June 2014 marks the reissue of the first three Led Zeppelin albums as deluxe editions with additional tracks. In the case of the first album a second CD contains a live concert from October 1969. Disc one is the unchanged debut album, albeit remastered with much better sound quality than before. This was a breakthrough album not just for Led Zeppelin for for music overall. Jimmy Page had shown sparks of brilliance and innovation in his time with The Yardbirds although the final Little Games LP was an anticlimax compared with what the band was playing live. The Yardbirds had been an innovative group and had even included I'm Confused and Page's bowed guitar in later gigs.

While the first disc is an improved version of the already very good first album, the second disc is more interesting not only because it is a live concert but also as, recorded shortly before the release of Led Zeppelin II, it provides a showcase of what was to come on the second album. It was still early in Led Zeppelin's career but they were already putting down markers that would make them outstanding. Blues classics had been revitalised giving them renewed energy while original compositions such as Dazed and Confused and Communication Breakdown were taking music to new places. Led Zeppelin had been virtual unknowns at this stage,. Page and Jones were known as top session men and Jimmy Page had become of a member of the latter day Yardbirds but even they had passed their hitmaking peak. Plant and Bonham had been playing in Band of Joy but were not national names. True Led Zeppelin had been gigging extensively but this was effectively the debut album from a new act. It s fair to say that a large number of the tracks are cover versions but the Led Zeppelin treatment gave them a new lease of life and

The live concert is all the more important as Led Zeppelin were very much a live band. The studio versions were superb but the live versions of tracks such as I Can't Quit You Baby and How Many More Times were how the songs were supposed to be heard, in front of an enthusiastic audience and all four band members working together. With the launch of the second album imminent the audience was treated to early versions of classics such as Heartbreaker and Moby Dick.

In view of what became of "heavy" music this album is all the more important as it shows how it should be done, an instruction manual in how to play, how to sing, how to write great songs and how to put it all together.

Atlantic

Released: 2 June 2014

Essential Tracks

• Dazed and Confused
• Communication Breakdown
• How Many More Times

Track Listing

Disc One

• Good Times Bad Times
• Babe I'm Gonna Leave You
• You Shook Me
• Dazed and Confused
• Your Time is Gonna Come
• Black Mountain Side
• Communication Breakdown
• I Can't Quit You Baby
• How Many More Times

Disc Two (Live at The Olympia, Paris. 10 October 1969)

• Good Times Bad Times / Communication Breakdown
• I Can't Quit You Baby
• Heartbreaker
• Dazed and Confused
• White Summer / Black Mountain Side
• You Shook Me
• Moby Dick
• How Many More Times