Led Zeppelin Early Days & Latter Days: Vols. 1 & 2 CD

This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files.
Led Zeppelin: Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, John Bonham.
This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files.
With their first six studio albums not containing a single dud track, trying to neatly assemble a Led Zeppelin 'best of' must have been quite a daunting task. All in all, the folks at Atlantic did an admirable job when the first-ever, single-disc Zeppelin 'best of's' were issued in 1999 (Early Days) and 2000 (Latter Days), covering most of the essentials. For fans that wanted to buy both discs in one shot, both were packaged together in 2002, under the title of Early Days and Latter Days. If you're expecting some bonus bits or anything with the double disc, you'll be disappointed, as it's an exact replica of the single-disc versions. But whether you're a newcomer who wants to get a taste or a longtime who simply wants all the hits in one place, do yourself a favor and spend the extra duckets for the double disc. Even though their latter albums weren't as strong as their earlier ones, they did contain quite a few classics, and only the best tracks of these albums are included here ("Achilles Last Stand," "In the Evening," etc.). As with every compilation, there are going to be a few headscratchers -- here it's the omission of such gems as "Heartbreaker," "That's the Way," "Over the Hills and Far Away," and "The Ocean," which could have easily replaced such selections as "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You," "The Battle of Evermore," "No Quarter," and "Houses of the Holy." But how can you complain when such ultra classics as "Dazed and Confused," "Whole Lotta Love," "Black Dog," "Rock and Roll," "Stairway to Heaven," "The Song Remains the Same," "Trampled Under Foot," and "Kashmir" are all included? Certainly not little old me. ~ Greg Prato
This two-disc anthology brings together two previously released collections, each chronicling a different phase of the career of the 1970s' most successful rock band. The EARLY DAYS disc finds Led Zeppelin still leaning closely to their blues roots, though such songs as "Whole Lotta Love," "Black Dog," and "When the Levee Breaks" pretty much reinvented the form for a generation of rock fans. Simultaneously, they were tossing off definitive anthems like the ubiquitous "Stairway to Heaven" and the mystical folk-rock of "Battle of Evermore."
The LATTER DAYS disc features a batch of songs that move beyond those roots into new sonic territory. The moody "No Quarter" could have wandered in from a contemporaneous Pink Floyd session. "Kashmir" features a groundbreaking Eastern-tinged arrangement, and "All of My Love" is an uncommonly tender love ballad. Over the course of these two discs, one gets the full picture of a group whose reach was always fully the equal of its grasp.Uncut (5/03, p.115) - 5 stars out of 5 - "...The power remains undiminished. Let it trample you underfoot..."