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Audience 8.9 - A very nice recording of a period I rather like for the songs and the renewed vigor of this venerable doom metal band. Black Sabbath Eulachhalle Winterthur, Switzerland 1992.09.14 Disc 1 101 E5150 102 The Mob Rules 103 Computer God 104 Children Of The Sea 105 Time Machine 106 War Pigs 107 I 108 Die Young 109 Guitar Solo 110 Black Sabbath Disc 2 201 Master Of Insanity 202 After All (The Dead) 203 Drums Solo 204 Iron Man 205 Heaven And Hell 206 Neon Knights 207 Paranoid - Heaven And Hell (Reprise) -
Soundboard 9.4 - All but the Darmstadt 1981 are soundboards of excellent quality. The one and only audience tape is very good though, recorded very up close with all the low end power as evidence that this band shook your bones (I know, I saw them in 1980 and I am still deaf!). Because it is recorded what seems like dead center, you aren’t going to hear the guitars and vocals as distinctly as the drums (super sounding kick by the way) and bass (pumping!). I like the audience tape here as it is kind of a relief to have a chance to be in the pit with the fans and hear what you would have heard had you been there, and I am not knocking the board tapes they are well done. Blackfoot Highway Song Of The 80's 1980-1984 Disc 1 Veteran's Memorial Coliseum Jacksonville, FL July 20, 1980 01. Gimme, Gimme, Gimme 02. On The Run03. Every Man Should Know 04. Train Train 05. Highway Song Stadion am Böllenfalltor Darmstadt, West-Germany 1981-08-23 06. Gimme Gimme Gimme 07. On the Run 08. I Got a Line on You 09. Every Man Should Know (Queenie) 10. Good Morning 11. Too Hard to Handle 12. Train, Train 13. Guitar Solo 14. Highway Song Music Hall Cleveland, OH. Sept. 30, 1981 15. Gimme, Gimme, Gimme Disc 2 Cleveland '81 cont'd 01. On The Run 02. I Got A Line On You 03. Road Fever 04. Trouble In Mind 05. Rattlesnake Rock 'N' Roller 06. Train Train 07. Highway Song Hollywood Palladium Hollywood, CA. July 29, 1983 08. Rattle Snake Rock 'N' Roller 09. Wishing Well 10. Teenage Idol 11. Train, Train 12. Easy Livin' 13. Highway Song Disc 3 Hollywood '83 cont'd 14. On The Run 15. Fly Away Royal Oaks Theater Detroit, MI Feb. 09, 1984 01. intro 02. I Want To Talk To You 03. Heart's Grown Cold 04. Wishing Well 05. guitar solo 06. Roll And Tumble Blues 07. Fly Away 08. Morning Dew 09. Gimme Gimme 10. Rattlesnake Rock 'N' Roller 10. Train Train 11. Living In The Limelight 12. Highway Song -
Audience 8.7 A small club vibe permeates this recording which has merits in that it offers a “fly on the wall” perspective, as if you are sitting next to the PA, which taps the meters of the taper’s gear just to the breaking point. There is the smallest amount of distortion in the cymbal crashes which are mitigated through careful remastering. When the music is at full tilt there’s some competition in the frequencies which drowns out the vocals a bit but you get a good, clear guitar which is essential with this band. It’s one of the only bands that has a horn player but I don’t classify as a “horn” band due to his judicious use of the instrument. Oh, did I mention the KILLER guitar work on this? Man, Mick Abrahams really delivers some very tasty hard rock riffing and lead work! Birmingham 1969 Audience 9.0 - The bonus material from 1969 is short but very good quality. A lot of on stage banter by Mick, I guess it gives you more insight into his character...but what a guitarist! I sure hope more of this tape is discovered. Blodwyn Pig Cooks Ferry Edmonton, UK 1974-05-27 Disc 1 01 -Blues of a Dunstable Truck Driving Man 02 -Where Did You Go 03 -I Know 04 -See My Way 05 -Cosmogrification 06 -The Leaving Song 07 -Cat Squirrel 08 -It's Only Love Disc 2 09 -Six Days On The Road 10 -Unknown Title 11 -Drum Solo 12 -Unknown Title The Band Andy Pyle - Bass Clive Bunker - Drums Mick Abrahams - Guitar, Vocals Jack Lancaster - Saxophone, Horns, Flute Mother's Birmingham, England March 22nd, 1969 13 -Sweet Caroline 14 -Talk 15 -Leave It With Me 16 -Talk 17 -Dear Jill THE BAND Mick Abrahams guitar vocals Jack Lancaster saxophone flute Andy Pyle bass Ron Berg drums -
Radio Broadcasts 9.4/9.1 - Overall quality is excellent with a couple of these sounding a little dated but nevertheless the quality of the content combined with broadcast over the air quality (never mind how many decades ago) I think this holds up quite well. BLODWYN PIG The Live Sessions John Peel Radio Broadcast Tracks 1-6 1st Feb 1970 Tracks 7-12 13th Dec 1970 1. -The Change Song 2. -Ain't You Coming Home 3. -See My Way 4. -Instrumental 5. -Same Old Story 6. -See My Way (Reprise) 7. -Meaney Mornay 8. -Rock Me Baby 9. -Somebody Just Like Me 10. -See My Way 11. -Slow Down 12. -Worry Personel: Mick Abrahams - guitars, vocals; Andy Pyle - bass; Jack Lancaster - saxophone, flute; Ron Berg - drums; Peter Banks - guitars (B tracks) -
Broadcasts 8.8/9.4 - A little variation depending on the source of the recording in question (all fully annotated in the notes), what you get here is a collection of broadcasts over the air during 1969 and 1970 when music was in full change mode and experimentation and blending of genres was all the rage. Blodwyn Pig certainly has to be included in that product description with their jazz-tinged hard rock akin to Jethro Tull without flute (substitute sax instead). Makes sense, since Mick Abrahams helped define Tull’s sound in the beginning days. This is great stuff though and is HIGHLY recommended. BLODWYN PIG 1969-1970 Sessions Disc 1 01 -Ain't Ya Comin' Home ......... 03:14 02 -The Change Song .............. 04:23 03 -The Modern Alchemist ......... 04:45 04 -Mr. Green's Blues ............ 03:47 05 -It's Only Love ............... 03:30 06 -Ain't Ya Comin' Home ......... 03:35 07 -See My Way ................... 06:06 08 -Summer Day ................... 04:09 09 -The Modern Alchemist ......... 06:42 10 -Same Old Story ............... 02:33 11 -It's Only Love ............... 03:25 Disc 2 12 -Same Old Story ............... 03:17 13 -Cat's Squirrel ............... 08:55 14 -Drive Me ..................... 03:37 15 -Slow Down .................... 05:59 16 -Worry ........................ 03:38 17 -Somebody Just Like Me ........ 05:50 19 -See My Way ................... 06:05 19 -Moon's Gone .................. 02:59 20 -Lady Of Liberty .............. 04:22 21 -Lovely Lady .................. 05:11 22 -Lady Of Liberty .............. 05:32 (01-02) February 24, 1969 BBC Studio 2, Aoelian Hall, London UK (BBC Radio "Symonds On Sunday" broadcast March 2, 1970) (03-06) March 24, 1969 BBC Playhouse Theatre, Northumberland Ave London UK (BBC Radio "Top Gear" broadcast April 13, 1969) (07-08) October 1, 1969 BBC Maida Vale 4, London UK (UK BBC Radio "WS R&B" broadcast October 25, 1969) (09) October 10, 1969 Bremen (German TV "Beat Club 48" broadcast October 25, 1969) (10-11) December 27, 1969 BBC Studios London UK (12) January 29, 1970 Top Of The Pops, Paris Theater, London UK (13-15) February 1, 70 BBC Radio "Top Gear" London UK (16-17) March 4, 1970 BBC Maida Vale 4, London, UK (BBC Radio "WS R&B" broadcast April 5, 1970) (18) May 25, 1970 Bremen (German TV "Beat Club 55" broadcast May 30, 1970) (19-20) September 23, 1970 "Sounds Of The Seventies" London UK (21-22) October 3, 1970 Peel session, London UK Personel: Mick Abrahams - guitars, vocals (01-18) Andy Pyle - bass Jack Lancaster - saxophone, flute Ron Berg - drums Peter Banks - guitars (19-22) Barry Reynolds - vocals (19-22) -
Audience 8.9 - A nice recording job in that you really hear the music as clear as can be but also some atmosphere to let you know where you are at. It’s surprising really to hear how an amateur audience tape from ’74 can feature such nice depth, this is not a brittle or thin recording, there’s some meat to this one. Nice! Blood Sweat & Tears Helsinki, Finland 1974.06.06 Disc 1 01 Engine 49 02 God Bless the Child 03 Snow Queen 04 Maiden Voyage 05 She’s Coming Home 06 Mean Ole World 07 So Long Dixie 08 She Does It To Me Disc 2 09 I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know 10 You Girl 11 Are You Satisfied 12 Mirror Image Suite - Maglomania 13 Mirror Image 14 South Mountain Shuffle 15 Rock Reprise 16 Almost Sorry (That I Left You) 17 Spinning Wheel 18 And When I Die Jerry Fisher - Vocals Jerry LaCroix - Vocals,Saxophone,Harmonica (R.I.P) Georg Wadenius - Guitar Ron McClure - Bass Larry Willis - Piano Bobby Colomby - Drums Bill Tillman - Woodwinds (R.I.P.) Tony Klata - Trumpet Dave Bargeron - Trombone & Tuba -
Soundboard 9.6 - A very very clean tape, still after all this time it has been properly preserved. The band is in fine form, it’s the right time frame in history and the world is pretty familiar with the band by this time.Blood Sweat & Tears Amsterdam, The Netherlands 1970-09-20 Disc 1 01 - introduction (1:44) 02 - Fire and Rain (4:31) 03 - Somethin' Comin' On (7:09) 04 - 40,000 Headmen (5:24) 05 - I Can't Quit Her (4:25) 06 - Smiling Phases (15:42) 07 - Sympathy for the Devil (9:37) 08 - Sometimes in Winter (4:46) 09 - Lucretia McEvil (18:19) Disc 2 10 - And When I Die (9:05) 11 - Hi De Ho (6:46) 12 - Spinning Wheel (8:20) 13 - You've Made Me So Very Happy (11:26) 14 - Blues Part 2- Somethin' Goin' On (32:37) Bobby Colomby - Drums Steve Katz - Guitar & Vocals Jim Fielder - Bass Dick Halligan - Keyboards,Trombone,Flute Fred Lipsius - Alto Saxophone, Keyboards Lew Soloff - Trumpets Chuck Winfield - Trumpets Jerry Hyman - Trombone David Clayton Thomas - Vocals -
The sole LP released by Houston hard rockers Lic back in 1979 has been remixed and re-mastered and is released officially in partnership with ProgAor Records UK. The music is muscular, tight, heavy blues based bar rock of a high caliber. Includes bonus tracks. -
Audience 8.6 - Loud and noisy but every instrument heard…loudly. Here’s the thing – this is a complete show from 1975, for BOC fans, yeah it’s gotta be in your collection. It’s not terrible either, it’s just loud and thankfully not distorted but make sure you turn volume down before you press play ha ha! Blue Oyster Cult Tivolis Koncertsal Copenhagen, Denmark. October 27th 1975 Disc 1 01.Intro 02.Stairway to the stars 03.OD'd on life 04.Harvester of eyes 05.Flaming Telepaths 06.Last days of may 07.Candy store (fill in jam)-Cities on flame (with rock n roll) 08.Maserati GT 09. Buck's Boogie-with drum solo Disc 2 01.ME-262-with 5 guitars 02.Hot rails to hell 03.Born to be wild The Band Eric Bloom - Vocals/Guitar/Keyboards Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser - Lead Guitar/Vocals Joe Bouchard - Bass/vocals Allen Lanier - Guitar/Keyboards Albert Bouchard- Drums/vocals -
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 -
Audience 8.7 - A good recording with what seems to be a little middle band compression but not too much. So, it’s smooth low end and louder upper middle and highs but softer middle band, that is not necessarily bad, it’s just lacking in that punch factor. It is though, as stated, a pretty decent recording. Oh, and the last song of the evening is “Don’t Fear The Reaper” so VERY cool to hear another live version of that. You know why BOC fans love the live recordings? Because with 5 guitar players at any given time, you just want to hear what they do with these amazing songs on stage. Folkets Park Malmo, Sweden 1978-05-25 01 R.U. Ready 2 Rock 02 ETI 03 Harvester of Eyes 04 Cities on Flame 05 Golden Age of Leather 06 Then Came the Last Days of May 07 ME 262 08 Hot Rails to Hell 09 Godzilla 10 This Ain't the Summer of Love -> 5 Guitars 11 Born to be Wild 12 Don't Fear The Reaper -
Radio Broadcast 8.7 - This is one of the toughest tapes to review because I don’t know what it is, literally I don’t know how they captured this to tape. To my ears it sounds like it was broadcast over the air and someone placed a microphone in front of their stereo speaker and recorded it. Either that or maybe it was broadcast over AM, I just can’t tell you but for sure it’s not as good as a radio broadcast should be, not is it as bad as an amateur audience recording, this one hovers somewhere in between but I still thought it was decent. Someone definitely re-mastered this, and I am 100% sure it was a major benefit. Blue Oyster Cult Veterans Memorial Coliseum Phoenix, Arizona December 27, 1979 Disc 1 1.-Introduction 3:24 2.-Dominance & Submission 5:28 3.-Dr. Music 3:43 4.-Mirrors 4:21 5.-Cities on Flame 5:31 6.-The Great Sun Jester 5:26 7.-The Vigil 5:32 8.-The Vigil (Reprise) 1:26 9.-Extraterrestrial Intelligernce 4:51 10.-Astronomy 8:35 11.-ME 262 3:42 Disc 2 1.-Godzilla - Drum Solo - Godzilla 9:18 2.-Hot Rails to Hell 5:31 3.-Bass Solo 1:39 4.-Five Guitars 4:52 5.-Born to Be Wild 4:58 6.-Encore Break 3:14 7.-O.d.'d on Life Itself 4:03 8.-(Don't Fear) The Reaper 7:02 -
Audience 9.0/Soundboard 9.6 - Both are excellent sources and both performances are excellent. As everyone already knows, these shows are precious being that Dylan only performed a handful on this brief tour (if you can call it a tour) with most of the dates from San Francisco. BOB DYLAN Paramount Theater Portland, Oregon December 3rd 1980 Disc One Paramount Theater, Portland, Oregon December 3rd 1980 Disc 1 01. -GOTTA SERVE SOMEBODY 02. -I BELIEVE IN YOU 03. -HARD RAIN 04. -MAN GAVE NAMES TO ALL THE ANIMALS 05. -SIMPLE TWIST OF FATE 06. -WE JUST DISAGREE 07. -ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER 08. -AIN'T GONNA GO TO HELL 09. -GIRL OF THE NORTH COUNTRY 10. -TO RAMONA 11. -SLOW TRAIN 12. -ABRAHAM MARTIN AND JOHN 13. -RISE AGAIN 14. -LET'S KEEP IT BETWEEN US 15. -MARY FROM THE WILD MOOR 16. -SOLID ROCK 17. -JUST LIKE A WOMAN Disc Two Paramount Theater, Portland, Oregon December 3rd 1980 Disc 2 01. -SEÑOR 02. -A COUPLE MORE YEARS 03. -WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU 04. -WHEN YOU GONNA WAKE UP 05. -IN THE GARDEN 06. -BLOWIN' IN THE WIND 07. -CITY OF GOLD 08. -IT'S ALL OVER NOW BABY BLUE 09. -IT'S ALRIGHT, MA Paramount Theater Portland, Oregon December 4th 1980 10. -LIKE A ROLLING STONE 11. -JUST LIKE TOM THUMB'S BLUES 12. -TO RAMONA Paramount Northwest Theater Seattle, Washinton November 29th 1980 13. -SEÑOR 14. -DON'T THINK TWICE 15. -FEVER Paramount Northwest Theater November 30th 1980 16. -ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER Disc Three Fox Warfield San Francisco, California November 15th 1980 01. -MICHAEL BLOOMFIELD INTRODUCTION 02. -LIKE A ROLLING STONE 03. -COVENANT WOMAN 04. -GROOM'S STILL WAITING AT THE ALTAR 05. -CITY OF GOLD 06. -LOVE MINUS ZERO 07. -GERRY GARCIA INTRODUCTION 08. -TO RAMONA Fox Warfield November 16th 1980 09. -LET'S KEEP IT BETWEEN US 10. -TRANVESTITE STORY 11. -JUST LIKE A Woman Fox Warfield November 22nd 1980 12. -DETROIT BINGO HALL STORY 13. -FEVER 14. -ROGER MCGUINN INTRODUCTION 15. -MR. TAMBOURINE MAN 16. -KNOCKIN' ON HEAVEN'S DOOR 17. -IT AIN'T ME, BABE 18. -LEADBELLY STORY 19. -CARRIBBEAN WIND Fox Warfield November 12th 1980 20. -PRECIOUS ANGEL Fox Warfield November 18th 1980 21. -RISE AGAIN 22. -DO RIGHT TO ME BABY -
Soundboard 9.0 - This is a newly discovered tape, and it is a solid board that does bear some signs of age. It sounds, hmmm, a little dated, faded, and there is a small amount of tape hiss present. These flaws do NOT affect the music though, because typically when you have these kinds of issues they tend to clear up during the musical performance (with those few exceptions during very quiet parts). But yeah, it’s not a sparkling tape but it gets the job done nicely enough. The bonus material on this set is similar to the Austin tape in every respect sound-wise. Bob Dylan and the Rolling Thunder Revue Municipal Auditorium Austin, TX 1976-05-12 Disc 1 01 -Good Love is Hard to Find (Bob Neuwirth) 02 -Hoola Hoop (T Bone Burnett) 03 -Flint Hill Special (David Mansfield) 04 -Too Good to Be Wasted (Rob Stoner) 05 -Madman (Stephen Soles) 06 -Is There Life on Mars (Mick Ronson) 07 -Rock & Roll Across the USA (Kinky Friedman) 08 -Dear Abbie (Kinky Friedman) 09 -Sold American (Kinky Friedman) 10 -Mr. Tambourine Man (Bob Dylan) 11 -It Ain't Me Babe (Bob Dylan) 12 -Vincent Van Gogh (Bob Dylan) 13 -Maggie's Farm (Bob Dylan) 14 -Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There is a Season) (Roger McGuinn) 15 -Jolly Roger (Roger McGuinn) 16 -Lover of the Bayou (Roger McGuinn) 17 -Chestnut Mare (Roger McGuinn) Disc 2 18 -Do Right Woman, Do Right Man (Joan Baez) 19 -El Preso Número Nueve (Joan Baez) 20 -One Too Many Mornings (Joan Baez) 21 -The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (Joan Baez) 22 -Sweeter for Me (Joan Baez) 23 -Dancing in the Streets (Joan Baez) 24 -Blowin' in the Wind (Bob Dylan & Joan Baez) 25 -Railroad Boy (Bob Dylan & Joan Baez) 26 -Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos) (Bob Dylan & Joan Baez) 27 -I Pity the Poor Immigrant (Bob Dylan & Joan Baez) 28 -Shelter From the Storm (Bob Dylan) 29 -Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again (Bob Dylan) 30 -I Want You (Bob Dylan) 31 -You're A Big Girl Now (Bob Dylan) 32 -You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go (Bob Dylan) 33 -Oh Sister (Bob Dylan) 34 -Lay Lady Lay (Bob Dylan) 35 -Silver Mantis (T Bone Burnett) 36 -Going Going Gone (Bob Dylan) 37 -Idiot Wind (Bob Dylan) 38 -Knockin' on Heavens Door (Roger McGuinn & Bob Dylan) Disc 3 Gatesville State School For Boys Gatesville, TX 1976-05-15 39 -Linda Lu (T Bone Burnett) 40 -Look On Yonder Wall [Hand Me Down My Walking Cane] (T Bone Burnett) 41 -Black Crow (Joni Mitchell) 42 -Walls of Red Wing (Joan Baez) 43 -El Preso Número Nueve (Joan Baez) 44 -Sweeter for Me (Joan Baez) -
Studio Quality 9.3 - Very slight hiss but otherwise super-duper. Definitely this is fly-on-the-wall type stuff, with banter intact. Very insightful, and kind of gives me more of an appreciation for an overlooked album. Bob Dylan - Billy The Kid Sessions Disc 1 Session 1 Outtakes 1 20 jan 73 01 Billy (Instrumental) 02 Billy (Instrumental) 03 Billy (Instrumental) 04 Billy (Verses from Billy 1 & 4) 05 Billy 4 06 Turkey 07 Turkey 08 Turkey 09 Billy 10 Billy Surrenders 11 Billy Surrenders 12 And He's Killed Me Too 13 And He's Killed Me too 14 And He's Killed Me too 15 Goodbye Holly 16 Pecos Blues 17 Pecos Blues Disc 2 Session 2 Outtakes 2 sessions 72-73 01 Billy 4 02 Knockin' on Heaven's Door 03 Sweet Amarillo 04 Knockin' on Heaven's Door 05 Final Theme 06 Rock Me Mama 07 Billy 7 08 Billy 7 09 Instrumental 10 Instumental 11 Final Theme 12 Ride, Billy Ride Session 3 Sam Peckinpah's House, Durango, Mexico. December 1972 to January 1973 13 Billy -
Audience 9.1 - God bless the tapers for this one! What a great show it is, and really I can’t recommend it highly enough because it’s TOTALLY immersive, I mean, sure it’s not 100% perfect but in a way it’s as good as you would hope. It’s a fun experience to hear this man just at the top of his game like this with a band that doesn’t miss a thing, ever. Bob Dylan Hughes Stadium Fort Collins, CO 05/23/76 Disc 1 1. -Mr. Tambourine Man 2. -It Ain't Me Babe 3. -Vincent van Gogh 4. -Maggie's Farm 5. -One Too Many Mornings 6. -Mozambique 7. -Isis 8. -Blowin' In The Wind 9. -Railroad Boy 10. -Deportee 11. -I Pity The Poor Immigrant 12. -Shelter From The Storm 13. -Oh Sister 14. -I Want You Disc 2 1. -Tangled Up In Blue 2. -You're A Big Girl Now 3. -You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go 4. -Lay Lady Lay 5. -Silver Mantis 6. -Going Going Gone 7. -Idiot Wind 8. -Knockin' On Heaven's Door 9. -Gotta Travel On 10. -A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall