Great pics! Thanks for sharing. I already read this book and I have to say it was excellent. I really enjoyed it from Grant's perspective. I highly recommend it.

But the version I'm talking about was by TDOLZ.

I looked for you but couldn’t find it.

One of my favorite versions is from 2-14-75, and my favorite boot of that show is from TDOLZ. On that recording, the sound of the guitar and the atmosphere of the show, which the audience recording allows you to hear so nicely, make the Rain Song especially wistful, in my opinion.

The first comment on the article above is rather witty. "Sounds like a Communication Breakdown to me. Or maybe the guy is just being a Moby Dick. I don't know, but it doesn't sound like there's a Whole Lotta Love there. I'm sure Jimmy would rather he play that music Over the Hills and Far Away. If he persists, Jimmy might pick up Four Sticks and start a Rock and Roll war....or worse yet, sick a Black Dog on him. In which case he might consider moving to Kashmir and sing an Immigrant Song to the authorities there once he crosses The Ocean. In any event, I hope they work out their differences before someone gets Trampled Under Foot."

"Call it “Stairway to Headache” or maybe just a “Whole Lotta Loud.” Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page, famous across the world for making loud, rock music over the years, is now reportedly being blasted at his home in west London, England, with high-volume tunes by the likes of Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd, and Deep Purple." https://www.wnd.com/2019/01/stairway-to-headache-led-zeppelin-star-tormented-by-neighbors-rock-music/?fbclid=IwAR0Wq3cgJxlJFNu9vrMqDFmZgtw5sTahEDLicCJem82PromWjAgimw8lPHU

When it comes to Plant, I basically have him in two categories: before he lost his voice and after he lost his voice. In the later years, after his voice broke, he had better nights and worse nights, but neither are even in the same realm as Plant before he lost his voice. That's what I'm trying to say. Put it this way, when it comes to post 73 (even much of 73, frankly), I had to *learn* to like Plant's style. I had to learn how to make the best of it and see it in as positive a manner as possible, whereas in the era of 69-72, no such effort is required. You just listen with your mouth hanging open. I know these things aren't really welcome on a fan site, but I've been reading the comments here for a while, and you guys aren't a bunch of fanboy kids, so I know you can handle it. I'm not bashing Plant. I'm just being open and honest about how I see it.

This is a good observation and I agree. The closest I heard Page to 73 form was May 18, 1975 at EC. Over the Hills and some other tunes had him playing surprisingly well! No Quarter from 2-14-75 is fantastic too and there are others to choose from, but they definitely lack the fluidity, clarity and precision of, say, Europe 73, Japan 71 and others. Sometimes I'll listen to a whole bunch of 77 gigs without listening to anything else. I'll get on a kick like this and it will last a few weeks. My ears get accustomed to the sound and style of 77 and it sounds pretty good. Then I'll put 3-22-73 on and it's just mind blowing. Immediately I can tell that Jimmy was on another level. Maybe a few levels better, not just one level. Thinking back, my first two boots were Blueberry Hill and BBC. Both shows were devastating! I had them for a long time before I finally got a copy of their final show in 1980. I was reading Hammer of the Gods at the time and was so into Zeppelin. I couldn't wait to get home from school and put the tape in and give it a listen. I was shocked. I wondered what happened to the band! The Stairway solo was terrible. The tone was terrible. The black dog solo was horrible. Everything sounded like shit, but I wouldn't admit it until years later, to be honest. Now I'm able to be honest about this stuff, because I'm getting old lol

Well, you certainly made your point with this stark comparison, using the same song to boot. I hear a pretty significant difference here for sure. But this is the best Plant sounded in 77 and wasnt the norm. It seems to be true that Plant was in better form in 77, on the whole, than in 75. However, it's still obvious that he's just a shell of his former self even on the good nights in 77. Sick Again was a "husky voice" Plant song to begin with, so it fits in with his post 73 style. But on songs like WLL, Black Dog and Stairway, he just can't do the job. One of my first boots was the BBC sessions, long before its official release, and I remember being amazed that Plant could hit all those high notes with such power and ease. Then when I got my first 77 bootleg years later (slim pickins back then, no internet) I was mightily disappointed with Plant's voice and Jimmy's playing. I thought they were supposed to get better with practice, not worse.

Not to my ears. He has a couple nights where it's not too bad in some songs, like on 6-13-77 on OTHAFA, but it's not comparable to 68-72. Since I've Been Loving you comes to mind. Listen to him in September 1970 in Hawaii and then listen to any show in 77 and it's a crying shame.

I've been listening to the whole tour for 25 years. I have no opinion on the personal regrets of the fans who went to see the 77 shows. My comment was not about their opinions, but rather the shows themselves. Even the best 77 shows have Jimmy in sloppy mode, all night, every night. In no single show or even a single song, did he achieve the levels of fluidity he achieved in 71-73. On top of that, Plant can't sing after the 73 tour, and even the 73 tour was pretty bad compared to 68-72. When Robert Plant sounds like me in my car trying to sing Zeppelin and Jimmy in sloppy mode, it's just not the same. The best 77 shows are really just a B and hardly even a B+ while the best 71-73 shows are clearly A+.

77 was a tough year for Zeppelin fans, but one show that stands out to me is 6-13-77. Plant actually has some voice in that show, some decent range, and Page plays rather well. I would have to listen and analyze it all again, but I think 6-13-77 may be better than the LA shows. I seem to remember the first 5 or 6 songs really came out well and had lots of energy, supercharged, with a very powerful delivery. My version of this show was called Over The Garden.

I'm not digging the EC solo either. Way too long, indulgent, repetitive and sloppy. When you compare that to TSRTS version, it doesn't even come close. Personally, I have always thought the EC shows were way overrated. There is a good one though, I can't remember if it's the 17th or 18th, but one of them has some awesome guitar play, 73 style.

I do agree though that the 77 version of Zeppelin were a shell of their glory years 71-73. No doubt.

That show from Ft Worth sounds pretty bad, but a lot of that has to do with the really crappy soundboard recording. The whole band sounds terribly flat. In the arena that night, I'm sure it sounded much better and much more natural too. Jimmy isn't playing too well in that gig from 77 to be sure, but also, to be sure, it's not as bad as that soundboard makes it out to be. I hate, hate, hate soundboards like that. God awful!

I was talking about Jimmy's playing ability. He was fast, clean and coherent.

Well said. Although, to be fair, we don't really know what Jimmy in 2007 would have sounded like if he were allowed to let it rip. I have to agree about 1998 though. I couldn't believe my ears when I heard the 98 bootlegs. Jimmy hadn't played that well since a hot night in 75 or 73. I was in the 8th grade for the Atlantic Records 40th anniversary bash and the build up was incredible. I couldn't believe that Zeppelin was going to play again. I was reading Hammer of the Gods at the time and couldn't wait for the mighty Zeppelin to come out, romping and stomping like gods, blowing everyone away, but it was not to be. It was more like hoping Muhammad Ali would regain his old form and beat Larry Holmes! Then they had this Knebworth 90' thing where they played Wearing and Tearing, Rock and Roll and maybe another one. Nothing good there really. Then I saw them on UnLeaded on MTV doing their acoustic stuff and it was fun to see them, but more of the same. It was like the Atlantic Records let down going on for years and years. Then I saw some footage of them in 95 or 96 doing the Egyptian thing. Jimmy was playing on par with the 1980 tour. It was during this time that I started to really accumulate a lot of bootlegs due to meeting people on the internet. I learned that Jimmy's playing went downhill from 75 on, instead of getting better. Unfortunately, I had to come to terms with the fact that there was no magic left in his fingers and Plant couldn't sing like he did in the early days. Then I started seeing and listening to the 98 stuff and it blew my mind. You could put some of those jams on tape, label it "Some night in 1975", give it to a Zep Head and he'd say, "Hey! This a good night for 75!". I think when Jimmy isn't on hard drugs and getting shit faced all the time, and he's actually playing guitar, he can get the magic back anytime he wants.

I thought the O2 was a solid performance and a good note to end on, if they have to end. These guys are in their 70s now. It's okay to not tour anymore. The show was compact without the long solos, so the mistakes were at a minimum. The feel was good and it made up for their many disastrous mini reunions like Live Aid and Atlantic Records 40th. I think For Your Life was a standout track and I'm happy they decided to play that one. I can't believe it's been 11 years already. I still think of this as their "recent" show.

From "Ooh My Ears Man!", Adelaide, Australia February 19, 1972, Plant gives the audience a good bollocking and you can hear some dude griping, "I don't like being dictated to..." Gotta love it. Robert Plant, the big dictator!

I have to say, I very much appreciated reading through these "Nitpicking" threads, both this one and the one from 77. I started listening to May 18, 1975 last night and was blown away by how Page sounded so 1973ish. I listened to it as I was falling asleep so I only got so far. I am looking forward to giving this one a proper listen tonight. You should keep doing these nitpickins'

I think this is the best version of this show I've ever heard. I was just blown away by this, and I've been listening to copies of this show for over 30 years.

This is a pretty bad one lol! But this is one of those awful soundboard recordings which makes it even worse. I hate the soundboards as they are always too dry. No reverb. They suck. But we can't blame the soundboard for this this entirely - it's bad! Another crappy show was Buffalo 73. Terrible.

Dancing Days at University - Led Zeppelin at Southampton University January 22, 1973