LED ZEPPELIN Houses Of The Holy VG++ 1973 Atlantic SD 7255 BOB LUDWIG MONARCH

$

70

Vinyl:  VG++  Play Graded. Sounds Great!   Has a small mark on side 1 song 3 that causes a faint repeating tick way in the background that can mostly be heard only with headphones on.  Otherwise, this record is EX+!  Atlantic Labels are Clean and Bright.  This is the Definitive Analog Pressing, the audiophile acclaimed 1973 Atlantic SD 7255 1ST PRESSING, Mastered by Bob Ludwig at Sterling Sound, NYC and Pressed at Monarch Records Mfg. Corp., Los Angeles, CA!!  Enjoy warmer, deeper bass and drums. Silkier vocals. It feels like you're in the room where the music's being made!  Legendary Folk/Metal/Blues!  One of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time!!  allmusic gives it 5 stars!!  
See Review Below!
In the Dead wax:   Side One:  ST-A-732783-DD ex   RL ((Mastered by Bob Ludwig))   AT ((Atlantic Studios, NYC)) STERLING  ((Mastered at Sterling Sound, NYC))  PR  ((Philips Recording Corp., Richmond, IN))  MR  "delta" 17787(5)  ((Pressed at Monarch Records Mfg. Corp., Los Angeles, CA))

On the label:  matrices and MO ((Monarch))  
Side Two:    ST-A-732784-EEE-2-ex   RL ((Mastered by Bob Ludwig))   AT ((Atlantic Studios, NYC)) STERLING  ((Mastered at Sterling Sound, NYC))  PR  ((Philips Recording Corp., Richmond, IN))  MR  "delta" 17787-X  ((Pressed at Monarch Records Mfg. Corp., Los Angeles, CA))
Cover: VG++  (see photos) Gatefold.  One of the most Epic inner gatefolds ever!  Look up Giant's Causeway, in Northern Ireland.  This place is real! Magic here on Earth! Includes the pasteboard lyrics/credits/graphics Inner Sleeve!  Nice gloss on cover. Front and back of cover artwork is rich, clear and bright, with minor shelf wear.  Seams, corners and spine are solid and clean, with minimal wear.  No splits.  No writing.  No bumps.  No creases. 
Goldmine Standards.   I play grade every record that I sell on eBay as I have found you can't rate a record accurately by just visually inspecting it.  I wipe the dust off of every cover with clean, unscented baby wipes.  I professionally clean the vinyl.  (I also operate a Vinyl Record Cleaning business for your dusty/dirty records--if interested, send me a message).
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All records are packaged securely with the vinyl outside the jacket (to avoid seam split in transit). The vinyl and jacket are sandwiched between two cardboard stiffeners and shipped in a custom cardboard record mailer box. 
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Why buy a first or early pressing and not a re-issue or a ‘re-mastered’ vinyl album? 
First and early pressings are pressed from the first generation lacquers and stampers. They usually sound vastly superior to later issues/re-issues (which, in recent times, are often pressed from whatever 'best' tapes or digital sources are currently available) - many so-called 'audiophile' new 180g pressings are cut from hi-res digital sources…essentially an expensive CD pressed on vinyl.  Why  experience the worse elements of both formats?  These are just High Maintenance CDs, with mid-ranges so cloaked with a veil as to sound smeared.  They are nearly always compressed with murky transients and a general lifelessness in the overall sound.  There are exceptions where re-masters/re-presses outshine the original issues, but they are exceptions and not the norm. 

First or early pressings nearly always have more immediacy, presence and dynamics. The sound staging is wider.  Subtle instrument nuances are better placed with more spacious textures. Balances are firmer in the bottom end with a far-tighter bass. Upper-mid ranges shine without harshness, and the overall depth is more immersive.  Inner details are  clearer.  

 On first and early pressings, the music tends to sound more ‘alive’ and vibrant.  The physics of sound energy is hard to clarify and write about from a listening perspective, but the best we can describe it is to say that you can 'hear' what the mixing and mastering engineers wanted you to hear when they first recorded the music.

AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine  [-]

Houses of the Holy follows the same basic pattern as Led Zeppelin IV, but the approach is looser and more relaxed. Jimmy Page's riffs rely on ringing, folky hooks as much as they do on thundering blues-rock, giving the album a lighter, more open atmosphere. While the pseudo-reggae of "D'Yer Mak'er" and the affectionate James Brown send-up "The Crunge" suggest that the band was searching for material, they actually contribute to the musical diversity of the album. "The Rain Song" is one of Zep's finest moments, featuring a soaring string arrangement and a gentle, aching melody. "The Ocean" is just as good, starting with a heavy, funky guitar groove before slamming into an a cappella section and ending with a swinging, doo wop-flavored rave-up. With the exception of the rampaging opening number, "The Song Remains the Same," the rest of Houses of the Holy is fairly straightforward, ranging from the foreboding "No Quarter" and the strutting hard rock of "Dancing Days" to the epic folk/metal fusion "Over the Hills and Far Away." Throughout the record, the band's playing is excellent, making the eclecticism of Page and Robert Plant's songwriting sound coherent and natural.