The Complete Studio Recordings [Box set][Original recording remastered]

First, unlike the 1990 4-disk box set and its 1993 2-disk supplement, you get the orignal records in the original running order, and unlike the orignal catalog releases in the 1980s, you get all the original artwork, which was previously unavailable. These original studio records include the following:
1. Led Zeppelin I (1969) - "Communications Breakdown", "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You", "Good Times Bad Times"
2. Led Zeppelin II (1969) - "Whole Lotta Love", "Thank You", "Ramble On", "Heartbreaker", "What Is and What Should Never Be"
3. Led Zeppelin III (1970) - "Immigrant Song", "Since I've Been Loving You", "Gallow's Pole"
4. "IV" (1971) - "Stairway to Heaven", "Rock and Roll", "Black Dog", "Going to California"
5. Houses of the Holy (1973) - "Over the Hills and Far Away", "Dancing Days", "D'yer Mak'er", "The Ocean"
6. Physical Graphitti (1975) (2CD) - "Kashmir", "Housses of the Holy", "Trampled Underfoot", "Black Country Woman"
7. Presence (1976) - "Nobody's Fault But Mine"
8. In Through the Out Door (1979) - "All My Love", "Fool in the Rain", "In the Evening"
9. Coda (1982) - "We're Gonna Groove", "I Can't Quit You Babe"

Second, on the 'Coda' disk (which was nothing more than a posthumous collection of unreleased tracks to begin with), you get four of the five nonalbum tracks released with the 1990 box set - "White Summer/Black Mountain Side", a semi-live track from 1969, "Traveling Riverside Blues" and "Baby Come Home", recorded between the first and second records, and the hit b-side "Hey Hey What Can I Do", orignially a b-side of "Immigrant Song", one of the few singles released by this quintessential AOR band. The only thing missing is the remixed version of "Moby Dick", which was included on the first 1990 box set, but which is hardly essential.

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THE MUSIC: Every true rock fan knows the greatness of Led Zeppelin. Every song and album is a gem, and is essential to any music collection. Everyone has heard songs such as "Whole Lotta Love," "Stairway to Heaven," "The Song Remains the Same," and "Kashmir," to name a few. There are also many not so well known great tracks here, including "Achilles Last Stand," "In My Time of Dying," "All My Love," "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp," and "Black Mountain Side," to name a few. Plus, with the album Coda, you get bonus tracks unavailable anywhere else unless you buy the other two box sets, including the non-LP B-side "Hey Hey What Can I Do," the outtake "Baby Come On Home," and the excellent songs recorded for the BBC "Travelling Riverside Blues" and "White Summer/Black Mountain Side." Once you buy one Zeppelin album, you will want to buy more, and more, and more (just ask anyone), so you may as well get it all and more now instead of buying all the albums separately and wishing you had just bought all of them this way and also gotten the great bonus tracks. Plus, though not in the short run but definitely in the long run, it is cheaper to buy all the albums this way than to buy them separately, and this way, you get more for less.

THE SOUND: Having heard two of the albums before Jimmy Page himself took control and remastered them, I know from personal experience that the new sound shows a difference between night and day. Before, they sounded like a lot of old, unremastered CDs do, dull, not enough volume, and need improvement. Here every single track from start to finish sounds so fresh, almost as if it were recorded quite recently. It shows that Jimmy Page really cares about the fans, as there are many under 21 who are discovering or will discover Led Zeppelin, and fans from the time upgrading their music collection to CD, and the sound should be as sharp and "current sounding" as possible. And here, Jimmy Page not only satisfied himself, but also satisfied CD buyers everywhere with the incredible sounds coming off of these 10 discs.

THE PACKAGING: The way this box set is packaged is excellent. What exactly is on the cover of the box, I do not know, but it is cool. The lid of the box set fold up and can be pushed in so you can access the CDs right from your shelf without having to take the box off the shelf and disassemble it, which is quite convenient. Inside there are five hardcover books, each housing 2 CDs. In order for the packaging to work, the Presence album is coupled with Houses of the Holy in order to give the double Physical Graffiti its own book. But that doesn't matter, you can listen to the CDs in any order you want. Each of the books contain graphics of the original vinyl packaging, such as the six different covers (front and back) from In Through the Out Door, the turning wheel from III, all the inner sleeves, everything is here. There is also a very entertaining booklet, filled with a biography and plenty of pictures.

If you like Led Zeppelin at all, this is the way to go. All the studio albums with graphics of the original vinyl and as originally sequenced. Please take my advice, if you like Led Zeppelin, invest your money and buy this set. If you have any hesitations at all, it is very likely that you have friends that like Led Zeppelin. Listen to their copies of the ablums and find out for yourself. Even if you have to make sure that the investment is worth it, you will not be disappointed in the end. This is sure to provide you enjoyment for a long time to come.

5/5

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Ok, so for Zeppelin fans that have all or most of the albums already this set is pretty much worthless. But, for someone with only two albums or someone who has lost all or most of their Zeppelin albums (me) this set is a godsend. It's almost worthless to review, because the content is well known and speaks for itself.

So then why should you buy this instead of individual albums? If you have just begun to get into the band, have liked a couple albums and want more, this set will save you money, because let's face it, you will end up with all or nearly all of these CD's anyway. The set costs significantly less than buying the albums seperately. With this set you get an interesting booklet about the band, as well as all the albums packaged nicely in a great looking, relatively small box.

The one minor, VERY minor downside to this set is that it doesn't include Zeppelins live album, The Song Remains the Same. Some people may expect this even though the title of the box is Complete STUDIO Recordings, since it was released back around the time of Physical Graffiti. It's a small incovenience that honestly I feel stupid complaining about.

In short, anyone thinking of buying this should. It will be a great investment that you will not ever regret.

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