-
Audience 9.1 - Great sound and atmosphere, just as good as you want it to be. Some tape hiss present during quieter passages, which is being nitpicky though. This recording shines with just the right amount of headroom and the atmosphere is special as the crowd is LISTENING to every note you can clearly tell. Return To Forever Civic Auditorium Santa Monica, CA April 8, 1977 Disc 1 01 The Endless Night 02 The Musician 03 Hello Again 04 So Long Mickey Mouse 05 Musicmagic 06 Do You Ever Disc 2 07 Come Rain Or Shine 08 Serenade 09 The Moorish Warrior and the Spanish Princess 10 Spanish Fantasy 11 On Green Dolphin Street 12 Musicmagic (Reprise) -
Stockholm 1972 SDBRD 9.1 - Some minor tape hiss present but otherwise it’s quite good for its age. It was recorded well, I mean, the sound to me is very organic and that suits this style of music. Princeton 1973 SDBRD 9.3 - First thing you’ll notice is the lively, massive drums, and a good, round, full bass followed by sharp and clear guitar tone. A very very nice board tape! Nottingham 1975 SDBRD 8.7 - A somewhat subdued sound (tape age?) but pretty clear and could maybe just use a little EQ to bring out the frequencies…and also a little volume boost but other than that it’s a good tape that could be great. There’s a lot of communication with the crowd, more so than usual. Return To Forever Dramaten Stockholm Jazzdays Stockholm, Sweden September 17, 1972 FM Disc 1 01 -Band intro by Chick 02 -Spain 03 -Children's Song 04 -500 Miles High 05 -Noon Song 06 -Matrix 07 -Radio Announcer Chick Corea - Fender Rhodes and Acoustic Piano Joe Farrell - Flute and Soprano Saxophone Stanley Clarke - Acoustic Bass Airto Moreira - Drums Disc 2 Princeton University Princeton, NJ 1973-11-30 01 -Theme To The Mothership 02 -Bass Folk Song 03 -Children's Song 1 04 -Space Circus 05 -Captain Senor Mouse 06 -The Game Maker Chick Corea -keys Stanley Clarke -bass Lenny White -drums Bill Connors -guitar Disc 3 University of Nottingham Nottingham, U.K. February 22, 1975 1. -beyond the 7th galaxy 2. -song to the Pharoah kings - Vulcan worlds 3. -the shadow of Lo 4. -talk Disc 4 5. -Vulcan worlds 6. -talk and tuning 7. -no mystery 8. -talk 9. -celebration suite Chick Corea: keyboards Al Di Meola: guitar Stanley Clarke: bass Lenny White: drums -
FM Broadcast 9.3 - Very well recorded, this one can be fully cranked because there’s great instrument separation allowing for a full and wide (as in panned) sound mix. Rick Derringer 'Whisky-A-Go-Go 1977' February 8th, 1977 01. Radio Intro 02. Still Alive and Well 03. Let Me In 04. Teenage Love Affair 05. Sittin' By The Pool 06. One Eyed Jack 07. Sailor 08. Beyond The Universe 09. Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo (inluding You Really Got Me) 10. Roll With Me 11. Rebel Rebel 12. Keep On Makin' Love 13. Let's Make It -
Audience 9.6 - This sound is so real, so present, and SO LOUD but thankfully hangs together without shredding the tape it is stored on…mostly. On occasion there’s some minor breaking up in a certain frequency due to the sheer volume and proximity to the microphone but to be honest that is kind of what makes this recording such a revelation for me. I just never predicted that King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table would be as heavy and manic as it is here in an expertly recorded live setting. Rick Wakeman is a badass! Rick Wakeman Convention Center Anaheim, CA November 11, 1975 Disc 1 01 Intro 02 The Journey 03 Recollection 04 Catherine Howard 05 Lancelot & The Black Knight 06 Down And Out Disc 2 07 Anne Boleyn 08 The Forest 09 Arthur & Guinevere 10 Merlin The Magician 11 Catherine Parr 12 Hungarian Rhapsody 13 The Battle -
Pro Recording 9.4 - This is actually recorded from the audience, or the pit, or somewhere within the hall with professional equipment possibly for broadcast or posterity but it is obviously not an amateur job. The dynamics and atmosphere are excellent, and to my ears it just seems like the band wanted to record this gig for whatever reason.
Rick Wakeman November 16, 1981 Guildhall Preston, UK Disc One (70:34) 1) War Games? (10:29) 2) King Arthur Medley (12:10): a) Arthur b) Lancelot and the Black Knight 3) Sea Horses (5:17) 4) Julia (6:11) 5) Three Wives (13:12): a) Catherine of Aragon b) Anne of Cleves c) Catherine Howard 6) The Proles (5:30) 7) Journey to the Center of the Earth - Part 1 (17:45) Disc Two (60:16) 1) Danielle (4:30) 2) The Probe (4:05) 3) Chamber of Horrors (7:03) 4) The Hymn (3:14) 5) Anne Boleyn (29:04) 6) Robot Man (4:57) 7) Journey to the Center of the Earth - Part 2 (7:23) a) The Battle b) Hall of the Mountain King
-
Audience 9.1 - I love these in your face recordings that are well done. No distortion, max volume, hear every instrument – in fact great separation of the guitars that is so realistic and cool they seem to pan across the speakers! A very well done tape for this time period in that it does not sound like one of those heavily compressed Aiwa tape recordings, it has a lot of liveliness and decent headroom. RIOT City Island Harrisburg, PA. June 21st 1982 1 -Intro 2 -Hard Lovin' Man 3 -Loanshark 4 -Restless Breed 5 -When I Was Young 6 -Swords & Tequila 7 -Outlaw 8 -Loved By You THE BAND Rhett Forrester vocals harmonica Mark Reale guitar Rick Ventura guitar Kip Leming bass Sandy Slavin drums -
SDBRD 9.7 A fantastic stereo board that has a ton of excitement and great atmosphere (unusual for a board tape). If you collect Plant shows, this is considered a must. ROBERT PLANT Brighton, Centre December 17, 1983 Disc 1 01. -In The Mood 02. -Pledge Pin 03. -Messin' With The Mekon 04. -Worse Than Detroit 05. -Keyboards Solo - Thru With The Two Step 06. -Other Arms Disc 2 07. -Horizontal Departure 08. -Moonlight In Samosa 09. -Wreckless Love 10. -Band Intro - Slow Dancer 11. -Like I've Never Been Gone Robert Plant - Vocals Robbie Blunt - Guitar Jezz Woodroffe - Keyboards Bob Mayo - Keyboards, Guitar Paul Martinez - Bass Richie Hayward - Drums -
Audience 9.2 - Both of these shows are fantastic, clear, and punchy. This is also a great period for Robin, his playing is mature, muscular, solid every note beginning to end. His recent material is on display here and there which is cool but the old stuff really shines…as always. Robin Trower The Country Club Reseda, CA 1-30-1987 Disc 1 1. Too Rolling Stoned 2. Secret Doors 3. Day Of The Eagle 4. Bridge Of Sighs 5. Passion 6. No Time Disc 2 7. Spellbound 8. Bad Time 9. Rock Me Baby 10. Won't Even Think About You 11. Little Bit Of Sympathy New George's San Raphael, CA 1/27/88 Disc 3 1 Too Rolling Stoned 2 Love Attack 3 Day of the Eagle 4 Bridge of Sighs 5 Second Time 6 No Time Disc 4 1 Take What You Need 2 Rock Me Baby 3 Tear It Up 4 Little Bit of Sympathy 5 Lady Love 6 Into the Flame -
Audience 8.5 - What this tape represents is an almost uncanny time warp back in time, the sound that the taper captured is amazing – the mix and separation of instruments is what damages an otherwise exceptional sounding tape. With that being said, it’s got a lot to appreciate regardless of the actual music contained herein. For instance, once the soundman dials the mix in better, the music does sound MUCH better and guitar rises slightly higher up front making for a more enjoyable listening experience. The sound of this tape is good, with a punchy upper midrange but not uncomfortable, and roaring “low end” and I say that because while bass is not well defined, it certainly is present in the lower frequencies here. This tape will grow on you, and I promise once you start, and get past the first song (where the live mix is getting dialed in), you’ll find yourself more and more sucked in to it. Robin Trower Long Island Arena, Commack, NY November 19th 1976 THE BAND Robin Trower guitar James Dewar vocals Bill Lordan drums Rustee Allen bass SETLIST 1 -Intro 2 -Same Rain Falls 3 -Lady Love 4 -Bridge Of Sighs 5 -Caledonia 6 -The Fool And Me 7 -Long Misty Days 8 -Too Rolling Stoned 9 -Daydream 10 -Day Of The Eagle 11 -Little Bit Of Sympathy 12 -Messin' The Blues 13 -Rock Me Baby 14 -Goodnight -
Delaware 1985 Soundboard 9.3 Nice to hear this period of Trower with a good, punchy board tape that does present a minimal amount of hiss (evident between songs) but other than that not much to complain about. W. Hollywood 1990 Soundboard 9.2 Technically speaking this would rate much higher as it is what one would call a “pristine” board tape. Yes it sounds crystal clear and Robin is literally singing in your ear (a bit much perhaps), but the rating reflects what I personally consider to be a downside of board tapes…the lack of atmosphere and reliance on perfect mix. This was probably mixed for the benefit of what was coming from the stage and not for the sake of the recording being made. It’s a reference tape is what it is. Contrast this to the next show in the set and you’ll begin to understand why I always say a great audience tape beats a board tape. Karlsruhe 2009 Audience 9.5 This show gets a stellar rating because while it is not technically a superior recording (mainly due to the very slight amount of overdrive) it represents most of what I love about great audience recordings. This recording captures the lightning into a bottle so to speak. The fact that there is just a slight bit of overdriven energy (for lack of a more technical term) or lets call it “saturation” for the sake of the audiophiles out there – either way the point is that this recording will get more repeat plays than the board tapes in this set. Robin Trower Three Decades 1985-2009 Disc 1 The Stone Balloon Newark,Delaware,U.S.A. 1985-07-24 01 -Too Rolling Stoned 02 -Into Money 03 -Keeping A Secret 04 -Day Of The Eagle 05 -Bridge Of Sighs 06 -None But The Brave Musicians Robin Trower - Guitar Dave Bronze - Bass & Vocals Martin Clapson - Drums Disc 2 The Roxy West Hollywood CA. March 25th 1990 01 -Intro 02 -Too Rolling Stoned 03 -Rock Me Baby 04 -Sea Of Love 05 -Day Of The Eagle 06 -Bridge Of Sighs 07 -Turn The Volume Up Disc 3 08 -No Time 09 -Ev'ry Body's Watching You 10 -Daydream 11 -Tear It Up 12 -Natural Fact 13 -Little Bit Of Sympathy 14 -The Ring 15 -Extermination Blues THE BAND Robin Trower guitar Davey Pattison vocals Glenn Letsch bass Dee Johnson drums Disc 4 Jack Bruce & Robin Trower Karlsruhe (GER) Tollhaus 2009-02-25 01 - Seven Moons 02 - Lives Of Clay 03 - Distant Places Of The Heart 04 - Sunshine Of Your Love 05 - Carmen (New song, unreleased) 06 - She's The One 07 - We're Going Wrong 08 - So Far To Yesterday Disc 5 09 - Just Another Day 10 - Perfect Place 11 - Bad Case Of Celebrity 12 - The Last Door 13 - Come To Me 14 - I'm Home 15 - White Room 16 - Politician Musicians: Jack Bruce: b, v Robin Trower: g Gary Husband: dr -
CD issue of an album originally released in 1990. Import from UK, CD is new, never played. -
Audience 9.5 - Outstanding quality recording, close, clean, dynamic, and just enough tape saturation to let you know it’s good o’l analog. Get this one! Rod Stewart The Forum Inglewood, CA December 13, 1977 01 Maggie May 02 The Wild Side Of Life 03 You Keep Me Hangin' On 04 (I Know) I'm Losing You > Drum Solo 05 Stay With Me 06 Twistin' The Night Away 07 You're In My Heart (The Final Acclaim) -
Soundboard 9.8 - If you like the Faces, then you’d probably love this. Say what you will of the late 70’s Rod Stewart, and I know the image will be of those horrible TV commercials advertising his solo records, but wait a second before you dismiss this – it SMOKES! Yes, it’s great. Really Really great. Rod Stewart BBC Rock Hour Pre-Fm reels Broadcast in March 1977 Olympia Theatre, London, England December 24th 1976 Disc 1 01) Intro/ Three Time Loser 02) You Wear It Well 03) Big Bayou 04) Tonight's the Night 05) Wild Side of Life 06) This Old Heart of Mine 07) Sweet Little Rock and Roller 08) I Don't Want To Talk About It/Outro Disc 2 01) Intro/ The Killing of Georgie 02) Maggie May 03) Get Back 04) I'm Losing You (I Know)/ Drum Solo 05) Sailing 06) Stay With Me/Outro -
Audience 9.4 - A wonderful, warm, full bodied recording that beckons you in from the first note. Say what you will about Rod Stewart but his voice works with this stuff, and even here in 1982 as long as you can’t see him you can appreciate the rock and roll pedigree he brings to the stage. Yeah, I was rather turned off by his image for quite some time, but hearing him live you just find a way to look past that. Rod Stewart Long Beach Arena Long Beach, CA March 24, 1982 Disc 1 01 Tonight I'm Yours (Don't Hurt Me) 02 Sweet Little Rock & Roller 03 Hot Legs 04 Tonight's The Night (Gonna Be Alright) 05 Passion 06 She Won't Dance With Me > 07 Little Queenie 08 You're In My Heart 09 I Just Want To Make Love To You 10 How Long 11 Young Turks Disc 2 12 (If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want To Be Right 13 You Wear It Well 14 (I Know) I'm Losing You 15 Gasoline Alley 16 Maggie May 17 Da Ya Think I'm Sexy? 18 I Was Only Joking 19 Tear It Up 20 Stay With Me -
Studio quality 9.1 - OK, now let me be perfectly clear about what I think about this…I have no clue what to think about this. I leave that up to you. All I can say is the quality is great. Have fun! Rod Stewart and Ron Wood Harris Sound Studios Northwoodmere, NY. July 1969 Tracks as best as can be deciphered Instrumental (Gloria) Sweet Georgia Brown Blues Carnation Supply Down By The Riverside Bonnie & Clyde All The Time Spotty Blues Instrumental All The Time -
Audience 8.9 - A great effort here by the taper, it’s got a little bit of that “just about to break” quality, where the limits of the tape are just about reached…yet it holds together. This gives the recording an unmistakable intensity, and for that I rate this highly and say it will be most enjoyable to the listener. Roger Waters Great Woods Mansfield MA 22 Aug 1987 DISC 1 1-01 kaos 1 1-02 tempted 1-03 radio waves 1-04 kaos 2 1-05 welcome to the machine 1-06 kaos 3 1-07 who needs information 1-08 money 1-09 kaos 4 1-10 in the flesh 1-11 have a cigar 1-12 pigs 1-13 wish you were here 1-14 mother DISC 2 2-01 kaos 5 2-02 four minutes - molly's song - doreen chanter 2-03 me or him 2-04 powers that be 2-05 setbreak - phone calls 2-06 kaos 6 2-07 going to live in LA 2-08 sunset strip 2-09 kaos 7 2-10 pros and cons of hitch hiking 2-11 kaos 8 2-12 if 2-13 every strangers eyes DISC 3 3-01 not now john 3-02 abitw1 3-03 happiest days 3-04 abitw2 3-05 nobody home 3-06 home 3-07 kaos 9 3-08 four minutes 3-09 tide is turning 3-10 band intro 3-11 crowd 3-12 breathe 3-13 brain damage 3-14 eclipse 3-15 kaos goodnight Roger Waters: Bass, Vocals Graham Broad: Drums Paul Carrack: Keyboards Doreen Chanter: Vocals Mel Collins: Saxophones Andy Fairweather-Low: Guitars Katie Kissoon: Vocals Jay Stapley: Guitars Jim Ladd: The DJ