Zep first obviously, then The Who and Pink Floyd for me.

Where would you personally put the 3/21 Seattle version? That one stands out to me the most for that incredible, frenetic grooving solo. Such a different take from the usual.

Sick! Good stuff man. I have my grandpa's old Dahlquist DQ-10s that I restored last summer running through a Luxman amp. Even with a budget Polk sub the system sounds great, I'll have to put up some pictures soon here.

No Daltrey? Won't Get Fooled Again? Who Are You? Come on now.

I know he used the Telecaster pretty extensively on In Through The Out Door as well.

Impressed with Cleveland's moves in free agency. Love the Conklin and Hooper signings especially, should shore up the offensive line and give Mayfield a truly reliable tight end, Njoku is just subpar at best. That said, I've been down the hopeful path with them too many times before. Gotta see it before I believe it 🙄

What was the deal here? Did the author explain the motives behind the pilot doing all this?

I honestly wish I had been around at the time to experience this all chronologically. There's so many great recordings available today, and hindsight is 20/20, but I just can't begin to imagine what an exciting time it had to have been. But I gotta ask here, do you remember your reaction to the Stairway solo?

You know, I never actually thought of it like this, in all the years since I first heard the album until now. I always was strongly of the opinion that HHWCID would've been the absolute perfect closer, but with some more thought, yeah. This is honestly the most Zeppelin kind of thing to do. Maybe a veiled proverbial middle finger to the press at the time? With such a radical shift in their sound and the scathing reviews the band probably anticipated, I wonder if ending the album so radically was a sort of "in for a penny, in for a pound" kind of deal.

Exactly! I knew I couldn't be the only one thinking this. I had the album on with my brother yesterday, and HE even said the album would've been far better closed with HHWCID instead of Hats Off. And considering their penchant for ending albums with some seriously awesome songs (How Many More Times, Bring it on Home, Levee, The Ocean), Hats Off is just a weak end to such an amazing album. HHWCID would send it off into the sunset the right way.

Funny in hindsight that Page wasn't a fan of the artwork or the spinning wheel jacket idea at the time, isn't it? I thought it was brilliant, it's one of my favorite rock album covers. Interesting choices for the extra tracks! I'm curious why the Berkeley '71 That's the Way instead of the Blueberry Hill one?

I can only imagine! On the other hand though, I'm glad to have gotten into this all with all the great live material being so easily accessible rather than having to wait thirty years for a large glut of great tapes to finally start showing up. I'm curious though, what did you think of Pearl Jam and Soundgarden at the time?

Hey Hey What Can I Do has always been one of my favorite Zep songs. All four members put on an excellent performance here, with what I think was actually one of Plant's finest vocal performances on record, and the song's vibe matches the third album perfectly. It would have been a knockout closer instead of Hats off to Roy Harper, which seems a bit of a throwaway. I understand that they only ever intended to have it be the B-side for the Immigrant Song single, but still, this would have been such an amazing way to end the third album. With that, I think III would be right up with II and Physical Graffiti as my favorite Zeppelin albums. Curious about anyone else's opinions on this?

+1

Absolutely without a shadow of a doubt, AC/DC. Still our main choice for get-togethers and nobody complains!

Jimmy did sing them live, but I think the studio is just Plant double tracked. I agree though, another example would be SIBLY. There's a couple sections where his voice is slightly off the exact pitch. It's difficult anyways to hit some of those notes on his screams, but that's a great example of him climbing to the right pitch.

Might just be the double tracked vocals sounding dissonant on that one part.

The Osaka boards by far. September '71 is my favorite month of Zeppelin's live shows. 929 itself has been my favorite show since I was younger, finally getting most of it as a pristine board tape was one of the most incredible experiences of my life so far. I also love 928, really enjoyed the incredible performance and hearing it as a board tape was beyond my wildest dreams. After those though I'd also have to say Seattle '75. Amazing show and crazy to have the whole thing in such incredible quality.

Right? Seems like there's some voicing going on there beyond the actual chords he's playing. Still the most unique live intro to the song I've heard and I absolutely love it. I'll keep trying at it and tab out what I think it might be when I get close enough to it!

Can't quite figure out what Page is doing here in the intro, at least not by ear. I can play something pretty close, but not exact. Wondering if anyone has tabbed that part out or has any idea what he's playing exactly?

Gotcha! I actually prefer the 928 versions for all three of those songs as well. As for Dazed, the one from 929 is a hair better than its 928 counterpart. Both are spectacular performances, but the Pennies from Heaven snippet puts 929 on top, at least for me. Agreed! I would've loved to see P&P give Tea for One some run instead of SIBLY. Seems like it would lend itself really well to the orchestral accompaniment.

Since it's not up there, I'd personally cast my vote for the 928 Stairway.

Agreed, it's more smooth than anything I've heard from the show before. I'm actually impressed with the work they did to it. Surprised too, usually these jokers absolutely obliterate tapes with their "editing" work. Like "Live in the Fairy Tale," great raw tape but they ruined it with an atrocious, completely unnecessary overworking of the sound.

I've been playing around with it, the raw tape itself (2CD set) runs 3% too fast. I believe the 3CD set version runs at the correct speed, as does the Led Zeppelin Rarities remaster.

Good catch man, I'm digging this! The production jumped out at me right away, it's awesome. Very promising if the whole album is going to be like this song!