Track Listing

1. Song Remains the Same
2. No Quarter
3. Houses of the Holy
4. Trampled Under Foot
5. Kashmir
6. Ten Years Gone
7. Achilles Last Stand
8. Nobody's Fault But Mine
9. All My Love
10. In the Evening

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #56051 in Music
• Released on: 2000-03-21
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Enhanced, Import

Amazon.com
The glory days of Led Zeppelin are chronicled comprehensively in Atlantic Record's 1999 Early Days best-of set, which leaves this '73-to-'79 package shorter on obvious crowd-pleasers. Still, this secondary set shows just how powerful Zeppelin were at their zenith. Taken from the band's final four albums, the songs here--"No Quarter," "Houses of the Holy," and "Song Remains the Same" among them--brought audiences to their feet in stadiums across the world while the Zeppelin juggernaut trampled their competition underfoot. Zeppelin defined hard rock, but were also capable of a delicacy that's easy to overlook; indeed, that dimension is missing from the picture of Zep offered here. Otherwise, these two companion volumes offer a rewarding introduction to Led Zeppelin. --Patrick Humphries

Customer Reviews

Stick with Albums/Remasters
Well I gave this CD a 5-star rating because the music on it is, well, Zeppelin, and nothing's better than that. I dont know why it's called a "Best Of.." series, when in fact Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 are both lacking major radio staples. On Vol. 2, where's D'yer Mak'er, Dancing Days, The Ocean, Fool In The Rain, etc.? Those are always on the radio, more than Ten Years Gone and Achilles Last Stand, anyway (I'm not putting those last two songs down, they just arent as big 'hits' as the first ones..). I'd say this might be a worthwile introduction to Zep for the beginner, but the Remasters series might be better. For those of us who want better Led releases (Page/Crowes @ The Greek comes close, and its pretty good! ), we'll have to wait 'til Earls Court or Knebworth gets released.

Great Music but...
The music in this CD is some of the very best rock music ever written and performed, but Led Zeppelin's material doesn't fit the "greatest hits" package. Zeppelin is one of the pioneers of album rock, so the songs here sound better in their original context, the studio albums. Maybe this two volumes, "Early days" and "Latter days", are a fair introduction for the people who doesn't have an idea of who were Led Zeppelin and are not willing to buy all the albums, but the albums are the ideal way to start with Zeppelin. Bands like Led Zeppelin and Queen have been repackaged over and over (Just take a look at Queen Greatest Hits III and you'll see.) Zeppelin should release some live performances, studio outtakes, rarities... like the BBC Sessions, which was appealing to long time fans and new fans as well. The music here is excelent, but the disc is useless for long time fans.

No Matter Who You Are, This Album Is Probably Not For You.
Looking over the songlists for both Early Days and Latter Days, I am often baffled as to who these compilations are aimed at. (My 2 star rating is obviously more a criticism of the compilation than the music itself, which is 5 stars all the way).

So, are you an existing Zeppelin fan? Then chances are that you already have every one of these songs. There's nothing new or contraversial here. Certainly you should have all of Early Days (which comprises the hits from Led Zeppelin I-IV) and much of this CD.

If you don't own these tracks yet, you would be MUCH better off to invest in "Houses of the Holy" and "Physical Grafitti" INSTEAD. You'd get the first six (out of ten) tracks from Latter Days, as well as the inexplicably absent: "In My Time of Dying", "The Rain Song", "Over The Hills And Far Away", "D'yer Mak'er" and "The Ocean".

Are you just discovering Led Zeppelin? (If so, savour these first listens.) Or a casual fan who doesn't own any albums? DON'T START WITH THIS. Zeppelin is just not a "hot singles" band, you NEED to invest in a few full albums; I can guarantee that you won't regret it.

What albums SHOULD you start with?

The Most Essential:
Led Zeppelin I
Led Zeppelin IV

The Also Essential:
Led Zeppelin II
Houses of the Holy

The Very, Very, Very Good:
Physical Graffiti
BBC Sessions

There's obviously room for negotiation on which of those albums are "better" and given the depth of Zeppelin's catalogue you'd be hard-pressed to choose a best release. But, one thing I can say for sure is that any Zepp fan (new or old) is better served buying some of these albums rather than Early and/or Latter Days.