Zeppelin on vinyl

#4 is a bit dry and always was, even on the original release from 1971. It's one case where (perish the thought) the remastered CD actually sounds a bit better (oh the horror).

Actually the original release of Zep 4, Atlantic SD-7208, is quite good.

However, the reissue Atlantic 191292, is markedly different. It sounds compressed and lean when compared to the first releases.

Go figure.

Sidenote, without question the best sonics from the first pressings of all Zep albums is Houses of the Holy which is a bit ironic because the material is quite weak.

Houses weak? No Quarter?

Yikes!

No Quarter is one song

Weak:
The Rain Song
The Crunge
D'yer Maker
Dancing Days
The Ocean

That's right, weak. The first 4 crush this junk. So do Physical Graffiti, Presence, and In Through the Out Door. There's a lemon in every group's discography and Houses of the Holy is Zep's pits. This was Zep's last album for Atlantic before forming their own label (Swan) and they mailed it in.

It is also the album that clearly shows the damage to Robert Plant's voice from all of the screaming. His range on this and succeeding works is much narrower.

strange, all this time I thought it was a great album too Stevecham....