Aural pleasure with Led Zeppelin

Received two CDs from BMG last Wednesday: Led Zeppelin (their debut) and Houses of the Holy (finally).

Led Zeppelin: The good thing about the CD remaster is that they included the original credits as well as the revised credits on the inner sleeve (which means that Anne Bredon finally gets credit for 'Babe I'm Gonna Leave You'). The album opens with the spectacular rouser 'Good Times Bad Times' and segues to classics like 'Babe I'm Gonna Leave You', 'Dazed And Confused' and the experimental fusion of 'Black Mountain Side'.

Just opened Houses of the Holy today. A great album betraying diverse styles: from the straight rock of 'The Song Remains the Same' to the aching 'The Rain Song' backed by an ethereal mellotron arranged against a progressive rock progression to the funky affectionate James Brown send-up 'The Crunge' with cool 9/8 drumming by Bonzo and rock-reggae on "D'yer Mak'er" closing with a funky guitar groove on 'The Ocean'. This marked the first time Led Zeppelin actually had a title for an album (of course, the title track never made it on this one but was released on 'Physical Graffiti').