Given a ravenous bootlegging community that dates back nearly half a century, it's hard to imagine there's much in the vaults of Led Zeppelin that fans haven't heard before in one form or another. But with a slew of remasters on their way beginning next year, Jimmy Page wants to assure fans that the bonus material slated to be included with each album is nothing to overlook.
"I'm not just throwing on any old flotsam and jetsam," Page told Rolling Stone in a recent interview. "This will be really substantial stuff."
While there aren't loads of unreleased songs to pull from, much of the bonus content will be aimed at showcasing how classic Zeppelin songs evolved through the various stages of the demoing process.
"The classic there was 'When the Levee Breaks,'" Page said, "where the drums were set up in the hallway. You know what it sounded like – immense – from the recorded version. But we used the drums in the hall for a number of things, like 'Kashmir' [on 1975's Physical Graffiti] – some with closer miking. So there were a lot of different approaches. It will be fascinating for people to witness the work in progress."
There's no word yet on when the remasters are set to roll out, with fellow members Robert Plant and John Paul Jones also requiring a say in the process, but Page seems adamant that fans will see the first of them "in the course of next year."
You can read more from the interview here.
Led Zeppelin released their new live CD/DVD, Celebration Day, last week.
Over the past 20 years, Brad Tolinski, editorial director of Guitar World, Revolver and Guitar Aficionado magazines, has interviewed Jimmy Page more than any other journalist in the world. Those interviews have led to a new book, Light & Shade: Conversations With Jimmy Page, which was published October 23. Click here for more info and to read an excerpt from the book.
