Just played my CDN red label II again and it is dangerously close to the RL. Mid range being a bit more balanced, and Plants vocals being a bit less forward.
Thanks guys for your contribution. This confirms my first intuition. The price also does not seem to match the market. A near mint pressing is now trading above $ 500 I imagine? Maybe the seller thinks it is actually RL pressing, but he is wrong. I will write to him to ask him if there are the initials of Robert Ludwig in the dead wax?
Can’t chime in too comprehensively here but I will say my Classic III and RL HOTH are among the best sounding and most fun-to-listen-to records I own!
Hi Doc! That's what I was thinking too. Strange announcement. I asked the seller to post pictures of the matrix. We will see...?!
Did he advertise it as an RL? Yep, he sure did...liar liar pants on fire. Wide deadwax, wrong inner sleeve, and an N stamper letter...all the things the good people of this thread have already pointed out. I would date this pressing around 1971 or 72.
I highly, highly doubt it. It has close ups of the dead wax, but in none of those does he show the "RL" signature, despite touting it as "the great RL pressing!"
Correction on the date...if this is the correct inner sleeve it would need to be dated after July of 1972 (ELP Trilogy).
I'll agree with that for sure! The Classic III is the most detailed I've ever heard that album. I would add the Classic Presence to that as well.
I'm waiting for his answer. To be patient, a colleague lent me one of the first French pressings. These are quite famous because of the very cool "Super group" label. I wonder how that sounds? Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II
Sorry, I don’t know about the CD. I have the Classic III LP also and reckon the 2014 (or was it 2015) pips it for detail and vibe. Best I’ve heard it.
Hi guys, I received the seller's response four days ago now. So here is his answer: "Hi no rl in dead wax. " Since then, he still hasn't edit his ad ... but offered me a discount !?
Hi guys, I received the seller's response four days ago now. So here is his answer: "Hi no rl in dead wax. " Since then, he still hasn't edit his ad ... but offered me a discount !?
Sounds like he's holding out hope for a sucker. Not a bad strategy these days as there are plenty around these parts.
Not to go off topic but I of course have a huge Sabbath collection and the Attention (Vol. 1) is one of the most fantastic alive sounding Sabbath discs I own.
Yes. In my experience there are two basic types of Zep III masterings: a brighter, more detailed type of mastering, and a warmer, more rolled-off type of mastering. Examples of the brighter, more detailed presentation are the original UK Plum label LP (the famous A5/B5 pressing), the Classic Records reissue from the early 2000s, and the 2014 John Davis-mastered reissue CD and LP. Examples of the more rolled-off, warmer presentation are the famed red-label Canadian first-press LP, and the 1980s Barry Diamond-mastered CD. Personally I prefer the brighter presentation, and my favorite is the 2014 reissue, although the Classic and UK Plum are excellent too. (I know some here might be appalled that I would describe the original, all-analogue UK Plum as "excellent too" when they consider it axiomatic that the first press must sound better than the digital-cut reissue. To each their own - this is just my preference.) For the warmer presentation, the Canadian red label can't be beat. The Diament CD is a distant second in that department.
I think the classic records of LZ III gets the most controversial reviews. I heard some people like the In-grooves owner mike once said I and III are probably the best in their series, but many regards classic records III as the worst. Personally I like it very much, with tight clear bass and great clarity and details hardly to find in other pressings, and not that bright as some criticized as unlistenable. The acoustic parts of the album really benefits from the clean and quiet pressing. Wish to hear an original UK plum or Canadian TG pressings someday. As for classic records of LZ I, I found the early broadway AT/GP pressings easily beats it, it just rocks more. And it costs me half the price of the classic records.
Well it was an expensive Discogs weekend guys! I've ordered the following to supplement my ever growing Zeppelin collection: German 1/2 Ludwig of Zeppelin II- supposedly NM/NM for around $50 ships from Serbia??- hopefully I'll get it!! 1970 Spanish Zeppelin III HATS 421-56- this comes highly recommended on here so I'm gonna roll with it. Around $65 in VG+/VG+ (graded conservatively) I do love the warm fuzzy sound of my early US original though. 1977 Presswell Zeppelin II- again comes highly recommended on here so pretty much had to get it. I love the crushing in your face sound on the 2014 but I needed a better older one. I'm considering another Physical Graffiti although I do really like my early US version even with a bit of crackle here and there. I also might consider another Zeppelin I but the 1969 Club edition I have sounds truly fantastic. I'm not exactly sure how it could be improved on. I have the original US and Japanese versions of Presence and Song remains The Same that are really fantastic too so I think I'm set there.
It was probably answered somewhere in this long incredible thread but are the '69 and '73 German Zeppelin II one sided Ludwig's similar in sound quality? I bought the '73 version only to hear side one and what all the fuss is about so I'm hoping it's similar or the same. Cool that a few folks found the original RL cut for $10 in record stores by I myself don't really get out to used stores much and figured half the album for $50 is better than nothing at all!
I 100% support your position and have built a collection (mostly through Discogs) with pressings from all around the world. Many times what I've found is that there are certain ones that definitely go against the prevailing generalizations like "all vinyl pressed in Greece is crap or all Japanese vinyl is thin bright crap..." I've got a fantastic G 'n R Use Your Illusion from Greece, an excellent Aerosmith Get a Grip from Brazil, awesome Neil Young Time Fades Away from Spain and many great Japanese, South Korean, and German pressings. Mostly though I just like the experimentation factor, lol! Now I want a Canadian III, an Italian II, and a South African I, lol damn it!!!
Man I just got a '76 Pioneer Japanese IV in the mail and the price was right, it looks great, got the OBI, but no Japanese lyric sheet! The listing said it was there, but all I have is the Stairway inner that is in every copy the world over. I figured I might have to stick a US inner in there for completeness but I don't have any extra Japanese lyric sheets! For shame. This is a dark day. I will probably stick it in with the rest of the Japanese copies, be happy about the OBI and just pretend like I don't have a useless piece of incomplete garbage sitting on my shelf. Cognitive dissonance, it's what we do here! Anyone have an extra Japanese lyric sheet for IV?
