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What is the best bootleg?


porca41

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On ‎8‎/‎28‎/‎2016 at 5:51 PM, Led Zep Fred said:

Never found a Japanese recording that sounded good.

 

On ‎1‎/‎23‎/‎2015 at 3:00 PM, nick2632 said:

Any love for Snow Jobs and Snowblind Vancouver 3/19-3/20/1975?! Both of those shows blow MSG 2/12/75 away IMO, so damn powerful! Though MSG 2/12/75 still gets a lot of listens from me.

I think Snowblind Vancouver is fantastic!

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Remains Of The Holy on the Cashmere label. 3/16/73 , Vienna is a lost gem. Disc 2 is mostly SBD and incredible.

Some other less obvious choices are Detroit Hard Rock City on Wendy. Detroit 7/12/73. It is an improvement over TDOLZ and the Lemon versions. IMO Easily one of the best shows on tape from that year.

Aside from the 73 Europe SBDs and Stoke 1/15/73 ( Groovin in the Garden by Godfather) this show is incredible.

Days Confused on EV , Texas 3/5/75 often gets lost in the mix because of all the great shows from March 75.

EV released an improved AUD version of 2/12/75 as part of 9 disc set commemorating the 40 th anniversary of the show. I really enjoy great sounding AUD tapes . The No Label Definitive Flying Circus is a great matrix of the show too.

Divinity by Atlantic Ocean is probably the best AUD sounding boot I own. Lots of great recordings from 3/7/70 but IMO it's on par or better than anything  Mike Millard or Freezer ever captured. Very expensive to own.

Based strictly on sound quality alone IMO you can't beat Original Masters Conquistador ( Earls Court 5/24) for SBD recording.

Having said that SO SO much is available for free or for a few bucks to join  the download sites. GO LOSSLESS !

I prefer to own something tangible but when making purchases triple check that you are getting exactly what you want. 

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On ‎24‎/‎01‎/‎2015 at 4:49 PM, appiantiqua said:

This period is the Everest for LZ impros : NQ and Dazed & Confused!

NQ I'd definitely agree the late 75 tour is the high point, Dazed I think is harder to be so definitive, in terms of energy and slickness of playing other eras would maybe have a stronger case but in terms of well constructed atmospheric versions I think late US 75 is definitely at the top.

I think its an interesting era generally in that these epic tracks really seem to be the main focus of the shows. obviously Zep always played extended songs but I'm not sure they were ever as central as it was in this era, a lot of Page's 75 style and sound makes most sense in me in this context(TU as well). Its really for me an aspect of the band that we didn't get to see in the studio as well, that extended jazz fusion or Floyd like epic atmospheric construction.

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5 hours ago, Sathington Willoughby said:

I'd have to disagree with 75 being the high point for Dazed, 73 was the zenith imo. Perfect length, all the different sections and improvs still had a sense of purpose and direction. 75 versions started to meander a bit too much. 

Yeah I can definitely see the 73 versions being favoured as the best mid ground and Euro 73 especially are probably my favourites but I do think the latter US 75 versions have a lot to recommend them(the 25/3/75 version especially is one of my most listened to) and as I said are I think the peak in terms of building atmosphere.

Again I do think its interesting how you get a spilt between the direction the band went in the studio around that time and what they were doing live, perhaps greater than at any other point in their career.

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  • 4 weeks later...
On Thursday, September 22, 2016 at 2:57 PM, Sathington Willoughby said:

I'd have to disagree with 75 being the high point for Dazed, 73 was the zenith imo. Perfect length, all the different sections and improvs still had a sense of purpose and direction. 75 versions started to meander a bit too much. 

Agree to a point.  

Would have made sense to develope  In The Light or When The Levee Breaks for extended jams during this great period.

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"What is the best bootleg?" is a question I can't answer. We all have some favorite records, but I think it would be more relevant to pick the best live rendition of each song they performed live, individually.

If I had to choose a particular bootleg, it may be "Snow Jobs" (Vancouver, March 19, 1975 – excellent sound and solid performance), mostly because the '69-'73 era is well documented on official releases and because there's not many very good performances from the '77 and '80 tours that were professionally recorded.

That said, there are a lot of must-have, classic bootlegs, like the "Boston Tea Party" shows, "Live on Blueberry Hill" or "Listen to this Eddie", to name a few.

As many Led Zeppelin fans, I'm still waiting for a live collection to be released, but – as Jimmy once put it – "that would be a monumental task" to produce and release such a record, so I'm not sure it will happen. It's a bit sad, because the '77 and '80 tours had their highlights and there's no official record documenting those tours in pristine quality.

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11 hours ago, dullarmor said:

"What is the best bootleg?" is a question I can't answer. We all have some favorite records, but I think it would be more relevant to pick the best live rendition of each song they performed live, individually.

If I had to choose a particular bootleg, it may be "Snow Jobs" (Vancouver, March 19, 1975 – excellent sound and solid performance), mostly because the '69-'73 era is well documented on official releases and because there's not many very good performances from the '77 and '80 tours that were professionally recorded.

That said, there are a lot of must-have, classic bootlegs, like the "Boston Tea Party" shows, "Live on Blueberry Hill" or "Listen to this Eddie", to name a few.

As many Led Zeppelin fans, I'm still waiting for a live collection to be released, but – as Jimmy once put it – "that would be a monumental task" to produce and release such a record, so I'm not sure it will happen. It's a bit sad, because the '77 and '80 tours had their highlights and there's no official record documenting those tours in pristine quality.

Exactly this. And since Jimmy is now on the "playing live" road, I can't see another live release covering '77-'80 - or a compilation of that time (and more?) anytime soon. Like he said himself - it's a monumental task. And if there was to be a release, I'm sure Earls Court would be chosen anyway.

For me, the best case scenario would be a live box set covering, IN FULL - every period. It would include FULL RAH (Aud and Vid), Blueberry Hill or one of the other early brilliant sounding boots (Dancing Avacado?), FULL MSG '73 with edits ONLY for notes/voice tweaking (not minutes of songs cut) - bonus disks with each night maybe?, FULL EC - A main DVD, and bonus Aud from all nights. A '77 tour, maybe one that we have film for (Seattle?), FULL Knebworth (Aud and Vid), and one of the '80's gigs with maybe some bonus tracks from a few nights.

Sadly, I think we will be waiting until Led Zep is an "Estate" and releases are up to a new person or people. Maybe Jason will have control one day. And if so, I fully expect there to be quite a few well put together releases. But alas, that is a looooong way off if at all.

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1 hour ago, rm2551 said:

Exactly this. And since Jimmy is now on the "playing live" road, I can't see another live release covering '77-'80 - or a compilation of that time (and more?) anytime soon. Like he said himself - it's a monumental task. And if there was to be a release, I'm sure Earls Court would be chosen anyway.

For me, the best case scenario would be a live box set covering, IN FULL - every period. It would include FULL RAH (Aud and Vid), Blueberry Hill or one of the other early brilliant sounding boots (Dancing Avacado?), FULL MSG '73 with edits ONLY for notes/voice tweaking (not minutes of songs cut) - bonus disks with each night maybe?, FULL EC - A main DVD, and bonus Aud from all nights. A '77 tour, maybe one that we have film for (Seattle?), FULL Knebworth (Aud and Vid), and one of the '80's gigs with maybe some bonus tracks from a few nights.

Sadly, I think we will be waiting until Led Zep is an "Estate" and releases are up to a new person or people. Maybe Jason will have control one day. And if so, I fully expect there to be quite a few well put together releases. But alas, that is a looooong way off if at all.

As I've said before, one of the barriers to anymore releases is that the band are all multimillionaires. They aren't desperate for cash.

Plus I don't think there's any multi-track live recordings from 77 or 80 tour? And Plant is pretty scathing about the later years anyway, so I imagine that would be vetoed. 

EC compilation would be the most realistic option.

The irony with Zep is that their best nights, post 73, were never multi-tracked. Thank god weve at least got some soundboards.

 

 

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6 hours ago, Boleskinner said:

As I've said before, one of the barriers to anymore releases is that the band are all multimillionaires. They aren't desperate for cash.

Plus I don't think there's any multi-track live recordings from 77 or 80 tour? And Plant is pretty scathing about the later years anyway, so I imagine that would be vetoed. 

EC compilation would be the most realistic option.

The irony with Zep is that their best nights, post 73, were never multi-tracked. Thank god weve at least got some soundboards.

 

 

I don't see cash as their motivation - and certainly not needing the cash I don't see as a barrier. I don't think $$$ had anything to do with Celebration Day, and don't think the re-release project was at all motivated by $$$. Zeppelin is Jimmy's obsession (Thank the Rock Gods).

The lack of multi-tracks does put things into perspective for sure, but it's entirely possible still IMHO. Some of the boots sound amazing. I can only imagine official treatment would mean even better sound quality. Look at some of what has already been released officially. Not the best, but well worthy of release.

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That discussion makes me think about what Frank Zappa had done in 1991. He released the 'Beat the Boots!' box set, which was nothing more than a collection of classic bootleg recordings, with their original cover art. To me, that was a brilliant, pragmatic move, both commercially and artistically.

Obviously, jimmy will never do such a thing. What to do, then? I think a team of fans could do the job. Together, we have every show that was recorded. We could collectively organize and produce an unofficial collection, then make it available for everyone to download for free. Just a collective fan project. I don't think Jimmy would sue fans for that as no money would be made out of it.

We have excellent soundboard tapes from the '75 US tour, Earls Court, the 80 'Over Europe' tour. Some '73 soundboard tapes sound quite well, as well. The '77 soundboard tapes always disappointed me, but some portions remain interesting. Besides, the Mike Millard recordings from the same tour are arguably the best audience tapes that could be produced at the time and among the audience tapes from the '69-'73 era, there are a few gems, actually.

It's indeed an old project I've been working on for years, but I realized I couldn't do it alone. My original goal was to produce two collections. One from the audience perspective, the other being a compilation of soundboard tapes. Sadly, I don't have enough time and skills in sound processing to do the best work that can be done.

Yet, something could be done. Something has to be done.

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2 hours ago, rm2551 said:

I don't see cash as their motivation - and certainly not needing the cash I don't see as a barrier. I don't think £££££ had anything to do with Celebration Day, and don't think the re-release project was at all motivated by £££££. Zeppelin is Jimmy's obsession (Thank the Rock Gods).

The lack of multi-tracks does put things into perspective for sure, but it's entirely possible still IMHO. Some of the boots sound amazing. I can only imagine official treatment would mean even better sound quality. Look at some of what has already been released officially. Not the best, but well worthy of release.

FIFY

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I know I'm probably in the minority here but most shows I listen to are '69-'73. If I had a gun to my head ,( like the Ruthless Rhymes dog) , I'd say Blueberry Hill. The most iconic Zep bootleg and as good a performance as any IMO. The boots I have listened to most often are Blueberry Hill, Jimmys Birthday, Going to California, 9/29/71, Melbourne '72, Seattle 73  and Earls Court May 18 1975. While the 75-77 sets are more varied and contain the rainbow slice of their repertoire, the level of Robert's singing and Jimmy's playing declined after 73.  Bonzo and Jones were pretty much always stalwart and kicking ass but the epics became bloated with meandering solos and sloppy guitar playing , and Plants voice basically was terrible after '72.  He had such a distinctive style and sound but jeez he was constantly cracking notes! 

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  • 5 weeks later...

My favorite this month is LA June 21 1977.  There is no best. I've tried to tackle the same question and always change my mind. Our tastes shift, mixes improve, and new soundboards come out yearly. The best we can hope for is to keep up with the new releases and add to our collection. And share our thoughts with fans. Without them, their recommendations, I would have never learned so much, or re-listened to concerts I'd forgotten. Let's hope we're never sent to that desert island where we can only listen to one bootleg every day. And miss the news that a new pristine concert just came out. Cheers!

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'll answer based on boots with a solid combination of excellent sound & performance. Great shows with lousy sound (and vice versa) don't do much for me. The ones that stick out for me are as follows:

Vancouver - 3/21/70 'Pure Blues' (Liquid Led Version) - A short but excellent show capturing the raw energy of the group's early years.

Vancouver - 3/20/75 'Snowblind' - The best of the '75 shows in terms of Robert's voice and the band's performance. They really lock in and turn in a focused show with inspired playing. I prefer this one to the night before but both shows are very good.

Ft. Worth - 5/22/77 'Texas Hurricane' - Hands down, the best '77 boot in terms of sound and performance of the SBDs available from this year. This was a real revelation for me when it came out as I thought most of the '77 gigs featured a very sloppy page with the rest of the band sounding pretty good. This has excellent playing from Jimmy with Bonzo absolutely on fire! The 'Nutrocker' section of the No Quarter is quite an entertaining listen. Not to be missed.

Frankfurt Festhalle, Germany - 6/30/80 '1St Gen Analog Soundboard To Dat Clone' - An standout in the often bashed 1980 tour. This show features some excellent playing and it sounds like the band is really enjoying themselves.

 

 

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On 10/24/2016 at 3:56 AM, porgie66 said:

I know I'm probably in the minority here but most shows I listen to are '69-'73. If I had a gun to my head ,( like the Ruthless Rhymes dog) , I'd say Blueberry Hill. The most iconic Zep bootleg and as good a performance as any IMO. The boots I have listened to most often are Blueberry Hill, Jimmys Birthday, Going to California, 9/29/71, Melbourne '72, Seattle 73  and Earls Court May 18 1975. While the 75-77 sets are more varied and contain the rainbow slice of their repertoire, the level of Robert's singing and Jimmy's playing declined after 73.  Bonzo and Jones were pretty much always stalwart and kicking ass but the epics became bloated with meandering solos and sloppy guitar playing , and Plants voice basically was terrible after '72.  He had such a distinctive style and sound but jeez he was constantly cracking notes! 

You're not alone there, man. I believe chillumpuffer would also agree.

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Have you never heard of any of the shows from Japan 71 or The US 72 tour or even the European Tour of 73?

I'll let you in to a few shows:

Orlando 1971. Great sounding show

Berkeley 14/09/71. Wonderful but incomplete. Whole Lotta Love is a classic

Leicester 1971 Best for hard and heavy. Brilliant show and complete in great audience quality

La Forum 1972. Burn Like A Candle. No Introduction needed.

Check out the Australian shows also from 1972

There are many from the Europe 73 tour. Essen, Vienna and Stoke to name 3

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"There's tons of amazing ones though and my favorites tend to change depending on my mood."

 

That is exactly the case with me. My current listening is "Live in Japan:1972"(Daiichi Hall-October 10, 1972-Kyoto, Japan) and  "Rampaging Cajun" (February 28,1975- Baton Rouge, LA).

 

They are both killer shows to me, but my favorites could change next week. I tend to favor the 1975 tour in terms of set list and performance.

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