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Audience 9.0 - This is a brilliant live document, captured during Zep’s “Back To The Clubs” Tour of 1971. A sort of intimate atmosphere and a very jovial and chatty Robert Plant. The band sounds loose and genuinely having a great time. -
Audience 7.5 - Kind of middle of the road as far as dynamics in the recording, but the big plus is that every instrument is heard, with nothing rising above or falling underneath the mid-range ceiling. Pushing volume up really high will bring some of the inherent sonic limitation into the picture, which is lurking about but not intruding until you push it. What you can really get into here is the absolutely packed set list, and a more extended Good Times Bad Times than was typical at the time. Really, this is something even the average Zep fan might find interesting. -
Audience 8.7 - Pretty crisp and clear especially Page, who shines in this performance. -
Audience 7.3 - Starting off rough, this EXPLOSIVE concert gets clearer until it is mildly satisfactory but that isn’t the real story here – the band is only on their 2nd show of the new year and they are roaring like hungry lions. Earthshaking intensity, which the poor taper struggles to capture properly. Should be in your collection for posterity. Remastered and upgraded! -
Audience 8.6 - With the exception of a little bit of mid range distortion (probably due to taper being right in front of the PA on Jimmy’s side of the stage), this recording can best be summed up as “explosive” - this is an over the top electric and completely wild unhinged show by a lean and hungry band. Essential! -
Audience 7.7 - This show does not overwhelm the listener in any dynamic range but what it does is capture in relatively good quality all the way through with no surprises. It’s very good, but does not call to your attention that much. Still if you are collecting them all, this one will be a great addition! -
Audience 8.8 - Outstanding in most of the ways you need it to be. Captures incredible manic energy in a very respectable way, so is it perfect? Nope. Does it matter? Not for this gig it doesn’t. This is a must have! -
Audience 7.3 - A newer tape source here, still average but features much better definition so there’s much to be gained by upgrading. Page seems to tune up frequently so I wonder if there were temperature problems or other? Interesting beginning to Heartbreaker here, never heard that intro before. -
Soundboard 9.3 -
Audience 8.1 -
Audience 7.9 - A very bright, brassy tape. Kind of really captures the “realness” of the live PA sound at the gig. Very much one of those recordings that puts you at the show. -
Audience 8.3 - Just a hint of distortion in the tape but that is a minor quibble because this is a fantastic document. A very powerful sound, an earthshaking depth due to a rich and full bottom end and a crisp attack on the guitars. Plant sounds great, his voice rising above all others, wow what a tape! -
Pro Studio 9.2-9.8 -
Audience 7.0-8.0 - Muffled sounding, but this tape has been cleaned up a lot since I heard it oh about 30 years ago! Once your ears adjust it sounds a heck of a lot better than the first minute, the tape does improve some, in fact by the second song it’s a whole point better! -
Audience 8.6 - This is what I would consider a must have. The recording progressively gets better, the show does too. The show! Man oh man! This is what collecting Zep is all about. Get this! -
Audience 7.4–7.8 - A tape that improves somewhat, still there’s a reason why collector’s all love this show. It’s a real good one from the European leg of the 1970 tour, and the performance is great! -
Audience 7.8 - Exciting show, recording features a strong guitar, clear vocals, bass and drums present but not as bold. All in all, it’s quite good and the show is fierce. -
Audience 7.5 - Could be a low generation tape for this source. Some minor phasing issues but pretty clear though; Band is in fine form. -
Soundboard 9.8 - Precise and perfect, tremendous! -
CD 1: Soundboard 9.3 CD 2: Audience 8.8 -
Audience 9.3 - Vocals are spot in to the point you would swear the gal is in your living room. -
Audience 7.8 - Sounds like every bands cassette rehearsals. Clear enough to enjoy. -
Soundboard - about a 7.4 rating. Vocals very prominent in the mix. -
Audience 8.3 - This recording is clear, but does have low recording levels so turn the volume up on this one. -
Barcelona 1973 - Audience 7.8 - Bright, reasonably clear, enjoyable (nice bass!) Berkeley 1973 - Audience 8.4 -
Audience 7.0 - Decent Audience, a little thin maybe but I rate it 7.0 as it is clear and not distorted and there's some headroom for EQ and boost. It sounds un-mastered to me, but low generation or master tape sourced. -
FM Broadcast? 9.7 - I am not 100% sure but this could be a broadcast because I occasionally heard some static before a song which is indicative of a broadcast. Now, this is pretty darn clean and hot too, it does not suffer from typical broadcast compression, so it could also be a pre-FM board tape. I just don’t know, but I do know it is killer! -
Soundboard 9.0 -
Soundboard 9.4 -
Soundboard 8.9 - Would have rated higher but the tape breaks a little at the top where the levels are so hot, not distorted, just that fragile old analog tape overloading signal noise but only during the really heavy sections where the whole band is cooking. Still highly enjoyable! -
Soundboard 9.2 - Kick ass! -
Audience 8.8 - Tremendous wide open sound field that not only captures a great band at a great time but also some dynamics of the hall. Immersive experience. -
Audience 8.8 - Good punchy recording that gives you a front row seat to the action. -
BBC Radio Broadcast 9.0 -
Audience 9.2 - I rated this highly because even though the levels are hot there is no distortion and it’s a decent live mix with some atmosphere present too (you can distinguish the delay on the guitar and echo on vocals over all the intense action of the band which is a pleasant thing). It’s also a great gig! -
Pro Radio 9.2 -
Pro 8.8 - Recorded for TV broadcast, this is really great stuff with only perhaps the age of the tape coming into play, but not in any kind of annoying way, just maybe a bit of tape noise in the background. All in all it’s really quite good. -
Pro FM Broadcast 8.8 - Sounds like the band is right at the top of their game, with Johnny inspired and ripping out one superb lead after another flawlessly. -
Audience 8.8 - Great clear sound, very present and good atmospherics. Highly enjoyable! -
Audience 8.6 and Audience 8.5 ... two shows are represented in this set, and both sound similar but the 2nd disc sounds maybe a touch more distant and less defined, but also less overloaded. Both sets are guitar-centric, so Page admirers are going to be good good with this set. -
Audience 8.3 - Not that bad really, some hiss present but otherwise it’s worthy of your attention. -
Audience 8.0 - Very loud up front tape which gets a little crowded during intense jams but is actually my kind of audience recording. It seems to be more exciting and electrified when it is so close to the stage as long as it doesn’t distort I love it. -
Soundboard 8.6 - A little noisy and compressed but still hot and a great show. -
Soundboard 9.1 - Acetates and live noticeable wear from the acetates but everything is clearly heard. -
Aud 7.7 - Guitar is the dominant instrument on this tape, which features qualities I can appreciate knowing that there is so much worse out there than this. The DVD features a short segment of footage synced properly with the audio so collectors will enjoy that. -
Aud 8.2 to 8.8 - The sound varies a little bit as the set progresses, mainly because it is a rotating stage and therefore sounds great when the stage is in front of the taper. The DVD is fascinating, a real treasure! -
Aud 7.5 - A very decent and clear recording from perhaps a little further back in the hall than one would prefer, but guitar is prominent, then drums and bass with Jimi vocals a little bit behind the noise. Also, I am glad the sound has a little separation, enough to discern everything that is going on, so big plus there! -
CD 1 Aud 8.2 Nice version here, must be a very low gen tape source. CD 2 Aud 8.3 I like this recording a lot, it’s a touch overloaded but you hear a very realistic sound, pretty close to what you may have heard standing close to the mains. Maybe a little bit of tape saturation (not distortion, two different things!), otherwise this one is very fun to hear putting you right in the middle of it all.