CODA

It’s brilliant. Vinyl sounds excellent, this album only about 34 mins consists of eight cast off tracks from other albums. They are raw and as expected with Zep great to test the speakers with. It’s one of my favourite Zepelin albums, rock “n” roll at its finest!

The Led Zeppelin reissue campaign ends with presence, in through the outdoor and CODA. Out of these three, Coda is the album I would recommend anyone to get the deluxe edition, whether it be the cd, vinyl or super deluxe box set.In the deluxe edition, you get not one, but two bonus disks/ lps featuring alternative tracks, out takes and rough mixes. It also includes a few finished, yet unreleased songs. The highlight of the bonus material is two songs that were done in 1972 with the Bombay orchestra when Robert Plant and Jimmy Page visited.There is also the unreleased 'St tristian's sword' and instrumental from the Led Zeppelin III sessions. Never bootlegged, heard or described by the general public until now, it's a great little jam session.The songs from the 1990's release of coda make a return, with the exception of white summer. There is also 'Sugar Mama', a song from the Led Zeppelin I sessions. It's a fun little song, but it's obvious why it was left off the debut album.There are also some other surprises which I won't spoil, so you will have to buy it to hear the last tracksIn conclusion, the 2015 deluxe edition of CODA is the highlight of the reissues. If you're a fan of Led Zeppelin, then you will enjoy this a lot.

Possibly the 'piece de reisistance' of the re-issues. Coda was the outtakes album when originally released in '82 but here it is expanded with not just 1 but 2 bonus discs of extra material. The hallowed phrase 'previously unreleased' is most apparent here as what you get here is an early version of 'When the Levee breaks' then titled 'If it keeps on raining' and is totally different with a funk approach,an interesting instrumental titled 'St Tristans sword', the long awaited official appearance of 'Sugar Mama' plus a totally different arrangement of 'Bring it on home'. Add these to the original 8 tracks,the bonus tracks added to later issues plus more alternate versions and you have just about all the bonus tracks you could want. Now Jimmy what happened to 'Swan song','Sunshine woman','Fire','Take me home','I wanna be her man'...

I do think that this deluxe release is the most interesting and the most improved release of the entire catalogue but the caveats are that it was a truly awful release in the first place and the other deluxe issues don`t exactly set the bar high regarding the ahem "companion" disc material.Firstly to recap the deluxe reissues - Led Zep I is well worth it for the extra live concert from Paris, Led Zep II the extras disc is a waste of time, Led Zep III has some interesting moments so worth the 2 disc set, IV just get the single disc as the extras are garbage. I have yet to hear the other extras on Presence Graffiti and Out Door...so onto Coda.It was the only album I haven`t kept either on vinyl or CD as it was originally 30 minutes of outtakes from sessions for the first album, III and In through the Out Door, released in 1982 a full 2 years after the death of John Bonham - I mean it was barely more an EP and compared to properly conceived albums it was rubbish. A clear contractual obligation release!So I still dont think too much of the remaster as the original album is so uneven but track by track.....Track 1 We`re gonna groove is an excellent track which Jimmy Page took from a live version recorded at Royal Albert Hall in Jan 1970, overdubbing lead guitars and enhancing the vocals and drums for Coda - a studio version was originally going to be recorded for Zep II so this is essential stuff!! This track is repeated on the first Companion disc and despite it being a different mix it sounds pretty identical to meTrack 2 Poor Tom is a track from Led Zep III 1970 sessions and was left off the album for a reason - here it sounds unbalanced as the drums are too dominant and guitars pushed back in the mix but anyway its a second rate song tho essential for completists. Some reviewers seem to like it....Emperors New Clothes!Track 3 is I can`t Quit you baby another overdubbed live track from probably June 1969 at an earlier Royal Albert Hall concert - its a great early version.Track 4 Walters Walk stands alone as being a bit odd in that it is credited as a 1972 recording for Houses Of the Holy but the guitar and vocals sound much more like a later recording and it may have had an overdub for the Coda album release. Again interesting but not a great track.Track 5 Ozone Baby is the first of 3 fully worked up tracks for the 1978 Out Door sessions left off for time constraint and is not bad at all - a bit repetitive and noticeably jagged sloppy guitar solo from heroin soaked Jimmy.Track 6 Darlene from the 1978 sessions is an excellent and interesting rockabilly tune with extensive piano from I presume JPJ. Essential!Track 7 Bonzo`s Montreux is a drum solo track taken from a live rehearsal before a concert in Montreux in 1976 and Jimmy Page added annoying electronic effects later for Coda - it should be noted that track 3 on the first Companion disc has an earlier recording of this which is MUCH better than the Coda version!Track 8 Wearing and Tearing is the final track from the 1978 Stockholm sessions and is the most obviously affected by the New Wave/Punk explosion and therefore points the way towards where they might have been going if Bonzo hadnt died.So a 33 minute mixed bag of odds and ends which left me unimpressed at the time but now there`s two more discs to go!! Deep Breath.....Companion disc 1 - Track 1 is an alternate mix of the excellent We`re Gonna groove on Coda but sounds the same to me.Track 2 If it keeps on raining - an early take on When the Levee breaks which has excited a lot of people but it is firmly in the interesting but much worse category - it is very different with low key vocals and quiet guitars and drums but prominent bass - for completists.Track 3 Bonzo`s Montreux - I covered this earlier - its an earlier mix of the rehearsal drum solo but missing later additions and some of discordant high sounds - so much more propulsive and powerful. But it is a drum solo!! Nuff said.Track 4 Baby Come on Home - ah now we`re striking gold- a soul ballad from 1968 sessions so early that the tape canister was labelled “The Yardbirds” and was thought lost until allegedly found in a bin outside Olympic Studios in 1991. Page plays a Leslie guitar with Jones on piano and Hammond organ.....essential!! Tho I can see why it didn`t sit with the other tracks on the first album.Track 5 Sugar Mama is from those same 1968 sessions for the first album and an essential funky piece of history.Track 6 is an instrumental version of Poor Tom from Coda - still suffers from the guitars being too low in the mix but maybe Jimmy was highlighting the drums.... still not worth it in my view.Track 7 Travelling riverside blues - from a John Peel session in 1969 - an excellent track but seems identical to that on the BBC sessions album which I already have in its correct context with the other tracks!Track 8 Hey Hey What can I do - originally a B Side of the Immigrant song recorded in 1970 - and it stylistically bridges Led Zeppelin II and III perfectly - brilliant!!Nearly there!! Now Companion disc 2!!Track 1 Four Hands - the first of 2 tracks recorded with the Bombay Orchestra - an instrumental take of Four sticks which is interesting to listen to once but never again.Track 2 is the Bombay Orchestra with Page on guitar and Plant doing an eastern wail of Friends - hmm not my cup of chai at all but if you liked their later world music experimentation then you might value it.Track 3 is a studio Jam of an instrumental track called St Tristan`s sword from Led Zep III sessions which is the type of thing they did in the middle of songs live to extend improvisation. InterEsting but not essential listening.Track 4 Desire is an early version of the Wanton Song again interesting but adds nothing really.Track 5 Bring it on home is again an early version of Bring it on home without the slow blues progression intro so not essential after first listen.Track 6 is an instrumental version of Walters walk from the Coda disc - so straight into the reject pile for me!Track 7 Everybody makes it through is an early version of Graffiti`s In the Light and doesn`t add anything in my view.So in Summary Coda originally was an appallingly short and inconsistent ragbag but with the extra discs we now can construct a halfway decent testament to the development of this incredible band but there is still a frustrating load of complete garbage to remove. I will rip the essential tracks to my phone and once the filler is removed I will also burn a single CD!

Led Zeppelin reissue of the Coda album. Not their best album, I must admit it took me a long time to buy the album, just to complete my collection when it first came out in CD format. Now I am buying it purely for the two extra CDs with the out-takes. There is two extra discs with this album, maybe a reflection on the quality of the original album. From the extras some good cuts going way back prior to the Coda album, 'If it Keeps on Raining', 'Travelling Riverside Blues', 'Four Hands - [Four Stick]s', 'Friends', 'Everybody Makes it Through - [In the Light]' and a belter of a rough cut of 'Bring it on Home'. A bit of a mixed bag but no doubt a pleasure for die hard fans, not one for anyone new to Led Zep.