WE CURRENTLY HAVE  MORE THAN 100  LISTED ITEMS

 

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·      LED ZEPPELIN - HOUSES OF THE HOLY - ORIGINAL 1973 ATLANTIC RECORDS STEREO LP SD-7255 -  EXCEEDINGLY RARE TRUE FIRST PRESSING

 

·      ORIGINAL U.S. PRESSING

 

·      ORIGINAL RED (ORANGE) AND GREEN ATLANTIC RECORDS LABEL WITHOUT WEA LOGO ALONG THE LABEL’S EDGE AND WITH BROADWAY, NY ADDRESS.

 

·      COLUMBIA RECORDS, PITMAN, NJ PRESSING

 

·      ORIGINAL BOB LUDWIG MASTERING (HIS INITIALS (R)OBERT (L)UDWIG ARE STAMPED IN THE TRAIL-OFF VINYL

 

·      ORIGINAL, FIRST, U.S. PRESSING WITH ORIGINAL CATALOG NUMBER (SD-7255) AND NOT THE REISSUE NUMBER (SD-19130)

 

·      THIS IS THE ORIGINAL, AUTHENTIC, FIRST U.S. PRESSING; THIS IS NOT A REISSUE, AN IMPORT, OR A COUNTERFEIT PRESSING.

 

·      ORIGINAL GATEFOLD COVER.

 

·      CLEAN, WEAR-FREE LABELS

 

·      THE RECORD HAS A 'STERLING' STAMP IN THE TRAIL-OFF VINYL (DEAD WAX) AREA, WHICH IS GENERALLY CONSIDERED A PROOF OF AUTHENTICITY OF THE FIRST PRESSING.

 

·      FAIRLY THICK VINYL PRESSING On the scale from 1 to 10 (1 being the least thick, and  10 being the thickest), we assess the thickness of the vinyl as 6.

 

 (►PLEASE SEE THE IMAGE OF THE COVER, LABEL OR BOTH, SHOWN BELOW)

(Note: this is a REAL image of the ACTUAL item you are bidding on. This is NOT a "recycled" image from our previous auction. What you see is what you’ll get.  GUARANTEED!)

 

 

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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.

 

 (EXCERPT FROM AN ONLINE REVIEW BY STEPHEN THOMAS ERLEWINE, ALL MUSIC GUIDE  /ALLMUSIC.COM/)

 

You wouldn't think this is a very hard album to find, what with all the millions of copies it sold. But wait, there is a catch: In 1973, Atlantic label had just merged with Warner Brothers, Elektra and Asylum into the world-wide marketing powerhouse named WEA (WEA being the acronym of the four labels), and was changing the layout of its label, literally as the album was being placed into production. As a result, only a minuscule number of the original print run copies of this album - probably less than 2% - came out on the original ATLANTIC label WITHOUT THE WEA LOGO along the perimeter of the label. We proudly present here one such specimen. This also happens to be the very last Zep album to be issued on Atlantic label - the subsequent releases (Physical Graffiti, Presence, In through the out door and Coda) were released on the band's proprietary "Swan Song" label.

 

Originally dismissed as a departure from their original style, the album aged with infinite grace, and we don't think it would be farfetched to say that is one of the top-4 Led Zep studio albums ever (right up there with Zep I, IV and Physical Graphiti).

 

TO SEE IF WE HAVE OTHER LISTED ITEMS BY THIS GROUP OR ARTIST ► 

 

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·                          CONDITION:

 

·                          THE RECORD

 

 (IMPORTANT NOTE: unless otherwise noted, ALL records are graded visually, and NOT play-graded!; we  grade records under the strong, diffuse room light or discrete sunlight)

 

(a)         WE GRADE THE VINYL AS EXCELLENT. This is one of those albums that are somewhat difficult to grade. It is somewhere between VG++ and NEAR MINT, just a notch below NEAR MINT. A few light abrasions ARE visible, but they are extremely shallow, superficial  and only moderately visually distracting (nothing significant).For the most part, the vinyl looks impeccable without any MAJOR visual flaws or imperfections. Much of the original luster is intact, and the vinyl shines and sparkles almost like new (MINOR UNEVEN SPOT NOTED AROUND THE LABEL AREA; BARELY VISIBLE).

 

(b)         The record comes in its original, custom, inner sleeve, which is UNIQUE to this album.

 

(c)          The record is pressed on a RELATIVELY  thick, inflexible vinyl. This is NOT a thin, flimsy ('dynaflex' type),  vinyl, but not the thickest, most rigid vinyl, either.

 

(d)         Of course, this is a full-bodied ANALOG recording, and not an inferior, digital recording!!!

 

 

·                          THE COVER

 

THE COVER IS NICE --- ABOUT EXCELLENT OR VERY GOOD++.

 

The following flaws or imperfections are noted on the cover:

 

-       Cover has JUST A HINT of ring wear (nothing significant); On the scale from 1 to 10 (1 being the least, and  10 being the most severe), we assess the severity of ring wear as 1.

 

-       Cover has a few tiny wrinkles along the spine  (nothing significant)

 

-       Back cover has a small pressure point (as if someone attempted to write on it with the ballpoint pen, but ran out of ink)  ((BARELY VISIBLE)

 

-       Visible shelf wear noted on the bottom seams

 

 

NO OTHER VISIBLE FLAWS OR IMPERFECTIONS ON THE  COVER

 

 

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POSTAGE & SHIPPING:

 

We offer three postage rates for domestic orders: USPS Media Mail, USPS Priority Mail and USPS Express Mail and three rates for international shipments:  USPS First Class, USPS Priority International Mail, and USPS Express International Mail (in a small number of cases, we will, at our discretion and for purely technical reasons, substitute First Class Mail with eBay's Global Shipping, which is fundamentally the same service at about the same cost). INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMERS PLEASE NOTE: WE RECOMMEND (BUT DO NOT INSIST) that you select USPS International Priority Mail when making a payment.

 

INTERNATIONAL POSTAGE rates vary from one region of  the world to another. For SPECIFIC international and domestic postage rates, please click on " Shipping, returns, and payments" tab in the header of our listing.

 

 

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CRITICALLY IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

 

(A) All orders valued at $50.00 or more will be shipped fully insured against loss, damage or theft by ShipCover, eBay's contracted insurer, at our expense (B) Yes, we do combine items into a single shipment; in order to enable this feature, the winning bidders should WAIT until their last item of interest ends and ONLY THEN make a payment. Doing otherwise will result in multiple shipments to the same customer and forfeiture of multiple shipping charges already paid. (C) Because we do not play-grade our items, we do not know how the purchased item will play on the buyer's equipment. We can only make reasonable inference on the record's playing condition based on its visual appearance. (D) This seller will NOT cancel erroneous, frivolous and prank bids. The bidders can do so on their own, by visiting eBay's Site Map, then clicking on Bid Retractions link. (E) This seller does not specifically grade or describe certain items, such as: shrink (cellophane) wrap and accompanying extras (inserts, booklets, etc.); however, the presence of these items WILL be noted and accompanied by the gallery photo(s). (F) Please do not submit any bids on our items if you have insufficient user history. (G) Other than in very rare justified cases, failure to pay for the item you won amounts to a fraud and will result in a permanent ban on bidding on our future listings. (H) We will NEVER deliberately, knowingly or willingly provide a false, deceitful or misleading information.

 

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OUR REFUND POLICY :

 

WE OFFER UNCONDITIONAL MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE (POSTAGE INCLUDED) WITHIN 30 DAYS FROM THE RECEIPT OF THE MERCHANDISE, NO QUESTIONS ASKED; STILL SEALED ITEMS MUST BE RETURNED SEALED IN ORDER TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR A REFUND.   NO EXCEPTIONS!

 

 

FINE (BUT IMPORTANT!) PRINT

 

 (1) The year indicated in the title bar is the year of the original release,  NOT necessarily the year of the actual pressing; for the actual generation of the pressing, please see our item description (top section, the text in red letters). (2) Please do NOT bid based on the title bar, subtitle bar or item specifics box alone; instead, please read the entire description before bidding; (3) Absolutely NO order cancellations after the auction closes. ever, under any circumstances. We can ONLY cancel bids before the item closes. (4) We are unable to provide matrix-, stamper- or other pressing  information in the final 24 hours of the auction. (5) All disagreements and miscommunications can be - and will only be - solved in a civil and mutually respectful manner; please avoid puerile, offensive, abrasive or menacing language (6) This seller will accommodate all reasonable requests and - unless seriously molested - is generally a flexible, pragmatic and agreeable person.

 

Our love & appreciation for your trust, loyalty and business, always and forever;  Thank You & Good Night!

 

© 2001,2007 MDJ. All rights reserved.