A “Plum” coloured UK Pressing of Led Zep II. Led Zep II is less expensive, and there are a couple of things to look out for: Top money for Led Zep 2 can be up to £250 for a mint first pressing – identifiable by a mis-credited “Living Loving Wreck” on the label. I found one for twenty-five quid a little while ago, but it jumped, so I didn’t buy it… Second pressings – still from the sixties and with orange lettering on the cover – are marginally less ridiculously priced, but may still set you back a few hundred quid if mint. Oh, and by the £1,500 price tag in mint condition. The first pressings of Led Zep 1 are easily identifiable with Turquoise lettering on the front cover. You shouldn’t be prepared to look for first pressings unless you are fond of shouting “- Me!” whilst you suffer a heart attack from fright. Note the lilac label and “House of the Holy” titleĪnother thing you should know about buying Led Zep vinyl is that their first couple of albums are very, very expensive. I didn’t know it at the time, but my US pressing was pretty early and has excellent sound – probably better than an equivalent UK version. It seems Led Zep are an exception: they had such great success in the USA that this generally fairly reliable guideline doesn’t hold true – after the first album at least. This is in contrast to the general rule of record collecting that if you buy an early pressing from the country of origin of the artist, you are most likely to be nearer the source tapes, and therefore the sound ought to be better. However, a bit of impromptu research from some audiophiles* has revealed that in the majority of cases the US pressing actually sounds better than the UK one. It’s because I could get *almost* the same thing for thirty-two pounds fifty less, and a penny saved is, as the saying goes, a penny earned. This wasn’t because I have some sort of maverick vision or second sight as a record investor. When I first started building up my record collection again, my local record shop, Leigh Records, had a £40 UK plum labelled copy of Led Zep III and a US pressing for £7.50 in the same condition. But received wisdom, I have discovered, is not always correct. It is received wisdom that the earliest Led Zep UK pressings – with a plum and red label, rather than the later green and yellow label – are the ones to have. Want to know why some Led Zeppelin vinyl LPs sounded better than most other rock LPs? Read on… The “Do What Thou Wilt” inscription on Led Zep III
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