-
Soundboard 9.2 - Leaning toward treble but still a good, tight show again by Zappa and crew. -
Audience 8.4 - A somewhat narrow sound field but a thoroughly enjoyable 1973 performance nonetheless. There are one of two tape flips and a little audience conversation (in Norwegian) but that is to be expected. -
Soundboard 9.0 - Clean and tight but no atmosphere present. Rather dry, but mix is fine, quality is awesome. (late show) -
Soundboard 9.7 - GREAT mix here, very bright and lively recording that will please everyone. -
Soundboard 9.1 - Love the bass sound here, very defined, and good mix but I think keys could have been up more, but they are there. Guitars sound very present and living room live. -
Early Show - Audience 8.8 - Superb for an audience tape really, the only real flaws are some lack of low end depth and instrument separation but it’s not a deal breaker at all. Late Show - Soundboard 9.7 - So good, I mean it is as if they recorded it for official release. Great mix, great fidelity. -
Soundboard 9.4 - Crisp, with incredible detail on drums, A very tight punchy sound that is quite exhilarating. Wonderful! -
Soundboard - Sounds like it may actually be a close mic’d recording as there is little audience noise and yet there is a sense of the venue and atmosphere in the vocals especially. Very good! -
Soundboard 9.2 - Clear sound and great mix and very worth having. -
Audience 8.7 - Very direct sound, as if taper had great seats, but there’s some background hiss that is not too bad, and the sound is not exactly “full bodied” but it’s pretty darn clear. A good one, and 1977 was not a tour where there is an overwhelming amount of recordings for some reason. -
Soundboard 9.3 -
Soundboard 8.8 -
Audience 8.8 - Another great Halloween show at the Felt Forum in NYC. This was Franks favorite Holiday and so I think he always enjoyed playing at his best and with the help of whatever line up he chose to have, the performance was always top notch. -
Audience 8.6 - A tape that starts off pretty rough and then gets better and better until it is quite good and clear, especially nice when you consider that it has taken the better part of 40 years to start getting half decent ZZ Top live recordings. -
Audience 7.9 - This tape shows its age but the master source for this CD is actually an old vinyl boot long since lost to the mists of time. Glad to have it, although I think only hard core collectors will really see the value here. That is not to say its dogshit either, because at times its actually very decent, but it fluctuates also back to mediocre, and that may be due to the tapers having to move or hide their equipment. I still like this one, and I think most Sabbath collectors will appreciate it. -
Early show - Audience 8.3 / Late Show - Audience 8.5 -
Soundboard 8.5 and Soundboard 8.2 - One half of the show is much clearer than the other for some reason. Both have been remastered but one can only do so much. Still, this can be appreciated and being a board tape, it is pretty easy to hear each instrument. -
Audience 8.4 -
Soundboard 8.6 -
Audience 8.4 - Technically a good tape since everything is clear, not very dynamic and levels are kind of low. That being said, it is a tape you will crank very loudly, and that actually helps immensely. Do that, and this show rocks out! -
This set contains both shows recorded on Halloween night at the Felt Forum in NYC back in 1974. Early Show - Audience 8.5 - Right in the middle of the road, its good, not great. Late Show - Audience 8.9 - The only way I can explain this tape is that it starts off similar to the early show and at some point the taper moves to a hotter spot and the tape explodes with Frank’s amazing guitar right in your face. Even Frank himself makes a comment about his incendiary guitar work, I won’t spoil it though. -
Audience 8.2 - I’m probably being overly critical, I find this tape on the “harsh” side, meaning it is strong in the higher end, almost brittle. The good news is that having all your highs intact you can add filters and EQ and season to taste without losing anything in the process. -
Soundboard 9.6 -
Pro Soundboard 9.8 -
Audience 8.2 - This is an unmastered 1st generation audience tape. Could be immensely improved if mastered, right now it is pretty clear although lacking real bottom end. -
Audience 8.5 - Slightly more echoey than the early show but otherwise about the same. (Late Show) -
Audience 8.6 (Early Show) -
Soundboard 9.4 -
Soundboard 9.5 - 4 Disc Set, 2 Shows (Early and Late show) It doesn't get better than this one (in my top 10) Killer! Also listed both shows (individually) under "Upper Darby" 1980. -
Audience 9.8 - Complete 2 hr show with some killer guitar from the master himself. This is a must have for any collector (one of my fav's) with classic song selections at the Performing Arts Centre in New York. -
Audience / Soundboard / FM - This is a very special Halloween Marathon from 1981, with perfect clarity and sound balance. Another outstanding performance in NYC. -
Audience 9.6 - This one is loaded with razor sharp guitar, a gem of a show. -
Audience 8.5 - A legendary vinyl boot back in the day, this comes from a tape source and features a good recording capturing all the action in reasonable clarity and fidelity. A really fine set too! -
Audience 8.7 - If you took any audience tape from 1983 with an 8.7 rating, this show would still sound better because for some reason, I guess maybe it’s the microphones or something, but recordings made in the 70’s have more of a warmth, a more natural texture and quality to the sound. -
Audience 8.4 - Very few 1980 recordings out there, this one is pretty decent, no glaring flaws to mention, but there is some tape hiss (although the music is sharp for the most part). -
Audience 8.0 - A good reference recording, does not deliver a palette full of dynamic sound colorization or anything like that but it is a pretty clear, one-dimensional recording. One thing I can say is that collectors will want this, as any 1972 show is well worth having in my opinion and this one is very decent even if it lacks a solid low end (not necessarily thin, just not a lot of bottom). -
Audience 7.8 - Interesting recording, seems like it was done from the keyboard side of the stage for sure as they come through clear and loud, followed by guitar. The rhythm section is somewhat indistinct and vocals, while pretty front and center too, are fighting for the space that the keyboards occupy causing a bandwidth battle. What you have is a fight to control the mid-band range, so while I think this recording is good and clear, it’s too much happening in the middle. One thing you may also notice, the feeling you might get is that this is still the 70’s, even though it is the end of the decade, the music and atmosphere here is still firmly planted in the 70’s. -
Audience 8.4 - A very good 8.4! So what I mean is, as any die hard Yes collector will probably agree with me on, is that the 1978 and 1979 period of Yes is perhaps their absolute zenith. This performance here is right up there with the best of the best, and the rating might be misleading because while it is maybe on the “average” side, it is still a good representation, giving you pretty good stage sound balance but maybe missing a little separation of instruments (drums get a little buried)- but overall this one should be thoroughly enjoyed by the Yes fan as it’s all here, and reasonably good too! -
Audience 8.7 - A very high quality effort made here, with the only detracting factor being a little less than ideal clarity but nevertheless it is a very fine listen, with all instruments nicely separated, and a good mix from the mains (and good atmosphere) so yeah, get it. -
Audience 8.8 - Decent sound quality with good low end which helps immensely. The louder you crank this the more realistic it gets. Mix-wise, I hear guitar maybe a little low, but bass, drums, vocals especially present. -
Audience 8.7 - Very clean, levels a little low so turn it up. Very nice, and the band is great. -
Soundboard 8.6 - Needs a wider and brighter sound spectrum EQ job but it’s still a great listen, perfect for someone to remaster. -
Audience 8.8 - Clear solid and a good live mix where everything is clearly heard. -
Audience 8.4 - Good solid punch, a well defined mid band and decent highs. A keeper! -
Audience 7.2 - Crowded in the middle, with more definition contained in the upper frequencies, but too much clutter for me on this one. Good for the serious collector, as most people know the band really hit their stride on the European leg of this tour. -
Audience 7.7 - Thin sound but guitar and vocals very present. Not all that bad really. Can enjoy this one. -
Soundboard 8.9 - A solid, gut punching recording that focuses in on some good midrange and a well defined Chris Squire. Good deal! -
Audience 8.8 - Very nice and clear, with a great low end presence and warm atmosphere. Absolutely lovely to listen to and besides that it’s from a relatively poorly documented tour. Very worthwhile!