What specifically do you think "changed" from 1970? I don't detect any noticeable difference. And I'd disagree that it was all downhill from Belfast. The only change was him no longer singing Black Dog high, which I think was out of choice, not because he couldn't sing it anymore. If anything I'd say the turning point was LA 8/21/71. The cracks (both literally and figuratively) were starting to appear after that and while he occasionally had a show afterwards where he sounded like his old self (ex. Tokyo 9/24/71, Manchester 11/24/71, Sydney 2/27/72), he never was that consistent again.

Lol I wouldn't go that far. For one, sometimes it's been a while since I listened to the shows when I do those compilations. For example, I recently put together a "best of Earls Court" compilation, and I had completely forgotten about Page disappearing at the end of Bron-Y-Aur Stomp on the 18th, or the somewhat sloppy Kashmir on the 18th. I'm going based off of memory and sometimes my memory of a show as a whole makes me biased and put in more songs from that performance than they deserve. I certainly haven't gone through them in as much detail as you have!

Is that the Slumpymatrix? If so, I'd actually say you'd be better off without it. They did a very sloppy job, and the two sources go out of sync quite a bit. If you're sticking to the soundboard (technically it's a video soundtrack, but it sounds just like a 77 soundboard), I'd recommend Godfather's "Conquering Kingdome". Personally, I prefer the audience recording. It's good enough to hear the instruments clearly, and it preserves the atmosphere and elation of the crowd. I have the JEMS transfer of the "Bill B" source and it sounds pretty good, on the level of the 4/28 Cleveland show. You should be able to find either one on Guitars101. If you can't find them, just PM me.

Glad to hear you enjoyed my remaster! I tried to make the music sound more lively and have Page's guitar have more "aggressiveness" to it and I think I did a pretty good job...if I do say so myself! I mostly agree with your analysis above. Always thought this was the weakest Earls Court show by a fair margin and never understood those who consider it to be the best of the run (or one of the best of '75 for that matter). I'm particularly in agreement with you on No Quarter. Solid, but nothing on that version really blows me away. The 18th version smokes it. The only real surprise to me was how you didn't like Dazed. This is actually one of the few versions from '75 that, imho at least, doesn't drag at any point. It's pretty tight and focused for the time period. Then again, I may be biased because it was actually the first live version of Dazed I ever saw or heard, even before TSRTS. I caught the footage on Youtube, which was split into four parts, and I was quite mesmerized by it. Page's bow solo was pretty eerie and spooky but in the best way. I don't know, maybe I just have nostalgia for it. You never forget your first love! What do you plan on doing after the last Earls Court show?

Maiden has the more consistent discography, but Priest has more variety. For me this would be a question of eras. If we're talking 80s Priest versus 80s Maiden, Maiden wins hands down for me. But if we're talking 70s Priest versus 80s Maiden, it's more neck and neck. I don't know if I can choose. They're both great bands. I'll leave it at that.

You should have listened to the Empress Valley's "No Quarter" from their "Earl's Court: The Final Option" box set. The version you picked (assuming it's the 4CD "Complete Earls Court Arena Tapes II") unnecessarily switches between three different sources, and it's overly EQ'd. The Final Option version uses the best source (first released on the Immigrant label as Complete Earls Court Arena '75) as its main source. And it's been tastefully EQ'd to eliminate hiss. It's definitely the best audience tape from this Earls Court run, imho, and it does a good job at presenting this show in the best light possible. Glad to hear you like NQ so much. This one is my personal favorite from 1975 actually.

Did he do this in any other live version of Stairway? Nothing comes to mind off the top of my head. Wonder he why decided to do it that particular night. Must have been in a good/creative mood.

That's a pretty good list, with some interesting and unorthodox picks! I've got to say that for the longest time the 25th Kashmir didn't do much for me, but I've been warming up to it lately. It's now neck and neck with the 21st for me. Ultimately, I'd still personally choose the 21st, simply because I love Plant's ad libs there. The 26th is the show I'm least familiar with, so I'll have to do another listen for your picks there. For IMTOD, I'd choose the 22nd simply because I've never heard a heavier or more brutal version. I'll admit I don't care for Trampled Underfoot from this tour (too slow and plodding) so I'd say it doesn't matter much to me. I'd personally go with the 23rd for SIBLY, only because I think it's the most balanced out of them all. The 21st is energetic with great vocals, while the 25th has a great solo. The 23rd is the best of both worlds to me. I picked Rock and Roll from the 23rd due to Keith Moon's guest appearance. I picked the 23rd for Stairway for one big reason: there's a cut in the 25th version! Listen around 3:10 or so (right after Plant does his "ah ah ooohh!" vocals). It's small but noticeable. (Okay I just listened to it again and I can't decide if it's a cut or just both Page and Jones switching up at the exact same time. Either way, it's a bit jarring. Besides, the 25th solo is great, but I detect a few flubs here and there. The 23rd is, imho, one of the all time great Stairway solos. One of Jimmy's best ever.) Other than that your choices are identical to mine. For the acoustic set, I'd go with: TBOE - 27th. Great vocals from Plant and a nice warm vibe. GTC - 27th. Ditto. That's Alright Mama - 26th. Going Down South/I Can't Be Satisfied - 27th. Black Country Woman - 21st. Plant's vocals here are incredibly strong. Bron-Y-Aur Stomp - 27th. Even with the broken string, the Dancing Days tease alone makes this a must imho. As for the solos: Over the Top - 23rd. Keith Moon's guest appearance makes for a nice, fun version. Though if we're talking in purely technical terms, I'd choose the 22nd. VERY brutal and powerful with a nice upbeat pace. Noise solo - 22nd I guess since it ultimately flows into Achilles. The 27th version might work if it weren't so goddamn long! Once again, thanks for doing these nitpicks! On to Earls Court!

I have to say I've really been enjoying your analyses here. Completely agree with you on LA '77 being better than any show in '75. In fact, when all is said and done, I personally think these LA shows and the two Copenhagen warm ups are the only post '73 shows that are musts. Out of curiosity, since you've clearly listened to these shows in great detail, what would your "best of LA '77" compilation look like? I did one myself and I'd love to compare and contrast your list with mine.

Not to toot my own horn here too much, but if anyone's interested, I did a best of 1980 tour compilation: In general, after putting this together, my thoughts are somewhere between rm2551's and IpMan's. In terms of full shows, I think only Frankfurt and Zurich are must hears from this tour. Everything else ranges from just decent to flat out embarrassing. But there are plenty of highlights sprinkled from throughout this run. Had Jimmy and Bonzo gotten into rehab, I think the American tour that year could have kicked serious ass! Plant was singing songs like Rock and Roll in their original melody again. But I do agree that Bonzo's lack of energy drags these shows down, even more than Page's sticky fingers. Plus, I think the setlist for that tour was horrible. The Rain Song followed by Hot Dog, followed by All My Love? Terrible pacing. Ultimately, like all latter day Zeppelin tours, it's a mixed bag with plenty of highlights imho.

Yes. The Millard tape for this show suffers from a bunch of technical issues. In fact, most versions of this show use three sources because Millard's recording doesn't start until just before SIBLY (apparently he forgot to press record). The technical issues caused a bunch of tiny drop outs and cuts on his tape, which is why it splices to an alternate source. With regard to TSRTS, if memory serves, Page's guitar strap came undone towards the end of the song, which may account for the somewhat sloppy ending. This is also why the band briefly pauses before Sick Again.

So did you decide to skip Earls Court or are you going to come back to those shows? And are you going to be doing the non-Millard LA shows (ie. 6/22 and 6/26)? I know the sound quality on those leaves a bit to be desired, but the performances (especially 6/22) are "outta sight".

Finally managed to acquire and upload the Bill B. audience recording of the 7/17/77 Seattle show. I personally thinks this brings a whole new dimension to the show and presents it in the best way possible.

Listening to a compilation I made of the 1980 Tour Over Europe!

I actually made my own Tour Over Europe compilation as well! I really have to thank Sue for her list there. It's really well done and I used it as a guide when I put this together. I made a few changes (SIBLY from Frankfurt, ALS from Zurich, Stairway from Mannheim, Heartbreaker from Rotterdam, and WLL from Berlin), but apart from that the tracklisting is basically the same. Unfortunately, I had to eliminate Stairway since YouTube always manages to block that! And here's a Google Drive link with all the songs available to download (including Stairway): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1RsGPsOrCg4XBSJocIVfO0qv9wh7vJ_Ht?usp=sharing

What's funny here is you telling me how I should think. I don't read these "nitpickings" so that I can know what opinion to form on these shows. That's absurd. I read these because I find it interesting to hear another fan's perspective on these shows, even if they differ from my own. Of course everyone should have their own opinions regarding shows. Heck, I still think 3/21 Seattle is in the top 3 best shows of 1975, and a must hear. But I like how Gibsonfan highlights little passages here and there to consider. As he said, it allows me to pick up on things I hadn't noticed before. Why do you think people read analyses of popular films or works of art years after they were released? Because they enjoy hearing what others have to say. You can learn a lot about a person based on what they like and dislike about a work of art, and you can examine it from a different point of view, in a way that you hadn't considered before. You don't like these nitpicks? Fine. Don't read them. Find another thread.

Are you also going to be doing the Earls Court shows (once you get through the US ones of course)?

Glad to hear how much you enjoyed 3/12! I've always loved that show, but lately it's become probably my favorite show from 1975. Unlike most '75 shows, it starts off with tons of energy. The opening 3-4 songs are so powerful, and tell you right away that this is going to be one hell of a performance. I'm curious about you saying you switched between the 3 Source mix and Taking No Prisoners Tonight. The 3 source mix I have doesn't contain a cut in Stairway. Did you go for the David E version? With regard to Seattle 3/21, I think the reason I and so many others go for that show is because it's got everything. It's an epic marathon performance that contains just about all the songs they performed on the 75 US tour (minus the January stuff), and they're all done well (at least imho). Sure, on a song-by-song basis, it may not have the best versions from that tour, but it's good enough to where if someone were to ask for just one show from '75, I'd probably give them Seattle. Plus, with the release of the soundboard and the matrix, it's all in excellent sound quality. As great as 3/12 is, until recently, much of it was only available in a very distorted and noisy audience recording, making it difficult to get into unless you had "bootleg ears". Hopefully, a soundboard for this show will come out soon. Apart from the January and Earls Court shows, it's the only remaining one from '75 that I'd care about in all honesty. I also agree with others here. I'd love to see you nitpick shows from other years. I'd especially like to hear your thoughts on 3/24/73 Offenburg, and 7/24/79 Copenhagen.

I see what you're saying. There's definitely more jamming in 75 than 77. But I personally prefer 77 because, for one, they shook the setlist up. You no longer had to hear Percy croaking his way through Rock and Roll, and I always thought TSRTS was a much better opener anyway. And, with the exception of the back to back drum and noise solos, I really like the pacing of the 77 setlist. They brought the acoustic set back, and they saved the "big" (ie. Kashmir, Stairway, etc.) songs for the latter part of the show. And the 77 setlist actually has more variation than the 75 setlist. You had the substituting of IMTOD and OTHAFA, the occasional appearance of Dancing Days in the acoustic set, sometimes including Trampled Underfoot (and occasionally putting it right after the acoustic set), sometimes including Black Dog in the encores, sometimes including Heartbreaker, and other variations. That's why I'd argue that 77 is less monotonous than 75. Heck, even if you listen to just the LA run, every show is different, both in terms of the setlist and the vibe. 6/21 is the only show of the run to include Heartbreaker and is probably the tightest and most energetic, 6/22 has both OTHAFA and IMTOD and is probably the most confident, 6/23 has OTHAFA and TUF and is very loose, 6/25 has IMTOD and TUF and has Bonzo being a tad erratic, 6/26 has It'll Be Me and is probably the most "even keel" of all the shows in terms of performance (just solid all the way through), and 6/27 has Dancing Days and has Page being a tad erratic. They all have a unique character, at least to me.

Sorry man. I wish I could find it. I've done quite a bit of searching but have yet to find the complete show. If anyone can PM me a link to the complete show (hint hint ) I'll be sure to pass it along to you!

True, but the '73 setlist feels a lot tighter and seems to fly by much quicker, at least to me. The '75 setlist feels like an update of the '73 setlist, only with (imho) worse pacing. Having a 20-30 Moby Dick followed by a 40 minute Dazed and Confused is just way too excessive. It makes it lose momentum and it's more difficult for me personally to get through. Also, don't forget that the band occasionally skipped songs in the '73 setlist due to crowd issues or health issues. Not to mention novelties like hinting at Georgia on My Mind in Salt Lake City or playing Dazed out of order in Baltimore.

So I take it your goal is to listen to every '75 performance? Well, all I can say is good luck haha! Personally, I don't know if I'd be able to stand it unless I were to space it out quite a bit. The '75 shows (with the exception of the ones from January and Earls Court) all have a degree of "sameness" to them, with the setlist barely changing at all from night to night and Page and Plant being the only two who vary in terms of performance. And even then, Plant's best gigs for this year are just ones where he'd be considered "passable" to the casual listener. I will say I hope you pull through, because I may have to revise my "best of '75" compilation based on your reviews.