Audience 9.6 - After allowing the soundman to adjust during the first few minutes of the show, what you soon will discover is that this is one of the best ’77 shows ever. Not just for sound quality, but performance. Just amazing in every way…and an absolute must have.

Yes The Forum Inglewood, CA September 24, 1977 Disc 1 01 Firebird Suite 02 Parallels 03 I've Seen All Good People 04 Close To The Edge 05 Wonderous Stories 06 Colours Of The Rainbow 07 Turn Of The Century 08 Tour Song Disc 2 09 And You And I 10 Going For The One 11 Flight Jam 12 Awaken 13 Starship Trooper 14 Roundabout

Audience 9.5 - Many of you will be surprised by my rare high rating for an audience tape…but man, I gotta tell you, this is 100% justified. Yes, it’s sonically really nice, but it delivers that magical quality that real fans know about and is kind of hard to explain the uninitiated. Let me try: you feel like you are seated there at the show, you feel the anticipation, you know what is about to happen yet can’t quite believe how actually incredible it truly is. Enough hyperbole, you get it, I love this one. But to be fair, the recording quality is more like a 9.2, still great, but it’s the atmosphere, the spaciousness, the rolling drums that seem to pan across the speakers, the great sound mix, all of it equals pure magic and a legitimate 9.5. Queen Long Beach Arena Long Beach, CA December 20, 1977 Disc 2 01 We Will Rock You intro 02 Brighton Rock 03 Somebody To Love 04 Death On Two Legs 05 Killer Queen 06 Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy 07 I'm In Love With My Car 08 Get Down Make Love 09 The Millionaire Waltz 10 You're My Best Friend 11 Liar 12 Love Of My Life 13 '39 Disc 2 14 My Melancholy Blues 15 White Man 16 The Prophet's Song 17 Guitar Solo 18 The Prophet's Song (reprise) 19 Now I'm Here 20 Stone Cold Crazy 21 Bohemian Rhapsody 22 Keep Yourself Alive 23 Tie Your Mother Down 24 We Will Rock You* 25 We Are The Champions 26 Sheer Heart Attack 27 Jailhouse Rock 28 God Save The Queen  

Audience 8.7 - One of those tapes that you have to force yourself past the first song which gets mauled as the taper seemingly works to find his spot and get all his shit together…but then it just opens up to a much better experience. It kind of feels like going from the mud puddle to a waterfall, but in reality the tape is still only a little above average – but muddy it is not and that is great news to Van Halen collectors who seek every DLR recording in existence. Van Halen Rosemont Horizon Chicago, IL. 1984-03-13 Disc 1 01. -Unchained 02. -Hot For Teacher 03. -Drum Solo 04. -On Fire 05. -Running With The Devil 06. -Little Guitars 07. -Cathedral 08. -House Of Pain 09. -Bass Solo 10. -Jamie's Crying 11. -I'll Wait 12. -Keyboard Solo Disc 2 13. -Everybody Wants Some 14. -Girl Gone Bad 15. -1984 16. -Jump 17. -Guitar Solo 18. -Oh, Pretty Woman 19. -Panama 20. -You Really Got Me 21. -Ain’t Talkin’ ’Bout Love  

Studio Quality 9.3 - Astounding and revelatory, this is indispensable to anyone who remotely appreciated rock and roll music…regardless of the association with band members named Van Halen…I am saying that if you like rock and roll music this stuff is essential listening. Now, if you were a fan of the Van Halen brand rock sound, well, yeah it is kinda obvious how important these demos are and this collection features them in excellent quality. Van Halen 'Before The Eruption' Studio & Rehearsal Recordings Gene Simmons Demos 1976 & Warner Bros. Demos 1977 Disc 1 01 - Intro 02 - On Fire 03 - Woman In Love 04 - House Of Pain 05 - Runnin' With The Devil 06 - She's The Woman 07 - Let's Get Rockin' 08 - Big Trouble 09 - Somebody Get Me A Doctor 10 - Babe, Don't Leave Me Alone 11 - Put Out The Lights 12 - Let's Get Rockin' 13 - We Die Bold 14 - Voodoo Queen 15 - Little Dreamer 16 - House Of Pain 17 - Runnin' With The Devil 18 - On Fire 19 - Babe, Don't Leave Me Alone 20 - Bring On The Girls 21 - Young & Wild 22 - Last Night 23 - Light In The Sky 24 - Get The Show On The Road Disc 2 01 - D.O.A. 02 - Somebody Get Me A Doctor 03 - Show Your Love 04 - She's The Woman 05 - Put Out The Lights 06 - Big Trouble 07 - I Wanna Be Your Lover 08 - Feel Your Love Tonight 09 - In A Simple Rhyme 10 - Piece Of Mind 11 - You Really Got Me 12 - Happy Trails 13 - Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love 14 - House Of Pain 15 - Runnin' With The Devil 16 - On Fire Rehearsals From Pasadena Convention Center, October 15, 1977 17 - On Fire 18 - Voodoo Queen 19 - Atomic Queen 20 - Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love 21 - On Fire Disc 1 Tracks 12-24 Disc 2 Tracks 1-12 are from the 1977 demo produced by Ted Templeman and Mo Ostin for Warner Bros. in Los Angeles late 1977. Disc 2 Tracks 13-16 are unused sessions and alternate takes. Disc 2 Tracks 17-21 are rehearsals from Pasadena, Ca. USA Convention Center October 15, 1977  

Audience 9.1 - Small club vibe permeates this very intimate recording as Al sings his songs with a crack band behind him…often chatting it up with the audience who responds in kind. As I listened, I could not help but think this music really reminds me of Lou Reed, with less bratty New York attitude and more gay San Francisco. Al Stewart Band Wolfgangs San Francisco, Ca. 1983-08-11 01. -Unknown Title 02. -Unknown Title 03. -Time Passages 04. -Cafe Society 05. -Almost Lucy 06. -Rumours of War 07. -Intros - On The Border 08. -Accident On 3rd Street 09. -Valentino Way 10. -Intros - Year Of The Cat 11. -End of the Day 12. -If It Doesn't Come Haturally Leave It 13. -Paint By Number Al Stewart: vocals, guitars Peter White: guitars, keyboards, bass Adam Yurman: bass, guitars Kaz: Alto sax, keyboards Steve Chapman: drums  

Upper Darby 1975 Audience 8.7 - This is not an easy one to pull off – you have to give a lot of credit to this taper as he’s trying to capture an excessively loud and aggressive rock band in a smallish club. That means you’d better be in a good spot with a tape machine that can prevent distortion due to high volume. Taper got those two essentials right. What is the flaw then?  I would say unless you are super picky, you really will understand the value of this tape. Good sound quality, you hear everything (both guitars clear!), drums, bass even!  So it isn’t board tape perfect, but I think this rare 1975 audience tape belongs in every fan’s collection. It is that good. Central Park 1975 Soundboard 9.8 - What a thrill this is!  Man, if you can’t get excited listening to this you are dead. This recording wakes the dead!  Get ready for max rock madness in crystal clear excellence.   Ted Nugent Live '75 Disc 1 Tower Theater Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania May 3, 1975 01. Intro 02. Hibernation 03. Stranglehold 04. Lady Luck 05. Pony Express 06. Tuning Up 07. Queen Of The Forest 08. Living In The Woods 09. Where Have You Been All My Life 10. Feedback Frenzy 11. Papa's Will Disc 2 Schaeffer Music Festival Central Park New York, NY August 29, 1975 01.  -Hibernation 02.  -Stormtroopin' 03.  -Just What the Doctor Ordered 04.  -Stranglehold 05.  -Motor City Madhouse Ted Nugent - lead guitar, vocals Derek St Holmes - vocals & rhythm guitar Rob Grange - bass Cliff Davies - drums  

Audience 9.3 - An excellent capture of a great performance by the entire band. With a recording like this where taper is using high quality equipment, the end result is only as good as the PA sound since that is what your mics capture. In the case of Dio, I am sure they have a multi-million dollar PA system and expert sound engineers at the desk. The live sound is well mixed and powerful. DIO Cumberland County Civic Center Portland, ME. September 9th 1985 Disc 1 1 -Intro 2 -King of Rock and Roll 3 -Like The Beat Of A Heart 4 -Don't Talk To Strangers 5 -Hungry For Heaven 6 -The Last In Line 7 -Holy Diver 8 -The Last In Line (reprise) 9 -Drum Solo 10 -Heaven And Hell 11 -Guitar Solo Disc 2 12 -Keyboard Solo - Guitar Solo 13 -Sacred Heart 14 -Rock 'n' Roll Children 15 -Long Live Rock 'n' Roll 16 -Man On The Silver Mountain 17 -Rock 'n' Roll Children (reprise) 18 -Stand Up And Shout 19 -Rainbow In The Dark 20 -Thank You Goodnight THE BAND Ronnie James Dio vocals Vivian Campbell guitar Jimmy Bain bass backing vocals Vinny Appice drums Claude Schnell keyboards  

Levittown 1981 FM Broadcast 9.3 - Crisp and nicely mixed for broadcast this recording does not suffer from any degradation or compression, it’s wonderful! London 1984 FM Broadcast 9.2 - Excellent quality recording with some atmosphere to give you a sense of space, so not what I would call a direct to board feed, it was recorded and mixed for air and has that distinct feel to it. Blue Oyster Cult Spit Levittown, New York June 15, 1981 Disc 1 01 -Dr Music 02 -ETI 03 -Burnin' For You 04 -Fire Of Unknown Origin 05 -Cities On Flame 06 -Joan Crawford 07 -Flaming Telepaths 08 -Veteran of Psychic Wars 09 -ME 262 10 -Hot Rails To Hell 11 -Godzilla 12 -Born To Be Wild Disc 2 13 -Heavy Metal 14 -(Don't Fear) The Reaper 15 -Roadhouse Blues Hammersmith Odeon London, England 14 February 1984 16 -Introduction 17 -ME-262 18 -E.T.I. 19 -Born To Rock 20 -Cities On Flame With Rock And Roll 21 -Take Me Away 22 -Shooting Shark 23 -(Don't Fear) The Reaper 24 -Born To Be Wild 25 -Let Go 26 -Outro