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Audience 9.2 - A tremendous, lively recording with LOADS of nice atmosphere provided by the receptive audience. The legendary Quebec ’79 tape now has some company! Yes Mecca Arena Milwaukee, WI April 26, 1979 Disc 1 01. -Radio Promo 02. -Close Encounters of the Third Kind 03. -Siberian Khatru 04. -Heart Of The Sunrise 05. -Future Times - Rejoice 06. -Circus Of Heaven 07. -Introduction of the Anniversary Medley 08. -Time And A Word - Long Distance Runaround - Survival - The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus) -Perpetual Change - Soon Disc 2 01. -The Clap 02. -Starship Trooper 03. -And You And I 04. -Rick Wakeman Solo 05. -Awaken 06. -Tour Song 07. -I've Seen All Good People 08. -Roundabout -
FM Broadcast 8.9 - This recording was done from the radio broadcast even though most people think it is from the reels (it is from a reel to reel, but a recording made from the broadcast). However, once the live over the air sound mix is sorted out, it becomes pretty darn good and even if the tape has some signs of age, it’s a great document and well worth getting. Yes Madison Square Garden NYC, NY Sept. 6, 1980 Steve Howe, Chris Squire, Alan White, Geoff Downes, Trevor Horn cd1 51:30 01. Yours Is No Disgrace 5:01 02. Into The Lens 8:23 03. Clap 4:26 04. And You & I 10:08 05. Go Through This 4:27 06. Man In A White Car 6:17 07. We Can Fly From Here 6:44 08. Tempus Fugit 5:49 09. The Fish (11 seconds) 0:11 cd2 43:21 01 Machine Messiah (Mono) 11:24 02 Starship Trooper 11:55 03 Roundabout 7:42 Bonus: 04 - We Can Fly From Here Studio-Demo - 5:56 05 - We Can Fly From Here 6:23 1980-04-18 (later mix 1980-04-18) -
Radio and TV Broadcast 8.7-9.7 - Thankfully most of this material falls into the high 9’s in terms of audio quality but the compilation wins high points for presenting a chronological look into the bands broadcasts on TV in 1969. So, it’s nice to hear progressive rock’s development during the year. YES 1969 "Something's Coming To TV" Disc 1 01. Something's Coming BBC Top Gear Radio Session #1 (Jan69) 02. Something's Coming BBC Top Gear Radio Session #2 (Feb69) 03. Something's Coming Down Broadway, Sheffield, UK (690224) 04. Something's Coming Studio Outttake #1 (Spring69) 05. Something's Coming Studio Outttake #2 (Spring69) 06. Looking Around - BBC Johnnie Walker Show (690604) 07. Every Little Thing - BBC Johnnie Walker Show (690604) 08. Sweetness - BBC Symonds On Sunday (690804) 09. Everydays - BBC Symonds On Sunday (690804) 10. Every Little Thing - BBC Symonds On Sunday (690804) 11. Something's Coming BBC Studios, Symonds On Sunday (690804) 12. Something's Coming Big Apple Club, Wiesbaden, GE (690826) Disc 2 01. Something's Coming Grugenhalle, Essen, Germany (691009) 02. Beyond & Before - Pop-Eye TV, Brussels BE (691015) 03. Survival - Pop-Eye TV, Brussels BE (691015) 04. Beyond & Before - French TV (691123) 05. Dear Father - Chikito Club, Bern SWI TV (691127) 06. Everydays - Chikito Club, Bern SWI TV (691127) 07. Sweetness - Chikito Club, Bern SWI TV (691127) 08. Something's Coming Chikito Club, Bern, Switzerland (691127) 09. No Opportunity Necessary - Radio Bremen GE (691129) 10. Looking Around - Radio Bremen GE (691129) 11. Survival - Radio Bremen GE (691129) 12. Looking Around - TV Studios, Zürich SWI (691201) 13. Beyond & Before - TV Studios, Zürich SWI (691201) Bass, Vocals – Chris Squire Drums, Vibraphone – Bill Bruford Guitar, Vocals – Peter Banks Lead Vocals, Percussion – Jon Anderson Organ, Piano – Tony Kaye -
Audience 8.8 - This is a tape that does improve as it goes ultimately coming to a comfortable place, and one might say it is warm and well balanced. When I hear this I can better appreciate this period of the band, when they were experimenting with their music trying to find a place in the changing world of FM radio and top 40. Does that make it bad? I used to shake my head, but now I understand it, and I find that what they were doing was NEEDED in order to prevent ALL music from that time period sucking so much. YES Civic Center Portland ME USA 02.09.1980 CD 1 (73:20): 01 Does It Really Happen? 02 Yours Is No Disgrace 03 Into The Lens 04 The Clap 05 And You And I 06 Go Through This 07 Man In A White Car Suite 08 We Can Fly From Here 09 Tempus Fugit 10 Amazing Grace - Whitefish CD 2 (77:25): 01 Machine Messiah 02 Starship Trooper 03 Roundabout 04 Can You Imagine?* 05 Telephone Secrets* 06 Mind Drive* 07 Fortune Hunter* 08 You Don't Know+ 09 Make It Easy+ 10 Open Your Box+ * tracks: XYZ session feat. Chris Squire, Alan White & Jimmy Page, april 1981 + tracks: Cinema rehearsals, 1982 -
Audience 9.2 - All three shows are recorded with high end gear, with a respectful audience – and the results are decidedly excellent. It’s a joy to listen to these shows, back to back, and just marvel at the grandiosity on display. These were different times, so painfully obvious when you listen, and quite sad to realize it ain’t ever happening again. Yes 1973-03-08 Tokyo, Japan Artist: Yes Date: 1973-03-08 Venue: Koseinenkin Kaikan Location: Tokyo, Japan Disc 1 1.01 Firebird Suite (2.23) 1.02 Siberian Khatru (9.20) 1.03 I've Seen All Good People (7.39) 1.04 Heart Of The Sunrise (11.03) 1.05 Mood For A Day (3.23) 1.06 The Clap (5.00) 1.07 And You And I (10.41) 1.08 Close To The Edge (18.23) Disc 2 2.01 Rick Wakeman Solo (8.33) 2.02 Roundabout (10.52) 2.03 Yours Is No Disgrace (13.05) 2.04 Starship Trooper (10.55) -
Audience 9.2 - All three shows are recorded with high end gear, with a respectful audience – and the results are decidedly excellent. It’s a joy to listen to these shows, back to back, and just marvel at the grandiosity on display. These were different times, so painfully obvious when you listen, and quite sad to realize it ain’t ever happening again. Yes 1973-03-10 Tokyo, Japan Artist: Yes Date: 1973-03-10 Venue: Kanda Kyoritsu Kodo Location: Tokyo, Japan Disc 5 5.01 Firebird Suite (1.57) 5.02 Siberian Khatru (9.51) 5.03 I've Seen All Good People (7.19) 5.04 Sakura Sakura (1.23) 5.05 Mood For A Day (3.25) 5.06 MC (0.26) 5.07 The Clap (4.13) 5.08 Heart Of The Sunrise (12.30) 5.09 And You And I (9.51) Disc 6 6.01 Close To The Edge (20.12) 6.02 Rick Wakeman Solo (8.59) 6.03 Roundabout (11.23) 6.04 Yours Is No Disgrace (17.21) 6.05 Starship Trooper (8.58) -
Audience 9.2 - All three shows are recorded with high end gear, with a respectful audience – and the results are decidedly excellent. It’s a joy to listen to these shows, back to back, and just marvel at the grandiosity on display. These were different times, so painfully obvious when you listen, and quite sad to realize it ain’t ever happening again. Yes 1973-03-09 Tokyo, Japan- Close To The East (LIGHTHOUSE) part2 Artist: Yes Date: 1973-03-09 Venue: Shibuya Kokaido Location: Tokyo, Japan Disc 1 3.01 Firebird Suite (1.21) 3.02 Siberian Khatru (9.59) 3.03 I've Seen All Good People (7.34) 3.04 Heart Of The Sunrise (11.40) 3.05 Mood For A Day (3.21) 3.06 The Clap (3.43) 3.07 Colours Of The Rainbow (1.12) 3.08 And You And I (9.37) Disc 2 4.01 MC (1.16) 4.02 Close To The Edge (19.06) 4.03 Rick Wakeman Solo (9.27) 4.04 Roundabout (7.58) 4.05 Yours Is No Disgrace (13.42) 4.06 Starship Trooper (11.09) -
Pro Recording 9.1 - The engineers for this live recording opted to not close mic so you have a live recording with lots of atmosphere and probably sounding truer to the actual event than a pure soundboard. The bass is well recorded here, normally you’d expect the sound mix to favor only guitar as that is what the fans are wanting most – but here the mix is rather democratic. Good job! Yngwie Malmsteen Live at Sun Plaza Hall Tokyo.Japan 1985-01-24 01.Intro - I'll See The Light, Tonight 02.As Above, So Below 03.Don't Let It End 04.Far Beyond The Sun 05.On The Run Again 06.Anguish And Fear 07.Icarus'Dream Suit - I Am A Viking 08.Hiroshima Mon Amour 09.Black Star 10.Jet To Jet 11.Kree Nakoorie 12.Guitar Solo 13.Disciples Of Hell Yngwie Malmsteen-Guitars Jens Johansson-Keyboards Marcel Jacob-Bass Jeff Scott Soto-Vocals Anders Johansson-Drums -
Audience 9.6 - This is a special set, not just because it also contains the complete soundcheck but because it is stunning quality and off the hook performance. Like I have said before, I think this is the best Dweezil ever sounded. Zappa Plays Zappa House of Blues Cleveland, Ohio July 3, 2009 Disc 1 01 Intro / Crowd 02 I'm the Slime 03 Montana 04 Wind Up Workin' in a Gas Station 05 Village of the Sun 06 Instrumental 07 Instrumental 08 Instrumental 09 Black Page No. 1 10 Black Page (Melody) 11 Inca Roads 12 Pygmy Twilight 13 Bamboozled by Love 14 Instrumental Disc 2 15 Instrumental 16 Instr / Drum Solo 17 Lucille 18 Outside Now 19 Titties 'n Beer (Fragment) 20 Cosmik Debris 21 Peaches en Regalia 22 Trouble Every Day 23 Encore applause 24 Zombie Woof 25 Don't Eat the Yellow Snow 26 Willie the Pimp 27 Outro / Crowd Disc 3 ZPZ soundcheck (same date, venue, source) 01 guitar 02 guitar 03 guitar 04 guitar 05 instrumental 06 Wind Up Workin' in a Gas Station 07 Discussion 08 San Ber'dino 09 San Ber'dino II 10 San Ber'dino III 11 Trouble Every Day 12 Pygmy Twilight 13 Discussion 14 Penguin in Bondage 15 Inca Roads (jam) 16 St. Alphonzo's Pancake Breakfast 17 guitar 18 guitar 19 guitar 20 guitar -
Audience 9.3 - Again, we discover that yes some people do really know how to use stealth recording gear to great effect. Lovely balance, warm, in the pocket and thankfully so because this tour was perhaps him at his peak. That is not to say he does not perform well now, it is just that this tour seems to have them so up and enthusiastic almost every show, with great special guests and great set lists. Zappa Plays Zappa The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, UK 2009.06.17. Disc 1. 01. -Apostrophe 02. -Purple Lagoon 03. -Magic Fingers 04. -Carolina Hardcore Ecstasy 05. -lumpy Gravy 06. -Montana 07. -Village Of The Sun 08. -Echidna's Arf 09. -Don't You Ever Wash That Thing 10. -Dirty Love 11. -Gas Station 12. -Inca Roads Disc 2 13. -Outside Now 14. -Bamboozled By Love 15. -A Pound For A Brown 16. -Zomby Woof 17. -Peaches En Regalia 18. -Cosmic Debris 19. -Yellow Snow 20. -Willie The Pimp -
Audience 9.5 - Outstanding! Yes, it’s just another killer quality audience tape that seems to be the hallmark for the Zappa legacy. Probably because you have devoted fans keen on preserving the experience and doing it with care, and an artist who diligently worked hard to provide a high quality audio experience. ZAPPA PLAYS ZAPPA Sentrum Scene Oslo, Norway November 24, 2013 Disc 1 01. Intro 02. The gumbo variations 03. Dweezil's intro to "Roxy and elswhere" 04. Penguin in bondage 05. Pygmy twylyte 06. Dummy up 07. Village of the sun 08. Echidna's arf (of you) 09. Don't you ever wash that thing 10. Cheepnis 11. Son of orange county 12. More trouble every day Disc 2 13. Be bop tango 14. Florentine pogen 15. Teenage wind 16. Teenage prostitute 17. The black page # 1 (drum solo) 18. The black page # 2 19. Dweezil talks 20. I come from nowhere 21. Dweezil talks 22. The duke of prunes Disc 3 23. Peaches en regalia - Intro to... 24. The torture never stops - Audience ovations 25. Encore intro 26. Watermelon in easter hay 27. Dweezil talks 28. Zombie woof 29. Muffin man Dweezil Zappa: guitar, vocals Scheila Gonzalez: saxophone, flute, keyboards & vocals Ben Thomas: vocals, trumpet, trombone, percussion Chris Norton: keyboards, vocals Kurt Morgan: bass Ryan Brown: drums -
Audience 9.0 - Nice and clear, with a sharply defined and articulate high end of the spectrum. During full band loud jam sections I find the guitar too low in the mix, but just fine in most of the sections where the overall band intensity is not as high (like during Zoot Allures, for instance). Overall it’s quite a tour de force this show – and brilliant on point guitar pyrotechnics abound. ZAPPA plays ZAPPA Date: 2007-12-04 Venue: Enmore Theatre, Sydney, Australia CD1: Stink Foot (FZ on video screen) Cheepnis Lonely Little Girl Eat That Question Son Of Suzy Creamcheese Brown Shoes Don't Make It Zoot Allures Pygmy Twylite CD2: Audience Participation Time Dupree's Paradise (with aussie icons Irwin Thomas [aka Jack Jones] and Johnny Diesel [aka Mark Lizotte]) Uncle Remus Willie The Pimp Andy I'm The Slime Echidna's Arf Dumb All Over (FZ on video screen) What's New In Baltimore? Advance Romance Filthy Habits City of Tiny Lights CD3: Cosmic Debris (FZ on video screen) G-Spot Tornado Muffin Man The band: Dweezil Zappa: guitar Ray White: vocals, guitar Joe Travers: drums Billy Hulting: percussion Scheila Gonzalez: keyboards, saxophone, vocals Aaron Arntz: keyboards, trumpet Pete Griffin: bass Jamie Kime: rhythm guitar With special guests: Steve Vai: guitar (from Andy onwards) Irwin Thomas [aka Jack Jones]: guitar (Dupree's Paradise) Johnny Diesel [aka Mark Lizotte] : guitar (Dupree's Paradise) -
Audience 9.7 - Superb in just about every category, and literally surpasses whatever kind of “perfection” you may imagine you get with a board tape. This is how one should relive a live concert, by listening to a tape made by guys who used excellent gear, sat in the best spot, and were respectful the whole show (in fact the whole audience is). Vibrant, clear, flawless mix, great atmosphere…what else could make this better? Even the performance is amazing, with great special guests, it’s one for the collection for sure. MUST HAVE!! Zappa Plays Zappa Special Guests Steve Vai & Ray White Yokohama Blitz, Japan 2008-01-23 Dweezil Zappa(Guitar) Scheila Gonzalez(Saxophone, Flute, Keyboards & Vocals) Billy Hulting(Marimba, Mallets & Percussion) Aaron Arntz(Keyboards & Trumpet) Pete Griffin(Bass) Jamie Kime(Guitar) Joe Travers(Drums & Vocals) Special Guests: Ray White(Guitar and Vocals) Steve Vai(Guitar) Disc 1 01. -Eat That Question (11:27) 02. -Cosmik Debris (08:33) 03. -The Illinois Enema Bandit (11:22) 04. -Joe's Garage (05:44) 05. -Wind Up Workin' in a Gas Station - San Ber'dino (09:20) 06. -Pygmy Twylite (10:11) Disc 2 07. -Dupree's Paradise - Uncle Remus - Willie the Pimp (38:02) 08. -Andy (06:52) 09. -Filthy Habits (08:35) 10. -Advance Romance (09:45) Disc 3 11. -What's New in Baltimore? (05:08) 12. -Peaches En Regalia (03:49) 13. -I'm The Slime - Echidna's Arf (Of You) (08:59) 14. -City of Tiny Lights (10:07) 15. -Yo' Mama (13:04) 16. -G-spot Tornado (03:24) 17. -Muffin Man (10:00) -
Audience 8.4 - Another one of those audience recordings that, while being listenable and clear, does not have a great separation of instruments or vocal clarity. That being said, this recording is certainly worth having, because it’s not a pile of muddy crap – it’s very listenable. Features a packed set list too. ZZ Top Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena, Binghamton, NY March 8, 1977 Band line-up Billy Gibbons - guitar, vocals Dusty Hill - bass, vocals Frank Beard - drums, percussion Total Time = 01:28:56 Disc One 01 Thunderbird 02 Chevrolet 03 Precious & Grace 04 Waitin' On The Bus 05 Jesus Just Left Chicago 06 Enjoy & Get It On 07 Pan Am Highway Blues 08 It's Only Love 09 Ten Dollar Man 10 Movin' On Down The Line 11 Heard It On The X 12 Balinese 13 Arrested For Driving While Blind 14 Nasty Dogs & Funky Kings Disc Two 15 She's A Heartbreaker 16 Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers 17 Blue Jean Blues 18 Rattlesnake Shake 19 La Grange 20 Mexican Blackbird 21 Backdoor Love Affair 22 Tush 23 Goin' Down To Mexico 24 Mellow Down Easy -
Soundboard 9.6 - A high point of this show is the song "We're Barefootin'", the only known performance of the song. There's the "Crosses Sermon", from none other than Rev. Willie G. and one helluva La Grange Medley too! Great vibe and the crowd is insane. Ahhhh, the good 'ol days! ZZ Top April 15th, 1980 (Deguello Tour) Pine Knob, Claskston, MI 01. -I Thank You 02. -Waitin' For the Bus 03. -Jesus Just Left Chicago 04. -Precious And Grace 05. -Francine 06. -I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide 07. -Manic Mechanic 08. -Heard It On The X 09. -Fool For Your Stockings 10. -Nasty Dogs & Funky Kings 11. -We're Barefootin' 12. -Cheap Sunglasses 13. -Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers 14. -La Grange - Sloppy Drunk - BBQ Medley 15. -She Loves My Automobile (Lone Wolf Horn Section) 16. -Hi-Fi Mama (Lone Wolf Horn Section) 17. -Tush -
Audience 8.6 - What this old tape delivers in terms of sonic clarity and atmosphere for such a vintage ZZ Top performance has to rank it at the top of the list of must-haves for ANY collector of this band’s music. Yes, it is nothing short of a revelation, uncovering a lot of the muck, dirt, mud and distortion that most, if not all, of the early and mid ‘70’s bootlegs seem to have present. That is not to say this tape is “excellent” or even “great” as far as how it would be measured in a laboratory, but the lab is your own ear, and your mental tape measure for previous examinations of early Top. What I am saying is, this tape allows you to hear not just Billy’s immense tone, but also the notes played on bass, and they are separate just enough to let you get a bona fide realistic feel for what this concert sounded like – you can sense position, size (of venue), PA, crowd, pretty much all of the elements of a gig in a VERY reasonably well documented way by taper. Some hiccups, nothing major or too distracting and thankfully brief, and some between song hollering near the mic but music comes through without much frustration and man, that tone! Oh, and it must have been a really good night for the guys, they are playing fluidly and in high spirits. Kudos to whoever remastered this gem, or I should say whoever remastered this tape created a real gem. ZZ Top Overton Park Shell, Memphis, Tennessee (Memphis Country Blues Festival) 1971-04-25 Disc 1 1) Every Day I Have The Blues 2) Somebody Else Been Shaking Your Tree 3) Neighbor Neighbor 4) Just Got Back From Baby's 5) Whiskey 'N' Mama 6) Rattlesnake Shake 7) Goin' Down To Mexico Disc 2 8) Instrumental Improvisation 9) Memphis Blues 10) Little Queenie 11) It's My Time 12) Drums & Bass Solo 13) Brown Sugar 14) Jailhouse Rock