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Audience 8.7 & Radio Broadcast 9.4 - Both of these are amazing, even the audience tape which is frighteningly intense manages to deliver a wallop. So, let me prepare you best I can, what you know about this band probably comes from their mid to late 70’s FM radio hit singles but my friend this stuff ain’t that…no not by a long shot. This is balls to the wall heavy prog tinged acid rock. There are plenty of moments where you can’t tell where the guitars and keyboards are coming from because they bob and weave almost as one instrument…brilliant! MANFRED MANN'S EARTH BAND 1972-06-19 Volkshaus Zurich, Switzerland Disc 1 1. -PRAYER 2. -CAPTAIN BOBBY STOUT incl.Glorified Magnified 3. -ASHES TO THE WIND 4. -HAPPY BEING ME 5. -QUINN THE ESKIMO (The Mighty Quinn) Disc 2 GOLDERS GREEN HIPPODROME LONDON, ENGLAND NOVEMBER 20, 1973 01. -Introduction 02. -Mercury, The Winged Messenger 03. -Buddha 04. -Messin' 05. -Father Of Day, Father Of Night 06. -Captain Bobby Stout 07. -Mighty Quinn (The Eskimo) Musicians MANNFRED MANN- Organ/Synthesizer/Vocals MICK ROGERS- Guitar/Vocals COLIN PATTENDEN- Bass CHRIS SLADE- Drums/Percussion/Vocals -
Soundboard 9.7 - Superb! -
Pinkpop 1984 Soundboard 9.6 - Excellent, crystal clear and surely one helluva great performance make this probably a must have for fans.
Dublin 1985 Audience 8.8 - A really good and spacey recording loaded with crowd ambience, as guitars and synths float just overhead. Drums sound pretty tight here, and vocals are perhaps the most prominent next to keys. Good one!
MARILLION 1984/85 Disc 1 Pinkpop Geleen, Netherlands 11 June 1984 01- Intro - Punch & Judy 02- Assassing 03- Script For A Jesters Tear 04- Jigsaw 05- Incubus 06- Cinderella Search 07- Fugazi 08- Garden Party 09- Market Square Heroes Disc 2 SFX Centre Dublin, Ireland 4 Sep 1985 1 -Emerald Lies intro 2 -Script For A Jester's Tear 3 -Incubus 4 -Chelsea Monday 5 -The Web 6 -Market Square Heroes 7 -Pseudo Silk Kimono 8 -Kayleigh 9 -Lavender 10 -Bitter Suite Disc 3 1 -Bitter Suite cont - Heart Of Lothian 2 -Waterhole (Expresso Bongo) 3 -Lords Of The Backstage 4 -Blind Curve 5 -Blind Curve cont 6 -Childhoods End? 7 -White Feather 8 -Fugazi 9 -Forgotten Sons
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Soundboard 9.5 - Wonderful! -
Audience 8.8 - Excellent recording for the time period when it seemed most audience tapes sounded very flat and tinny. This one is pretty dynamic but for one fault (not tapers fault). The PA system, while good, did not give vocals enough clarity. During quieter passages, yes, but in louder parts (most of the gig) it’s sort of indistinct, but audible and not buried (just not real distinct). I mean, he’s totally audible is what I am getting at, but for some reason I can’t make out anything he’s singing about (is this par for the course with Marillion?). BTW the Genesis comparisons are accurate! Marillion Rock City Nottingham, England 30 Mar 1983 Disc 1 1 Script For A Jester’s Tear 2 Garden Party 3 Three Boats Down From The Candy 4 The Web 5 Charting The Single Disc 2 6 Chelsea Monday 7 He Knows You Know 8 Forgotten Sons 9 Market Square Heroes 10 Margaret -
FM Broadcast 9.3 - This recording is a little hot, it’s slightly overloaded mainly in the upper mid to high band to the point of slight sizzle on the cymbals…but because it’s so clean overall, with good mid and low end, that seems to be mitigated as the ears adjust. So, it’s great, yes a fine FM broadcast, but in the pantheon of FM broadcasts maybe the engineer got a little excited…OR maybe it’s not the case but more a situation where, when taping from a radio source, you sometimes get artifacts (might be static interference, might be signal compression, might be a whole range of things) and here you have some in the form of slightly overloaded high end. Don’t let it dissuade you though…it’s still great stuff.
Marillion The Chance Poughkeepsie, NY. 02.10.1987 Disc 1 01 The Thieving Magpie (La Gazza Ladra) 02 Slàinte Mhath 03 Assassing 04 White Russian 05 Incubus 06 Sugar Mice 07 Fugazi 08 Hotel Hobbies 09 Warm Wet Circles 10 That Time Of The Night (The Short Straw) Disc 2 11 Misplaced Childhood (Part 1) 12 radio 13 The Last Straw 14 Incommunicado 15 radio 16 Garden Party 17 Market Square Heroes (incl. “My Generation” and “Let´s Twist Again”) 18 radio
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Tilburg 2008 Audience 9.3 Taper right in the sweet spot with good gear means you will absolutely love this recording. Bold and striking, the guitar is distinct, vocals perfect, and everything else forming a backdrop without being lost. Wowsers! Tilburg 2009 Audience 9.5 This ladies and gentlemen is the proper way in which to capture a live recording. Now, the fact that it is a progressive rock band with multiple sonic textures and loads of dynamics means you have to work a little harder to make sure you a. set up in a good spot, b. use professional gear and c. know how to use the gear. This, if done correctly, is the result. A SPECTACULAR RECORDING which is a must have even if you don’t know who Mars Volta is, and if that is the case, why not start here? Stunning. The Mars Volta 2008-03-06 013 Tilburg The Netherlands Disc 1 01. -A Fistful of Dollars [01:44] 02. -Roulette Dares (The haunt of) [18:00] 03. -Viscera Eyes [09:20] 04. -Wax Simulacra [03:52] 05. -Goliath [12:44] 06. -Ouroborous [16:53] Disc 2 07. -Tetragrammaton [17:07] 08. -Agadez [15:14] 09. -Cygnus ... Vismund Cygnus [30:28] 10. -Aberinkula [05:42] Disc 3 11. -Drunkship of Lanterns [18:58] 12. -Asilos Magdalena [06:46] 13. -Miranda That Ghost Just Isn't Holy Anymore [06:04] 14. -Day of the Baphomets [14:07] Disc 4 2009-12-07 013 Tilburg The Netherlands 01. -A Fistful of Dollars [02:10] 02. -Son et Lumiere & Inertiatic ESP [05:51] 03. -Cotopaxi [04:44] 04. -L'Via L'Viaquez [09:59] 05. -Goliath [07:53] 06. -Mexican flu speech [01:12] 07. -Eriatarka [15:05] 08. -Since We'Ve Been Wrong [05:55] 09. -Cicatriz ESP [23:47] Disc 5 10. -Halo of Nembutals [05:38] 11. -Miranda [05:11] 12. -Teflon [05:43] 13. -Viscera Eyes [08:09] 14. -Bass solo [02:20] 15. -The Widow [4:00] 16. -Roulette Dares (The haunt of) [10:27] -
Audience 8.5 -
Audience 8.8 -
Audience 8.8 - Everything is clear and delivered to the listener with no interference, artifacts, irritating audience chatter or other. A really nice thing is this. -
Audience 9.5 - Brilliant! A great small venue atmosphere and it sounds fresh and exciting like it’s actually happening…live!Marshall Crenshaw Bottom Line New York City, NY February 18, 1986 Early Show 01 Yvonne 02 There She Goes Again 03 Worryin’ Kind 04 My Favorite Waste Of Time 05 Our Town 06 Monday Morning Rock 07 One More Reason 08 Mary Anne 09 Right Now 10 The Distance Between 11 Little Wild One (No. 5) 12 Rockin’ Around In N.Y.C. 13 Gimme Some Truth 14 Reet Petite 15 Cynical Girl 16 Someday, Someway 17 Whenever You’re On My Mind
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Soundboard 8.8 - A little tiny bit of muddiness in the middle frequencies as drums fight for bandwidth with the vocals and guitars, a real battle for supremacy…but man, the guitar jams these guys get into wow! A good recording here, you’ll get into it! Marshall Tucker Band Unknown Venue, Albuquerque, New Mexico January 19th 1979 Disc One. 1. -Fly Like An Eagle 2. -Long Hard Ride 3. -Heard It In A Love Song 4. -Dream Lover 5. -Blue Ridge Mountain Skies 6. -Hillbilly Band 7. -Can't You See 8. -I'll Be Lovin' You 9. -Fire On The Mountain Disc Two. 1. -Ramblin' On My Mind 2. -24 Hours At A Time 3. -This Ol' Cowboy 4. -Desert Skies 5. -Searchin' For A Rainbow -
Birmingham 1976 Pro Radio 9.5 - Obviously this should be excellent quality seeing as how it was recorded for British Biscuit radio broadcast. Well, yeah, it’s really good!
Dallas 1981 Pro Radio 8.9 - Sounds maybe a gen or two down (but no tape hiss) or perhaps just the age of the tape this was recorded on as it was presumably tapes off the air. Still, it’s very good and I am sure with some EQ touches could really bring more of the highs out.
Marshall Tucker Band Disc 1 The Odeon, Birmingham, England November 29th, 1976 1 -British Biscuit Intro 2 -Long Hard Ride 3 -Searching For A Rainbow 4 -Can't You See 5 -This Old Cowboy 6 -Fire On The Mountain 7 -Take The Highway THE BAND Doug Gray lead vocals percussion Toy Caldwell lead electric and acoustic guitar steel guitar Tommy Caldwell bass guitar backing vocals George McCorkle electric and acoustic guitar banjo Jerry Eubanks flute alto baritone and tenor saxophone backing vocals Paul Riddle drums Disc 2 Wintergarden Theater Dallas, TX March 15th 1981 1 -K.B.F.H. Intro 2 -It Takes Time 3 -See You One More Time 4 -Tell The Blues To Take Off Tonight 5 -This Time I Believe 6 -Take The Highway 7 -Fire On The Mountain 8 -In My Own Way 9 -Ramblin' 10 -This Ol' Cowboy 11 -KZAM THE BAND Toy Caldwell Guitars Steel Guitar Background Vocals Doug Gray Vocals Jerry Eubanks Flute Saxophone Keyboards Background Vocals Paul Riddle Drums Background Vocals George McCorkle Guitar Franklin Wilkie Bass Background Vocals -
FM Soundboard 9.3 - Very present and bright, only a few minor tape flaws but mostly fantastic. Marshall Tucker Band - 05/05/1977 Uptown Theater Chicago, IL WKQX FM Disc 1: 01. Fly Like An Eagle / Long Hard Ride 02. Searchin' For A Rainbow 03. Heard It In A Love Song 04. I Should Have Never Started Lovin' You 05. Take The Highway 06. Fire On The Mountain 07. In My Own Way 08. Never Trust A Stranger Disc 2: 01. 24 Hours At A Time 02. Ramblin' 03. Can't You See 04. This Ol' Cowboy -
Studio 9.2/9.6 - Not a lot to complain about here except maybe just the little bit of tape hiss (unremarkable). I found it interesting to hear the early takes because on some of the tracks it really shows less of the Southern influence and more of the psychedelic influence (listen to their cover of Evil Ways). Marshall Tucker Band "The Lost Demos" (1968-1971) Studios-Greenville, SC 1971 01. -Can’t You See (demo) 02. -See You Later I’m Gone (demo) 03. Southern Woman (demo) Muscle Shoals Sound Studio-Sheffield, AL 1971 04. -Cookin' (demo) 05. -Ramblin' (demo) 06. -Take The Highway (demo) 07. -Hillbilly Band (demo) Southeastern Music Corporation 1968 08. -It’s A Rainy Night In Georgia 09. -In A Moment (I Can Tell If You Love Me) 10. -Evil Ways (Santana) -
M Radio Broadcast 9.5 - Brilliant! Very sharply focused, with punctual bass, airy flute and in the pocket guitars. Right on! The Warehouse New Orleans, LA 12/31/1978 (FM) Disc 1: 37:16 01: radio announcer introduction 1:46 02: fly like an eagle > long hard ride 8:33 03: fire on the mountain 4:35 04: heard it in a love song 5:24 05: dream lover 5:21 06: auld lang syne (New Year's for the U.S. east coast) 3:28 07: blue ridge mountain sky 8:05 Disc 2: 68:22 08: can't you see 6:03 09: hillbilly band 3:40 10: ramblin' 6:55 11: this ol' cowboy 5:58 12: desert skies 6:54 13: 24 hours at a time 12:30 14: auld lang syne (New Year's in New Orleans) > I'll be loving you 10:27 16: searchin' for a rainbow 6:33 17: will the circle be unbroken (with radio talkover idiot) 9:18 Total runtime: 105:38 Toy Caldwell: guitars, vocals Jerry Eubanks: flute, saxophone, background vocals Tommy Caldwell: bass, background vocals Doug Gray: vocals George McCorkle: guitars Paul Riddle: drums -
Audience 9.3 - Superbly done, even if it gets off to a slow start with taper getting into position…but from there it’s just an amazing capture with enough ambience and overhead to give you an excellent sense of space and time. Just lovely! Marshall Tucker Band Palace Theater Providence, RI 29 November 1974 Disc 1 01 -Hillbilly Band 02 -How Can I Slow Down 03 -Can't You See 04 -In My Own Way 05 -24 Hours At A Time 06 -This Ol' Cowboy Disc 2 07 -Ramblin' 08 -Take The Highway 09 -Everyday (I Have The Blues) 10 -The Thrill Is Gone with special guest Charlie Daniels -
Pro TV and Radio Broadcasts 9.0 -
Audience 9.4 - For the uninitiated, well all I can say is be careful because you are diving into the deep end of the pool with this one! Bristling with improvisational madness at times magnificent and other times lost in the woods but always right on the ragged edge. Very daring music, which if played today would be met with blank staring faces but here the audience is in total rapture. -
Audience 7.0 - Ultra loud, no clear separation except the drums actually do have some distinction and this tape has a much broader sound spectrum and is not stuck in a very lo-fi mid band position. I like this tape, it features more raw energy than the others and even though is still “rough”, it gets the blood pumping and is quite exhilarating to hear. What a find! A rare show recently surfaced. -
Audience 7.8 - Perhaps the best of the audience May Blitz tapes, still very loud but much more separation of each instrument and loads of raw power on display. Frighteningly intense, brilliant acid psyche hard rock from a very underground band that should have been MUCH bigger. -
Audience 7.0 - Impossible to really document this band on amateur equipment, they were too loud. I kind of compare them to Blue Cheer, a more progressive, and British, Blue Cheer. That being said, believe it or not this is one of the better live tapes. Loud, crowded, noisy tape, all that yes but man, this is amazing! -
New York 1968 Soundboard 8.7/8.5 - This is a strange old tape, don’t get me wrong I am very happy to get to hear it, but it is a tale of two tapes…to my ears. It’s starts off, the first few tracks, as a relatively “clean” board feed, perhaps an AM radio live broadcast even, because it has that sound to it – like if you were listening to a radio broadcast with headphones (and took the headphones off slightly). Then, the tape changes to what I have to believe is another source, and one that is considerably more raucous and menacing. I can’t even say for sure the second part is a board, might be, but my guess is an on stage reel to reel recording (possibly done by John Sinclair?). It’s ok for what it is, both “sources” are welcomed into my personal collection since there’s so little of the live five out there.
Hollywood 1971 Audience 8.6 - Despite the lowish rating, this is very listenable. The main issue for me, and hence the low quality rating, is the drop off in the vocals. It’s not out front of the mix enough, but then, guitar (and bass) is the highlight so maybe that’s not so bad! Overall, I think if you love this band, this old tape is going to make you happy. One may wonder if a modern re-mastering would help this show come to life and the short answer is “maybe”, because it sounds like this one is already teetering on the edge of the bandwidth and to attempt sonic shenanigans might push it off the cliff. I’d like to hear an expert give it a try though.
MC5 - Flyin' With The Five New York 1968 Unknown Location Disc 1 1. -Teenage Lust 2. -It's A Man's Man World 3. -Black To Comm 4. -Ramblin' Rose 5. -Kick Out The Jams 6. -Come Together 7. -Rama Lama Fa Fa Fa 8. -Born Under A Bad Sign 9. -Shakin' All Over 10. -I Want You Right Now Disc 2 Hollywood, CA. Unknown Location Sept. 9th, 1971 1. Sister Anne 2. Baby Won't Ya 3. I Want You Right Now 4. Tonight 5. Looking At You 6. Ramblin' Rose 7. Kick Out The Jams 8. Black To Comm
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Soundboard 9.7 -
Audience 8.8 - Surprisingly good and clear! I get fine separation of instruments as well, hearing back up vocals, all guitars and drums in a good position and bass is there, not super defined and not boomy but there. Well done taper! Oh, and the performance is unbelievable. Meat Loaf 1978-06-08 Paris - Theatre Mogador Disc 1 01. Great Boleros Of Fire 02. Bat Out Of Hell 03. You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night) - Wasted Youth 04. All Revved Up With No Place To Go Disc 2 05. Paradise By The Dashboard Light 06. Johnny B. Goode 07. River Deep, Mountain High 08. Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad -
Audience 8.3/8.5 - Despite the low approval ratings of these audio tapes, I have to say I still think they are important to the Megadeth collector for several reasons. There’s just not a lot of recordings from these early periods for some unknown reason, and these shows, having been cleaned up and re-mastered as well as could be done, represent listenable time capsules of perhaps one of the all-time greatest metal band. Megadeth do not get the same accolades as some of the other big metal bands (do I have to mention them?) but I always loved their complexity and sarcasm. I did listen to both of these shows and once my ears adjusted I stuck with it and wrote this review without bias. Average tapes that deserve a place in any collection because of the significance of this band.
Megadeth The Windy City Gigs Disc 1 Metro, Chicago, IL (USA) June 30, 1985 01. -Last Rites - Loved To Death 02. -Killing Is My Business 03. -Skull Beneath The Skin 04. -These Boots 05. -My Last Words 06. -Looking Down The Cross 07. -Chosen Ones 08. -Mechanix 09. -Bad Omen 10. -Encore break 11. -Good Mourning - Black Friday 12. -Rattlehead Disc 2 (U.I.C) Pavilion University of Illinois Chicago, IL 1987-02-12 1. -Intro 2. -Wake Up Dead 3. -The Conjuring 4. -My Last Words 5. -Bad Omen 6. -Rattlehead - Dave's talking about Chicago 7. -Peace Sells 8. -Devil's Island 9. -The Mechanix
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Audience 8.3 - This has been mastered, because where the sounds are placed actually helps better define this recording – the vocals “should” be buried deep but they aren’t, and the bass and the drums are in their own space too. Remarkable to get this so clear because it sounds like at one time it may have been a mess. Bochum 1987 - Audience 8.7 - Wow the bass is kicking, and so defined! -
Brand New - Sealed Sound quality on all releases on this label is excellent. -
Soundboard 9.0 -
Soundboard 8.3 - I found a lot to sink into with this very early Megadeth recording. First off, it’s better sounding than the old tape that floated around for a while, as someone took the time to re-master it and pitch correct it which makes a big difference. It’s still a little narrow and thin, but you’ll be blown away by what you are hearing, if you have even a mild interest in the formative years of Megadeth, this show is a must. Band: Megadeth Venue: Country Club: Reseda, CA, USA Date: September 19, 1985 Time: 42:20 The last show with Mike Albert (who was replacing Chris in the tour). Setlist: 1. Last Rites - Loved To Death 2. Killing Is My Business 3. Skull Beneath The Skin 4. Chosen Ones 5. These Boots 6. My Last Words 7. Looking Down The Cross 8. Mechanix 9. Bad Omen 10. Good Morning-Black Friday -
Audience 9.6 - Scary good! It would be easy to dismiss this offhand simply because it is 2007 and maybe you are thinking it is not indispensable Megadeth right? Wrong answer. This recording will give you newfound respect and appreciation for this band, with their ultra tight, ultra-sophisticated sense of craft and ability, you will say “yes, time to rediscover this band again” just like I did after listening to this. -
Brand New - Sealed Sound quality on all releases on this label is excellent. Live In Denmark 1981.