I 100% agree with both of these statements. It takes strong willpower to say no to these kinds of gigs, but overall, it's better for everyone if they just let the legacy of Led Zeppelin remain as-is. I like this post by Bob Lefsetz (from 2008!) on the issue: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.p...plant-says-no/

For Plant, the band died when Bonham did. There was no replacing him. I totally respect Zep for not going on with a replacement for him like other bands do when members die or quit.

Altho there are those who think the band would have sounded like Plant's first solo album had he lived - based on the direction their music was going after their In Thru The Out Door album.

Led Zeppelin to Reissue First 3 LPs With Unreleased Songs

"The material on the companion discs presents a portal to the time of the recording of Led Zeppelin," Jimmy Page says


As Led Zeppelin once promised, the song remains the same – but this time they're throwing in a few extras. This summer, the group is reissuing their first three albums as deluxe editions packed with previously unreleased goodies.

It's the first installment in what the band describes as an "extensive reissue program" of its nine studio albums that have been remastered by guitarist and producer Jimmy Page. Moreover, each record will come out as a single-disc remastered album or as a "Deluxe Edition" with a bonus disc of previously unreleased studio and live tracks that the group recorded around the time of the album. The new versions of Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin II and Led Zeppelin III will all hit stores on June 3rd.

The albums will each be available in a variety of formats, including single CD, two-disc deluxe edition, single LP on 180-gram vinyl (with a sleeve that replicates the original Led Zeppelin III moving wheel), deluxe-edition vinyl and digital download. The group is also putting out a limited-edition "Super Deluxe Boxed Set" of each album that includes all of the audio on CD and vinyl, as well as a high-definition audio download card, a hard-bound book containing rare and previously unseen photos and memorabilia and a high-quality print of the album cover, the first 30,000 of which will be numbered. The Super Deluxe edition of Led Zeppelin will also contain a replica of the band's original Atlantic press kit.

"The material on the companion discs presents a portal to the time of the recording of Led Zeppelin," Page said in a statement. "It is a selection of work in progress with rough mixes, backing tracks, alternate versions and new material recorded at the time."

The deluxe edition of the group's 1969 debut, Led Zeppelin, will feature a concert recording of the group's October 10th, 1969, gig at the Olympia in Paris. The nine-song set list included seven cuts from the album, along with two songs the band would put out on Led Zeppelin II later that month, "Heartbreaker" and "Moby Dick." The group performed a 15-minute version of "Dazed and Confused" at that concert.
Courtesy of Swan Song/Atlantic

Led Zeppelin wrote much of their second record while on the road, and they put it out nine months after the release of their debut. The bonus disc for the deluxe edition of Led Zeppelin II includes alternate mixes of five songs that made it onto the album, one that didn't (the previously unreleased "La La") and the backing tracks for "Thank You" and "Living Loving Maid (She's Just a Woman)".

Almost exactly one year after the release of their second album, the band released Led Zeppelin III, with the record's deluxe edition featuring seven studio outtakes of album tracks alongside three never-before-released tracks: an instrumental precursor to "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp" called "Jennings Farm Blues," an instrumental version of "Out on the Tiles" dubbed "Bathroom Sound" and the blues medley "Keys to the Highway/Trouble in Mind."

Page first announced that he had been working on the reissues in November 2012. He told Rolling Stone at the time that, in addition to treating his fans to new "sonic and visual thrills," his goal with the reissues was to make them sound better. "The catalog was last remastered 20 years ago," he said. "That's a long time. Everything is being transferred from analog to a higher-resolution digital format. That's one of the problems with the Zeppelin stuff. It sounds ridiculous on MP3. You can't hear what's there properly."

Late last year, frontman Robert Plant told the BBC that he had discovered some tapes that featured, among other things, some contributions by another vocalist: bassist John Paul Jones. "So far, he's going to give me two cars and a greenhouse not to get 'em on the album," he said with a laugh. "Oh, John . . . you can't wait to hear yourself singing all over the world." He did not say which recordings feature Jones' vocals.

Last month, Page announced via his website that the reissues would come out this year. In addition to the Led Zeppelin albums, Page also said that he would be releasing "some of my own material from the archives," but has yet to detail those releases.

Here are the track lists for each of the bonus discs available in the deluxe editions of the albums:

Led Zeppelin Deluxe Edition Bonus Disc:

All tracks recorded live at the Olympia in Paris on October 10, 1969

1. "Good Times Bad Times/Communication Breakdown"
2. "I Can't Quit You Baby"
3. "Heartbreaker"
4. "Dazed And Confused"
5. "White Summer/Black Mountain Side"
6. "You Shook Me"
7. "Moby Dick"
8. "How Many More Times"

Led Zeppelin II Deluxe Edition Bonus Disc:

1. "Whole Lotta Love"
2. "What Is And What Should Never Be"
3. "Thank You"
4. "Heartbreaker"
5. "Living Loving Maid (She's Just A Woman)"
6. "Ramble On"
7. "Moby Dick"
8. "La La"

Led Zeppelin III Deluxe Edition Bonus Disc:

1. "The Immigrant Song"
2. "Friends"
3. "Celebration Day"
4. "Since I've Been Loving You"
5. "Bathroom Sound"
6. "Gallows Pole"
7. "That's The Way"
8. "Jennings Farm Blues"
9. "Keys To The Highway/Trouble In Mind"

I bought the Mastered For iTunes Studio Album collection for Zep and they sound amazing at 256 so I can only imagine how great the CDs will sound. I pre-ordered the first 3 double CD sets.

Wonder how II will sound. that album has always sounded rough

I love zeppelin and I have the first 6 albums from the 94' remasters which I think sound pretty good. I'm on the fence about these reissues. I don't get what the contents of the 2nd discs for Zeppelin II & III are. They can't be from the same live 1969 Olympia show.

Quoted from the press release above:

Chances of these being brickwalled to hell?

Zero interest. I have the 90s remasters which sound great and those bonus tracks are worthless.

Meh. I have enough Zeppelin! Though those deluxe boxed sets look really nice, I've never bought any of those things because they're expensive as hell and take up a lot of space.

I am a bit pissed that the Deluxe editions are still expensive and we don't even get a scarf or some marbles

Enough Zeppelin?

They broke up 34 years ago and have released a single album worth of unreleased material and three* live albums. Since the year The Empire Strikes Back came out. Since Jimmy Carter was president. 11 unreleased non-album tracks and three live albums in Chingy's entire lifetime.

So I reject your "enough Zeppelin" hypothesis.

And in defense of these expensive Super Deluxe Editions, the high-res audio is the only media that is exclusive to them, and that's assuming it's exclusive in the first place. Right now you can go and order the 2-CD sets and the vinyl for very reasonable prices on Amazon. There are far more egregious examples of substantial and desirable content being withheld for these things and in this case I give them credit for pretty much making the ridiculous presentation optional.

I actually kinda like the Super Deluxe presentation but there's no way around that sticker shock, especially considering there will obviously be two more waves. I have two orders standing with Amazon and I'll decide which one I'll keep closer to the release.

*i forgot about the reconfigured The Song Remains the Same. But still.

True, and they are still better than 98% of the crap that is called music that comes out today. I will take two discs of Jimmy Page tuning his guitars over a new U2 or Coldplay album.

If U2 or Coldplay is your idea of today's music, then no wonder you think Zeppelin is better.

And let's face it, even though Zeppelin haven't released a large amount of material since they broke up, they're still completely over saturated in the classic rock market.

I'm not saying they can't release these editions. I'm not saying people shouldn't buy these editions. But other than "Since I've Been Loving You" and "How Many More Times", I would be fine never hearing another Zeppelin song again in my life.

Those damn youngsters U2 and their 34-year-old debut album!

I'm hoping those extra tracks become avaiable as MP3's on Amazon. I'd rather just download them - then shell out a bunch of money just to have maybe 2-3 "extra" songs. The unreleased ones - "La La" and "Keys to the Highway" are the only ones I'm really wanting. I have all the rest of their albums - plus other rare things!

I can't wait for the remaster of Carouselambra!

I have the albums on vinyl, the "crop circles" boxed set, and the "complete studio recordings" boxed set.

That's enough for me.

But unfortunately Page is pretty much deaf. Meaning anything he remasters will be LOUD.

If I'm understanding this correctly, the only way to get the hi-res versions of these albums is via the digital download link which is from a card that comes with the Super Deluxe Editions @ $120 each. We don't even know the sample rate. Celebration Day is available at 48kHz/24bit. I don't want vinyl or CD's. I just want the hi-res files and I would like them at a sample rate of at least 96kHz/24bit. Ideally, they could release these on a Blu-ray disc so we could also get a nice booklet and buy it in a store but downloading the files, including artwork, is the next best thing and they would be a lot cheaper that way ($20).

Unlikely.

People like you love to go to this card. 98% really? I'm pretty positive there is more than 2% of music that isn't crap that comes out today but I'll let you live in your own delusional world(Lord knows where that is) with this line of thinking.

LOL

I wished they put out a live version of Your Time is Gonna Come on one of those live discs in the reissues.

Extremely likely

Based on what? This isn't _insert most any band here_

The original box set might be the quietest discs that I own. Even by the standards of cds of that time. Now will they be louder than that? Likely.

Will they by loud. Unlikely.

I would be shocked if they were so careless.