*** LED ZEPPELIN, “Led Zeppelin: BBC Sessions,” Atlantic

The recordings featured on this double CD (some live studio work, others recorded before a studio audience in 1969 and 1971) have long been treasured by the bootleg set, and the release of this official version, compiled and mastered by Jimmy Page, makes the appeal clear. Not only do these tracks capture the English band’s vibrant live energy at the peak of its career, but they also help illuminate the quartet’s place in rock history.

From the concise intensity of “Communication Breakdown” and “Immigrant Song” to the 18-minute sprawl of “Dazed and Confused,” the musicianship is sharp and inventive if not always succinct. A three-song acoustic interlude (“Stairway to Heaven,” “Going to California,” “That’s the Way”) smolders as effectively as the volatile rendition of “Whole Lotta Love” that follows it. Equally compelling in this live context is the juxtaposition of Zeppelin’s adaptations of blues classics by Willie Dixon and Robert Johnson and original compositions such as “Dazed” and “Heartbreaker” that channel those influences into the group’s bracing blues-rock hybrid.

So many of Led Zeppelin’s recordings have become standards of the classic rock canon that it’s easy to forget the spontaneous gusto of the musicians behind them. “BBC Sessions” is a potent reminder.

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