Mothership -- 2 CD Set
Led Zeppelin
2007 Atlantic Records
Amazon.com
For years, as playlists and multidisc players put Led Zeppelin tracks into a mix, there was a perpetual need to adjust the volume when Zep came on. Their tunes languished in the haze of substandard remastering--until now, at least for the 24 tracks on Mothership and the final fullness of the new Song Remains the Same reissue. For its part, Mothership's crisper, warmer audio owes its heft to the troika of Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones, who helped oversee the mastering, bringing out untold shades even in the throes of "Heartbreaker" and the sinews of "No Quarter." It's an impressive sonic leap. Where tinny high-ends and muffled lows used to co-exist, fatter and louder depths prevail. It's ever more astonishing that Zep got on with just four blokes. You can quibble with the 24 tracks here (where's "The Ocean"?), but the band picked each track here, from the stone-cold locks ("Communication Breakdown" and "Stairway to Heaven," no, duh) to the robust throb of "When the Levee Breaks." As for "The Ocean," you can find that in fantastically full form, along with five other gems on the newly remastered Song Remains the Same, which shows up for 2007's holiday season on DVD, too. Only rarely have four lads from England made so memorable an auditory and visual blast. --Andrew Bartlett
Disc one
No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Good Times Bad Times" (from Led Zeppelin, 1969) John Bonham, John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page 2:48
2. "Communication Breakdown" (from Led Zeppelin, 1969) Bonham, Jones, Page 2:30
3. "Dazed and Confused" (from Led Zeppelin, 1969) Page 6:27
4. "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" (from Led Zeppelin, 1969) Anne Bredon, Page, Robert Plant 6:42
5. "Whole Lotta Love" (from Led Zeppelin II, 1969) Bonham, Jones, Page, Plant, Willie Dixon 5:34
6. "Ramble On" (from Led Zeppelin II, 1969) Page, Plant 4:24
7. "Heartbreaker" (from Led Zeppelin II, 1969) Bonham, Jones, Page, Plant 4:14
8. "Immigrant Song" (from Led Zeppelin III, 1970) Page, Plant 2:27
9. "Since I've Been Loving You" (from Led Zeppelin III, 1970) Jones, Page, Plant 7:24
10. "Rock and Roll" (from Led Zeppelin IV, 1971) Bonham, Jones, Page, Plant 3:41
11. "Black Dog" (from Led Zeppelin IV, 1971) Jones, Page, Plant 4:58
12. "When the Levee Breaks" (from Led Zeppelin IV, 1971) Bonham, Jones, Page, Plant, Memphis Minnie 7:10
13. "Stairway to Heaven" (from Led Zeppelin IV, 1971) Page, Plant 8:02
Disc two
No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "The Song Remains the Same" (from Houses of the Holy, 1973) Page, Plant 5:31
2. "Over the Hills and Far Away" (from Houses of the Holy, 1973) Page, Plant 4:50
3. "D'yer Mak'er" (from Houses of the Holy, 1973) Bonham, Jones, Page, Plant 4:23
4. "No Quarter" (from Houses of the Holy, 1973) Jones, Page, Plant 7:00
5. "Trampled Under Foot" (from Physical Graffiti, 1975) Jones, Page, Plant 5:36
6. "Houses of the Holy" (from Physical Graffiti, 1975) Page, Plant 4:03
7. "Kashmir" (from Physical Graffiti, 1975) Bonham, Page, Plant 8:31
8. "Nobody's Fault but Mine" (from Presence, 1976) Page, Plant 6:27
9. "Achilles Last Stand" (from Presence, 1976) Page, Plant 10:25
10. "In the Evening" (from In Through the Out Door, 1979) Jones, Page, Plant 6:51
11. "All My Love" (from In Through the Out Door, 1979) Jones, Plant 5:53
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