John Bonham, John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant came together in 1968 as Led Zeppelin. Over the next decade, the band would become one of the most influential, innovative and successful groups in modern music, selling more than 300 million albums worldwide. Their songs are some of the most celebrated in rock n roll history that, to this day, resonate with fans young and old around the globe. Still, no matter how many times you may have listened to their music, you ve never heard Led Zeppelin like this before.
With the 2014 release of deluxe editions of Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin II, & Led Zeppelin III, the band will launch an extensive reissue program of all nine of its studio albums in chronological order, each remastered by guitarist and producer Jimmy Page. Led Zeppelin will also open its vaults to share dozens of unheard studio and live recordings, with each album featuring a second disc of companion audio comprised entirely of unreleased music related to that album.
"The material on the companion discs presents a portal to the time of the recording of Led Zeppelin, " says Page. "It is a selection of work in progress with rough mixes, backing tracks, alternate versions, and new material recorded at the time."
Following the whirlwind success of their first two albums and near constant touring, Page and Plant took to the now famous Bron-Yr-Aur cottage in Wales in 1970 to start the early composition of Led Zeppelin III. They later convened with Bonham and Jones for rehearsals before entering London s Olympic Studios to begin recording in May 1970. Fueled by classic tracks such as "Immigrant Song" and "Since I ve Been Loving You, " the album soared to the top of charts worldwide upon its release in October of 1970 and has since been certified 6x platinum.
The nine tracks featured on Led Zeppelin III s companion audio continue to offer a window into the band s recording process with seven studio outtakes of songs from the album as well as three previously unheard compositions: "Jennings Farm Blues" (an instrumental forerunner of "Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp"), "Bathroom Sound" (an instrumental version of "Out On The Tiles"), and their take on the blues classics "Keys To The Highway/Trouble In Mind. "
Led Zeppelin continues to be honored for its pivotal role in music history. The band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1995, received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005, and a year later was awarded with the Polar Music Prize in Stockholm. Founding members Jones, Page and Plant along with Jason Bonham, the son of John Bonham took the stage at London s O2 Arena in 2007 to headline a tribute concert for Ahmet Ertegun, a dear friend and Atlantic Records founder. The band was honored for its lifetime contribution to American culture at the Kennedy Center Honors in 2012. In January of 2014, the band won their first ever Grammy award as Celebration Day, which captured their live performance at the Ertegun tribute concert, was named Best Rock Album.