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Led Zeppelin II Album

i wish bands would record more albums in this manner. there is not a lot of time to sit around and overthink and tweak and make recording SO darn slick. write a song, play it, then record it.

zep 2 rocks.

I couldn't agree more. Now that more and more artist are going the indy route, we can get more recordings since there won't be a large record company trying to squeeze every last penny out of a record before the next one comes out.

I love the fact that bands of that era just pumped out records, warts and all. Personally, I would rather hear the warts than have to wait three years to hear some over-produced record that has been gone over with a fine-tooth comb. If they actually have talent, you'll get far more of the good stuff than the warts.
 
Band/record recording now is *so* much better than it was back in the '70s/'80s/'90s - - I got sick as heck of overproduced records that could never be reproduced live... I *dig* what Joe Jackson did with Big World (a studio album recorded with an audience...).

Some bands did a great deal of a something in between - Frank Zappa was famous for recording a show and editing / over-tracking the devil out of it to make a studio recording...
 
Led Zeppelin I was recorded in 36 hours
Yeah you read that right. Less than two days.

Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones are both studio geniuses. They did very few takes, often keeping mistakes (not that LZ made very many).

Oh, there are plenty of clams on Zep I - - but that's part of the charm. It's really their best overall album... Though I prefer III since it's so strange.
 
When I listen to early Zeppelin through good headphones I can hear little imperfections in the playing that would be easily "fixed" these days. Thankfully it wasn't so easy to make things perfect back then.
Like the infamous squeaky kick drum pedal on III? :D

I feel the same way when I listen to Aerosmith's 1st album. Sounds like they loaded in, turned up, and went for it.
 
Back then most bands were doing two albums a year while still always being on the road, a lot of hit and run recording. Taking a year or more to record a album didn't really start until the early to mid 70's along with stadium shows and the like. Check out the Stones Gimmie Shelter movie, it shows them recording while touring.
 
How lucky are these kids in the audience!--


Also, Stones In Exile is a pretty cool film about that era of the band & goes a little into how Exile On Main St was recorded & made, namely how they jammed a lot of stuff out. They didn't record as fast as Led Zeppelin--actually just the opposite-- but I like that approach.
 
Believe it or not, to a lot of guys who remember when it came out, there was some disappointment that it was too "slick." (Compared to the first album). In retrospect, it's a classic.

I think if you take a similar approach and use similar equipment, the room isn't going to matter much. Sonically, it's very weak and noisy compared to a modern recording. But it still sounds good, has a vibe and is a bass tour d' force.
 
I'm that kinda guy too.

I do think LD had the best drum tone of the 60s.

With the remastered Beatle albums, though, you can really hear those drums, but I guess that really doesn't count.

Not just drum "tone", but the way Bonham played was so "Back", so "in-the-pocket FUNKY", which no one at the time really considered; Folks just called Zep "Heavy Metal" back in the day - - what a hoot!
 
Not just drum "tone", but the way Bonham played was so "Back", so "in-the-pocket FUNKY", which no one at the time really considered; Folks just called Zep "Heavy Metal" back in the day - - what a hoot!

In the earlier Zep days Bonzo played a fairly small (in terms of quantity) kit with a HUGE bass drum. He really was one of the first players to really lay into them heavily, but with sooo much feel.
 
This album is sitting in a cupboard upstairs, Ive never actually listened to it. Ill pop it in tonight or tomorrow. Led Zeppelin has never really done it for me, but since I started playing bass I listen to music from a completely different perspective than I used to. Ill give it another go.

And since you guys are on the topic of albums recorded quickly, the first Black Sabbath was recorded in a working day. Tony Iommi said they just played through there live set, and that was it.