Led Zep - Houses of the Holy - German CD

anyone know anything about these?
they were manufactured in germany by record service gmbh, alsdorf
catalog number is: europe:250 014
which is also printed on the inside of the back cover
like the old german polydor discs.
most of the hoth discs i see have the europe 50014 catalog number.
an earlier pressing perhaps?
pre-target disc?
any info would be helpful.
thanks!

 

No, by make and date, it was later, but both the target CD and this one (along with the Atlantic discs with the red rim, same cat #no's) are clones of each other.

This disc isn't anything special really, except that WEA didn't use the color red ring on the edge like the Japanese, some German and other US older issues did.... That's all.

 

Leppo, this disc looks simply like a German pressing made after The Wall fell. It must have been released at a time when the corresponding US pressing was the one with red and black rings. What surprises me, however, is that the back insert has no barcode. Despite this, I doubt it is an early pressing.

 

Leppo,

I have a "similar" CD by YES (Classic Yes). The Number is 250 842. Same writing on disc, except there IS a red/black ring and a RED Atlantic LOGO. I recently picked it up (used, of course) because it looked interesting. The center of the disc is bright silver/aluminum in appearance. Is your Zep CD losing it's "center spindle area" plating like my Yes Cd is? It looks like yours might be the same (from you picture). It seems that fingerprints/handling causes the plating to deteriorate!

I am SURE this is an early pressing...as is yours! No barcode on back. No doubt, it came in a LONGBOX originally!

My "original" Houses Of The Holy (which I purchased NEW...way back when) was made by Victor in Japan, so I can't really tell you much. There were NOT as many CD plants back when these were made, though there are oddities out there. Total time is 41:02 on the Japan Victor, by the way!

 

pat,
yes the center spindle area is slightly deteriorating from fingerprints etc.
no barcode also makes believe this originally came in a longbox.
last night, i compared it to the usa wea red ring disc
and it is in fact the same mastering as i suspected.
imo, though sounds better than the remaster.
this just seems like an odd pressing to me.
i never see these unlike the red ring discs which are very common.
would like to get the new cd collecting guide.
thank you all for your comments.

 

The problem with these ??DuPont CDs was that the centre spindle hole was punched out through the aluminium layer after the disc was manufactured, leaving the aluminium layer exposed to air and caused slow degradation from that area inwards. The outer rim was protected from air. Most discs now available have a clear polycarbonate spindle hole, which is part of the manufacturing process, not punched out later.

 

On a somewhat related note, I passed up an early CRC version of Houses of the Holy this past weekend. The disc was not a target, but it was made in West Germany. It had the familiar red and black rings. It was an interesting disc, but unfortunately, it was in bad shape.