LED ZEPPELIN "IN THROUGH OUT DOOR" US FIRST PRESSING '79 w/ BAG AND 2 INSERTS

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LED ZEPPELIN "IN THROUGH THE OUT DOOR" US FIRST PRESSING '79 w/ BAG AND 2 INSERTS 
LED ZEPPELIN "IN THROUGH THE OUT DOOR" LABEL: SWAN SONG (ATLANTIC) SS 16002 RELEASED: AUGUST 22, 1979 FIRST PRESSING U.S. COMPLETE w/ BAG COVER & INNER SLEEVE COMES WITH BOTH 'PAINTED' & 'UNPAINTED' INNER SLEEVE VERSION 'D' OF SIX COVER VARIATIONS ORIGINAL 'FLAMES OF ALBION' PUBLISHING CREDITS RECORDED/MIXED: POLAR RECORDING STUDIOS STOCKHOLM ~ NOV-DEC 1978 RECORDING ENGINEER: LEIF MASES  LACQUERS/ MASTERING: STRAWBERRY MASTERING LABS LONDON PRESSING PLANT: 'PRESSWELL' HAMMONTON, NJ ('PR' IN MATRIX) ALBUM JACKET ART & DESIGN: HIPNOSIS / STORM THORGERSON MATRIX (SIDE A): (Stamped + Etched) ST-SS-794345-J .STRAWBERRY. (PR) MATRIX (SIDE B): ST-SS-794346-L  .STRAWBERRY.  (PR)P
CONDITION:  VINYL: EX-    JACKET: EX-   COVER & SLEEVE: EX- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I've been going thru my massive vinyl record collection these past few weeks and pulling out some LPs that I thought that someone else would want for their collection. I've been collecting records for over 45 years and it's time to pass some of them on to the next generation of collectors.
This week on EBay I am offering up this fantastic, clean, original 1979 First Pressing of Led Zeppelin's classic 8th and last album, 'In Through The Out Door'
This is my original copy, purchased back in the summer of 1979, shortly after it's release, that I've taken great care of for many years. See details on Condition below.
This is a clean, beautiful First Pressing, complete with the outer brown bag wrapper and it contains two original inner sleeves, one 'painted' and one, as issued, 'unpainted'.
This album has been repressed, re-released, and remastered over the years, but as a Led Zeppelin fan and Zeppelin vinyl collector, this is the copy you want; First Pressing, original 'bag' wrapper, a rare version 'D' jacket, and the pair of original inner sleeves. It also has an original, period correct, Atlantic records inner sleeve.
If you like Led Zeppelin and collect their records, this is a fantastic original record to add to your collection.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After being in the rock'n'roll scene for over twelve years, this album proved that Led Zeppelin could still rock just as hard and produce some excellent music even though the heavy rock genre had all but disappeared by 1979 when this album was released.
Since the release of their last album, 'Presence' in 1976, music had gone thru Funk, Disco, the emergence of Punk, and was settling into New Wave.
Led Zeppelin were precisely the "Bloated Rock Dinosaurs" that Punk and New Wave acts were rebelling against.
There were accusations of Led Zeppelin's irrelevance in the evolving contemporary music scene and people were actually wondering if Zeppelin would return at all after not making a record in three years.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ By this point, 1979, the late 70's had taken their toll, even on the mighty Led Zeppelin. It was nothing short of a miracle that the hard living rock band had even lasted this long.
Like all great classic rock bands, Led Zeppelin was in a musical transitional period, things had changed, and when this new album was being made, there were significant issues developing within the band. The mighty band seemed like a spent force and was in a bad place. 
Plant commented: "It was four of us, but i don’t think it was Led Zeppelin as it might've been" 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This album was recorded after a hard time in Plant`s life. 
Prior to 'Presence', Zeppelin were riding high on 1975’s double-album Physical Graffiti. 
During the American tour in support of 'Presence', the band got the tragic news that Robert Plant’s son Karac had suddenly died. That was a tough blow. The rest of the tour was cancelled and Plant returned home to grieve. 
Plant struggled with depression and grief over the loss of his son, and almost left the band. The mighty Zeppelin went silent for three years which was a huge absence at the time. 
There were rumors in the music press that Page was going to replace Plant and try to carry on, but Jimmy had his own demons.
Jimmy Page was deep in the throes of heroin addiction, and had mostly checked out by this point.
Page’s heroin addiction had gotten a lot worse and he had virtually disappeared into his drug habit.  Page was increasingly unengaged, insignificant, and not in top form, forcing Jones to step up as band leader and producer.
This is the only Led Zeppelin album where the guitarist doesn't get a writing credit on every song.  John Bonham also wasn't in top form.
The drummer extraordinaire's alcoholism had deepened to the point where it was becoming a problem.  Bonham’s disconcerting dependence on Vodka was reaching a terrifying end stage and his commitment and skills suffered.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Complicating all this was the fact that the band decided to decamp to Sweden and go into UK Tax exile, further stressing the situation.
Led Zeppelin was 'stuck' in Sweden, being forced to write, rehearse and record there. They recorded this album at the band Abba's Polar Studios in Stockholm.
The exile resulted in the band being unable to tour on British soil for over two years, finally returning for their legendary Knebworth Festival shows in the summer of 1979.
This album would be titled 'In Through the Out Door' to describe the band's efforts trying to get back to England and back into the public's mind. It was like "trying to get in through the 'out' door".
~~~ Despite all the turmoil the band was facing at the time, Robert Plant grieving over the death of his son, Bonham and Page’s spiraling addictions, and being stuck in Sweden, Led Zeppelin managed to marshal their strength and put together this amazing record.
With Jimmy Page and John Bonham generally out of commission, Plant teamed with Jones, always the group's steadying force and master musician.
Led Zep were essentially a two-man band by this point.
Jones later said, "there were two distinct camps by then, and we [Plant and I] were in the relatively clean one."
John Paul Jones felt he needed to exert more control over the direction of the album and they started to write new material which heavily featured JPJ's keyboards and synthesizers.
One of the first songs they wrote together was "All of my love' a heartfelt tribute to Plant's son, who had died suddenly just a year previously.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ All credit must be given to the great John Paul Jones without whom this release wouldn't exist.
JPJ was a master musician and was always regarded as the secret, behind the scenes, genius of Led Zeppelin.
With Jimmy Page and Bonzo mostly out of the picture, the music started to move away from the heavy guitar riffs of Jimmy into subtler textures steeped in Jones' love of synthesizers, which were common in contemporary rock music of the time.
Jones was heavily inspired by the new Yamaha GX-1 synthesizer he had recently purchased, which is heard all over this album. Some fans complained that Led Zeppelin's music had become 'sugar-coated'
When Plant finally came out of seclusion he was a changed person and was adamant that the group explore new musical territory in order to remain current. Deeply effected by the criticism of the Punks, Plant was energized and keen on taking Zeppelin in a new direction.
This album marks a change for the band, more keyboard-oriented and poppier, experimenting and looking for a new sound. It's a very forward looking album. 'In Through…' didn’t sound like any of the previous Zeppelin albums. 
John Paul Jones and Robert Plant really took charge of the writing and sessions.
Jones wound up with writing credits on all but one of the seven songs, a much larger share than on any other Led Zeppelin album. The exception is "Hot Dog" a delightfully dirty rockabilly throwaway.
Some critics at the time called this a John Paul Jones album, not a Led Zeppelin album. That certain 'magic' is missing. Many felt "In Through the Out Door" seemed to show a lack of cohesion within the Zeppelin camp. A valid argument.
In contrast to previous Led Zeppelin albums, 'In Through the Out Door' features much greater influence on the skills of John Paul Jones and vocalist Robert Plant. There's less influence from drummer John Bonham and guitarist Jimmy Page, who often failed to show up on time, or at all, to the recording studio. 
Many of the songs were written, arranged and put together by Plant and Jones during the day, with Page and Bonham adding their parts late at night, or whenever they bothered to show up.
Listening to Led Zeppelin’s 'In Through The Out Door' album today, one can hear a certain duality within the record. There’s a light side to the record that sounds sweet and melancholy and then there’s a heavier side that lurks in the background. 
That duality is the direct result of the band split into two during the recording sessions. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Actually, listening to this album now, in 2024, it's a really fine album.
'In Through The Out Door' has some sensational moments on it and contains some of Zeppelin’s finest moments ever recorded. 
It's a fascinating hodgepodge of songs. A fun and refreshing change for Led Zeppelin. One of their greatest musical achievements and a very underrated album.
The two singles from the album “All of My Love” and “Fool in the Rain" are still classic rock radio staples today.
There are some great tracks, especially "In The Evening', "Carouselambra", “South Bound Saurez”, “Fool in the Rain” and "I'm Gonna crawl", most of which history has been unkind to.
"In Through the Out Door" is a great album, one which deserves more recognition. 
I urge everyone who owns a copy to put this on and re-evaluate this great album with modern ears. It's fantastic!
It was a much anticipated album when it was released. The album sold 1.7 million copies right out of the gate and three million by the end of September 1979. The album was a huge commercial success; it went to number 1 on both the U.S. and UK charts.
There were several other great songs that came out of the sessions for 'In Through…' that they held back and eventually came out on Coda. “Wearing And Tearing” was directly addressed to the Punks, “Ozone Baby” and “Darlene” were all tracks that would have fit in well on the album. 
I remember reading in ‘Hammer of the Gods’ Plant wanted to release an EP with those three tracks on it, to keep fans interested, prior to the actual album coming out. That would have been an amazing EP.
This album was originally intended to be released before the band's return from exile and their triumphant concerts at Knebworth in the summer of 1979, but it was held up until mid August by production delays.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After making this album, it became clear that Robert Plant wanted to move onto other projects.
What's striking about 'In Through the Out Door' is how it points the way towards Plant's solo career.  The roots of his early solo work can be certainly heard here. 
Plant's 1982 debut 'Pictures at Eleven' follows through on the sounds of songs like "In the Evening" and "Carouselambra" 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Led Zeppelin’s 'In Through The Out Door' album was never intended to be their final studio album, but unfortunately, another tragedy soon took place.
On the morning of September 24, 1980, a Led Zep assistant picked up Bonham to go to some rehearsals. On the way, John got "breakfast", four quadruple vodkas and a ham roll. 
During rehearsals, he continued to drink all day. Late in the evening the band left the studio and went to Page's house in Windsor. Bonham passed out and was taken to bed.
It was rumoured that he had a total of forty shots that night. They found Bonzo dead the next morning. Bonham was only 32 years old.
The decision to end the band came instantly. A sad end to one of the greatest bands of all time. Page said: "It was impossible to continue" 
The death of John Bonham turned this transitional album into their final record ever.
The sad part of the story is we never got to hear where Zeppelin would have taken this next. One can't help thinking what Led Zeppelin might have done had Bonham lived into the 1980s. 
Page optimistically envisioned the next album as raw and stripped-down – a rebirth for a new decade. In 2004, Jimmy Page said: "we wanted...to make something hard-hitting and riff-based again. Of course, we never got to make that album."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In 1979, all of us desperately wanted to hear a triumphant return to glory, but instead got this album. In a way, this album spelled doom for the great Led Zeppelin if they decided to continue down this synthesizer heavy direction into the '80s. That would have tragically stained an otherwise magnificent legacy.
A band as majestic and primal as Led Zeppelin, a band that everyone loved, was expected to go out with a thundering bang instead of a whimper. This was hardly the Swan Song they deserved, but any Led Zeppelin studio album is better than 75 percent of the rock albums ever released. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This album contains 7 great songs:
In the Evening South Bound Saurez Fool in the Rain Hot Dog Carouselambra All My Love I'm Gonna Crawl
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Almost all of Led Zeppelin's earlier albums kick off with an epic, powerful, heavy opening track, and 'In Through the Out Door' is no exception.
The epic “In The Evening” was chosen as the strong opening track for this album in order to show that Led Zeppelin was still able to make  good rock music.
The song has an odd, atmospheric start like 'In The Light' from Physical Graffiti, but soon turns into a great mid pace rocker.
It’s got a great riff and an infectious melody. Jones's keyboards are a dominant force. Bonham keeps a simple groove on the drums and Plant turns in one of his best performances on the record.
Like earlier, classic Led Zeppelin, there should have been a crunching guitar riff after the eerie opening sounds, but instead we get a blast of John Paul Jones' synths, something very unfamiliar to most Zep fans ears, suggesting that this album will be something new and different. 
'In the Evening' is still a heavy, sinister song, and a promising start to the album. 
It's a long song, almost seven minutes, with some repetitive catchy riffs, but that makes it an interesting ride. The quiet mysterious eastern-style intro to "In The Evening" belies the heavy rock song that follows.
Page explained that he used a violin bow and a Gizmotron effect on his guitar to create the droning sound that opens the song.
The track features a contrast between powerful riffs in the main part of the track, against a relatively quiet middle section.
Jimmy's lead guitar steals the show, and he performs a killer solo, one of his most beautiful and simplest. Robert Plant’s vocals are still powerful and amazing after so many years. Bonham's drums deliver heavy blows during this sizable dose of classic Zeppelin.
A great album opener.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Southbound Suarez" is an upbeat, piano-led, boogie style, rock'n'roll song. It's John Paul Jones' baby, like many songs on this album. 
It starts with a rollicking piano intro, played by Jones, that has a fun New Orleans bar room feel.  It's a bouncy, piano-oriented song with excellent vocals from Robert Plant, but it's almost devoid of Jimmy Page, except for some classy riffs and a minor guitar solo in the middle.
It's one of the first songs in Led Zeppelin's catalog, along with "All My Love", where Jimmy Page doesn't get any writing credits.
Also, interestingly, this is the only LZ studio album for which John Bonham gets no writing credits either. Jimmy had his hand in every Led Zeppelin song, over 7 albums and 10 years, but here his dominance over the band is clearly diminished. A clear sign of his addiction and diverted priorities.
"South Bound Saurez", despite lacking Jimmy's direct contribution, is a great, funky, rock'n'roll song, with rhythmic piano, strong vocals, and catchy guitar riffs. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Fool in the Rain”, the standout track on this album, is a rather simple, whimsical song but features a catchy uptempo melody, some fine shuffling drum work from John Bonham, fantastic keyboards from JPJ, and a great, growling Jimmy Page solo. Easily one of LZ’s greatest later-year songs.
The song is an example of Plant's insistence that the group needed to expand it's sound and explore new musical territory in order to remain current.
“Fool in the Rain” proved that the band could still work as a tight, integrated unit, and have a good time while making fun music. 
'Fool In The Rain’ starts out with a classic piano riff driving the upbeat melody then breaks into a Santana style Latin samba groove in the middle.
JPJ's piano is played in a Cuban inspired, looping rhythmic style, with minimal chord changes. Very different to American ears, but very effective and catchy.
The drumming is fantastic, and one of Bonham’s best showcase pieces on the album, with some thunderous fills and great cymbal work. The song is a rare, unusual, Bonham/Plant composition.
The rousing samba section in the middle leads into an excellent, multi-octave, Latin-tinged guitar solo by Page, among his best on the album. Page’s thick, fat, guitar solo is classic.
Page has said that his inspiration for this track was the sounds and atmosphere of the 1978 World Cup in Argentina that he attended.
The lyrics tell the romantic tale of a man who thinks he has been stood up by his date, a fool in the rain, only to discover he is waiting for her in the wrong place, "on the wrong block." It's Plant's salute to teenage love songs of the 50s.
'Fool In The Rain' has a great shuffle groove and the song has some memorable riffs pairing Jimmy's guitar and JPJ's piano.
The song is rather upbeat, but then a whistle blows, and the song takes off in a festive, latin samba breakout. 
'Fool In The Rain' is one of those songs that you've heard a million times on the radio, but it's still a great song and still sounds fresh.
One of the best songs on this album. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Hot Dog", generally considered one of Led Zeppelin's worst songs, is a fun blend of rockabilly and country & western.
The song grew out of the band's early rehearsals for the album, where they warmed up by playing a bunch of old Elvis Presley and Ricky Nelson songs.
It's a silly rockabilly country hoe-down and not a bad track, just 'different'. The song features some fast finger picking by Jimmy and a twisted 'western' style solo.
Despite it not being most people's favorite LZ song, it was a big hit and went down very well when they played it at the Knebworth conerts earlier that summer.
Some have used 'Hot Dog' to point out how far the music on this album has deviated from their early hard rock mastery that dominated their music in the early '70s. 
Many critics point to "Hot Dog" as an example of all that was wrong with 1979 Led Zeppelin.
The band strayed from it's heavy rock roots, becoming much more commercial, Plant 'Americanizing' his singing with banal lyrics, American accents, and a singing style aimed at the American 'good-ol-boy' and 'girlie' market. Bonzo's drumming shifting from his powerful early style to simpler patterns, sometimes just a shuffle beat, and the invasion of keyboards replacing multi-layered guitars.
"Hot Dog" is clearly a 'filler' song on this album, but it's a fun song and a honky-tonk hoot. It's upbeatand has nice vocal harmonies. It fits nicely as the closing track on side one. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Carouselambra is a song that Led Zeppelin fans either lovee or hate.
I think that the song is an epic masterpiece and the album's highlight song. It's a 10 minute proggy excursion that sits proudly in the middle of the album and stands alongside Led Zeppelin's best tracks. 
Carouselambra is unquestionably among Led Zeppelin's most progressive pieces, different than anything they have released before. 
Dominated by Jones' keyboards and covering a variety of musical styles, the catchy synth tune has a recurring riff that goes through some tempo changes, which allow for the guitar to dominate in the middle section of the track before the synths come back in.
The song shows that Led Zeppelin can change up their style, present something new and exciting, and still sound tight.
They managed to fuse the organ, guitars and voice together in clean and simple layers to create a 10+ minute epic, their second longest song ever released. 
"Carouselambra", at the time, received a bashing for being "too long, too repetitive and too boring", but in retrospect it's seen as one of Led Zeppelin's greatest achievements. 
The ending of the song is upbeat, with some very innovative organ stylings, and some hypnotic tones. Even Jimmy Page comes alive on this song.
Page plays some nice 12 string with his Gibson EDS-1275 double neck guitar on this track, which was normally only used for live performances. 
The song also features some rhythm changes and strong propulsive drumming from John Bonham. My only fault is that Plant's vocals, reminiscent of the old dragon-and-sorcery lyrics of earlier LZ material, are so drowned within the mix they are barely decipherable. 
With some amazing, heavy, synthesizer-driven passages from JPJ's keyboards, intertwined with Page's spine-tingling, dramatic power chord guitar statements, and Bonzo's polyrhythmic drumming, "Carouselambra" is the best, most Proggish, track on the album.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ‘All Of My Love’ has always been one of my favorite songs from this album. It sounds so much more poignant and powerful if you know the story behind the song.
It's not a love song, as many believed it to be when it was released and dominated the radio. 
It's a heartfelt, sorrowful ballad, written by Jones and Plant, as a tribute to Plant's 5 year-old son Karac, who had died suddenly just a year previously.
The loneliness and depression that Plant feels at the loss of his son can really be felt in his emotional vocals and his sorrow just seeps through the speakers.
Plant's emotional lyrics are complemented perfectly by arrangement, the gentle melody, and JPJ's unique, classically inspired, synthesizer solo in the middle of the track.
This is another song that Jimmy Page received no writing credits for as it was written early on in the sessions by just Plant and Jones.
Page didn't like the song very much. "I wasn't really keen on "All My Love". That's not us. In its place it was fine, but I wouldn't have wanted to pursue that direction in the future."
Page's electric guitar is still present, and he does some nice slide work, but it is less supported by a bottom bass sound. 
"All of my love" is the best ballad they have ever written, as well as one of the classiest moments in this band's amazing career.
Critics have said the the song sounds like it's foreshadowing a band on the path to an impending and unforeseeable dissolution.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The album ends on a great song, the bluesy, soulful, "I'm Gonna Crawl", a bluesy, soulful song about about love and devotion.
On past Zeppelin albums, the record always ended with a fantastic closing track, usually a hard rocking tune that left fans desperately wanting more. Songs like “Sick Again”, “The Ocean”, and “When the Levee Breaks” were all powerful album closers, but here, the final track on Zeppelin’s final album, is a long, slow, relaxed, blues track, and feels like a throwback to Zeppelin's past.
It reminds me of "Tea For One" from the previous album, 'Presence'.
The song starts out with a wonderful synthesized string section written by Jones, and Plant's overall arrangement makes the song feel like a throwback to 1960s soul music. 
Plant is really in top form. He gives an excellent, emotional, soulful vocal, literally singing his heart out. Some of his best vocals of the album. 
Jimmy Page actually shows up on this song as well.
“I’m Gonna Crawl” sounds like one of the few tracks on this album where Page is fully engaged. He's somewhat out of the spotlight and in the background on most of this album, but here he shows up and kills it.
Jimmy plays some great riffs and delivers a great guitar break. His solo is off the charts; emotional, desperate, and hearbreaking. It’s simply one of the best solos he has ever played. 
"I'm Gonna Crawl", the final Led Zeppelin song, the last song on the last album, is a pleasant, beautiful, dreamy melancholic and bluesy piece. A perfect mood to send off one of the greatest rock n' roll bands of all time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  IN THROUGH THE OUT DOOR'S PACKAGING
This album was originally released with six different covers, all hidden by a outer brown paper, 'bootleg' looking bag, so you generally didn't know which copy you got until you opened it. 
The outer 'bag' sleeve has the title and songs represented by bootleg-like rubber stamps.
In the time between Led Zeppelin's last album, 'Presence' in March 1976, and this album's release in August 1979, there was an explosion of Led Zeppelin bootlegs on the market, so the band thought it would be fun to release this album looking like another Bootleg.   The picture on the front of all 6 versions is similar but different. 
Each cover showed an alternate angle of a man in a bar, reading a 'Dear John' letter, surrounded by five other characters: the bartender, a rather tipsy floosie, a "detective" in the corner, another rather tired-looking bar-room girl and a piano player. 
The six covers are pictures of the same bar scene, all seen from the six people in the room's different points of view. 
The photo is meant to represent The Old Absinthe House in New Orleans, but was actually shot in a London studio.
The back covers were also different, but the backs of one were the fronts of others, so you only need 3 copies, ie A, B, C, to get all six different covers. 
Only cover 'E' shows the bar sign that says "Contains Lead", so that's the cover most hard-core Zeppelin collectors want. It's also the only cover to show both girls, one standing by the jukebox and the thighs/crotch of the other.
All six covers were made in similar amounts, but cover 'B' seems to be the rarest, at least on US pressings. After the initial First Pressing run, they only released the 'F' cover version here in the States, so those are very common. The letters A-F are printed at the top of the spine denoting which variation it is.
This copy is version 'D', which also seems to be somewhat rare, and also has a great cover photo. 
The 'swipe mark' on the front cover, where the 'grime' is removed and some color is revealed, is a 'hint' and reference to the hidden colors of the black & white inner sleeve. 
The inner sleeve featured hidden 'magic' watercolor ink, in different colours, which appears when the sleeve is gently wet with water.
I read somewhere that Hipnosis' idea was that the colors on the inner sleeve would be mysteriously revealed by the tears of the person reading the 'Dear John' letter, revealing brighter, better days ahead.
The inner sleeve shows some leftover bar 'debris' from the scene, such as a broken glass, loose change, burned cigarettes and the last remains of the 'Dear John' letter smoldering in an ashtray.
The black & white inner sleeve is 'activated' to color when wiped with a wet rag or sponge.
Once the inner sleeve is 'colorized' it's permanent, so plain, all-white, inner sleeves are becoming hard to find. This copy has both a 'Painted' and 'Unpainted' inner sleeve with it, to show it's transformation.
The album artwork was designed by Hipgnosis' Storm Thorgerson.
In 1980, the album art was nominated for a Grammy Award for 'Best Album Package'.
Some Led Zeppelin fans at the time felt that the band spent more time and effort on the packaging, than they spent on creating the music.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CONDITION: I tried to show good hi-resolution photos of the cover, labels and vinyl in my pictures.
I purchased this copy back in the summer of 1979, over 40 years ago, and have taken great care of it since.
VINYL: The vinyl looks excellent. Clean and bright. Basically flawless. No serious scuffs, palpable scratches, or dings. It looks fantastic and I'm sure you'll be very happy with it.
The Deadwax has the first pressing indicators and the 'Strawberry' mastering stamp. See the full Matrix numbers above.
I tried to show some close-up pictures of the vinyl to show how good it looks. I'm sure you'll be very pleased with it.
I haven't messed with it or cleaned it, other than my trusty 'DiscWasher' brush, in 40 years, since Jimmy Carter was in office. It could use a good deep cleaning to make it even bettter looking and better sounding than it already is.
LABELS: This is pressed with the 'classic' colorful Swan Song labels. The labels are clean and bright. No marks or damage. The spindle holes are still mostly sharp and clean, suggesting minimal playing and my careful handling over the years.
JACKET: As you can see from my pictures, this still looks very nice for a 40 year old OG copy. 
These jackets are notorious for showing ringwear, dirt, scuffs and damage, but this copy is still quite nice. Minimal wear and very clean and bright. 
The artwork is bold and bright, the corners are sharp, and the original gloss is still present.
The original brown paper bag wrapper is here and clean. Mildly 'wrinkled' fromyears of storage,but still very nice. It's been in a poly sleeve for decades.
There are 2 original inner sleeves. One 'painted' one 'unpainted. They are both crisp and clean.
Overall, I'll call the whole record VG++, as I almost never call an unsealed album EX, but the vinyl is very clean and sounds amazing.
This record has been sleeved and stored properly for decades, and is still quite nice for an original pressing, as you can see from my pictures.
This copy is all original, and a real gem. I'm sure you'll be pleased with it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** NOTE: I'm selling this rare 'Collector' record "AS IS" and "NO RETURN". It's rare and as described and I'm sure you'll be very happy with it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I’m recently retired and downsizing and letting go some gems and rarities from nearly 45 years of vinyl record collecting. Check out the many other fantastic 45s and 33s coming soon to my page!
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THANK YOU for looking and reading if you got this far.  -- JOHN