What's a good mid level Led Zeppelin II pressing?

LED ZEPPELIN II spanish pressing 1981 mastering ALVEAR ( matrix A8 stamper 1.2/ B8 stamper 1.2 with a little wave ( Alvear's signature) side ONE :

LZIIALVEAR.wav


LED ZEPPELIN II spanish pressing 1981 mastering ALVEAR ( matrix A8 stamper 1.2/ B8 stamper 1.2 with a little wave ( Alvear's signature) side TWO :

LZIIALVEARsideTWO.wav

 

Hi Christophe ! I'm french too. I've listened the samples & i like the spanish press of LZ II. Is it this one ?

 

This one ?


Plus D'Images

Led Zeppelin ‎– Led Zeppelin II
Label:
Atlantic ‎– HATS 421-43
Format:
Vinyl, LP, Album
Pays:
Spain
Sortie:
1981
Genre:
Rock
Style:
Blues Rock

Tracklist
A1 Mucho Amor = Whole Lotta Love 5:33
A2 Que Es Y Que Es Lo Que Nunca Debe = What Is And What Should Never Be 4:47
A3 La Cancion Del Limon = The Lemon Song 6:20
A4 Gracias = Thank You 3:50
B1 El Rompecorazones = Heartbreaker 4:15
B2 Chica Enamorada = Living Loving Maid 2:40
B3 Wigue Paseando = Ramble On 4:35
B4 Moby Dick = Moby Dick 4:25
B5 Traemelo = Bring It On Home 4:19
Sociétés, etc.

• Distributed By – Hispavox, S.A.

Notes
Titles are in Spanish & English on both vinyl labels and sleeve. Red/Plum Atlantic labels.
Record comes in standard sleeve, not gatefold

 

Hello dear compatriot,

It seems to be the Spanish reissue but it's about whether the matrix are the right ones. Not an absolute certainty because I know that Alvear has cut this album several times. The ones I own are the A8 / B8 stampers 1.1 / 1.2 or 1.2 / 1.2. I can only talk about the ones I know. The best is to ask the seller.

 

Thank you. I'm going to ask the seller.

 

[QUOTE = "patel kismet, post: 21999872, membre: 68214"] Merci. Je vais demander au vendeur. [/ DEVIS]

La merveilleuse réédition espagnole n'est pas vraiment un bon pressage, c'est plutôt un pressage exceptionnel ! À mon humble avis.

 

Oh oui ! je m'en suis aperçu à l'écoute des samples. Ce n'est pas aussi percutant que le RL, mais c'est à ma connaissance, le meilleur des autres. J'ai contacté le vendeur espagnol (Vinyl room) hier à propos de la matrice , et pas de réponse pour le moment. Il me semble qu'Alvear a aussi pressé le III, et que vous l'avez, non ?

 

[QUOTE = "patel kismet, post: 22001856, membre: 68214"] Oh oui! je m'en suis aperçu à l'écoute des échantillons. Ce n'est pas aussi percutant que le RL, mais c'est à ma connaissance, le meilleur des autres. J'ai contacté le vendeur espagnol (Vinyl room) hier à propos de la matrice, et pas de réponse pour le moment. Il me semble qu'Alvear a aussi pressé le III, et que vous l'ayez déjà, non? [/ QUOTE]

Je te réponds en français.

Bonjour cher compatriote,

Merci pour ton intérêt. Je profite donc de ma pause pour te répondre rapidement. Pour le vendeur Vinyl room, insiste, mais je doute qu'il te réponde ! J'ai déjà eu affaire à lui. Au pire, j'essaierai de te trouver une copie. Sinon, dès que rentrerai de mon travail, je posterai davantage d'informations sur les pressages espagnols dans ce thread :

RL (allemand) pressage de Led Zeppelin ll

J'ai posté un lien pour télécharger le needledrop de la première presse espagnole. Je reprends mon travail !

 

Hello dear compatriot,

I also doubt that this seller would respond ... never mind. I've found this spanish copy (Hispavox , not dated). Could this copy be an Alvear cut, according to the matrix in the dead wax ? (see photo)

 

Hm ... B side actually has Alvear's signature. But what about the A side? A6? Another lacque? What's more, I do not know this matrix B6. I think it should be good ... but I can only comment on his work that I know exactly. In this case the matrices A8 B8 with 2 different stampers on the side A. Apparently there is a pressing A7 / B7 and probably an A9 / B9. But I never saw them. In any case since I'm interested in Spanish pressing. Alvear pressings are quite rare but for the Led Zeppelin ll, the A8 / B8 seems the most popular (the best?) Because I saw it a few times on the Net. With the first presses released before 1976 (A2 / B2 and A5 / B4 stamped machine. Alvear?). The Spanish market is much smaller than the US market! Have you contacted other Spanish sellers on Discogs? Have you tried on Ebay.es?

 

For the existence of à Zeppelin lll pressing remastered by Alvear the case is complicated! I need to talk to you about David Bowie about it! Give me a little time to prepare some pictures. You will understand...

 

I will try to answer you ... as far as possible! A Hispavox pressing seems to have been released the same year as the Led Zeppelin ll Alvear. At least if I refer to the date at the bottom of the inner sleeve. Assuming it is a dating system !?

 

Led Zeppelin lll spanish pressing. 1981? B side. There is at the end of the matrix a kind of signature. Is this another Alvear signature?

 

You're a busy guy, seems you taking over all of the Zep pressing threads!

 

I had already seen this signature on a David Bowie pressing (Hunky Dory 1983) ... RCA Label?!

 

Now, was Alvear an engineer working for different labels? It is not impossible. How does this pressing sound? Decent but not great. The stereophonic space looks like a globe and it sounds very punchy. These clues might believe that it is an Alvear cut but others not! Curiously the cut is not very strong. It sounds very congested, a little confused. Already that the master is not great! It looks almost like a good mono mix! Not a foldown! But precisely Led Zeppelin lll especially needs a lot of depth, air and dynamics to bring out his poetry! That's what the first Spanish press does!

 

Led Zeppelin lll spanish pressing 1981?

 

Led Zeppelin lll. First Spanish pressing A5 / B3. 1970. Although the graphics do not summarize everything, in this case it is quite revealing. It has a wonderful three-dimensional image, great dynamics. A lot of air which gives more relief to the instrumentation. The good test is the banjo line on the song Gallow's pole. Super slam too on this title! The other pressings I listened to were good but there is one thing too much or not enough. My Piros Monarch lacks a bit of body and seems to have been remastered in a very audiophile optics. My fifth Italian pressing sounded great with a lot of material in the slam but lacked a bit of air and depth. My late 1980s German / French reissue was a little too clean, removing the rustic magic of recording. This one had a nice background but the bass drooled a little. I heard a needledrop from a Canadian TG. I was not entirely convinced. The treatment erased the residual bitterness but some choices of mastering, doped with testosterone blurred the nuances on the acoustic titles. I hope to pick up soon a nice copy of the first UK pressing credit Peter Grant.

 

Sorry ... but I try to contribute! Yes I always had a tendency to disperse, my mother tells me all the time! I dissect the Spanish market for my compatriot from the island of Reunion and then I attack the UK market! I have big gaps there!

 

No worries, just noticed you were very active. Appreciate your enthuasim!

 

An interesting clue. The number "1+." determines the first stamper (machine). Here, "House of the holy", probably the first Spanish pressing (1973).

 

Now two records cut by Alvear ( AC/DC Let there be rock puis Back in black ). It uses the same identification protocol for stampers but hand-engraved. So not an absolute certainty but a high probability that the first machine-stamped presses are Alvear cuts !

 

Stamper 1-2 from Led Zeppelin lV cut by Alvear.



His own signature (the first name or the name?) That I discovered on the Creedence clearwater revival series (sounds even better than the ORC serie, already very very good!). The series cut by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray is a must have !

 

His most common signature ... a little wave.



But sometimes no signature! No Alvear! No small wave ... but the sound signature is there! The best pressing I've heard ( here in Europe) ... with the awesome RL US of course.



Another Spanish pressing of Let there be rock. Same similarities as the Back in Black. But Side B has a small wave engraved by hand.

 

I thought a little bit of Spanish freshness would do good on the forum!