Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Good Times Bad Times
2. Communication Breakdown
3. Dazed And Confused
4. Babe I'm Gonna Leave You
5. Whole Lotta Love
6. Ramble On
7. Heartbreaker
8. Immigrant Song
9. Since I've Been Loving You
10. Rock 'n' Roll
11. Black Dog
12. When The Levee Breaks
13. Stairway To Heaven

Disc 2:

1. Song Remains The Same
2. Over The Hills And Far Away
3. D'yer Mak'er
4. No Quarter
5. Trampled Under Foot
6. Houses Of The Holy
7. Kashmir
8. Nobody's Fault But Mine
9. Achilles' Last Stand
10. In The Evening
11. All My Love

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #480 in Music
• Released on: 2007-11-12
• Number of discs: 2
• Format: Original recording remastered

CD Description
'Mothership' is a collection of songs by one of the greatest and most influential hard rock bands of all time. Led Zeppelin's sound is hard to label within one particular genre; Jimmy Page's enigmatic guitar-playing style varies from psychedelic blues to machine-gun heavy metal; John Paul Jones andJohn Bonham provide the multi-layered rhythmic backbone; while Robert Plant's distinctive, powerful vocals bring an element of soul to the group. The band's eight studio albums are all represented here, with 'Whole Lotta Love', 'Stairway To Heaven' and 'Kashmir' examples of stand out tracks, thoughit's difficult to find one that isn't.

Customer Reviews

Mothershippin' excellent!
OK, unlike some of the other reviews here this one is written after hearing the album.

Firstly, the music here all sounds better than I ever heard it before. I did direct A-B comparisons and would defy anyone to say they cannot hear an improvement. This improvement might not be significant for some, but to me it really lets each instrument and musician really stand on their own. Pages guitar army really glows and buckles in a way that reinforces his genius. No-one else in rock, or jazz for matter, has had such a wide palette of sounds and to hear it so clearly is an unalloyed pleasure. Overdubs, stereo placement, space around each instrument, cymbal decay and all of the other anorak details that I love are all here. This is not just a quick re-eq with a bit extra top end thrown in to compensate for hearing loss with age and a general lowering of the standard of stereo gear these days but a real reworking of the digital master tapes. Good Times Bad Times sounds like it was recorded earlier today by a band with enough energy to light up London.

Secondly, which tracks do you leave out when picking Zeps best? I can think of a handful that were on In Through The Out Door and they have been left out. After that???? The tracks here are all stoaters, fine examples of a band that took risks, stretching the envelope, taking the listener on a journey through several worlds, middle , middle eastern, far eastern, the under and the over.

I have bought every Zep album on vinyl, and cd, so there is nothing here that is new. I can however recommend this to anyone who is curious about Zep, anyone with a love for great sound quality and production and lovers of damn fine rock music. Enjoy!

A Representative Collection
Let's get this much straight - I won't buy this. I own a complete set of the japanese mini cd albums (replicas of the vinyl package) and the remasters boxed sets. However, the compilers have done a top job of picking a representative collection for the vaguely interested and the younger listener curious to know what all the fuss is about.

You cannot quibble with the chronological run through of the greatest rock groups high points. The willfully obscure will no doubt argue the track listing. I for one would recommend this to anyone not possessing the collection - either this or the "Remasters" double which has sadly been deleted.

Let's face it this is not for us devotees and the reviews bemoaning this are somewhat churlish and miss the point. The Rolled Gold analogy is a good one - a great collection for the newcomer.

And its a more attractive package than the shameless Early Days/Latter Days sets of a few years back.

Aw hell I did get it for the car. Damn you Atlantic/Swansong whoever!

The latest remaster is absolutely excellent, the sound is very clear, amply demonstrated on quiet to loud songs like Babe I'm Gonna Leave which sounds terrific throughout, it is not quiet and then deafening and distorted as often happens on those kind of tracks.

The sound is very well balanced throughout the collection and is a worthy replacement for the late, great Remasters double set. I also like the way JPJ's basslines sound full and meaty.

And finally, a note about the DVD - it is just extracts from the peerless "DVD" collection, if you already have this save a couple of quid by buying the cd only package. On the other hand if you don't - get it with the DVD - it is excellent value

ONLY The 'Mothership' Set Has The 2007 Remasters And Great Sound - The Rest Of The Catalogue Does NOT!!!
There seems to be some confusion over "Mothership" especially with regard to the 'sound'. While it's not exactly the 'Motherlode' in terms of track content - SOUNDWISE - it is streets ahead of what's been offered before and at times just BREATHTAKING in its clarity. (For the rest - see the end of this review).

Here's the lay of the land first:

The albums "Led Zeppelin" though to "Houses Of The Holy" ('69 to '73) were originally released in the UK on Atlantic Records and from "Physical Graffiti" onwards on their own imprint label "Swan Song" ('75 to '79, distributed by Atlantic). The awful live double that is "The Song Remains The Same" from 1976 is wisely not featured at all on "Mothership". The 8-track odds and sods album "Coda" from 1982, which features studio out-takes and live tracks recorded between 1969 and 1978, isn't featured either. As you'll see from the list below - all the other official studio albums are:

Disc 1 (66:18 minutes):
Tracks 1 to 4 are from their debut "Led Zeppelin" (January 1969)
Tracks 5 to 7 are from "Led Zeppelin II" (October 1969)
Tracks 8 and 9 are from "Led Zeppelin III" (October 1970)
Tracks 10 to 13 are from "Led Zeppelin IV" (November 1971)
(Officially their 4th album is untitled, but of course it's often referred to as "Led Zeppelin IV" or "Four Symbols" or "Runes" or "ZoSo" after the four symbols that appear on the original LP at the top of the Atlantic Records label - Zodiac letters for each member of the band).

Disc 2 (69:21 minutes):
Tracks 1 to 4 are from "Houses Of The Holy" (April 1973)
Tracks 5 to 7 are from "Physical Graffiti" (February 1975, a 2LP set)
Tracks 8 and 9 are from "Presence" (March 1976)
Tracks 10 and 11 are from "In Through The Out Door" (August 1979)

As you can see on Disc 1, "Zeppelin II" sees only 3 tracks while the debut gets 4 - missing out gems from "II" like "Moby Dick", "Livin' Lovin' Maid (She's Just A Woman)" and "What Is And What Should Never Be" - odd omissions for an album that is constantly cited in magazine polls by the 'public' as their "favorite rock album ever". Worse however is "III", often referred to by fans as their 'acoustic" album. By only representing it with "Immigrant Song" and "Since I've Been Loving You", you get the 'feeling' that the album is like its two predecessors - `hard rock' - when it actually contains some of their most beautiful and underrated softer tracks, especially the gorgeous "That's The Way". Four songs from the iconic and brilliant "IV" is only right and proper - and some would argue the entire album should be on here!

Downside: as you can see from the playing time, a full 13 minutes on Disc 1 could have been used up - and isn't. Extending the acoustic theme to "IV", the equally wonderful "The Battle Of Evermore" (Sandy Denny on backing vocals) is missing too when there was room. Coupled with "That's The Way", both would have made for huge bonuses and more importantly made the disc more representative of the band. The 'acoustic' element of Zeppelin, which was featured in most of their live sets, is oddly absent here - a mistake I think. Their diversity as a band - away from just hard rock - is one of the reasons for their enduring appeal and why fans love them so. "Hey Hey (What Can I Do Now)" the brilliant non-album B-side to "Immigrant Song" would have been a tasty choice too - but again - no show.

Upside: having said all of that, Disc 1 has very clever sequencing on it and listening to the song selection straight through is a superb and impressive experience. The space around the opening guitars of "Baby I'm Gonna Leave You" is ethereal and beautiful. The fabulous guitar-work in the left speaker on "Ramble On" from "II" catches your ear too - and Plant's double vocals - great. I could hear the band count One Two Three on the fade in to "Immigrant Song"! Genius choice, however, goes to the stunning blues workout of "Since I've Been Loving You" from "III". Sounding just fantastic, the squeaking of Bonham's drum pedals can be heard just a few milliseconds before Page launches into that blistering guitar riff! And finally - at long last - the remastering has brought out the full ferocity of Bonham's drumming and Plant's harmonica playing in the simply awesome "When The Levee Breaks" - cleverly placed before "Stairway" and not after it - rounding off Disc 1 very nicely.

The sound quality on Disc 1 in particular is BREATHTAKING. Page transferred the original master tapes carefully to digital in 1991 for "The Complete Studio Recordings" and John Davis of Alchemy Mastering in London has used these for the 2007 Remasters. THEY ARE BETTER. And in some cases unbelievably so.

But it all goes a bit belly up on Disc 2. It's clear the band feel that "Houses" is a bit under appreciated as an album, so no less than 4 tracks are featured, including the clever placing of the reggae "D'yer Maker" with Bonham and Jones both playing a rhythm section storm. But to leave off the melodic winner that is "The Rain Song" is a huge omission. Three from "Graffiti", but again the wonderful "Ten Years Gone" and the rocking "Custard Pie" are not here. For me "Presence" was a tedious listen in 1976 and still is now, despite people trying to reappraise it. I really don't need to hear the 10 minutes of "Achilles Last Stand" ever again when the blues finisher "Tea For One" would have been a braver choice. And last up is "In Through The Out Door" featured by "In The Evening", the album's great opener. But the truly awful "All My Love" finishes Disc 2 when the funkier "For Your Love" would have been better. Also - as with Disc 1 - with only 69 minutes used, there was enough room for a more varied picture.

And why a DVD of what we already own, when a live disc should have been Disc 3 - representing the band in what 'they' feel is their best arena?

The booklet is disappointing too. No album covers pictured! Where the hell is the artwork that was so integral to their releases? There's no fan pleasing rare 7" picture sleeves from around the world either - no sense of their global affection or effect - not even a UK or US discography! But David Fricke's essay is good - it gives a brief history of the band and its output across 12 pages. And at least the wholesale nicking of blues tunes is finally acknowledged in the writer's credits for "Whole Lotta Love" (a Willie Dixon song made famous by Muddy Waters), Anne Bredon for "Baby I'm Gonna Leave You" and Memphis Minnie for "When The Levee Breaks".

Some have said this compilation is `money for old rope' - I don't see it that way. Without doubt, the 1991 Remasters by Jimmy Page were way better than the crappy 80s issues when issued, but these 2007 upgrades have been long overdue and sounding as good as they do, they're to be welcomed. If ever a band deserved lavish attention spent on their catalogue - it's Zeppelin. The set it flawed for sure, but the sound is great! Personally I'm excited about buying better sonic versions of the albums when they eventually do come out.

Hey Hey Mama Indeed!

PS - IMPORTANT ADDITION: I took my own advice with regard to track selection and went to iTunes to download "That's The Way" and "The Rain Song". To my astonishment and disappointment, they're EXACTLY THE SAME AS THE 1991 VERSIONS when I A/B them with what's on my hard-drive. As everyone knows the entire catalogue is advertised as REMASTERED and went on sale the day after Mothership was issued, but it craftily doesn't say 'when' they were remastered. What a MASSIVE DISAPPOINTMENT!

In fairness to iTunes, the entire catalogue download does include all the studio albums, the "Mothership'" 2CD set, the redone live double "The Song Remains The Same" with its bonus tracks, the excellent and overlooked 3CD "How The West Was Won" live set, also with remastered Sound and even an extended version of "Coda" to take in the odd box set track like "Hey Hey (What Can I Do Now)".

The important point with regard to the catalogue is this - it's clear that ONLY the "MOTHERSHIP" SET and "THE SONG REMAINS THE SAME" re-issue HAVE THE 2007 REMASTERED SOUND and NOT ANYTHING ELSE.

So I would say that the purchase of the ENTIRE CATALOGUE is good value for money overall for newcomers, but for fans who already have the CD albums, avoid the iTunes downloads on INDIVIDUAL TRACKS outside the 'Mothership/The Song Remains The Same' sets.