Hear Led Zeppelin’s Loose, Alternate Mix of ‘Rock and Roll’
Later this month, Led Zeppelin will continue their reissue series with deluxe, remastered editions of their 1971 album Led Zeppelin IV and its 1973 follow-up, Houses of the Holy. Each reissue contains a second disc featuring an album’s worth of alternate mixes and in-progress versions of songs, and Led Zeppelin IV includes a different version of each track on the original album. One of the standouts is an alternate mix of the album’s second song, the rollicking “Rock and Roll,” which features a different blend of guitars and is streaming here.
“‘Rock and Roll’ has just got that cheeky energy about it,” Jimmy Page tells Rolling Stone. “It’s a party. ‘It’s been a long time since I rock and rolled.’ It says it all, really. It’s great lyrics and it’s a great performance.”
“As a song, it was actually kind of punky; pre-punk,” John Paul Jones says. “It was really fast too, onstage anyway. It just got really quick, a lot of energy. It’s a lot of fun to play. The crowd loved it. We loved it.”
Previously, Led Zeppelin issued expanded versions of their first three records. Those albums, as well as the upcoming releases, are available in a variety of configurations, including single- and double-disc remasters, 180-gram vinyl, digital download and a box set containing both all of the audio on CD and LP and a hardbound book with previously unseen photos.
The deluxe editions of Led Zeppelin IV and Houses of the Holy will come out on October 28th. Both records are available for pre-order on LedZeppelin.com.