Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin [Boxed Set]

9.5 - England - 1969-1982/1990

Alongside Dylan’s Biograph, this four disc anthology is one of the granddaddies of the career-spanning multi-disc retrospectives that flourished in the 1990s. As a teenager, this set was one of my first major purchases – funded by the sale of by Nintendo Gameboy, an exchange that can be read as symbolic journey from childhood to adulthood. (Sidenote: the Gameboy was sold to the brother of a close friend of mine from a family of Christian fundamentalists who were not amused to learn that the money from the sale was going to be used for the purchase of what they would have no doubt considered Satanic rock’n’roll).

Because of its four discs, this boxed set is more than an introduction to the band (a two disc distillation would appear a few years later), and it basically serves as an “everything you need to hear from Led Zeppelin (minus “Good Times Bad Times”)”. As with any collection such as this, there will always be quibbles about track selection. And, sure, there are a couple of tracks that I would prefer being here (would’ve picked “The Rover” over “Custard Pie”), but, as just mentioned, the only egregious oversight is the lack of “Good Times Bad Times”. In its place, however, there are the three mandatory “never before released” tracks. Two of them are derived from BBC sessions recorded in 1969. The solo Page instrumental medley of Yardbirds leftover “White Summer” and the first album acoustic number “Black Mountainside” is fairly interesting, but it would have been no great loss for it to have been relegated to the BBC Sessions released in 1997. The other is the group’s fantastic rendition of Robert Johnson’s “Travelling Riverside Blues”, which builds on their version of “The Lemon Song” by trading that track’s slow 12-bar boogie for swirling slide guitars and a terrific solo from Page. Finally, we also get the first CD release of the band’s only non-album b-side, the utterly terrific “Hey, Hey, What Can I Do” from the acoustic-ish Led Zeppelin III era. A more than fair trade for the lack of “Good Times Bad Times”. Also: special note should be given to the synclavier-enabled mash-up of “Moby Dick” and “Bonzo’s Montreux”. The great-but-generic “Moby Dick” riff is preserved, but the rather tedious drum solo is replaced by the slightly-less tedious drum solo from “Bonzo’s Montreux” to produce a more worthy tribute to Bonham’s drums than either of those previously released tracks.

All the tracks on the set were remastered, and, for a 1990 release, the sound is very good indeed (much better than the original 80s CD pressings and not too far off the mark compared to the 2015 remasters). The sequencing is also very well done. The tracks are presented somewhat, but not strictly, chronologically, and the new order provides some interesting juxtapositions of songs from different albums blending together nicely. The switch from “Babe, I’m Gonna Leave You” to “What Is And What Should Never Be” is one superlative example. Really, the only problem with this set is that purchasing it makes buying up the albums rather pointless due to the best material being already here. Moreover, a sequel – the imaginatively named Boxed Set II – collected all the tracks not included on this one meaning that one could have the entire studio output of Led Zeppelin on six (relatively affordable) discs. Through a well-put together book and some fine packaging, and you’ve got a winner!