Mothership

Very satisfied with purchase. Would recommend that Amazon.com try to package vinyl shipments so they don't shake or move in package to prevent damage. Thanks, Norm.

I hesitated for about 2 seconds before spending $60 on a 4-LP box set, but man was it worth it! The remastering quality is top rate - it's not like they just "cleaned up" the originals. Levels, channels and fades have all been reworked. I put on the record and played several tracks simultaneously to the 4-CD box set from 20 yrs ago (switching the input selector back and forth). It's like night and day, you wouldn't believe the improvement if you didn't hear it. Dazed and Confused is the perfect track for comparison with the huge dynamic range and monster drum riffs. The drum mix is the biggest improvement with the new master - they go from muddy and flat on the old CD mix to crisp and 3-dimensional on the new vinyl.

I'm listening through a high-end Rega Mira3 amp and Rega Apollo CD, Technics SL-1200MK2 TT with AT120 elliptical stylus and Paradigm Studio 20 loudspeakers.

There really is a difference in the sound.

I usually listened to the 4-disc set with the green leaf on black background, but now I listen to Mothership.
I hear notes I never heard before and I can almost understand all the words....almost.
The sound is much better and is worth the money.

If there is a Mothership Two, I will certainly buy that also.

I already have Led Zeppelin's 10 CD box set, but I still wanted a "Best of" collection for my carousel CD player. I once had their DVD of "Led Zeppelin" but that was just too much of the same thing over and over.

What made "Latter Days" so disappointing was that it didn't include the very important Pop charted single of "D'yer Mak'r". A good Led Zeppelin collection can't dismiss that important track. "D'yer Mak'r" is just as important as "Stairway To Heaven."

I enjoy listening to Led Zeppelin more than watching them. I got rid of their double DVD of "Led Zeppelin" because it bored me silly. Having this one DVD included in this "Mothership" collection is tolerable because it doesn't overly repeat so many songs. And watching them live is kinda creepy. It would make more sense if they called themselves "Dogs" instead of "Led Zeppelin". Plant and Page both look like a couple of dogs on stage. I'd rather just keep my interest in Led Zeppelin as "audio", not "visual."

The packaging of this 3 disc collection sucks beyond belief. You have to pull up the CD's out of a very tight sleeve and you can only hope that you won't rip the sleeve with your knuckles trying to get the CD's out. I think I'm just going to keep the CD's in my carousel CD player. I don't think I'd watch the DVD again anytime soon, so this packaging (along with the DVD) will just end up in my junk drawer for a while.

Mothership is probably the best value in music this year, along with NIN's Ghosts I - IV. Here you get 2 CDs, 24 tracks, and 140 minutes of a great cross section of the best of Led Zepelin. There is also a special version that includes a live performance DVD, Mothership 2CD/1DVD. Despite the qualms that some people have with yet another greatest hits release, the high quality re-masters and great value have won me over.

Led Zepellin is unavoidable for classic rock fans, and why would you want to avoid them? They are certainly one of the most influential and important groups of their era. Some would argue they are *the* best. Like a lot of people I already own much of the music on this release in several forms. Believe me when I tell you, I do not believe in owning every single re-release by every artist. However, this release is so amazing, I truly believe it's a must own for both newer (most likely younger) fans and die-hard Led-heads alike.

For starters, there is the re-mastering of all these tracks spanning all the albums. This project was a poorly guarded secret, and like many others I was skeptical yet still waited to hear it for myself. Re-mastering doesn't always result in a noticeable difference. But once I heard this I was pleasantly surprised. The sound quality is truly amazing.

True, there are other compilations and "greatest hits" albums that contain this material. "Early Days and Latter Days" and the "Led Zeppelin" live DVD are twins of this material. But one has to keep in mind, for classic bands like this there will always be young fans that down own all those old releases. And, for the price of this release it's a great deal. Plus, if you are picky about sound and have a good enough sound system you can really hear the audio improvements here.

has all the biggest hits that people would expect. Instead of the tracks "What Is and What Should Never Be", "The Battle of Evermore" and "Ten Years Gone" which were on "Early Days and Latter Days", "Ramble On", Heartbreaker", "Over the Hills and Far Away" and "D'Yer Mak'er" were added in their place.

The DVD bonus disk is a subset of the live "Led Zeppelin" DVD and includes 9 songs from the 1970 Royal Albert Hall show, 4 songs from the famous 1973 Madison Square Garden show, 3 songs from the 1975 Earl's Court show, and 4 songs from the 1979 Knebworth show. The performances are great, especially for those who haven't seen them yet.

This is a great set. I understand that some serious fans may find this redundant for their collection. But I challenge anybody to sample this on high quality studio monitor headphones. And of course, if you are a less serious fan this is definitely the best way to add LD to your collection.

Enjoy!