{"product_id":"ledzeledze4_2606","title":"Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV - White Hot Stamper","description":"\u003cp\u003eIt is a positive \u003ci\u003ethrill\u003c\/i\u003e to hear this record rock the way it was meant to. If you have big speakers and the power to drive them, your neighbors are going to be very upset with you when you play this copy at the listening levels at which it was meant to be heard.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYou'd better be ready to rock, because this copy has the energy and \u003cstrong\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/search?q=tag:%22whomp%22\"\u003eWHOMP\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e that will make you want to. Zep IV demands loud levels, but practically any copy will punish you mercilessly if you try to play it at anything even approaching live levels.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI never met John Bonham, and it's unfortunately too late now, but I imagine he would feel more than a little disrespected if he found out people were playing his music at the polite listening levels many audiophiles prefer. The term \"hi-fidelity\" loses its meaning if the instruments are playing at impossibly low levels. If the instruments could never be heard that way live, where exactly is the fidelity?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhat The Best Sides Of Zep IV Have To Offer Is Not Hard To Hear\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe biggest, most immediate staging in the largest acoustic space\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe most Tubey Magic, without which you have \u003ci\u003ealmost\u003c\/i\u003e nothing. CDs give you clean and clear. Only the best vintage vinyl pressings offer the kind of Tubey Magic that was on the tapes in \u003cstrong\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/search?q=tag:%221971%22\"\u003e1971\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTight, note-like, rich, full-bodied bass, with the correct amount of weight down low\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNatural tonality in the midrange -- with all the instruments having the correct timbre\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTransparency and resolution, critical to hearing into the three-dimensional studio space\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNo doubt there's more but we hope that should do for now. \u003ci\u003ePlaying the record is the only way to hear all of the qualities we discuss above,\u003c\/i\u003e and playing the best pressings against a pile of other copies under rigorously controlled conditions is the only way to find a pressing that sounds as good as this one does.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe Zep IV You Don't Know\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSome of the copies we've played over the years didn't last more than a minute on the table. When we hear harsh highs or wimpy bottom ends we simply throw the offender in the reject pile and move on.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt's not that this is a bad recording -- it's just a record that is very rarely mastered properly. The cymbal crashes on side one of the average pressing are harsh and edgy enough to have you running for the exits. (Or alternately dull, smeary, lifeless and boring.)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA (mostly) smooth, (relatively) sweet copy like this will show you a whole new Zep IV, and allow you to play it at the proper volume: \u003ca href=\"\/search?q=tag:%22turn-up-your-volume%22\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLOUD\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e. Invite your friends over to hear the Zeppelin magic they had no idea was even possible on this recording.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhat We're Listening For On Zep IV\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eEnergy\u003c\/strong\u003e for starters. What could be more important than the life of the music?\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThen: \u003cstrong\u003epresence and immediacy\u003c\/strong\u003e. The vocals aren't \"back there\" somewhere, lost in the mix. They're front and center where any recording engineer worth his salt -- \u003ca href=\"\/search?q=tag:%22andy-johns%22\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAndy Johns\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e in this case -- would have put them.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eThe Big Sound\u003c\/strong\u003e comes next -- wall to wall, lots of depth, huge space, three-dimensionality, all that sort of thing.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThen \u003cstrong\u003etransient information\u003c\/strong\u003e -- fast, clear, sharp attacks, not the smear and thickness so common to these LPs.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eTight punchy bass\u003c\/strong\u003e -- which ties in with good transient information, also the issue of frequency extension further down.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNext: \u003cstrong\u003etransparency\u003c\/strong\u003e -- the quality that allows you to hear deep into the soundfield, showing you the space and air around all the instruments.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eExtend the top and bottom\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003ci\u003evoila\u003c\/i\u003e, you have The Real Thing -- an honest to goodness Hot Stamper.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eVinyl Condition\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMint Minus Minus is about as quiet as any vintage pressing will play, and since only the right vintage pressings have any hope of sounding good on this album, that will most often be the playing condition of the copies we sell. (The copies that are even a bit noisier get listed on the site are seriously reduced prices or traded back in to the local record stores we shop at.)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThose of you looking for quiet vinyl will have to settle for the sound of other pressings and Heavy Vinyl reissues, purchased elsewhere of course as we have no interest in selling records that don't have the vintage analog magic of these wonderful recordings.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIf you want to make the trade-off between bad sound and quiet surfaces with whatever Heavy Vinyl pressing might be available, well, that's certainly your prerogative, but we can't imagine losing what's good about this music -- the size, the energy, the presence, the clarity, the weight -- just to hear it with less background noise.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eTrack Commentary\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cstrong\u003eTracklist\u003c\/strong\u003e tab above will take you to a select song breakdown for each side, with plenty of What to Listen For advice, and even an interview with Andy Johns in which he reveals how he got the massive drum sound on \"When the Levee Breaks\" (and later \"Kashmir\").\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOther records with individual track breakdowns and plenty of sonic advice can be found \u003ca href=\"\/search?q=tag:%22track-commentary%22\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ehere\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eA Must Own Rock Record\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis Demo Disc quality recording should be part of any serious rock collection. Others that belong in that category can be found \u003ca href=\"\/search?q=tag:%22core-rock-collection%22\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ehere\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Led Zeppelin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51886846214440,"sku":"ledzeledze4","price":999.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0257\/3415\/2295\/files\/zep_zepiv.jpg?v=1765912633","url":"https:\/\/better-records.com\/products\/ledzeledze4_2606","provider":"Better Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}