''The Best of Led Zeppelin'' is a two-volume best-of compilation album series by English rock group

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

; containing selections from all of the band's studio albums it was released by

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

. Volume one, ''Early Days'' was released on November 23, 1999; volume two, ''Latter Days'', was released on March 21, 2000. ''Early Days'' is composed of tracks from the period in the band's history dating 1968 to 1971 and doesn't use a traditional "greatest hits" format as Led Zeppelin largely avoided single releases. (The band never had a ''Billboard'' No. 1 single.) ''Latter Days'' covered 1973 to 1979. ''Early Days'' debuted at #71 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

''s Pop Albums chart and ''Latter Days'' debuted at #81. A combined disc set, called ''Early Days and Latter Days'', was released on November 19, 2002. Both ''Early Days'' and ''Early Days and Latter Days'' were certified platinum by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

. Both volumes are now out of print, and were replaced with the 2007 two-disc compilation '' Mothership''. __TOC__

''Early Days''

Track listing

This enhanced CD contains 1969 television footage from

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

of the band miming to "Communication Breakdown".

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

''Latter Days''

Track listing

This enhanced CD contains a video of a live performance of "Kashmir" from Earls Court in 1975 matched to the studio track.

Charts

Box set

Appearance

The sleeve that holds the two CDs is made of cardstock. The cover of the sleeve is mainly occupied by the same photo from the cover of ''Early Days''. It features the members of Led Zeppelin in late Apollo mission astronaut suits in front of a starry background and a Led Zeppelin logo. The logo behind them shows many space-related images, but the only one wholly visible is the image of the moon's face with a space capsule stuck in its eye taken from the early silent movie ''

A Trip to the Moon ''A Trip to the Moon'' (french: Le Voyage dans la Lune) is a 1902 French adventure short film directed by Georges Méliès. Inspired by a wide variety of sources, including Jules Verne's 1865 novel ''From the Earth to the Moon'' and its 1870 s ...

''. On the back of the sleeve is an array of information split up into two columns. On the left column, there is a photograph of the cover of Latter Days. It features the same astronaut suits, but the photos were taken later and so the members of Led Zeppelin are older. In the logo is an image of

Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant with an average radius of about nine and a half times that of Earth. It has only one-eighth the average density of Earth; h ...

and behind all of the foreground is an image of

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

taken from space. Below that is the information about Atlantic. On the right column is a synopsis of the tracks on both discs.

''Early Days'' disc

''Early Days'' is packaged in a plastic jewel compact disc case. Much of the background is a drawing of stars, yet inside the case and behind the CD is an image of an artist's rendition of a supernova, apparently airbrushed. On the backside of the case is a list of the tracks. The background of the back cover appears to be a slightly out-of-focus photograph, likely taken by an amateur photographer. The ''Early Days''

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desce ...

begin with the cover. On the cover is the same image that appears on the foreground of the sleeve. Inside the booklet is first a summary of the tracks, and then photos of the band ranging from 1969 to 1972. Then after that is a list of their albums, and the back page is a list of the band members, design and artwork credits, and information about the

Enhanced CD Enhanced CD is a certification mark of the Recording Industry Association of America for various technologies that combine audio and computer data for use in both Compact Disc and CD-ROM players. Formats that fall under the "enhanced CD" ca ...

capabilities on ''Early Days''.

''Latter Days'' disc

The packaging for ''Latter Days'' mirrors that of ''Early Days''. The four band members are pictured in the same Apollo space suits in the same order, but they are older. Much of the background is of Earth as viewed from orbit. There is a picture of Saturn in place of the picture of the moon with the ship in its eye. Behind the CD is an image of the Eagle Nebula. The liner notes are just like those of ''Early Days'', except for the fact that the images range from the years 1973 to 1979.

Enhanced CD

Both the ''Early Days'' CD and the ''Latter Days'' CD are enhanced so they can play extra content on a computer. On ''Early Days'', a

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

of the song "Communication Breakdown" is included. On ''Latter Days'', a video of the song "Kashmir" is included.

Charts

Certifications

Personnel

;Led Zeppelin * John Bonham –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

* John Paul Jones –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

, recorders *

Jimmy Page James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the rock band Led Zeppelin. Page is prolific in creating guitar riffs. His style involves various alternative ...

– electric and acoustic

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

Robert Plant Robert Anthony Plant (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the English rock band Led Zeppelin for all of its existence from 1968 until 1980, when the band broke up following the ...

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

;Additional musicians *

Sandy Denny Alexandra Elene MacLean Denny (6 January 1947 – 21 April 1978) was an English singer who was lead singer of the British folk rock band Fairport Convention. She has been described as "the pre-eminent British folk rock singer". After briefly w ...

– vocals on "The Battle of Evermore" * Ian Stewart –

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

on "Rock and Roll"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Best Of Led Zeppelin, The Albums produced by Jimmy Page Compilation album series Led Zeppelin compilation albums 1999 greatest hits albums 2000 greatest hits albums Atlantic Records compilation albums Folk rock compilation albums