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Studio Quality Demos -
Audience 7.5 - Kind of a raucous tape, I mean it is The Who after all, but the music is all present if not in the same mid band range (highs aren’t bad). I have to recommend it, being a 1971 recording of which I am fond, it holds up. -
Audience 7.2 - A low rating but at least .5 points higher than the original version. Someone did a Remaster which it desperately needed because it was flawed. Mainly, it’s surface noise from the vinyl source (original tape source never located). It wasn’t great to begin with either. If you needed to upgrade this for your collection – get this one .... Bonus is the great artwork and packaging. -
Soundboard - Most collectors will know of this, and this set does include the partial live performance segment as well. A nice snippet of a good year, 1971. -
Soundboard 8.8 - A little wobbly at the start but clears up quickly. -
Soundboard 8.7 -
Audience 8.8 - This is a significant recording mainly from a historical sense, but for all the wrong reasons too. Yes it is the infamous gig where 11 people died outside the venue waiting to get in. The band were not informed until after the show, so they play their set oblivious, and it is a fine set. It’s eerie now to hear this knowing what transpired earlier, thankfully it is actually a very fine recording. This is one of those things I have to encourage everyone to check out for all the RIGHT reasons though…but yeah there’s that. -
Audience 8.9 - A fine recording that seems to originate from John’s side of the stage because guitar, while there, is kind of behind the action which allows you to pay attention to the bass work, and really will surprise you just how much of a second guitar that bass was at times. I also like the slight change of "Can’t Explain" they do here – this is a great show. This is also a very good recording so get it! -
Audience 7.3 - A rough document that reminds me a little bit of the Boston 1969 tape. There’s a lot of inherent noise within the bandwidth of the poor old analog tape trying to capture the sheer power of the Who in 1969, but you know it does manage to get enough that you can adjust and start to get into it. It’s raucous, yup, but so was the band! -
Soundboard 9.0 and Audience 8.6 -
Soundboard 8.4 -
Audience 6.9 - Well, here's the rub: Great band, great time (1971), great place (Bern, Switzerland), but not great recording. I mean, what you really need anyway is the guitar here, and at least you get some of that! The problem is mainly a lo-fi experience but to be fair to this capture you do hear it all on stage. I am too harsh really, I think if you just give it a chance it gets better to your ears. I mean, it's TOAD man! How many live recordings are there? Two? Whatever it is this is still essential. -
Audience 7.2 - Kind of flat but surprisingly clear (Portchester auds tend to be notoriously distorted). -
Soundboard 9.8 -
Pro Radio Broadcast 9.8 -
Audience 8.6 - A very “live” sounding tape! Excitement, yes indeed (despite modest hiss).