Anybody already given the 2014 remasters plus "companion discs" of Led Zep IV and Houses of the Holy a listen? I'm listening to Houses of the Holy and the clarity as well as Bonham's forceful bass drum is something to behold. Quite some new sonic detail too, percussion, keys etc, the Zep guys were committed studio ornamentalists, but weren't overt about it. It's no wonder that they found a lot of this hard to replicate live. Plant's vocal lines got more and more off the wall with that album too, you can virtually hear him thinking "let's not do something obvious here ...". Close to Gillan's development actually whose vocal melodies became more outlandish as DP progressed in the seventies which finally got him the boot from Blackmore who liked "tuneful vocal lines people can hum". Not much to hum along on this album, it's basically Prog.
Haven't listened to IV yet, I know it's their iconic album, but much like DP's Machine Head it's been played to death over the decades. Admittedly - and, no, children hold no sexual attraction for me - I was always attracted by those kids on the Houses of the Holy cover clambering up that mountain, it triggered an Isaac-Abraham scenario in my mind ... children willingly climbing up the hill either to be sacrificed or to welcome some alien visitor.
