Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin II

So used to hearing pops and noise in other copies, hearing this pressing so clear is a trip. Glad to have this in the collection. It’ll get lots of play. I have the MoFi which is also great.

My Led Zep II Quiex has a small pressing circle on the label which would indicate it's a 180g pressing but it actually weighs 194g on both of my digital scales.

Matrix / Runout (A side): SD 8236-A BG
Matrix / Runout (B side): SD 8236-B BG

This is absolutely fantastic, and is shoulder to shoulder with my RL SS SP pressing. I guess its close just because this one is dead quiet, and it makes the listening experience much more satisfying. The original RL cut has better drums and more tolerable cymbal sounds than the Classic BG cut does, but every other instrument, the soundstage, and Plant’s voice sound just as good. Its nice to finally have a quiet copy of this album, but I’m still going to play my RL SS copy every now and then because its kickass. However, this is an extremely great alternative if you dont want a noisy copy, seeing as VG+ RL pressings are extremely hard to find.

Ramble on is the true highlight of this pressing. The RL cut has massive bass that overpowers the eargasmic notes after the “its time to ramble on” line, and this pressing solves that problem by toning it down a smidge to allow for the gasping guitar to take its spot in front.

I have to slightly disagree with some of the earlier reviews about the bass. It surely may be depending on the gear but on my Dual 701 turntable and Shure M75 cartridge this is definitely not bass shy but rather a bass monster. Bass drum really kicks in and bass guitar is very noticeable. The bass is not very tight but it’s present for sure. There is certain sharpness on drum cymbals but it’s not disturbing.

I hesitated buying this version but I really hope I would have not. To my ear this is extremely good reissue. And the pressing quality is immaculate, no clicks or pops on my copy. Highly recommended!

This is one of the Classic Records Releases on the Led Zeppelin catalog that Ive needed to investigate most soundwise.
To compare I have my old Canadian 77 reissue thats been decent for me.
At first it should be pointed out what might be the main difference between this Classic and not only my Canadian but probably most other releases, which is the EQ.
Classic Zeppelin have been criticized as too bright and sibilant by others and this might be the first time I somewhat agree with that notion.
Playing through there are a couple of songs that strike you as particularly sharp, namely Heartbreaker and the followup. The drums especially take to them a characteristic thats just not all that pleasant, like a glass bottle breaking in a thousand pieces. I think the reasoning was to make the drums more destinguished in the mix and still allow the other sounds to be clear and powerful.
Because on the rest of the album this is not as big of a problem and Moby Dick, which is mostly drums, sounds more present and realistic than maybe any other version, yet not harsh like Heartbreaker.
The Canadian on the other hand shows the other end of the spectrum where too low EQ might really muddle performances. There is bass, but its loose and sloppy.
Our Classic on the other hand is very bass shy. At first it might seem that we have 2 problems here, a sharpness to the sound and lack of bass, but I really think its just 1 problem derived from the other. More bass and low end in general would balance out the spectrum and create a more enjoyable listen, sort of like what was done on Zep III. Certainly it would be possible too with how much more deadwax is on the Classic than my Canadian, especially on side A.
On a more positive note the presence and drive this release has is most impressive. Stereo imaging which is good for all the Classic Zeppelins is great here too and makes the soundstage very accurate. Pinpointing performances is very easy to do. Vocals and drums especially feel very real and in the room when not too sharp and psychedelic phase shifting effects come out much more in that circular motion its supposed to be.
My Canadian really looses out in this regard and I will say that switching records when the Classic was on could be hard with how engaged you are in the music on that one.
However, where the Classic takes another small step back by default is the tape hiss. Its never really intrusive to my listening but it is there more so than perhaps any other release. Sadly the quiet vinyl wont matter too much here, but that only goes for the 180 gram version and not the likely more noisy overall 200 gram ones. Its also worth noting however that this is the loudest playing Classic Zeppelin I own, so perhaps he needed to cut at a higher volume to not make the tape hiss too audible.
In the end I feel like Im not completely done with my Led Zeppelin II search like I hoped to be. If we could retain the same clarity, drive, presence and realism in a less bass shy package I might have found my ideal copy.
The MoFi could be the way to look with their smooth and reverb filled sound. Or the holy grail of Zeppelin, the RL cut which might be more dry, but very bass filled. The UK first and George Piros cut are valid contenders too, and Ill give my thoughts if I ever get any of them.
If you however like high end more so than bottom end and you want a crisp and realistic sound, this is perhaps the cut for you.

Update:
Hearing a few samples of songs, comparing the RL, Classic, MFSL and 2014 its seems to me that the MFSL is what I would look for next. While the RL is EQd very low and sounds muddy, the MFSL is somewhere inbetween that and the Classic, retaining realism and bass. It may be less bold than other pressings, but it seems refined and thats what I want from an audiophile purchase. It should also help tone down some of the harsh parts that robs the Classic from greatness. If you want the RL sound the 2014 is very similar actually and it makes sense that they would imitate the most legendary release of the album, even though I dont think its as real sounding as the MFSL or Classic.

Equipment Used:
Rega RP1 with Nagaoka MP-200 Cartridge
Cyrus 2 Amplifier
System Fidelity SF-3050 Tower Speakers
Custom made HQ Speaker Cables

Canadian reissue compared with:
https://discogs.pelisguay.com/Led-Zeppelin-Led-Zeppelin-II/release/5926483