Audience 8.7 All shows appear to have been recorded by the same taper who was diligent to show up to all the Sabbath shows in his town three years in a row. I am impressed with his effort, you can tell he's not an amateur and but for the fact he's not using pro equipment, he most certainly would otherwise have gotten a stellar result. As it is, it's fine but not winning any dynamics awards. What it does deliver is consistent, strong, error-free recordings that you can relax into, and let yourself adjust to what is there because it's certainly not that bad. I started listening to these shows in order to rate them and ended up just letting them play because it's cool to hear this great line-up playing in a far away place away from the glitz and glamour of the metropolis, year-after-year-after-year, and yet deliver a performance no different from one they might have done at, say, Radio City Music Hall or Madison Square Garden.
Black Sabbath Cornwall Coliseum St. Austell, UK June 24, 1980,Feb. 2, 1981 & Jan. 14, 1982 Disc 1 St. Austell, UK June 24, 1980 1. Intro 2. War Pigs 3. Neon Knights 4. N.I.B. 5. Lonely Is The Word 6. Sweet Leaf 7. Children of the Sea 8. Black Sabbath 9. Heaven and Hell Disc 2 10. Iron Man 11. Guitar Solo 12. Die Young 13. Paranoid 14. Children of the Grave St. Austell Feb. 2, 1981 15. Supertzar 16. War Pigs 17. Neon Knights 18. N.I.B. 19. Children of the Sea 20. Lady Evil Disc 3 21. Black Sabbath 22. Heaven and Hell 23. Iron Man 24. Guitar Solo 25. Die Young 26. Paranoid 27. Children Of The Grave St. Austell, UK. 1982 28. E5150 (Intro) 29. Neon Knights 30. N.I.B. Disc 4 31. Children Of The Sea 32. Country Girl 33. Black Sabbath 34. War Pigs 35. Slippin' Away 36. Drum Solo 37. Iron Man 38. Mob Rules 39. Heaven And Hell 40. Paranoid 41. Children Of The Grave
Audience 8.7 - An excellent 8.7 too! First off let me just say how blown away I am to find a long lost 1978 recording previously un-circulated and in such great shape! Wow man, this is a fantastic find. The sound is pretty beefy for what sounds like an old tape deck, normally you'd expect something either thin as hell or muddy as crap but it's neither. It lacks a little clarity, but it's maybe near the drums and I can tell you guitar sounds clear (maybe a little thin but bass is pretty solid so it picks up the guitar sound a bit) and Ozzy is situated in the middle and can be heard pretty well. A solid tape that will fit nicely in with your collection.
Neunkirchen Audience 8.8 - A large sound, almost feel the sound pressure against your chest on this one! The bass is huge and guitars sit slightly behind creating a sensation of dread, and thankfully the vocals are really placed very nicely in the live sound mix. Definitely the better of the two in this set.
Boblingen 1983 Audience 8.6 The overall sound here is somewhat average but it's actually slightly clearer than the Neunkirchen show albeit more distant and hollow sounding. It really could use some mid-range boost to bring up the guitars but if you have a good system you can attenuate this to dial in your desired EQ. It's not bad, it's just not quite up to prime time and you'll get more satisfaction from the Neunkirchen show in this set.
Black Sabbath Germany 1983 Disc 1 Hemmerleinhalle Neunkirchen am Brand, Germany 27th September 1983 1. Supertzar 2. Children Of The Grave 3. Hot Line 4. War Pigs 5. Born Again 6. Supernaut 7. Drum Solo 8. Rock ‘N’ Roll Doctor 9. Disturbing The Priest Disc 2 10. Iron Man 11. The Dark - Zero The Hero 12. Heaven And Hell 13. Guitar Solo 14. Digital Bitch 15. Black Sabbath 16. Smoke On The Water 17. Paranoid - Heaven And Hell(reprise) Disc 3 Sporthalle Boblingen, Germany 28th September 1983 1. Children Of The Grave 2. Hot Line 3. War Pigs 4. Born Again 5. Supernaut 6. Drum Solo 7. Rock’n’roll Doctor 8. Disturbing The Priest Disc 4 9. Iron Man 10. The Dark - Zero The Hero 11. Heaven And Hell 12. Guitar Solo 13. Digital Bitch 14. Black Sabbath 15. Smoke On The Water 16. Paranoid - Heaven And Hell(reprise) 17. Interview with Ian Gillan Ian Gillan – Vocals Tony Iommi – Guitar Geezer Butler – Bass Bev Bevan – Drums Geoff Nicholls – Keyboards
Stereo Soundboard 9.6 - A fantastic and interesting tape, the live mix sometimes pans in stereo giving it a unique flavor. The drums and keyboards are placed superbly in the mix, vocals very strong, but it does lack some low end, not that it is thin or too bright, that is not the problem here at all it’s just that I think the bass may have been so loud through the P.A. that it didn’t need to pass through the board feed so you do hear it but it’s not super deep. Still, a great one for the collection and certainly if you like hard psychedelic rock but the kicker here is the appearance on 4 tracks by John Cipollina.
Man Keystone Berkeley, CA August 9, 1976 Disc 1 01. -Let The Good Times Roll 02. -7171-551 03. -A Hard Way To Die 04. -The Welsh Connection 05. -Something Is Happening 06. -The Ride And The View 07. -You Are Out Of Your Head 08. -Born With A Future Disc 2 09. -C'Mon 10. -Many Are Called But Few Get Up 11. -Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You* 12. -A Hard Way To Live* 13. -Romain* 14. -Bananas* * with John Cipollina
Dunstable 1976 Soundboard 9.5 - Every Hawkwind collector surely must have this already in their collection, it’s just too damn good. So few recordings of such an eclectic band, so yeah, this has to be considered a MUST HAVE, and it’s equally cool to find it paired here with another soundboard tape.
Croyden 1977 Soundboard 9.2 -A respectable board tape, the mix does heavily favor guitar, keys are present more during passages where they are supposed to be in the lead. Vocals are out front, also where they need to be. So, it’s a workable mix, not perfect but definitely good for the casual and hard-core fan.
Hawkwind UK 1976-1977 Disc 1 Dunstable, UK. 09-30-1976 1. Paradox 2. Chronoglide Skyway 3. Hassan I Sabbah 4. Brainstorm 5. Wind Of Change 6. Steppenwolf 7. Uncle Sam's On Mars 8. Time For Sale 9. Magnu 10. Welcome To The Future Disc 2 Fairfield Hall Croyden, UK. 09-25-1977 1. Brainstorm 2. High Rise 3. Robot 4. Wind Of Change 5. Jack Of Shadows
Soundboard 9.2 - A “reference” board mix, clearly…but it’s great. It isn’t going to win any awards for sparkling and atmospheric sound, but it’s a punchy, in-the-pocket sound that marries well with Kansas’ heavy progressive style.
Kansas Springfield Civic Center Springfield, MA. 2nd September 1979 Disc 1 1. Intro 2. On the Other Side 3. People of the Southwind 4. Away From You 5. Point of Know Return 6. Closet Chronicles 7. The Wall 8. Reason To Be 9. Dust in the Wind 10. Angels Have Fallen Disc 2 1. Opus Insert 2. Stay Out of Trouble 3. The Spider 4. Portrait (He Knew) 5. Band Introductions 6. Glimpse of Home 7. How My Soul Cries Out For You 8. Carry On Wayward Son Steve Walsh – keyboards, lead and backing vocals Kerry Livgren – guitars, keyboards Rich Williams – guitars Robby Steinhardt – violin, vocals Dave Hope – bass Phil Ehart – drums
Audience 8.7 - Brassy, loud, and guitar dominant recording that delivers where it counts and finds Rory sounding, to my ears, much more rock/metal/grunge even though he features plenty of raw, blues soaked numbers in his set. It’s just that the atmosphere and volume don’t suggest this is a “blues” band blowing through town…I just get the feeling Rory felt the times changing and adjusted accordingly. Either way you parse it, this is high-intensity music, and the recording here really manages to capture that pretty realistically.
Rory Gallagher The Stone Palo Alto, California May 17, 1985 Disc One 01 - intro - Double Vision 02 - Bad Penny 03 - band intros - Off The Handle 04 - Moonchild 05 - Hey Mama, Keep Your Big Mouth Shut 06 - I Wonder Who 07 - Tattoo'd Lady 08 - Mississippi Sheiks 09 - Big Guns Disc Two 01 - Out On The Western Plain 02 - Seven Days 03 - Philby 04 - Follow Me 05 - Shadow Play 06 - My Babe 07 - All Around Man - Bullfrog Blues - Roll Over Beethoven - Route 66 Rory Gallagher Group; May 1981 - 1991: Rory Gallagher - guitar, vocals Gerry McAvoy - bass Brendan O'Neill - drums Mark Feltham - harmonica
Pro Recording 9.4 - This is actually recorded from the audience, or the pit, or somewhere within the hall with professional equipment possibly for broadcast or posterity but it is obviously not an amateur job. The dynamics and atmosphere are excellent, and to my ears it just seems like the band wanted to record this gig for whatever reason.
Rick Wakeman November 16, 1981 Guildhall Preston, UK Disc One (70:34) 1) War Games? (10:29) 2) King Arthur Medley (12:10): a) Arthur b) Lancelot and the Black Knight 3) Sea Horses (5:17) 4) Julia (6:11) 5) Three Wives (13:12): a) Catherine of Aragon b) Anne of Cleves c) Catherine Howard 6) The Proles (5:30) 7) Journey to the Center of the Earth - Part 1 (17:45) Disc Two (60:16) 1) Danielle (4:30) 2) The Probe (4:05) 3) Chamber of Horrors (7:03) 4) The Hymn (3:14) 5) Anne Boleyn (29:04) 6) Robot Man (4:57) 7) Journey to the Center of the Earth - Part 2 (7:23) a) The Battle b) Hall of the Mountain King
Audience 9.7 - Brilliant, clear, deep, good atmosphere, and even though it is pushing the meters it still has some headroom so crank this one up and hear for yourself why I always say a great audience tape beats a soundboard.
Don Henley Pacific Amphitheatre Costa Mesa, CA October 1, 1989 Disc 1 01 Drivin' With Your Eyes Closed 02 Dirty Laundry 03 The End Of The Innocence 04 Building The Perfect Beast 05 If Dirt Were Dollars 06 The Last Worthless Evening 07 Sunset Grill 08 New York Minute Disc 2 09 Shangri - La 10 Hotel California 11 Life In The Fast Lane 12 The Boys Of Summer 13 All She Wants To Do Is Dance 14 I Will Not Go Quietly 15 Band Introduction 16 Desperado
Audience 9.3 - A really clean, punchy recording that has realistic presence, and is river deep and mountain high – I especially found the drums, kick drum, toms, this was a pleasant surprise for an audience tape to deliver almost studio quality dynamics and placement in the stage mix was on point. Amazing to think that this tape remained out of circulation to only just recently, while we did have other shows from this week at the Hollywood Palace in 1984.
Frank Zappa The Palace Los Angeles, CA July 17, 1984 Disc 1 01 Tuning and Dialogue 02 Zoot Allures 03 Band Introductions 04 Tinsel Town Rebellion 05 Oh No (includes Son Of Orange County) 06 More Trouble Every Day 07 Penguin In Bondage 08 Hot Plate Heaven At The Green Hotel 09 Dumb All Over 10 Evil Prince Disc 2 11 Carolina Hard-Core Ecstasy 12 Advance Romance 13 He's So Gay 14 Bobby Brown 15 Keep It Greasey 16 Honey, Don't You Want A Man Like Me? 17 Carol, You Fool 18 Chana In De Bushwop 19 Let's Move To Cleveland 20 Why Don't You Like Me?
Gainesville 1978 Soundboard 9.5 - A professional straight board feed recording that is as clean and balanced as you’d ever want – but very occasionally there may be a slight tape drop out (rarely), and the sound is almost too good…meaning it could use some ambience and atmosphere but if you only want to hear this as a musical performance rather than event, this is damn near perfect.
Cincinnati 1989 Audience 9.7 - A soaring, elegant recording that captures this event in spectacular quality. Guitars seem to float over your head and wrap around your ears as they seem to pan across the room, drums filling the spaces and adding immediacy. When the audience claps and responds it’s as if it is a part of the show how it blends in and seems so respectful. Overall man this is a frighteningly good recording and performance and is pretty much in the “must have” range IMHO.
Pat Metheny Group 79/89 Disc 1 Spring Jazz Festival Lake Alice Field, University of Florida Gainesville, Florida 1979-03-30 01-Phase Dance (Pat Metheny, Lyle Mays) 7:35 02-Circus Music (Pat Metheny, Lyle Mays) 6:10 03-PM speaks 1:01 04-Unity Village (Pat Metheny) > The Windup (Keith Jarrett) 13:08 05-The Epic (Pat Metheny, Lyle Mays) 14:35 06-Jaco (Pat Metheny) 4:21 07-PM speaks and tuning 0:54 08-San Lorenzo (Pat Metheny, Lyle Mays) 11:08 09-Re-tuning and PM speaks again 1:39 10-Wrong Is Right (Larry Coryell) 7:53 11-American Garage (Pat Metheny, Lyle Mays) 4:43 Pat Metheny, guitars Lyle Mays, piano, synthesizer, electric organ, autoharp Mark Egan, bass guitar Danny Gottlieb, drums Disc 2 Taft Theatre Cincinnati, Ohio September 22, 1989 1. –Phase Dance 2. -Have You Heard? 3. -Every Summer Night 4. -Hermitage 5. -Better Days Ahead 6. -Farmer’s Trust 7. -Spring Ain’t Here 8. -Straight On Red 9. -Are You Going With Me? Disc 3 10. -The Fields, The Sky 11. -Are We There Yet? 12. -Vidala 13. -Slip Away 14. -Letter From Home 15. -Beat 70 16. -Band Introductions 17. -Minuano (six-eight) Pat Metheny - Guitars Lyle Mays - Keyboards Steve Rodby - Bass Paul Wertico - Drums Pedro Aznar - Voice, Guitar, percussion Armando Marcal - Percussion
Studio 9.5 - A really detailed, complete set which contains just about everything you ever wanted to hear regarding the pre-Kiss band Wicked Lester. Is it necessary? I mean, there’s a lot of repetition here, but I have to say it is kind of necessary when you call something complete, you should provide that to the collector and this set does. Quality is great.
Kiss - Complete Wicked Lester Sessions 1971/1972 Disc 1 Electric Lady Studios 18th November 1971 01. Too Many Mondays [0:03:40.20] 02. Love Her All I Can [0:02:35.44] 03. Sweet Ophelia [0:03:06.03] 04. Molly [0:02:32.12] 05. Keep Me Waiting [0:03:22.04] 06. She [0:03:06.41] 07. What Happened In The Darkness [0:03:10.26] 08. We Want To Shout It Out Loud [0:02:46.01] 09. When The Bell Rings [0:03:24.04] 10. Simple Type [0:02:40.24] 11. She (Take 2) [0:03:05.20] 12. Molly (Take 2) [0:02:33.30] 13. We Want To Shout It Out Loud (Take 2) [0:02:43.42] 14. Too Many Mondays (Take 2) [0:03:41.08] Electric Lady Studios August 1972 Sessions 1 15. Keep Me Waiting [0:03:28.12] 16. Love Her All I Can [0:02:40.72] 17. Molly [0:02:28.52] 18. She [0:03:07.43] 19. Simple Type [0:02:37.73] 20. Sweet Ophelia [0:03:09.74] 21. Too Many Mondays [0:04:04.34] 22. When The Bell Rings [0:03:10.62] 23. Molly (Take 2) [0:02:25.12] 24. Too Many Mondays (Take 2) [0:03:59.13] Disc 2 Electric Lady Studios August 1972 Sessions 2 01. We Want To Shout It Out Loud [0:02:43.14] 02. Keep Me Waiting [0:03:10.30] 03. Love Her All I Can [0:02:35.30] 04. Molly [0:02:29.52] 05. She [0:03:03.47] 06. Simple Type [0:02:42.23] 07. Sweet Ophelia [0:03:01.64] 08. Too Many Mondays [0:03:38.14] 09. What Happens In The Darkness [0:03:07.52] Final Album Reel 1972 10. When The Bell Rings [0:03:17.70] 11. Keep Me Waiting [0:03:23.47] 12. Molly [0:02:33.26] 13. Sweet Ophelia [0:03:06.24] 14. Simple Type [0:02:43.25] 15. Too Many Mondays [0:03:44.10] 16. Love Her All I Can [0:02:35.54] 17. When The Bell Rings [0:03:25.10] 18. She [0:03:07.56] 19. What Happens In The Darkness [0:03:10.60] 20. We Want To Shout It Out Loud [0:02:49.33] 21. Long, Long Road [0:04:18.67] Disc 3 Electric Lady Studios Spring 1972 Sessions 01. Keep Me Waiting [0:03:25.42] 02. Long, Long Road [0:04:20.25] 03. Love Her All I Can [0:02:54.69] 04. She [0:03:09.45] 05. Simple Type [0:02:48.22] 06. Sweet Ophelia [0:03:16.64] 07. We Want To Shout It Out Loud [0:03:10.00] 08. What Happened In The Darkness [0:03:14.67] 09. When The Bell Rings [0:03:11.09] 10. Simple Type (Take 2) [0:02:49.44]
Audience 9.4 - Almost sounds like a radio broadcast, and you’d be forgiven for insisting it is such, but to me it sounds like a good transfer from vinyl of a great audience recording, with some artifacts occasionally (like momentary drop-outs). The track listing on the cover differs slightly from the disc tracking but whatever was recorded by this source is present and accounted for. Other sources exist, and are inferior, so no patching was done to fill out anything missing. Seems like a complete show, maybe one song missing?
Roger Waters Madison Square Garden New York City, New York 1987-08-26 Disc 1 1. -Introduction - Radio Waves 2. -Welcome To The Machine 3. -Who Needs Information 4. -Money 5. -Professional Bimbo School 6. -Have A Cigar 7. -Pigs (Three Different Ones) 8. -Wish You Were Here 9. -Mother 10. -Molly's Song 11. -Me Or Him 12. -Powers That Be 13. -Shredding Alternative 14. -Going To Live In L.A. Disc 2 1. -Sunset Strip 2. -Fish Report With A Beat 3. -Arnold Layne 4. -If 5. -5:06 AM (Every Strangers Eyes) 6. -Not Now John 7. -Another Brick In The Wall – part 1 8. -Another Brick In The Wall – part 2 9. -Nobody Home 10. -Home 11. -Four Minutes 12. -The Tide Is Turning 13. -Breathe 14. -Brain Damage 15. -Eclipse
FM Broadcast 9.7 - A stellar sound with this over the air broadcast, no signal degradation, no interference, no compression, just smooth jazz sailing all the way.
Pat Metheny Group Festival International de Jazz De Montréal McGill College Ave. Montréal, Quebec, Canada July 4, 1989 CHOM-FM Broadcast Disc 1 01 Phase Dance 8:06 02 Have You Heard 6:08 03 Every Summer Night 6:57 04 Change Of Heart 7:20 05 Better Days Ahead 5:02 06 Last Train Home 5:11 07 First Circle 8:42 08 Scrap Metal 7:04 09 Slip Away 4:53 10 If I Could 6:19 Disc 2 01 Spring Ain't Here 6:44 02 Straight On Red 8:46 03 Are You Going With Me 8:53 04 The Fields, The Sky 4:17 05 Are We There Yet 9:33 06 (It's Just) Talk 8:15 07 Letter From Home 2:18 08 Beat 70 4:47 09 Minuano (Six-Eight) 9:08 10 Third Wind 9:04 Pat Metheny - Electric & Acoustic Guitars, Electric Sitar, Guitar Synth Lyle Mays - Piano, Keyboards Steve Rodby - Acoustic & Electric Basses Paul Wertico - Drums, Percussion Armando Marçal - Percussion Pedro Aznar - Voice, Miscellaneous Instruments
