Led Zeppelin – Physical Graffiti

The more polished tracks come through on the pressing, but the effect is lost on the tracks with varied recording locations and mixes.

The tracks that sound best (in my opinion):
In My Time of Dying
Trampled Underfoot
Kashmir
In The Light
Ten Years Gone
Wanton Song
Sick Again

For sure PG is a mixed bag of recordings taken from a variety of locations and years. But Bernie did a great job making everything sound good. I don't have a UK 1st. But I do have a number of other copies, Monarch from 78, early SP and PR cut by FT and GP, the later SF cut, the Japanese pressings and the 2014. I think the Classic cut sounds great. But it is different from all the others in the mastering choices made. It has a lot of low end and nice mids that don't always come across well in other pressings. Vocals tend to be buried a little bit, but that is part of the the mix (at least I assume that's the case since RP had some vocal issues during the PG proper sessions). Guitars really shine. The textures and tones really come through beautifully here. And Bonham's drums just explode in songs like Time of Dying.

Anyway, Side C is the real gem on this pressing. All the tracks sound wonderful, especially Ten Years Gone. Side D has more low end than any other version I've heard. The Wanton Song in particular is quite bass heavy. Bonham's kick drum in Black Country Woman just blares out and then when he adds the snare, the groove is remarkable. And Sick Again really shines. That one suffers on a lot of pressings from being compressed and flat. But I think Bernie pulls out as much clarity as possible along with a nice hefty bass part.

Back to the first LP, which is the real mixed bag of recordings. Again, I think Bernie did the best he could on some of the tracks like Custard Pie and Trampled. The guitar solos on those sound amazing. And whoa, The Rover just slams right out of the gate. On other pressings that and Custard Pie are troublesome. But here, the midrange is handled beautifully. Time of Dying also sounds fantastic. The guitars are incendiary to steal a line from Almost Famous.

Finally, 2/3 of side B sounds nice on most pressings and it sounds excellent here as well. Trampled sounds kinda dead on every pressing. But Bernie does a nice job giving the instruments some air and the guitar overdubs have a little extra oomph here. And Kashmir just soars. Not a whole lot more to say.

And it goes without saying this pressing can really be cranked up. It does not get fatiguing at all.

Cough.

So is this worth the huge it commands these days? Well that's a personal decision. I know on my play shelf I have the Classic along with the Japanese and a PR with 3 sides cut by Frank Tabino. They're all different flavors. If bass or the $$$ turns you off, on this pressing and find a copy with FT in the deadwax on 2 or 3 sides. That has great balance and clarity. I think it's the best bang for the buck, kind of like the 1977 Piros -X cut of Zep II, the bargain Ludwig (While having both, the Ludwig pressing of II is the king (avoid the Classic pressing of II), but the Piros -X pressing is a fantastic listen and really delivers almost as much punch as the Ludwig at a small fraction of the cost).

Physical Graffiti isn't exactly known as an audiophile-quality pressing. However, the quality of this recording varies a lot between pressings/versions. I had a First US Pressing that sounded pretty good. Also had a later US Pressing from the 1980's that sounded dull and lack-luster. I've had a couple of versions on CD, an 80's pressing and an early 90's remaster that both sounded a bit muddy and messy. This Classic Records pressing is by far the best I've heard. It's spendy, but if you want to be able to enjoy Physical Graffiti, this is the pressing to get.

I recently picked this pressing after a very long search. Wow!!! This blows away my NM original Presswell pressing. John Paul Jones and Bonham never sounded better. This thing jumps out of the speakers. Extremely satisfied and worth every penny I paid.