The Mothership has landed

November 14, 2007 10:15pm by

MothershipI was an enormous Led Zep fan (and I don’t know many of my peers who weren’t), but every re-release makes me wonder: Is this merely another attempt to cash in on boomer nostalgia release, or something more worthwhile?

Early evidence suggests that this may be something a bit more interesting: Led Zeppelin’s Mothership 2CD/1DVD.

A few items worth mentioning: For the musical purists out there, all of the reviews about the quality of the remastering have been glowing. So if you want to hear the clearest fuzz rock guitar (?!) played by the master of the genre, this may be be for you.

The other noteworthy aspect of this is the price: Some in the music industry have gotten it through their thick cro-mag skulls that $15 for a CD ain’t gonna fly no mo’.

This compilation of two CDs and a DVD for $20 on the other hand, will. This disc is killing it in Amazon sales rankings:

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #12 in Music
#1 in     Music > Classic Rock > Arena Rock
#1 in     Music > Hard Rock & Metal
#1 in     Music > Rock > Blues Rock

Not too shabby for what is essentially a repackaged greatest hits.
(Gee, do you think prices matter to consumers?)

Video of Black Dog will be familiar with anyone who saw The Song Remains the Same 14 times in high school . . .

click for Hey, hey, baby, when you walk that way,
Watch your honey drip, cant keep away
Black_dog

 

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What's been said:

Discussions found on the web:
  1. Stuart commented on Nov 14

    LOL, except when he holds out the mic, Robert Plant looks like he has no clue where he is. He probably sees stars all around him……….excellent video.

  2. Movie Guy commented on Nov 14

    Barry,

    Ditto on Led Zep. Still am a huge fan.

    PS: I’m taking delivery of a recent frame off restored ’67 Olds 442 4-speed hardtop on Saturday. Complete with W-30 heads and all the other bulletproof goodies. Wanna race for pink slips?

    MG

  3. Barry Ritholtz commented on Nov 14

    Love the 442 — look into Nitrous for that extra boost.

    Race for pinks? Sure.
    (Any car from the stable, right? ; )

  4. Dave commented on Nov 14

    I’m a HUGE Zep fan too, but master of the fuzz? It’s Hendrix. Sorry.

  5. justin commented on Nov 15

    Huh! they bring back the good’ol days – singing “Stairway to Heaven,” with the Buds, while sipping a bud, and inhaling one too. Boy, how did I make it through school?

  6. Major Tom commented on Nov 15

    That is why I love your site BR – Yeah I love the economic insights you provide, but living life is what it is ALL about. And, living life means – a little Zeppelin… I am a music fan and enjoy your music reviews.

    Love Hendrix (I play a fender strat too), but hands down love Page’s talent more.

    XM radio has a channel dedicated to Zeppelin BTW…

  7. Groty commented on Nov 15

    I caught Charlie Rose last night. He interviewed Robert Plant, Alison Krause and T Bone Burnett who recently teamed up on an album called Raising Sand.

    A hard rocker harmonizing with a prodigous, fiddle playing blue grasser, produced by legendary T Bone Burnett. Here’s more:

    http://tinyurl.com/yukfpu

  8. John Thompson commented on Nov 15

    It’s not just boomers who love the Zep. It would be interesting to see if it’s their kids whou are buying “The Mothership”.

    My buds grew interest in Zep in the ’80’s. They were still hot retreads then. Jimmy is God!

    Signed,
    Dazed and Confused Xer

  9. The Dirty Mac commented on Nov 15

    I saw Plant and Page in 1995 backed by the Hartford Symphony. It was interesting to see the members of the symphony reacting to the Zeppelin songs when they were not playing themselves. Many of them were quite into it.

  10. Max Thrax commented on Nov 15

    Actually I think the guy from Blue Cheer would be the master of the fuzz guitar. Here’s a cool Flash map of who’s popular and who’s selling all over the world:
    http://www.gracenote.com/map/

    I don’t know how accurate it is…on the one hand everyone loves Zep and the Beatles, but I have a hard time w/ the concept that Linkin Park is the US’ greatest export.

    http://www.niggytardust.com
    http://www.nin.com

  11. Todd Mentch commented on Nov 15

    This child of two boomers grew up listening, watching, and playing guitar with Led Zep. They are the best.

    I still have my old VHS copy of “The Song Remains the Same.” Some artifacts will never see the trash pile!

  12. NoFate commented on Nov 19

    I have a theory that Zeppelin, Floyd and the Beatles will be (at least) as popular in 500 years as Mozart and Shakespeare are today.

    Maybe I’m wrong, but 20-40 years have passed and these are the only three bands that don’t sound dated to me at all.

    Anyway, I downloaded the iTunes version and have had it cranked thru my Mercedes sound system. It is really really clear …sounds awesome.

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