JIMMY PAGE On Remastering LED ZEPPELIN’s Physical Graffiti – “The MP3 Was The One Most Annoying To Me”

In 1975, Led Zeppelin holed up in an English manor called Headley Grange to record its sixth studio album, Physical Graffiti. The double album is considered a monumental rock recording; it reached No.1 on Billboard’s Top Albums chart and was the first album to ever go platinum on advance orders alone.

As part of an effort to reissue all of the band’s albums, guitarist Jimmy Page (also the band’s producer) has remastered the groundbreaking album. Out Tuesday, 40 years to the day since the original release of Physical Graffiti, the deluxe edition will include a disc of previously unreleased tracks.

Kerrang! Radio’s Jake Thomson caught up with guitar legend Jimmy Page to discuss how he remastered Led Zeppelin’s Physical Graffiti and explained that he didn’t do a “one size fits all format” and instead remastered the tracks specifically for CD, vinyl, digital, and so forth. He also expresses his displeasure with the MP3 format:

The updated version of Physical Graffiti is a deluxe 3CD package of Led Zeppelin’s sixth album, with the original artwork, plus the newly created negative artwork for the companion audio. The original album is newly remastered on 2 CDs; the third CD features previously un-released studio outtakes. Includes a die-cut square slipcase to hold three wallets, booklet, U-card, slipcase prints and a 16 page booklet.

Tracklisting:

Tracklisting:

Disc 1
“Custard Pie”
“The Rover”
“In My Time Of Dying”
“Houses Of The Holy”
“Trampled Under Foot”
“Kashmir”

Disc 2
“In The Light”
“Bron – Yr”
“Down By The Seaside”
“Ten Years Gone”
“Night Flight”
“The Wanton Song”
“Boogie With Stu”
“Black Country Woman”
“Sick Again”

Disc 3
“Brandy & Coke” (Trampled Under Foot – Initial Rough Mix)
“Sick Again” (Early Version)
“In My Time Of Dying” (Initial Rough Mix)
“Houses Of The Holy” (Rough Mix With Overdubs)
“Everybody Makes It Through” (In The Light Early Version/In Transit)
“Boogie With Stu” (Sunset Sound Mix)
“Driving Through Kashmir” (Kashmir Rough Orchestra Mix)

The deluxe edition of Physical Graffiti is available in multiple CD, vinyl, and digital formats, as well as a limited edition super deluxe boxed set (see video below):

In 1968, John Bonham, John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant formed Led Zeppelin, one of the most influential, innovative and successful groups in modern music, having sold more than 300 million albums worldwide. The band rose from the ashes of The Yardbirds, when Page brought in Plant, Bonham and Jones to tour as The New Yardbirds. In 1969, Led Zeppelin released its self-titled debut. It marked the beginning of a 12-year reign, during which the group was widely considered to be the biggest and most innovative rock band in the world.

Led Zeppelin continues to be honored for its pivotal role in music history. The band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1995, received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005, and a year later was awarded with the Polar Music Prize in Stockholm. Founding members Jones, Page and Plant – along with Jason Bonham, the son of John Bonham – took the stage at London’s O2 Arena in 2007 to headline a tribute concert for Ahmet Ertegun, a dear friend and Atlantic Records’ founder. The band was honored for its lifetime contribution to American culture at the Kennedy Center Honors in 2012. In January of 2014, the band won their first ever Grammy award as Celebration Day, which captured their live performance at the Ertegun tribute concert, was named Best Rock Album.