This review will mark the first CD set I have talked about on this site. Whether or not you may be potentially interested in it will come down to a few different factors. First and most obviously, you need to be a Zeppelin fan. Second, this release is not exactly a beautiful work of art (although there is nothing wrong with it in that department), so you’ll probably need to be looking for sound quality over presentation. Third, you’ll need to be willing to listen to music on something other than vinyl. I’m a fan of all physical formats, and I collect both vinyl and CD’s. Getting a CD set was not an issue for me. Some people aren’t interested in anything that’s not on vinyl, and while I don’t understand it, I know these people exist. Lastly, you’ll need to not have, or not be willing to spend $26,000 dollars (you read that right) on box of 10 albums to get the music we’re about to talk about here.
The box set in question is the 2006 Classic Records release of all the Led Zeppelin studio albums. It’s a metal case containing 48 single sided 12” LP’s that are all cut at 45 RPM. All of them are pressed on Quiex SV-P vinyl and weigh in at 200g a piece. Originally, the set was somewhere between 800.00 and 900.00 USD if I remember correctly. These boxes were very limited, and more were supposed to be made at some point, though this didn’t happen. Needless to say, the prices ballooned to a ridiculous level in the following years. One of the local records stores where I live has a set on sale for the cool $26,000 dollars USD that I mentioned before. It just sits there, tempting me.
Why are these recordings so special? Well, this is one of a handful of box sets (in any format), that veteran Zeppelin aficionados claim are definitive copies of these albums. The sad part about that is that in order to hear them, you had to be one of the first to buy the set before it sold out. At this point, the records are so expensive that I doubt even people who got them at retail price are listening to them. When you have a box set that could potentially sell for over 30 times what you paid for it, there comes a point where it’s not worth the risk that you might damage it.
Enter Empress Valley Supreme Disc. This a company from Japan that makes CD bootlegs. Not just any CD bootlegs, but the most beautiful CD bootlegs you’re ever likely to lay eyes on. Complete with holographic stickers, obis, luxury boxes and packing materials, this is a very interesting label for us CD collectors. Most of the stuff EVSD releases is the standard live recorded bootleg fare, just in a better-looking package. This is one of several releases that have way more value than that.
For most EVSD releases, we’re talking about a superior product. Sometimes that has to do with only the packaging, sometimes it’s something to do with the sound, and sometimes it’s both. This Classic Records Zeppelin is something I’ve seen referred to in advertising blurbs as a “budget” release. They have a few of these, but I would think this is the most popular. Essentially, instead of making lavish, extra fancy packaging and charging an arm and a leg for it, they took these 12 CD’s and stuck them in a sort of plain, but still cool looking box. The box itself is still very high quality, and the obi that comes on it is very cool as well. The front of the box also has an “X” on it and says “Adults Only”, which I have to imagine is some error in translation from Japanese to English, though it also appears on their other products as well.
In short, Empress Valley has acquired a set of these original records and needle dropped them, preserving the audio over 12 individual CDs. As with all other EVSD products that I’m aware of, these are not CD-R’s… these are silver pressed CDs meant to last a lifetime. Each individual disc has standard, pressing plant artwork on the front with EVSD labelling, and the title of each album. Each of the studio albums is here in all its glory. Although the information doesn’t explicitly say, it does not appear to me that the audio has been messed with or EQ’d in any way. I think I may have seen some information on the internet that explicitly states this, but I can’t remember for sure.
So, how does this set sound? Do the 45 RPM cuts live up to their price and reputation? Yes and no. I can say for sure that these discs are, hands down, the best way I have ever listened to these albums. I have a couple Zeppelin pressings that are universally regarded as some of the better ones, but they don’t come close to what’s on these CD’s. The transfer from vinyl to digital was done expertly, and the final product is presented here in stunning clarity. There is the perhaps the smallest bit of vinyl noise, but I believe that only lends to the full experience of hearing these records. As a reminder, if the audio is properly captured, there is no different between hearing a vinyl record and hearing a recording of one. So outside of the fact that you don’t own the ridiculously overpriced originals, this is a great chance to hear this stunning collection.
With that being said, do I feel the original Classic Records record set with the metal case is worth over twenty thousand American dollars? Get real. No way. Was it worth the approximately $800.00 it cost when it was new? Yes, for sure. It’s something that I would not have hesitated purchasing at that price if I would have been aware of it at the time. Or if I could get a time machine.
The only downside of the box itself is the storage of the discs long term. If you put them back in the box the way they came, you’re eventually going to scratch them since you’ll have to shuffle through them like a deck of cards to find the ones you want. It also seems a shame to store them in a wallet and waste the cool box, so what’s a collector to do? Here’s a tip… The cardboard insert inside the box actually lifts out. You can go on Amazon and buy a stack of individual CD sleeves in standard size and put the discs in these. MOFI also makes great cheap individual sleeves that are perfect for this. With the insert removed, all 12 discs will stack up in the box and fit perfectly with the lid closed. This is something I have started to do with all similar CD boxes… especially the ones that come with the Japanese mini-LP plastic CD sleeves.
So, for lovers of Led Zeppelin, classic rock, or anyone looking for some of the best sounding music you can lay your hands on, I would recommend seeking out a copy of this set while it’s still around. Packaging and presentation are a 10/10 considering the budget model, and the audio itself is clearly 10/10. As far as I know, there are no indications that the set is limited, but with this kind of stuff, you never know. Whether it’s morally right or wrong for Empress Valley to sell these is something I leave up to you, the music fan. These are not live recordings someone made with a microphone taped under a wheelchair. They are the real deal. In a way, it’s almost like a public service to record collectors to give the rest of us poor folks a chance to hear this set when we almost certainly never would have the opportunity otherwise.
In the future, I may write some more about this mystery company from Japan. But whether I do or don’t, I can tell you for sure that they have very interesting products that are generally worth the money. As long as you know what you’re getting, I can’t really picture a collector being disappointed with something that they picked up from EVSD. The Classic Records Zeppelin 45 RPM CD box set should not cost anymore than $100.00 USD. I can confidently say that compared to the price of 26 G’s, it’s a real bargain. Happy hunting.