Led Zeppelin – Untitled

I recently took a leap of faith and bought myself a Japanese 1976 pressing of this album. Until then I only had this 2014 pressing, which I thought was quite good. Turns out i hadn’t heard Led Zeppelin properly. In comparison the 2014 remastered version sounds flat and dull, as if it has lost its mojo. It might seem as if the soundstage is wide, but in truth it has actually been narrowed down. It‘s like watching a film, where the picture has been cropped on all sides and then stretched to be sold as a new widescreen edition. The music has also been cleaned to the extent that the recording sounds quite sterile, which also makes it feel like there is too much space between the instruments. It lacks dynamics and depth. The rawness and energy have been completely sucked out. Like I said before, it has no mojo. Listening to the Japanese pressing rekindled my love for this album. It sounds huge when it has to, and very intimate in the quieter moments. I envy anybody who has yet to experience this for themselves. If you love LZ then do yourself a favour and look for a better pressing like I did.

This was the first album I ever bought.Brand new in 1981 from the wonderful Spillers in Cardiff.A few years back I was bought this as a present to replace my old and rather worn original.What a revelation!Crisp,clear and punchy.The joy of re-issues.

bought this for cheap as a day to day listen so i can save my porky presswell original for company
stairway to he heaven does not have major surface noise from overplay on some boomer teen's shit stylus, which is a plus.
the sound is solid and a good system will make this sing, but i do notice a bit of blurriness and harshness, particularly on the drums, compared to the vintage AAA of the original.
call it 4/5

Whoever put that sticker on the cardboard... I despise you immensely. Other that that, its a great pressing.

I have no other copy to compare this to but it sounds really good to me. In terms of the noise floor, there is none, as for the crackles and pops, also none. This is a quality pressing of a great album.

Compared this with a 1973 Canadian repress, and the sound was nearly identical (this version won by a hair). With how easy it is to get these copies in mint condition, for a very reasonable price, it'd be foolish to go with anything else, except maybe the Classic Records versions which are not at such a reasonable price...

The sleeve is pretty low-grade, though. Lightweight cardstock.

So I just pulled it out again to play with the latest upgrades of my playback system. An AT20SLa cart, Wayne's periphery ring and a FURUTECH destat III anti static weapon. The TT is a modified SL1200 MK3. Holy moly !!!

Like many others, I have various copies including a 1971 US 1st. This is hands down the best for clarity and overall listenability. As mentioned below by JT998 , zero listener fatigue. I pretty much agree with his assessment of this album. Pressing quality is outstanding, dead quiet and tick free after a couple of turns on the VPI Cyclone.

I hear reasonable bass throughout, but a Shibata stylus plays differently than most others. Adjust your VTA , makes all the difference in the world between awesome and mediocre. The annoying Hi Hat hits in the right channel on this version of When The Levee Breaks have been somewhat tamed.

With a properly set up rig I cannot imagine this album sounding any better than what is on this pressing. That is with having listened to this album for 50 years ...

Cheers !

I heard the unusual bleed through beat on Rock & Roll as noted by others. I also have an original 1971 Club pressing in excellent shape that I just played to verify and it is definitely not present on that copy. I bought a set of LZ 1-4 LPs as my originals of 1 and 2 are a little worse for the wear and I only had 3 on CD so I have 2 NM copies of 4. One other difference I noticed is the Club version is louder using identical settings on my system. After checking each pressing back and forth the club album is 3.5 to 4 dB louder on each song. When the volume is equalized both copies sound very close to each other with maybe the slightest nod to the Club version. Another difference is the lyric/track listing that is just a page on the 2014 copy while it is the actual LP inner sleeve on the Club version and they are different colors. The colors on the LP jacket on the Club release are more intense.

Is I don't know if is my idea, or cover looks pixelated??? Please confirm this, I never see this álbum cover in og vinyl, only on CDs and this 2014 remaster

Seeing lots of people complaining about this version but to my ears its one of the best sounding pressings i own.