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Audience 8.4 - This tape starts off rough but gradually opens up and ends up quite listenable especially considering this originates from an early tour stop in England 1980. These tapes are few and far between, so grab it is my advice. One thing I noticed, the sound timbre is rather eerie, a spooky kind of effect I can’t explain and it is magnified by the fact that Randy’s guitar is clearest in the mix. I could not help myself while listening to ponder what may have been, such an advanced musical sensibility that would have only gotten better. OZZY OSBOURNE - "1980 Sunderland" Mayfair Theater, Sunderland, England October 28th, 1980 Ozzy Osbourne - Vocals Randy Rhoads - Guitar Bob Daisley - Bass Lee Kerslake - Drums 01 -Intro 02 -I Don't Know 03 -You Lookin' at Me 04 -Crazy Train 05 -Goodbye to Romance 06 -No Bone Movies 07 -Mr. Crowley 08 -Revelation (Mother Earth) 09 -Suicide Solution 10 -Randys Solo 11 -Lees Drum Solo 12 -Iron Man 13 -Children of the Grave 14 -Steal Away 15 -Paranoid Notes: When Ozzy left Black Sabbath in 1979 I honestly thought it could be the last we saw of him. Sure, he was a great, mad front man in Sabbath, but I really didn’t see him as a solo act. Ozzy always struck me as crazy, fearless, yet almost child-like. He fitted well within the Sabbath context, and as part of a group; but on his own? How wrong I was. Nobody could have predicted just how successful his career would turn out to be. But it was obvious from the first time I saw him in concert and heard him play his new songs that Ozzy was going to be OK, more than OK in fact. The new album had some great tracks in “Crazy Train”, “Goodbye to Romance”, and “Mr. Crowley”, and he included Sabbath favorites “Iron Man”, “Children of the Grave”, and “Paranoid” in the live show, so how could he not be great? Oh, and Randy Rhoads was simply an incredible guitarist, just as good as his legend suggests. The tour called at Newcastle City Hall, Newcastle Mayfair and Sunderland Mayfair. The line-up of Blizzard of Ozz was Ozzy (of course) on vocals, the late and truly great guitarist Randy Rhoads, Bob Daisley (Rainbow) on bass, Lee Kerslake (Uriah Heep) on drums and local lad Don Airey on keyboards (replaced by Lindsey Bridgewater for the tour). Support came from those excellent Welsh rock heroes Budgie. -
Studio Quality 8.8-9.4 None of this is bad, however there is going to be some hiss on some tracks but it’s not annoying at all. Overall it’s all great, some very very interesting stuff going on here too. Various sources used throughout so sometimes uneven but a noble effort was made to remaster those bits so it flows better, and it does. I like this, it’s a pleasure to listen to because there’s a lot of varied material. Rolling Stones Black And Blue Sessions & More Various Sources 1974-1975 01 Hot Stuff 02 Hand Of Fate 03 Cherry Oh Baby 04 Memory Motel 05 Hey Negrita 06 Melody 1 07 Slave 1 08 Worried About You 09 Crazy Mama 1 10 I Got A Letter 1 11 Act Together 1 12 Fool To Cry 1 Munichland Melodies ( 05, 06 ) Outtakes `74 - `75 ( 02, 03, 04, 09, 12 ) Ship Dip Blues ( 01 ) Black And Blue - bootleg ( 07, 08, ) Static In The Attic ( 10, 11 ) -
Audience 8.5/8.4 - Both of these recordings are very good in not only the general fidelity but they also seem to be low gen. They are both clear and not muddy, although one is slightly clearer in the middle frequency. It seems as though these shows have been worked on with some audio tools, but with a light touch, it is greatly appreciated by these ears! Both shows are very worthwhile, and being the period before the more extravagant sets, kind of easier to sit through. The Kinks "The Ides of March" Disc 1 Emerson Gymnasium Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH. March 11, 1972 1. Top of the Pops 2. Brainwashed 3. 20th Century Man (Beginning tease) 4. Get Back In The Line 5. Waterloo Sunset 6. Apeman 7. Sunny Afternoon 8. Band Intros 9. Muswell Hillbillies 10. Acute Schizophrenia Blues 11. Your Lookin Fine 12. Alcohol 13. Skin & Bones 14. Lola 15. You Really Got Me 16. All Day And All Of The Night 17. Applause (Encore Break) 18. Til The End Of The Day 19. Victoria Disc 2 Chicago Auditorium Chicago, IL March 12, 1972 1. -Intro 2. -Till The End Of The Day 3. -Your Looking Fine 4. -Apeman 5. -Get Back In Line 6. -Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues 7. -Muswell Hillbillies 8. -Sunny Afternoon 9. -Demon Alcohol 10. -Skin And Bones 11. -Lola 12. -Jam - One Night With You 13. -You Really Got Me - All Day And All Of The Night 14. -Victoria 15. -Louie Louie -
Audience 9.2 - Both of these shows are fantastic, clear, and punchy. This is also a great period for Robin, his playing is mature, muscular, solid every note beginning to end. His recent material is on display here and there which is cool but the old stuff really shines…as always. Robin Trower The Country Club Reseda, CA 1-30-1987 Disc 1 1. Too Rolling Stoned 2. Secret Doors 3. Day Of The Eagle 4. Bridge Of Sighs 5. Passion 6. No Time Disc 2 7. Spellbound 8. Bad Time 9. Rock Me Baby 10. Won't Even Think About You 11. Little Bit Of Sympathy New George's San Raphael, CA 1/27/88 Disc 3 1 Too Rolling Stoned 2 Love Attack 3 Day of the Eagle 4 Bridge of Sighs 5 Second Time 6 No Time Disc 4 1 Take What You Need 2 Rock Me Baby 3 Tear It Up 4 Little Bit of Sympathy 5 Lady Love 6 Into the Flame -
Audience 9.7 - Superb in just about every category, and literally surpasses whatever kind of “perfection” you may imagine you get with a board tape. This is how one should relive a live concert, by listening to a tape made by guys who used excellent gear, sat in the best spot, and were respectful the whole show (in fact the whole audience is). Vibrant, clear, flawless mix, great atmosphere…what else could make this better? Even the performance is amazing, with great special guests, it’s one for the collection for sure. MUST HAVE!! Zappa Plays Zappa Special Guests Steve Vai & Ray White Yokohama Blitz, Japan 2008-01-23 Dweezil Zappa(Guitar) Scheila Gonzalez(Saxophone, Flute, Keyboards & Vocals) Billy Hulting(Marimba, Mallets & Percussion) Aaron Arntz(Keyboards & Trumpet) Pete Griffin(Bass) Jamie Kime(Guitar) Joe Travers(Drums & Vocals) Special Guests: Ray White(Guitar and Vocals) Steve Vai(Guitar) Disc 1 01. -Eat That Question (11:27) 02. -Cosmik Debris (08:33) 03. -The Illinois Enema Bandit (11:22) 04. -Joe's Garage (05:44) 05. -Wind Up Workin' in a Gas Station - San Ber'dino (09:20) 06. -Pygmy Twylite (10:11) Disc 2 07. -Dupree's Paradise - Uncle Remus - Willie the Pimp (38:02) 08. -Andy (06:52) 09. -Filthy Habits (08:35) 10. -Advance Romance (09:45) Disc 3 11. -What's New in Baltimore? (05:08) 12. -Peaches En Regalia (03:49) 13. -I'm The Slime - Echidna's Arf (Of You) (08:59) 14. -City of Tiny Lights (10:07) 15. -Yo' Mama (13:04) 16. -G-spot Tornado (03:24) 17. -Muffin Man (10:00) -
Audience 8.5 - Here is perhaps one of the best captures from the tour (not quite as good as Oakland or LA but this tape has some real power). This recording seems to be rather close to the PA, but there’s no distortion. Tape is not overly wide ranging from high to low but there’s plenty of meat and a good amount of dynamics nonetheless. Certainly this is one to get. The Rolling Stones 1969.11.11 Phoenix Coliseum Phoenix, Arizona 01. -Jumping Jack Flash 02. -Carol 03. -Sympathy For The Devil 04. -Stray Cat Blues 05. -Prodigal Son 06. -You Gotta Move 07. -Love In Vain 08. -Under My Thumb 09. -Midnight Rambler 10. -Live With Me 11. -Gimme Shelter 12. -Little Queenie 13. -Brown Sugar (*) (*) Live At Altamont Speedway 1969.12.06 -
Audience 8.4 - I think the draw is, when you are dealing with these old audience tapes that don’t have very wide dynamic range, is that as long as you get a solid guitar, and reasonable vocals, it’s going to appeal to collectors because what they want is the performance mainly – and I tend to agree because this is after all the peak period for the band. You can hear guitar, vocals, and keys in pretty decent clarity and forceful too – I see the value in this recording, a little rough around the edges when band is at full flight due to limitations with the recorder, but let me tell you I hung around, listened to the whole thing, and came away satisfied. It’s not too bad! Palasport, Genova, Italy March 11, 1973- Intro
- Highway Star
- Smoke On The Water
- Strange Kind Of Woman
- Mary Long
- Keyboard Solo - Lazy
- Drum Solo - The Mule
- Space Truckin'
- Black Night
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Audience 9.6 - This is a special set, not just because it also contains the complete soundcheck but because it is stunning quality and off the hook performance. Like I have said before, I think this is the best Dweezil ever sounded. Zappa Plays Zappa House of Blues Cleveland, Ohio July 3, 2009 Disc 1 01 Intro / Crowd 02 I'm the Slime 03 Montana 04 Wind Up Workin' in a Gas Station 05 Village of the Sun 06 Instrumental 07 Instrumental 08 Instrumental 09 Black Page No. 1 10 Black Page (Melody) 11 Inca Roads 12 Pygmy Twilight 13 Bamboozled by Love 14 Instrumental Disc 2 15 Instrumental 16 Instr / Drum Solo 17 Lucille 18 Outside Now 19 Titties 'n Beer (Fragment) 20 Cosmik Debris 21 Peaches en Regalia 22 Trouble Every Day 23 Encore applause 24 Zombie Woof 25 Don't Eat the Yellow Snow 26 Willie the Pimp 27 Outro / Crowd Disc 3 ZPZ soundcheck (same date, venue, source) 01 guitar 02 guitar 03 guitar 04 guitar 05 instrumental 06 Wind Up Workin' in a Gas Station 07 Discussion 08 San Ber'dino 09 San Ber'dino II 10 San Ber'dino III 11 Trouble Every Day 12 Pygmy Twilight 13 Discussion 14 Penguin in Bondage 15 Inca Roads (jam) 16 St. Alphonzo's Pancake Breakfast 17 guitar 18 guitar 19 guitar 20 guitar -
Soundboard 9.5 - Two tapes have surfaced and both are very strong. The tapes are so good they should be officially released. A good one, rare and certainly worth the time and effort. THE GROUNDHOGS - Quinn Abbey, UK 1971 Disc 1 1. -Mistreated 2. -Split part 1 3. -Cherry Red 4. -Split part 2 5. -Groundhog Blues 6. -Still A Fool 7. -Garden 8. -Eccentric Man Disc 2 WMC Studios, CA, June 8, 1972 1. -Eccentric Man 2. -Music Is The Food Of Thought 3. -Still A Fool 4. -Split part 1 5. -Groundhog Blues 6. -Cherry Red - Split part 2 Tony McPhee - guitar, vocals Pete Cruickshank - bass Ken Pustelnik - drums -
Soundboard 9.2 - Another fine recording from the board is here to enjoy. A great setlist, and I mean it is super strong all the way through. Hard to beat this period. Great stuff! Kansas Rochester Auditorium Theatre Rochester, NY March 17th, 1977 Disc 1 1. Carry On Wayward Son 2. Icarus: Borne On Wings Of Steel 3. Down The Road 4. Mysteries And Mayhem 5. Lamplight Symphony 6. The Wall 7. Lonely Wind Disc 2 1. Miracles Out Of Nowhere 2. Guitar Solo - Jam 3. Magnum Opus 4. Belexes 5. Song For America 6. Hungarian Dance No. 5 - Cheyenne Anthem -
Audience 8.7 - So this is one that fell below the radar but absolutely must be considered by any Crue fan to be one of the best of the best…and technically speaking it should not be. It’s not a board tape, it’s not even the best audience tape out there – but it is one of the best from this tour AND it just friggin’ smokes as far as performance goes. It’s one of the best played shows I have ever heard by them. The atmosphere is electric, the band is feeding off it, and they just deliver one hell of a performance. The tape captures the evening quite well, and you really feel as if you are there. I love that, I want the tape to be clear and I like some dynamics but I also really like a good atmosphere – this just delivers man. Motley Crue Theater of Pain Tour Live in Pittsburgh, at the Civic Arena August 7, 1985 Disc 1 In The Beginning Looks That Kill Use It Or Lose It Shout At The Devil Fight For Your Rights Ten Seconds To Love Piece Of Your Action Home Sweet Home Red Hot Mick Mars Guitar Solo Keep Your Eye on The Money Disc 2 Intro Louder Than Hell Tommy Lee Drum Solo Too Young To Fall In Love Knock ‘em Dead Live Wire Smokin’ In The Boys Room City Boy Blues Helter Skelter Jailhouse Rock -
New York 1978 Audience 9.3 - What a wild, out of control ride this is! Not only perhaps one of the most engaging live Kinks bootleg recording (or at least in the top 5), It also may just be one of THE coolest bootleg audience recording of any band. Why? Why such praise? It captures an intangible quality, that thing you can’t accurately describe with words…it’s a statement of sorts. We have a foundation rock band (first British wave) who have always been sort of disregarded but who refuse to pack it in, and here is why. These guys were punk before punk was a thought, and here they are a decade and change removed from their 60’s heyday, playing the birth place of US punk and they STILL can out punk the punks. Brilliant! Magical. A MUST! Buffalo 1978 Audience 8.7 - A very clear recording, good solid mid range and leaning toward emphasis on the high end which gives cymbals the little bit of crispiness that makes them heard and not washed out. Drums are highlighted and have a great sound too. The Kinks New Century Theater, Buffalo, NY May 27, 1978 Band line-up Ray Davies – lead and backing vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards Dave Davies – lead guitar, backing and lead vocals Gordon Edwards – keyboards, piano, backing vocals Mick Avory – drums, percussion Jim Rodford – bass, backing vocals John Beecham - trombone Nick Newall - saxophone Disc 1 01 Intro 02 Life On The Road 03 Sleepwalker 04 Mr. Big Man 05 Permanent Waves 06 Hay Fever 07 Waterloo Sunset 08 Celluloid Heroes 09 Misfits 10 Lola Disc 2 11 A Well Respected Man 12 Death of a Clown 13 Sunny Afternoon 14 Trust Your Heart 15 You Really Got Me 16 Slum Kids 17 Alcohol 18 Rock-n-Roll Fantasy 19 All Day & All of the Night 20 Live Life 21 Jukebox Music The Kinks Central Park New York, NY September 8, 1978 Disc 3 01 You Really Got Me (Theme) 02 Sleepwalker 03 Life On The Road 04 Mr. Big Man 05 Permanent Waves 06 Hay Fever 07 Lola 08 Misfits 09 Celluloid Heroes 10 Sunny Afternoon Disc 4 11 Trust Your Heart 12 You Really Got Me 13 Slum Kids 14 Alcohol 15 Rock And Roll Fantasy 16 All Day And All Of The Night 17 Live Life 18 Twist and Shout 19 Juke Box Music -
Soundboard 9.5 - Forceful and direct, everything is at full blast and never sounded better. The Rolling Stones Cricket Ground Perth, Australia February 24, 1973 01 Brown Sugar 02 Bitch 03 Rocks Off 04 Gimmie Shelter 05 Happy 06 Tumbling Dice 07 Love In Vain 08 Sweet Virginia 09 You Can't Always Get What You Want 10 Honky Tonk Women 11 All Down The Line 12 Midnight Rambler 13 Band Introductions / Happy Birthday Nicky 14 Little Queenie 15 Rip This Joint -
Soundboard 9.3 - A solid tape that features wide stereo sound field with the kind of mix that you expect a soundman sitting at the board in the dead center of the hall to make for maximum listening pleasure. It is that kind of mix so your pleasure is guaranteed. The Rolling Stones Sam Houston Coliseum Houston, TX. July 19, 1978 Disc 1 1. -Let It Rock 2. -All Down The Line 3. -Honky Tonk Women 4. -Star Star 5. -When The Whip Comes Down 6. -Beast Of Burden 7. -Lies 8. -Miss You 9. -Just My Imagination Disc 2 1. -Shattered 2. -Respectable 3. -Far Away Eyes 4. -Love In Vain 5. -Introductions 6. -Tumbling Dice 7. -Happy 8. -Sweet Little Sixteen 9. -Brown Sugar 10. -Jumping Jack Flash -
Soundboard 9.5 - I know what you are thinking – “is this just another awesome Dio board tape”? Yep, sorry to disappoint! DIO Breaking Sound Festival Paris,France August 30,1984 01. One Night In The City 02. We Rock 03. Holy Diver > 04. Stargazer > 05. Heaven & Hell 06. Rainbow In The Dark 07. Band intros > Man On The Silver Mountain > Starstruck > MOTSM 08. Don't Talk To Strangers Band Line-up Ronnie James DIO - Vocals Vinny Appice - Drums Jimmy Bain - Bass Vivian Campbell - Guitar Claude Schnell - Keyboards -
SDBRD 8.8 - A rollicking good time is what you are going to get here, maybe not the ideal sound mix (although it gets better), but this is a band that despite all outward appearance is quite talented musically (and seem to be quite natural performing live on stage). You will love the music and even the on stage banter…perhaps this band was the role model for Steel Panther? Ha ha! The Sweet Give us a wink world tour February 8, 1976 Toronto 01 The Ballrom Blitz 02 The Six Teens 03 Restless 04 No You Don't 05 Fox On The Run 06 Burn On The Flame 07 Set Me Free 08 Man With The Golden Arm 09 Action + AC/AC 10 Sweet F.A.