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Audience 7.4 - A scratchy, distant, and cluttered recording of an energetic show (band and audience). Is it worth getting? It’s on the ragged edge if you ask me, but as a completist you will find that it is not unlistenable muck, thankfully. It is interesting to hear a veteran touring band giving it 100% effort even if the city is other than New York, LA or Chicago. Just another tour stop, in the deep south no less, but there’s Rush giving their fans their all, night after night. God Bless Rush! -
Audience 8.5 - Solid punch but maybe some lack of clarity in the lower mid to low end, although for some reason the bass kick is clear. It’s nice to have something from this early on in pretty decent fidelity though, so I have to recommend this one. It’s nice! -
Audience 8.8 - A warm and inviting recording that spreads the audio spectrum out very evenly. May be from midway back in the hall, as it is not super sharp, but likewise it is also not too echoey or bassy either. It is a pretty atmospheric sound, with guitar leads swirling above and around adding to the liveness of the recording. -
Audience 8.9 - A great way to discover this band, with a realistic and well captured recording of a very professional performance. -
Audience 9.4 - Superior to a board tape in my opinion because it is recorded in the way that your ears would have picked up the sound in the venue, with the perfectly balanced stereo mixing and balancing of instruments to each side of the stage. Wonderful! -
SDBRD 9.9 - The only thing that gets this to a 10 is a better kick drum sound (extreme nitpicking here). -
Audience 8.4 - Somewhat one-dimensional and a touch thin but it’s pretty darn clear, with a pronounced emphasis on guitar (cool!). Historically I guess you place this high on the priority list as it is their last show, but as a collector you get it because it’s one of the better sounding recordings. -
Soundboard 9.8 - Do not right Billy Idol off as some curiosity of the 80’s .... I mean, listen to this and tell me this guy is not a bona fide singer-writer-performer in any decade. He’s a pro and he can work an audience. -
Audience 9.2 - Very clear and a good amount of atmosphere to give you a real sense of what it was like to be there. I also like how the bass and guitar sound, some tasty tonality to sink your ears into. -
Soundboard 9.6 - Very very clean and quiet, a pure board feed and not a lot of atmosphere but I don’t think anyone is going to mind. It’s a good time period for Elton, with major focus on ballads but still plenty of rock and roll to keep you satisfied. -
Soundboard 8.9 - A good one, if slightly below the expectations of perfection you might be anticipating with a mid 70’s board tape. Occasional phasing, and sometimes a little volume fading as the sound man adjusts things on the fly but it’s greatness is derived from the spectacularly cohesive performance by all the musicians and the sometimes disparagingly different styles they run through in the set. -
Audience 8.8 - A large hall with a lot of atmosphere but the recording thankfully was handled with care by the tapers. Not super close, but not nosebleed, levels are perfect, and the stereo effect is nice. Audio quality is decent, giving you a pretty solid idea of what you would have been hearing with your own ears if you were there. -
Soundboard 8.7 - Signs of age on the old tape, it’s not from a master source but you know, it’s early Metallica in soundboard quality! You don’t have to be a metalhead to be able to appreciate what this band did, and listening to a decently mixed board allows you to hear more of the musicality and musicianship. -
Audience 8.6 - The best part of this tape to me is the richness of the bottom end, nice and round, deep, very very nice. The rest is good too, just maybe not as articulate as the bass sound, with some audience chatter during the show, and a spacious but not reverb drenched atmosphere. One of the great ones! -
Audience 7.9 - This is the complete concert from the 23rd and NOT the officially released Dec, 24th Rainbow show. The problem with it being unofficial, or course, is that it was not recorded professionally, and in this case the audio is a little on the muddy side. I don’t think it is ruined though, because it’s not “thick” mud, it’s just missing something on the high end. -
Audience 8.6 - Talk about being in the crowd, this recording is total immersion if ever there was immersion! But, here’s the good news – it’s a BLAST! The crowd is really an integral part of this performance, the band senses they have a great audience and they really play to them. It’s rather fun and gives you a tremendous feeling of nostalgia. A great ride!