timtirelli

ITALIAN / ENGLISH

Led Zeppelin ‘IV’

ORIGINAL ALBUM – LZ FAN: TTTTT+

ORIGINAL ALBUM – CASUAL FAN: TTTTT

 BONUS DISC – LZ FAN: TT

BONUS DISC – CASUAL FAN: T

PACKAGING: TTTTT

◊  ◊  ◊  ◊  ◊

Led Zeppelin ‘IV’
1. ‘Black Dog’
2. ‘Rock and Roll’
3. ‘The Battle of Evermore’
4. ‘Stairway to Heaven’
5. ‘Misty Mountain Hop’
6. ‘Four Sticks’
7. ‘Going to California’
8. ‘When the Levee Breaks’

Che dire di LED ZEPPELIN IV? E’ senza dubbio il disco Rock più venduto di tutti i tempi, se per Rock intendiamo la musica che amiamo e di cui parliamo qui sul blog, quella profonda aria sonora che ci spinge negli abissi un momento per poi catapultarci l’attimo dopo negli spazi siderali. Nell’agosto del 2011, l’amico Picca mi spedì un sms mentre, al mare, stava ascoltandoselo per la milionesima volta:

Sms di Picca:

“Ho riascoltato tutto LZ IV in cuffia. Incredibile come ci sia stata un’epoca in cui si vendevano milioni di copie di un lp con un blues in 5/8 (se non sbaglio), un duetto celtico, un rock and roll semi improvvisato, un poliritmo indianeggiante, una ballata chitarra e voce, un roccaccio quasi dissonante, un ipnosi blues circolare in slide e STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN. La gente non lo sapeva, ma era fighissima.”

(Per quei  tre o quattro che non hanno questo disco: blues in 5/8 (se non sbaglio) – BLACK DOG /un duetto celtico – THE BATTLE OF EVERMORE / un rock  and roll semi improvvisato –  ROCK AND ROLL, /un poliritmo indianeggiante – FOUR STICKS / una ballata chitarra e voce – GOING TO CA/un roccaccio quasi dissonante – MISTY MOUNTAIN HOP / un ipnosi blues circolare in slide –  WHEN THE LEVEE BREAKS).

Per anni i casual fan hanno ritenuto la side B l’aspetto negativo dell’album, ma a tanti anni di distanza sono proprio le stranezze del lato B a mantenere vivo, fresco ed eccitante il disco. Certo, LZ IV è l’album di quattro classicissimi dei LZ e dunque del Rock: il superbo hard rock inglese di BLACK DOG e ROCK AND ROLL, il dolcissimo momento acustico di GOING TO CALIFORNIA e “il pezzo” … STAIRWAY TO HEAVE,; ma poi emergono i ricami acustici dell’antica Britannia di THE BATTLE OF EVERMORE, le asprezze quasi disarmoniche del bell’hard rock di MISTY MOUNTAIN HOP, le suggestioni arabe-indiane-orientali di FOUR STICKS e il greve pulsare ostinato dell’heavy blues di WHEN THE LEVEE BREAKS.

LED ZEPPELIN IV è arrivato a vendere 23 milioni di copie negli USA, 2 ml in Canada, 1,8 ml in UK, 1 ml in Francia e così via. In ITALIA nel 1972 arrivo al 2° posto risultando il 17esimo album più venduto dell’anno.

Companion Audio Disc
1. ‘Black Dog’ (basic track with guitar overdubs)
2. ‘Rock and Roll’ (alternate mix)
3. ‘The Battle of Evermore’ (mandolin/guitar mix from Headley Grange)
4. ‘Stairway to Heaven’ (Sunset Sound mix)
5. ‘Misty Mountain Hop’ (alternate mix)
6. ‘Four Sticks’ (alternate mix)
7. ‘Going to California’ (mandolin/guitar mix)
8. ‘When the Levee Breaks’ (alternate UK mix)

Sembra quasi che questo materiale alternativo (o parte di esso) sia stato fatto oggi e che non siano quindi registrazioni originali dell’epoca, come se PAGE volesse giustificare la nuova rimasterizzazione del catalogo includendo un po’ di cose in più, ma senza svelare ciò che in realtà avvenne in studio in quegli anni.

BLACK DOG ha qualche vocalizzo in più alla fine e non ha l’assolo, sfido chiunque a trovare le differenze tra questa ROCK AND ROLL e quella originale; TBOE è il semplice mix di chitarra e mandolino, STAIRWAY ha qualche sfumatura diversa nel finale: il secondo riff di chitarra che è presente in tutti i giri della sezione hard rock del cantato e la chitarra che cesella la chiusura. Per MISTY MOUNTAIN e FOUR STICKS vale quanto detto per ROCK AND ROLL. WHEN THE LEVEE BREAKS ha il missaggio alternativo e, pur essendo una minuzia, è interessante. Potente, con gli equilibri diversi.

‘Houses of the Holy’

ORIGINAL ALBUM – LZ FAN: TTTTT

ORIGINAL ALBUM – CASUAL FAN: TTTT

 BONUS DISC – LZ FAN: TT½

BONUS DISC – CASUAL FAN: TT

PACKAGING: TTTTT

 ◊  ◊  ◊  ◊  ◊

‘Houses of the Holy’
1. ‘The Song Remains the Same’
2. ‘The Rain Song’
3. ‘Over The Hills and Far Away’
4. ‘The Crunge’
5. ‘Dancing Days’
6. ‘D’yer Mak’er’
7. ‘No Quarter’
8. ‘The Ocean’

Di HOUSES OF THE HOLY abbiamo parlato dettagliatamente in un post dell’agosto del 2012, inutile ripeterci dunque. Qui il link per chi fosse interessato a rileggere le mie riflessioni:

RILETTURE: LED ZEPPELIN “Houses Of The Holy” (Atlantic 1973) – TTTTT

Companion Audio Disc
1. ‘The Song Remains the Same’ (guitar overdub reference mix)
2. ‘The Rain Song’ (mix minus piano)
3. ‘Over The Hills and Far Away’ (guitar mix backing track)
4. ‘The Crunge’ (rough mix; keys up)
5. ‘Dancing Days’ (rough mix with vocal)
6. ‘No Quarter’ (rough mix with JPJ keyboard overdubs; no vocal)
7. ‘The Ocean’ (working mix)

Forse è TSRTS l’unica cosa di un certo interesse di queste due nuove uscite, la versione è quella senza la voce e con la chitarra solista che conduce le danze in tutte le parti del pezzo. THE RAIN SONG, THE CRUNGE, DANCING DAYS e THE OCEAN spostano di pochissimo gli accenti mentre OVER THE HILLS nel finale sfuma mentre il riff acustico iniziale torna (malamente) nel mix. NO QUARTER è un rough mix senza voce e assolo di chitarra, quello che colpisce è la batteria di BONHAM che qui sembra ancor più efficace.

CONSIDERAZIONE FINALE:

Nulla di davvero interessante dunque nei companion disc, e per l’ennesima volta mi chiedo dove siano finiti quegli 11 inediti esistenti del periodo 1971/75. Mi chiedo anche a che pro mettere in piedi un trambusto del genere per una semplice nuova rimasterizzazione (pur molto buona) di dischi storici vista la pochezza del materiale bonus. Il fatto è che se JIMMY PAGE delude dei fan come Tim Tirelli e tanti altri come lui (non faccio nomi per non comprometterne eventuali buoni uffici, ma sono tutti nomi pesantissimi) la cosa (dal suo punto di vista) è preoccupante. Il problema è che PAGE sembra circondato solo da “yes men”: discografici, ingegneri del suono, giornalisti, amici, fan … tutti non riescono a dirgli le cose come stanno, tutti sono terrorizzati al solo pensiero di fare con lui anche una piccola considerazione che sia aderente alla realtà, perchè basta quello per essere tagliati fuori. Capisco che avere entrature con tipi come JIMMY PAGE possa essere elettrizzante, ma ogni tanto nella vita occorre avere onestà intellettuale.

In una recentissima intervista a PAGE qualcuno gli chiede delle bonus tracks:

Going through the bonus tracks…
They’re not “bonus tracks!” The idea of the companion volumes is to get away from the idea of “bonus tracks.” And to have something that is actually in the reflection of, or the shadow of, the original album. You get running orders that are very similar to the original album. So it’s nothing like a “bonus” thing at all. As far as something like “Stairway” goes, the whole perspective of the mix is quite different. It has an audio “3D” quality to it, which is quite different to the main version. There’s a version of “When the Levee Breaks,” which was mixed in London on the companion disc, and the harmonica is totally different from the version that was done at Sunset Sound, on the version that everyone knows. I’m really proud of that mix, because it’s so dense and it’s ominous and it’s cool.

Ecco, da qui si capisce che JIMMY PAGE ha perso la bussola, lui stesso dice che con i companion volumes l’idea era di allontanarsi dal concetto di bonus track e di avere qualcosa che fosse il riflesso dell’album originale. Vi sembra una mossa vincente? La quasi totalità dei LZ fan con un po’ di carattere è rimasta delusissima da questa campagna di ristampe, la grandissima maggioranza dei casual fan è assolutamente indifferente. Quello che vende (ma ancora per quanto) è il brand LED ZEPPELIN,e dunque PAGE è molto fortunato, non fosse così si dovrebbe porre qualche domanda e proporre qualcosa di sostanzioso quando ripubblica il catalogo. Non si risolverà mai nulla, JIMMY PAGE vive nella sua torre d’avorio circondato solo da servitù.

Io dovrò lottare fino alla fine per resistere al riflesso compulsivo ossessivo di comprare queste altre due super deluxe edition (al momento le ho solo scaricate), dovessi fallire qualcuno avrà misericordia di me, dopotutto sono un fan dei LZ fino al midollo, ma ripeto, che uno come me abbia questi sentimenti fortemente contrastanti è di per sé un segnale negativo per questa operazione.

◊ ◊ ◊

(broken) ENGLISH

Led Zeppelin ‘IV’

What about Led Zeppelin IV? It is ‘undoubtedly the best-selling hard rock of all time, if we considre rock the music we love and we are talking about here on the blog, that deep sonrous air that push us into the abyss for a moment then the next moment catapult us thru’ sidereal depths. In August 2011, the Pike boy sent me a text message while at sea, he was by listening for the millionth time the fourth of the LZ, he wrote:

“I have listened to LZ IV  with headphones. Amazing how there was a time when you were selling millions of copies of an LP with a blues in 5/8 (if not mistaken), a Celtic duet Cel, a semi-improvised rock and roll, a indian polyrhythm, a ballad with just guitar voice, an almost dissonant rocker, a circular slide blues hypnosis and STAIRWAY tO HEAVEN. People did not knew it, but it was so cool. “

(For those three or four that do not have this record: blues in 5/8 (if not mistaken) – BLACK DOG / a Celtic duet – THE BATTLE OF EVERMORE / a semi-improvised rock and roll – ROCK AND ROLL / a indian polyrhythm  – FOUR STICKS / a ballad  with just guitar and vocals – GOING TO CA / an almost dissonant rocker – MISTY MOUNTAIN HOP / a hypnosis blues circular slide – WHEN THE LEVEE BREAKS).

For years, casual fans have felt the side B as the negative factor of the album, but many years later it is the strangeness of the B-side to keep alive, fresh and exciting this disc. Sure, LZ IV is the album of four very classic pieces of LZ (and Rock music in general): the superb British hard rock of BLACK DOG and ROCK AND ROLL, the acoustic sweetest moment of  GOING TO CALIFORNIA and the “piece” itself … STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN ; but then it shows the acoustic embroidery of ancient Britain with THE BATTLE OF EVERMORE, the harshness of the almost discordant hard rock with MISTY MOUNTAIN HOP, Arab-Indian-eastern impressions with FOUR STICKS and the heavy beat stubborn of the heavy blues with WHEN THE LEVEE BREAKS.

LED ZEPPELIN IV has come to sell 23 million copies in the US, 2 ml in Canada, 1.8 ml in the UK, 1 ml in France and so on. In Italy it reached the 2nd place in the chart making it the 17th best selling album of 1972.

Led Zeppelin ‘IV’ COMPANION DISC

It almost seems that part of this bonus material has been made today and that it does not come from original recordings of the time, as if PAGE wanted to justify the new remastering of the LZ catalog including some little more things, but without revealing too much of what actually took place in the studio at the time.

BLACK DOG has some extra vocals onto the end and does not have the solo, I challenge anyone to find the differences between this and the original ROCK AND ROLL; TBOE is a simple mix of guitar and mandolin, STAIRWAY has some different shade in the final section: the guitar riff that is present in all the verses of the hard rock part of the song, and the guitar that chisels the ending. For MISTY MOUNTAIN and FOUR STICKS is valid what I wrote for ROCK AND ROLL. WHEN THE LEVEE BREAKS has the UK alternate mix and, though a trifle, it is interesting. Powerful, with different equilibrium.

‘Houses of the Holy’

We talked about HOTH in detail in a post in August of 2012, therefore, It’s unnecessary to repeat. Here is a link for those interested to read my thoughts:

RILETTURE: LED ZEPPELIN “Houses Of The Holy” (Atlantic 1973) – TTTTT

‘Houses of the Holy’ COMPANION DISC

Maybe TSRTS it’s the only thing of some interest to these two new releases, the version is the one without the voice and with the guitar that leads the dance in all parts of the piece. THE RAIN SONG, THE CRUNGE, DANCING DAYS and THE OCEAN move slightly the accents while OVER THE HILLS fades out while the acoustic initial riffs returns (poorly) in the mix. NO QUARTER is a rough mix without vocals and guitar solo, what is striking is that BONHAM here seems even more effective.

FINAL CONSIDERATION:

Nothing really interesting, therefore, in the companion discs, and once again I wonder where are those 11 inedits from the period 1971/75 . I also wonder if it is worth setting up such a fuss like this for just a new remastering (though very good) of the original albums given precisely the paucity of the bonus material. The fact is that if JIMMY PAGE is disappointing fans like Tim Tirelli and many others like him (I do not do names, it may deteriorate any good offices, but they are all very heavy names) the thing (from his point of view) is worrying. The problem is that it seems JIMMY PAGE is only surrounded by “yes men”: label people, sound engineers, journalists, friends, fans … all fail to tell it like it is, everyone is terrified to speak out, because if you do you are out of his inner circle. I understand that having good connection with guys like JIMMY PAGE can be exciting, but sometimes in life you must have intellectual honesty.

In a recent interview somebody asked PAGE about the bonus tracks:

Q: Going through the bonus tracks…
A: They’re not “bonus tracks!” The idea of the companion volumes is to get away from the idea of “bonus tracks.” And to have something that is actually in the reflection of, or the shadow of, the original album. You get running orders that are very similar to the original album. So it’s nothing like a “bonus” thing at all. As far as something like “Stairway” goes, the whole perspective of the mix is quite different. It has an audio “3D” quality to it, which is quite different to the main version. There’s a version of “When the Levee Breaks,” which was mixed in London on the companion disc, and the harmonica is totally different from the version that was done at Sunset Sound, on the version that everyone knows. I’m really proud of that mix, because it’s so dense and it’s ominous and it’s cool.

See, here we understood that JIMMY PAGE has lost the plot, he says that with the companion volumes, the idea was to move away from the concept of bonus tracks and have something that was a reflection of the original album. Sounds like a winning move? Almost all of the LZ fans with a little ‘character has been very disappointed by this campaign of reissues, the overwhelming majority of the casual fan is totally indifferent. What sells (but it will not last forever) is the brand “LED ZEPPELIN”, PAGE therefore is very lucky, it was not so questions must clearly be asked about and offer something substantial when republishing the catalog. You do not solve anything anyway, JIMMY PAGE lives in his ivory tower surrounded only by servants.

I’ll have to fight to the end to resist the obsessive-compulsive disorder to buy these two super deluxe editions  (I just downloaded them), if I fail someone will take pity on me, after all I’m a fan to the marrow, but then again, if one like me have such strongly contrasting feelings it is at least a negative signal for this operation.

PS: and yes, the new remaster of the original albums is pretty good.