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Soundboard 9.3 - Sweet mix here, with a great band once again allowing Reed ample room to do what he does and at the same time, show off their own chops. -
Soundboard 9.2 - The band was really up for this show, it’s pretty hot. -
Soundboard 9.0 - Some tape hiss but it doesn’t bother. -
Soundboard 9.7 - Just about as good as you’d ever want. -
Soundboard 9.3 - Crisp highs, great mid tones are what define this tape. -
Soundboard 8.3 -
Soundboard 9.3 -
Audience 8.7 & Audience 9.7 - The first part of the disc is electric and the rest is an acoustic in-store, and it is very intimate and excellent! I prefer it to the electric set in fact. -
Pro Pre-Broadcast Master FM 9.7. It’s hard not to be drawn in to this performance; actually it’s Linda who does all the heart stealing here. Wow, I’d consider collecting all of the live shows at this point because I never knew how much genuine charm and warmth this lady had, and transferred to audiences effortlessly. Oh, and the songs are good too! -
Audience 7.8 - Wonderful recording if just a touch on the compressed side (maybe FM radio?), still this is lovely! -
CD 1 - Audience 7.4 / CD 2 - Soundboard 9.5 / CD 3 - Soundboard 9.2 -
Audience 8.3 - Good and clear. -
Audience 7.8 - Bonham is the star of this show, he sounds great. The recording, while not offering too much in the way of dynamics, does present enough separation of instruments to appreciate the performance. -
Soundboard 9.6 - A legendary, and I mean indispensable recording of the mighty Zep in their prime. This particular version of this well-traveled show is actually a matrix of the newly surfaced soundboard and the excellent audience tape. How sweet it is! (Second night 9-29-71) -
Audience 7.5 - Sounds like this was remastered because there’s a lot more music now to sink your teeth into. Is it great? No, it’s average with a welcomed lean towards upper mid-range allowing for guitars to be prominent and even bass is heard, as if it was a second guitar almost. A good one for 1977 tour completists because quite frankly the band is really playing well here. -
Audience 8.8 - What is a rating anyway? When it comes to a gig like this, it’s almost irrelevant. Look, just get this and you will know what I mean. Even the band would probably direct you to grab this one. -
Audience 7.5 - This tape is not nearly as bad as what it used to sound like before we had high end re-mastering tools. So, it’s got some noise issues that kind of keep it from really opening up but the amazing thing now is you really can hear the whole band, and Jimmy is just on fire. Collectors really praise the band performance from this show, and it is obviously much improved now, so yeah, I recommend it. (3-27-70) -
Audience 8.3 - A good and clear tape for the time period. Might be struggling to get the separation of instruments during really intense moments but you can really get into this one for sure. -
Audience 8.4 - This is a special recording, mainly because it reveals another element to the live experience – a really rocking band with a rocking bassist. What do I mean? Well, you actually hear John Paul Jones CLEARLY defined notes, and I don’t mean it is a bass heavy recording. It’s actually more mid range, but man, what a revelation to actually hear every note from the bass and very raunchy, dirty guitar tone from Jimmy Page. A clear and strong, but a little crispy in the upper mid to high frequencies, recording. Still, everyone should really get this one. Total electric excitement! -
Audience 8.1 - A very decent and clear recording from maybe midway back of the hall. Show is fantastic, and the recording sufficiently documents this event. -
Audience 8.2 - This is a good recording, clear and pretty strong when the levels are right, but there’s the rub. The sound levels occasionally drop a notch lower throughout the course of the set, ultimately they do settle into a predictable place which is fine, think of it like listening along when suddenly they hit the overdrive pedal. When that happens, it gets VERY good for a while. Well worth having this despite that. -
Stockholm 1968 - Audience 8.7 / London 1968 - Audience 8.2 Both fantastic considering the time period, and the significance cannot be understated. That being said, the London material suffers from some artifacts present either in the master or in the transfer to digital. My guess is that it probably originated from an acetate or from an AM Radio Broadcast taped onto a cheap cassette deck but it is still decent enough to get into. -
Soundboard 9.3 - I love this lively mix, sure it’s a close mic’d slightly compressed board but it’s very kinetic (a lot of that is probably the band). Oh, the band…yeah, they are on fire! Get this. -
Audience 7.2 - Yes a little rough here, but this is so historically important as it represents some of the earliest thundering by the fledgling Led Zeppelin live in the United States. The tape seems to improve in spots, and the re-mastering on it has really helped immensely. * Bonus DVD-A is a real plus, and those with higher end systems will be able to take advantage of the higher resolution audio. -
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. -
Soundboard 8.8 - Deep and rich lows, and nicely detailed highs are the hallmarks of what I consider to be one of the better 1980 shows the band performed. -
Audience 8.7 - Pretty crisp and clear especially Page, who shines in this performance. -
Audience 7.0–7.4 - Muddled, distant and lacking in separation of instruments, this is for completists only. To be fair, the mud does clear somewhat and some remastering has allowed us to hear reasonably clear lead guitar and higher frequencies that are not residing down where the tape distortion is, so for instance songs like Stairway To Heaven are like sun rays peaking through, so I gave this a spread rating which is more realistic. -
Soundboard 9.0 - Crunchy and clear, with super duper guitar tone right up in your face. Spectacular but sometimes so much power all occupying the middle frequency makes you want more low end, so add it with Equalizer and you are good to go mate. -
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 9.2 - This one deserves a high rating for not only having great sound quality (with some minor taper adjustment in the beginning) but also because, quite simply, this gig is off the charts cool. Plant makes reference to "the vibes" during the show and it's just obvious that the crowd knows they are witnessing something magic, and the best part is - so does the band. When they realize they are all four "in the zone", the show takes off to levels unprecedented heretofore. A stellar No Quarter and perhaps the best Dazed and Confused of the whole tour...you get that and more. One tiny blemish, during the end of The Rain Song, an equipment malfunction destroys what would have been the penultimate version, and Plant himself recognized the disaster. To me, it's not a deal breaker at all, it lasts a couple seconds, but I understand Plant's frustration completely. Get this now!