Customer Reviews

Early Days & Latter Days

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(28)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

This collection is okay. There is nothing wrong with the songs on this compilation; in fact, they are the best songs of Led Zeppelin's career and each one has amazing power and craftsmanship behind it. However, few Led Zeppelin fans remain casual, and what should you do if you want more?

As the other reviewers urge, I recommend shelling out the money for the box set. I own it, and it's a truly beautiful, remastered collection with 10 disks in sleek packaging, showing the masterful artwork and majesty of the original LPs. With bonus tracks and even a book included, it's well worth it. Led Zeppelin was essentially an album band, with the beautiful covers reflecting their titles and contents, contradictory to the age-old saying, "don't judge a book by its cover."

Led Zeppelin also did transitional material on some albums, like Your Time Is Gonna Come/Black Mountain Side on Led Zeppelin, the debut album. In these two songs, the chords of Your Time... resonate into Black Mountain Side, so it would be unthinkable to separate the two.

On Physical Graffiti, arguably the best album aside from IV, most of the songs are long. In fact, ALL Led Zeppelin songs are usually 4-8 minutes long, so how could you fit all the greats on two discs? The biggest dissapointment is 'forgetting' to include In My Time Of Dying, a 10.22 epic that I could not have become a fan without. And what about In The Light, also from PG, Jimmy Page's favorite song on his favorite album? Doesn't the band get any say in what their greatest hits are?

Still, I would recommend this to a Led Zeppelin novice, for it shows off the truly impressive songs without the frustration of
their listener meandering into a 10-minute song without knowledge or reassurance of its quality. I would also recommend BBC Sessions, perhaps even instead of this album and in addition to the box set, for it is their best live recording available, genuinely showing their stage behavior and mixing in old blues medleys, their roots, with classics.

Well I was actually glad that each individual cd got 3.5 star rating overall. Why- because I loved this set so much that I knew there albums are even better (as most people didn't like it because each Led Zeppelin album is its own thing). This is the first thing I bought of Led Zeppelin and right after I listened to the first disc I went right to the mall and bought the $120 COMPLETE STUDIO RECORDINGS set only like a day after I got this. That means beware people with no Led Zeppelin albums for if you buy this you'll want all there albums. You'll hear great guitar, vocals, drums, bass throughout the whole cd. You will be satisfied with this in all ways.

DISC 1-Early Days
1.Good Times Bad Times-(2:48)-10/10
2.Babe I'm gonna Leave You-(6:41)-10/10
3.Dazed and Confused-(6:27)-10/10
4.Communication Breakdown-(2:29)-10/10
5.Whole Lotta Love-(5:34)-10/10
6.What is and What Should Never Be-(4:44)-9/10
7.Immigrant Song-(2:25)-10/10
8.Since I've Been Loving You-(7:24)-9/10
9.Black Dog-(4:54)-10/10
10.Rock and Roll-(3:41)-10/10
11.The Battle of Evermore-(5:52)-9/10
12.When the Levee Breaks-(7:08)-10/10
13.Stairway to Heaven-(8:02)-10/10

DISC 2-Latter Days
1.The Song Remains the Same-(5:28)-10/10
2.No Quarter-(6:59)-10/10
3.Houses of the Holy-(4:01)-10/10
4.Trampled Underfoot-(5:35)-9/10
5.Kashmir-(8:31)-10/10
6.Ten Years Gone-(6:31)-9/10
7.Achilles Last Stand-(10:22)-10/10
8.Nobody's Fault But Mine-(6:27)-8/10
9.All My Love-(5:53)-10/10
10.In the Evening-(6:49)10/10

I recommend this to anyone who wants to get a great starter Led Zeppelin cd.

The Early Days, were the introduction to Led Zeppelin for me. The Latter Days came shortly after. The reason I say these two albums are great (especially the first of the two) is how well they introduced someone to the band. The Early Days, when I first got it, I realized every single song on the CD was an absolute masterpiece and within a week, Zeppelin had surpassed GNR on my favourite all-time band. The complete studio albums came soon after.

I understand why an older fan of Led Zeppelin would be disappointed with this; it misses a few major hits such as Ramble On, Heartbreaker, Over the Hills and Far Away, and The Rain Song (these songs could have still fit onto the two albums without passing the 80-minute CD limit). However, I find this almost a good thing, because it led me to not end up disappointed when getting their studio albums, realizing that there were even more masterpieces than just the ones on the greatest hits, for example: the ones listed above, Living Loving Maid, Tangerine, and all the remaining songs on the fourth album.

With such little new music as great as once was, it's becoming more necessary for younger music-listeners such as me, to look into classic rock like Zeppelin. There was no greater way than by getting the Early Days and the Latter Days.

And, how much better to have all the songs in their albums' order on a greatest hits compilation, yet to still have it end on the uncomparible Stairway to Heaven. Great job.

"Led Zeppelin" has numerous classic albums, and a few boxsets out, but this is actually the closest thing they have to a "Greatest Hits". Them being one of the best rock n' roll bands in history, means this is obviously the tip of the iceberg, but it's still a good introduction. Many of their best songs are included, like "Whole Lotta Love", "Immigrant Song", "Kashmir", and the infamous "Stairway To Heaven". Plus other favorites like "Dazed And Confused", "Black Dog", and "All My Love". So if you're looking for a 2-disc "Best Of", this is about it. It'll go great with your "Black Sabbath" and "Who" collections.

I wish I bought this package. I bought the CD's separate and paid twice as much. This collection covers Led Zeppelin through all 8 of their studio albums - a very balanced Best Of collection. One track from each album was the featured radio song from the album at the time of its release. Most people seem to call into question the lack of material from II - this album did receive more airplay than the others (more tracks on radio).
I give the set 5 stars mainly for the price. If you look up the 2 CD's separate you can view the track selection. Each CD also contains a video. You will need a computer and the program 'Quicktime' to view the videos. Because of the format the music tracks don't play on computer like most other music CD's. (I wonder if this is a feature to prevent copying.)

I would recommend the two-disc version of the remasters, since the song choice on this collection is pretty deficient. My other complaint is the short length of the CDs. Finally, virtually ALL of Led Zeppelin's music has stood the test of time, and so there is no reason to separate eras (for example, "D'yer Mak'er" from 1973 sounds very good alongside "Fool in the Rain" from 1979). Using all available 80 minutes, the following would be MY recommendation for best two-cd collection of the best of Led Zeppelin:

Disc One:
1. Whole Lotta Love
2. Immigrant Song
3. Misty Mountain Hop*
4. Heartbreaker*
5. Living Loving Maid*
6. Communications Breakdown
7. Rock and Roll
8. Houses of the Holy
9. Black Dog
10. Nobody's Fault But Mine
11. The Ocean*
12. Since I've Been Loving You
13. Dazed and Confused
14. In the Evening
15. Kashmir

Disc Two:
1. Stairway to Heaven
2. Babe I'm Gonna Leave You
3. Going to California*
4. Over the Hills and Far Away*
5. Hey Hey What Can I Do*
6. Your Time is Gonna Come*
7. Ten Years Gone
8. Ramble On*
9. Down by the Seaside*
10. What Is and What Should Never Be
11. Trampled Underfoot
12. Dancing Days*
13. D'yer Mak'er*
14. Fool in the Rain*
15. All My Love

This would be the most memorable three to five songs from every record (counting "Hey Hey What Can I Do" is a b-side from Led Zep III) except 'Presence', the band's undisputed low point - and the songs in this running order sound quite coherent.

i bought this when it first came out. it was my first zeppelin cd and i never looked back.the point is any hardcore fan is already gonna have all these tracks. this set was designed for the beginner or casual fan who is tring to get into zeppelin or just wants the a decent anthology of the hits. either way its a great set with plenty of good songs and i recommend it completely

In these days of ipods, everyone can program their own 2 hour Best of Led Zeppelin greatest hits collection, and probably very few would exactly match the songs Jimmy Page selected to be on here. The box set has 54 songs, all great, making the task of a more casual 2 CD greatest hits collection that much harder - no matter what, some great songs will be left off. So unless your song selections match these pretty closely, you might be on the fence about buying it. Just acknowledge any collection will not be what you would have done, and enjoy 23 great songs for a pretty cheap $14.99. I am especially impressed with the song selection on Latter Days. It is, to my mind, an almost perfect run of long, soaring, cinematic songs of unequalled power. Kashmir and Achilles Last Stand are as good as it gets. I also give Page credit for not ending it yet again with All My Love, a song I like but any LZ collection needs to end with a song with hammer of the gods mystical power, so In The Evening is much better. I use and abuse these in my walkman, keeping the box set safe at home.

I will start my review by saying that I agree with everyone else who says that a mere two disc compilation cannot properly cover all of Led Zeppelin's best work. I mean, they're only among the greatest bands who ever existed. However, there are some people interested in only owning one Led Zeppelin in their collection, and the 23 track "Early Days And Later Days" fits the bill nicely.

The tracks on this collection were selected by Jimmy Page, and include all the hits the casual fans are familliar with. "Whole Lotta Love" and "Stairway To Heaven" are obvious inclusions - I mean, "Stairway" is only the greatest song ever. Also on these cds are old standbys such as "Kashmir", "Rock And Roll", "Immigrant Song", "Dazed And Confused, "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" and "Black Dog", to name but a few of the timeless rock classics included on this cd.

As I said, this compilation is far from perfect. Neither one of the cds fills the 80 minute mark, which means there was probably enough room to at least include "Ramble On", "Heartbreaker" and maybe "In My Time Of Dying". But the booklets are filled with some amazing photos of the band in the action. Die hard fans already own all the albums and probably the boxed set, but if you're just starting to get into Zeppelin, than this is the perfect place to start.

I see a number of reviewers urging people to just get all the Zep albums on CD. There's nothing wrong with that. If you think you might like every note they ever recorded and you've got plenty of moola, then by all means, go for it! Hey, I was at that point back in my younger days. First, I collected all their albums on vinyl (many of them second hand, and already pretty worn). Then in the late '80s I caught the digital bug, and replaced them with the first run of CDs. In fact, my very first CD purchase when I bought my first player was LZ II. After awhile, though, I started realizing that the sound of these early CDs was rather hit and miss. Zep IV (Zoso) was, in my opinion, the worst offender with a somewhat muddy sound and a lower volume than the rest. When the 90's remasters came out, I liked what I heard, and carried out another full upgrade.

As I've gotten older, I'm finding that my tastes are changing slightly, and although I still enjoy listening to Zep on any given day, I've noticed that I tend to skip over certain songs when I listen to a full album. I've become rather picky in my "old age" (just for the record, I'm in my 40s). I've been purging quite a few CDs from my collection over the past few years, but every so often, I want to hear some Zep, but just mainly the highlights.

Some time ago, I purchased Mothership because the track lineup really appealed to me, and my local music shop had a hellova deal on it. I was blown away by the sound, but not in a good way. See, there's this trend with the music biz lately called the "loudness wars" (I'm not going to go into the details here; You can Google it or look it up on Wikipaedia), and sadly Mothership is a textbook example of that "maxed compression and volume" mastering. It just doesn't sound good to me.

So I was glad to find this set still available with a similar track lineup and the same exact mastering as the '90s remasters. Zep I is well represented here, with its four best songs, but unfortunately there are only two Zep II tracks, which is one reason I only give this set 4 stars. That's fine though, since I decided to hold on to my Zep II. There are no skip-worthy songs on that particular album anyway.

I was never a huge fan of Zep III, so there is no love lost over the fact that there are only two Zep III songs. Zep IV is well represented, although to be super-nitpicky, I would have put Misty Mountain Hop in place of The Battle of Evermore.

Disc two has a mere two songs from Houses of the Holy, another reason for not giving this a perfect rating. I've held on to my full "HotH" CD, so I'm still good there. The rest of Disc two flows well for me, as it does a fine job with the highlight songs from the mid to late '70s albums. It works well for me.

Bottom line: I highly recommend this set for anyone who is either just getting their first taste of Zep (you won't be disappointed), or anyone who, like me, is not in love with every song on every album they put out. And it sounds great to my ears.