Pat's Delight - fantastic !! I wish they had played this more often live. I like Moby Dick but this is also a great groove around the drum solo. You guys are all killing it here. And as usual the sound is superb.

This one turns into quite a jam in the second half. Great production throughout - bass and drums sound so good.

I went back and found out my memory of the HTWWW WLL was faulty - it does have a 2 minute "Boogie Mama" section similar to TSRTS (which is about 4 min), but the following medley is so long that I wasn't thinking about it. In any case the version on TSRTS just seems to be a better groove, more relaxed and it flows better than the shorter version on HTWWW. But maybe I like it better because I heard it so many many times from 1976 until HTWWW was released. Or maybe it had developed over the years and reached its peak by July 1973. I can say for sure that when TSRTS came out me and my friends were most amazed/surprised by the whole middle section of WLL more than anything on the album. Probably because we had never heard any other live Zep at that point. Dazed was so sprawling and overwhelming it took longer to really sink in, and to us the superb No Quarter did not have the immediacy of WLL, but of course over a bit of time we gained a full appreciation of it. Those first few weeks what blew us away was WLL. It is interesting to me to think back to that time of hearing live Zep for the first time.

What if HTWWW was released in fall 1972 the way most live albums used to be done? How would that change the way we think about it, and about TSRTS? It had unreleased songs on it - Over the Hills, The Ocean, and Dancing Days. They may not have been included in a fall 1972 release? On the other hand, isn't it odd that TSRTS came out in 1976 and we kids did not even think about or care that there were no PG or Presence songs? We were so overwhelmed with with a double album with about 100 minutes of music! And I do not recall anyone at the time saying that Plant had lost his voice or that songs had slowed down. We were just blown away by the overpowering sound of live Zeppelin with the extended versions of songs. We did wonder a bit why Celebration Day was not in the movie and why Black Dog and SIBLYwere not on the album. But just a bit. We just cranked the soundtrack album and loved it, then we would go to the movie multiple times and we loved it. Of course I should mention that no one I knew at the time (who I hung out with) had seen Zep or had any old bootlegs. There were "older kids" (like 3 - 6 years older) who had seen Zep but we did not hang out with them, or if we did we did not ask about Zep.

Hard to say what is "best" but Jimmy kills it here on both rhythm and lead. What a tone on both !

From their first album. For some reason in this clip the track does not start until 0:08

Great point about the opening of WLL. The parts of WLL that I usually focus on live are the middle sections. The original TSRTS soundtrack has such an amazing funk section (sadly butchered in the 2007 and 2018 releases) leading into a great groove in the theramin section. Just fantastic. And for me, the long "Boogie Mama" jam from about 8:00 - 12:00 in the movie soundtrack is pure Zeppelin magic. It flows organically and has more of a groove feel than the medleys of oldies. I love the medleys, but I love this looser jam more. I hear you about the first part about "I heard my mama and papa talking, that little boy reached the age of 24", etc. That became a bit of a cliche over time, but the jam that follows it is just off the charts. What Page, Jones and Bonham are doing is pure joy and pure genius.

HTWWW vs TSRTS Common songs: To me, most of these are better on HTWWW Rock and Roll - HTWWW Black Dog - HTWWW Heartbreaker - HTWWW Over the Hills - HTWWW Since I've Been Loving You - HTWWW The Ocean - toss up Stairway - TSRTS (Plant better on HTWWW, but TSRTS has a much better guitar solo) Dazed - TSRTS Moby Dick - HTWWW Whole Lotta Love - TSRTS (unless you prefer the medly) Unique Songs HTWWW Immigrant Song, That's the Way, Going to California, Bron-Y-Aur Stomp, What Is and What Should Never Be, Dancing Days, Bring it on Home TSRTS Celebration Day, Misty Mt Hop, No Quarter, Song Remains, Rain Song It comes down to what aspects of Zep you like best. HTWWW has a glorious acoustic set and more material from the earlier albums. TSRTS has better improvisation and more songs from the progressive side of HOTH. I think overall I cannot really choose a favorite since they are so different and both so fantastic.

I hope Led Zeppelin Rarities can finish this matrix. A sample of the matrix starts at 2:14. There is a great comment in the comments section that is so true: (I did not write the comment but I completely agree with it) To sound like you were there at any 77 show (as I was) the drums need to be almost oppressively loud the Alembic bass (which was stereo) needs a boomy deep chest rattling bottom and the crunchy mid range toppy sound blended.

I saw this interview again recently and was struck by how reflective and thoughtful Robert was. Remarkable. What he said about Kashmir was quite special. Dan Rather asked him why Kashmir was his favorite song. He said: "It was a great achievement to take such a monstrously dramatic musical piece and find a lyric that was ambiguous enough, and a delivery which was not overpumped, just, it was almost like the antithesis of the music, this kind of lyric, and this vocal delivery that was just about enough to get in there."

I think Led Zeppelin (along with Pink Floyd) helped finance Monty Python and the Holy Grail, one of the funniest movies I have ever seen. I have also read that George Harrison helped finance the film. I also seem to recall Robert once doing a bit about a man who knows a man who knows a man who doesn't know "Tim", and Tim was a minor character in the Holy Grail. In 1977 Robert once said it was an opportunity to "play spot the looney". "Spot the Looney" was an old bit from the original Monty Python's Flying Circus TV series. He even said "spot the looney" in a rather Monty Python way.

In this version of Heartbreaker Page plays something I don't think I ever heard before in this spot at 4:50 -5:05. Also the full stops at 6:44 and 6:48 are cool.

Steve this sounds good to me. Thanks for doing these.

It would be really great to also have some video clips of the crowd from the stage to show the enormity of the event.

I listened to Pontiac Silverdome again and yes Plant is great on Kashmir. I still cannot imagine what is was like to have been in the audience or on the stage that night with such a huge crowd. The audience recording is better than I remembered.

I seem to recall an interview where Page talked about that intro to the solo and how proud of it he was. He made the point that he would like to see someone else try to do something like that. It, is remarkable. I always thought it sounded like lightning and it reminded me of bits in the freakout section of WLL but not exactly.

Here's a few. Difficult to choose the "greatest". Cream Jimi Hendrix Experience Black Sabbath The Doors The Clash Aerosmith Pink Floyd Pearl Jam

A few more Sick Again - that is just a wild sound Page gets at the very end Boogie with Stu - I like they way they syncopate the percussion at the end, then they left the laughing in Wanton Song - relentless riffing then Plant lets out one final wail that fades with an echo at the end.

It would be impossible for me to select a favorite or "best" album. But LZ II was the first one I heard and it holds a special place for me. It is amazing in so many ways including the sound and range of material. Moments of great power and beauty. It is the album that firmly established Zeppelin as a major force, building on the debut but showing so much growth and range, such a change in sound. Years ago I had a long email discussion with a close friend about which was the "best" album. He made a compelling case for II, and eventually I had to see his points. It is incredible to think that the second album had WLL, Ramble On, What Is, Heartbreaker, Thank You, the Lemon Song, and BIOH. The album moves comfortably from pure raunch and sex to moments of sublime beauty and back again. One more thing. The sound and production are so distinctive and so compelling, while still being raw and immediate. If I had to choose one album to show someone what Led Zeppelin was it would be LZ II.