Thoughts on Led Zeppelin's How The West Was Won

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Jarvius, Jul 4, 2015.

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  1. pinkrudy

    pinkrudy Senior Member

    just look for 1973, 1975, 1977, 1979 or 1980...look for empress valley soundboard ...thats it
    empress valley dont release ****ty soundboards....

    stoke 73 is nice...
    oxford 1973
    mobile alabama 1973
    chicago july 1973

    those
     
    Last edited: Aug 27, 2015
  2. Back when The Song Remains The Same was released I was incredibly disappointed.All this talk about the greatest live band of all time and I thought it was an indulgent ,incoherent mess.Fast forward 27 years to when How The West Was Won is released and all that hype is justified.One of the great live albums.Audiophiles be damned!
     
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  3. Galeans

    Galeans Forum Resident

    Location:
    Italy
    When I was an adolescent, Led Zeppelin was my favorite band and that triple CD was heaven. I still like it, even though I think some of it is a bit excessive, so if you like the band, I'd say get it right away!

    Regarding the album you miss... I think "I" is excellent, "Presence" is okay, "In Through the Out Door" is uninspired and "Coda"... well... "Coda" is an outtake album, so you can't expect much, but some songs are nice to hear, expecially on the expanded edition.
     
  4. craymcla

    craymcla Forum Resident

    Location:
    Nashville, TN, USA
    Southampton University, Southampton, England, January 22, 1973. This is from a professionally recorded multi-track near the end of a month-long tour of small halls in England. The setlist is the same as they had been playing in the last half of 1972, so it may as well be a '72 show.

    I'm listening to Orlando (Aug. 31, 1971) right now. Those late summer 1971 shows were already including everything from LZ IV that they would play after it's November release. Since Houses of the Holy wasn't released until March '73, anything from the last half of '71 through Spring of '73 is part of the LZ IV tour. Track down the Orlando '71 and Southampton '73 soundboards and you're good to go.
     
    Last edited: Aug 28, 2015
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  5. craymcla

    craymcla Forum Resident

    Location:
    Nashville, TN, USA
    What is stoke 73?
     
  6. One of the greatest live bands of its generation at the top of their game. If I'd have to keep only 1 Led Zeppelin title in my collection it would probably be this one. Superb.
     
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  7. JPJs Bass Guitar

    JPJs Bass Guitar Forum Resident

    Location:
    Glasgow, UK
    As it happens I've been listening to this over the past few days after a period of a few years without digging it out.

    It is excellent of course, but as I listen I can't help but miss some of the old Burn Like A Candle bootleg from the LA date which I bought in 1993(ish).

    I remember the excitement of finding out this amazing show was being officially released but to my dismay, 3 of the best things about the show are missing - Tangerine (always seems to get bumped off the official release - Earls Court on the DVD anyone?), Slow Down in the LA WLL medley and the Louie Louie -> Everyday People -> Organ Solo section before Thank You.

    That said, this is a great live album, and the highlights are many - there's not a bad performance here. Plant's high register vocals, the Crunge section in Dazed, Over The Hills and The Ocean (both fantastic on the '72 tour), Whole Lotta Love, Rock and Roll and much more.

    I only bought the cd version back in 2003 but about 4 years ago I picked up the DVD-A for £5 in a local second hand shop. Don't have 5.1 capability anymore, so have no idea how much difference there is between the 2 .....
     
  8. bare trees

    bare trees Senior Member

    I love this album. I have no issues whatsoever with the edits and fixes. Most live aren't 100% "live" anyway.
     
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  9. pinkrudy

    pinkrudy Senior Member

    stoke-on-trent
     
  10. cmi

    cmi Forum Resident

    Location:
    Moscow, Russia
    HTWWW is great live album with excellent performances by the band. It will be even better if they include Tangerine / Communication Breakdown / Thank You from these shows.
     
  11. craymcla

    craymcla Forum Resident

    Location:
    Nashville, TN, USA
    Ah. I'd never heard that one, but went out to have a listen on YouTube. It's a pretty decent soundboard, although the guitar is a little weaker and distant than I'd like. However, the Southampton show, from actual multitracks, smokes it and could almost be an official release. It's a perfect companion to HTWWW, and it's unedited as well.
     
  12. ledsox

    ledsox Senior Member

    Location:
    San Diego, CA
    Yup, and Louie, Louie and "name your price sugar"! My version has 'em all.
     
  13. PacificOceanBlue

    PacificOceanBlue Senior Member

    Location:
    The Southwest
    Southampton is a bit rough in places and a pretty inconsistent concert. Plant's vocals are uneven, and JP's playing is unstable. There are certainly highlights and it would be great to see some of it released, but in its entirety, it hard to seen an official release. It was a bit surprising that the stellar version of The Rain Song was not included on the companion disc of HOTH.
     
  14. PacificOceanBlue

    PacificOceanBlue Senior Member

    Location:
    The Southwest
    Had the LA/Long Beach tapes been used to compile a live album back in '72, it most likely would have been shorter configuration and sequencing. The performance quality is very good throughout, but one wonders which great tracks would have been cut in order make room for extended tracks? Songs like Moby Dick and Dazed could have filled up entire sides of a live vinyl album. Would stellar workouts of Heartbreaker and Since I've Been Loving You been relegated to the sidelines? So, while the potential was there for a 'great' live album, sequencing ultimately would have played a big role.
     
  15. CybrKhatru

    CybrKhatru Music is life.

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Yes, it is loud and compressed, but DAMN... what an amazing document of 2 June nights in Southern California.
     
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  16. pinkrudy

    pinkrudy Senior Member

    i had a southampton that didnt sound so good but i think i had a high gen copy///i think i got a good one but i dont remember.
     
  17. DaveTheRave

    DaveTheRave Forum Resident

    I'm trying to imagine what it must be like to have gone on tour and have people dissect each nights' performance 40+ years later!
     
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  18. DaveTheRave

    DaveTheRave Forum Resident

    I think this is a great album. I wish it had better sound quality, but it's a great performance. Over the Hills... is great, and as someone else pointed out, Plant was still able to sing it the right way in 72. That would change by 75.

    I think the audio for Immigrant Dong was dubbed into the DVD from a different concert, but the rest of the album doesn't exist on any other Zep release.
     
  19. jrnyfn

    jrnyfn Forum Resident

    Location:
    Phoenix, AZ, USA
    HTWWW is essential. How could it not be? There are no other extant soundboards from 72 and precious few officially produced concert documents anyway. Don't worry about the compression talk. Ultimately if you like it; enjoy it.

    As for 1973 shows. My suggestions are:

    Stoke
    Southampton
    Vienna (not all soundboard avail)
    Offenbach (not all Soundboard avail)
    Mobile
    New Orleans (both soundboard and audience are great)
    Ft. Worth
    LA - 8/31

    Don't be scared off by non-soundboard though. There are plenty of audience sources that are incredible and give a live feel of the concert. New Orleans from 1973 is particularly good in that regard and the soundboard is amazing as well. I think anyway.
     
  20. Sorry, I'm not sure what you're trying to say here but, HTWWW is not a soundboard.
     
  21. Why would it?
     
  22. jrnyfn

    jrnyfn Forum Resident

    Location:
    Phoenix, AZ, USA
    You don't think HTWWW is from a multitrack recording? So they were able to mix to 5.1 surround from an audience source?

    Also, how did Kevin Shirley mix the album, then? http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/nov03/articles/kevinshirley.htm You can't mix anything from an audience source.
     
  23. Yes, it's a multi-track, not a soundboard recording.
     
  24. jrnyfn

    jrnyfn Forum Resident

    Location:
    Phoenix, AZ, USA
    To get the multitracks on tape they go through a board. Microphones, to a board, to tape. A soundboard bootleg recording is still through the board but immediate mixed down to stereo or mono, as opposed to multi track.
    My point is the source. Is it from a board or from a microphone from someone in the audience? It's captured through a soundboard.

    Perhaps I don't understand what your point is? Regarding a soundboard source they can be stereo, mono or multitrack all to tape (in 1972). You can't do a multitrack recording from an audience source where each individual channel is tracked to tape.
    Are you saying that a multitrack recording would not have been captured through a mixer/soundboard?
     
  25. Matthew Tate

    Matthew Tate Forum Resident

    Location:
    Richmond, Virginia
    you can get it pretty cheap on ebay
     
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