 3 years or so. I considered it to be a mixed bag of decent tunes mingled with some throw away fillers. I didn't appreciate the production or sound by any stretch, and refused to buy multiple copies of this album. I'm pretty sure I actually gave away my cassette and a Diament mastered cd during this dry spell. But those days are all in the past, and I'm here to proclaim that I have been reformed. I have come to love it's quirky track selection, and no longer consider any song "filler". I have also come to respect that raw, gritty sound that gives this album its own personality and character. What can I say? It just took me a while to recognize its greatness.

 

that was for the recording of Levee

 

That's right....in fact I just pulled up this on Tape Op Andy Johns: One Big Lovely Noise ..pretty good article too:

 

I saw the asking price for one of those very very rare Pye limiters that he used on that drum sound a few years ago.... 20k the dude wanted

 

....All that glitters is gold..... indeed .

 

This.

 

Its interesting that even back then, bands and engineers tried to replicate that drum sound all over england... but they didn't realise that you need Bonzo to get that sound

 

Good point. The Rover on HOTH would make it my favorite LZ album. Why oh why can't that guitar solo go on another couple of minutes?!?!

 

It pushes the limits of my tone controls. I had a monarch and then bought a classic. It's my least favorite (sound wise) from the 69-75 run.

 

That's interesting, I think it sounds the best out of all their records. Not sure what pressing mine is. it has the sash so you don't look at the naked alien wood elf forest sprite star children