LA 6/3/73 is also one of the best

There’s a lot of magic on 5/24, NQ, Tangerine, a wonderful acoustic set and a fine Stairway. But the best thing about it is what’s for my money the greatest ever Trampled. Best overall 75 show imo is Seattle 321 followed closely by Long Beach 312. Couldn’t agree more with duckman, if we ever get multis from EC that will be epic to say the least. The dry boards from this era don’t do the band many favors. A properly mixed multi from Mr Page would silence any naysayers.

Thank you!

Is there a non-Dime link to this cuztard pi version?

This is a tough tour to nitpick all the way around the horn...Jimmy alternated between decent and train wreck, sometimes within the same minute, Plant's heart wasn't in it, undoubtedly Bonzo's most lackluster tour, and Jones' Alembic and keyboard sounds don't exude much warmth. It has its moments, but this is the tour that time forgot, unfortunately for good reason.

Great thread...seeing the laser pyramid was incredibly exciting live...and I agree the segue from that into Achilles in the Fort Worth show sounds absolutely amazing, one of the great live moments imo. Glad to see some love for Landover 5-26, one because I was there and two because I think it’s better than advertised although the horribly dry soundboard does it no favors (as is often the case with 75 and 77 gigs). And the segue from White Summer into Kashmir is 77 was indeed thrilling. Oh, and Osaka 71 kicks serious ass!

The O2 version is flawless and is one of the greatest performances of Robert Plant's career, easily imo his greatest post-Zep era performance. The incredible visuals didn't hurt anything either. As for the real Zeppelin, there are some nice ones from 1975, but by 1977 the versions (when they were well done) took the piece to another level. Bonham was routinely spectacular on these, and on the recordings that capture the visceral response from the audience at the song's conclusion, it gives a real idea of what it was like to be there.

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the story was that Jimmy just turned the thing over to Kevin Shirley, and he was the one who FUBARed it. Its nice to have the songs not originally on the soundtrack, but the project was botched horribly in several places and that's all there is to it imo. Agree with Porgie, the best attempt to date at getting it right is the Heywood edition. Shirley hasn't worked on another Zep project since. Coincidence?

Whiskey From The Glass, as far as I know, is only available on the Japanese CD of the album. The Window is a b-side which can be found on the Most High CD single. Also I forgot to mention a version of Upon A Golden Horse sans strings, which stands alongside The Window on the double b-side Most High CD single.

Great post, John M! I will break this out again and give it a listen. The muddy production always throws me, and it remains disappointing all these years later that Page and Plant allowed the album to be hampered that way. I've been hot and cold on this album at various points across the years. Standouts to me are WTWWY, nice deceptive mellow groove at the start, and then very powerful. Blue Train strikes me well in recent times. Most High is great, but I actually prefer the "single" version. It's more concise and punchy imo. Heart In Your Hand is brilliant, and I imagine Plant's lyrics can probably hit home with most folks. Clarksdale is one of the best songs they ever came up with, and Page is tremendous here. Many of the live versions of this were incredible. Burning Up is a bit silly in a way, but I still always like a song where Page lets it rip, and Plant's "like a volcano" refrains at the end are cool. I like When I Was A Child, Plant is singing well and with emotion, and I really like Page's guitar work there. House Of Love and Sons Of Freedom are strong and edgy rockers. The Japanese "bonus" track Whiskey From The Glass is a sort of post-apocalyptic dirge, very effective. And the b-side The Window is a very dark and moody piece. Also I would again mention the live b-sides from the Shepherd's Bush gig. I think it would really be great if Page and Plant released that gig as an "archive" release. The band played well that night, and the recording is amazing.

I don't profess to know what was going on behind the scenes, but I believe Page was desperate to work with Plant again (that's become even more apparent in the years since), and Robert was calling the shots. Vis-a-vis the non-invite to Jonesy, having Plant's son-in-law playing bass pretty much says it all imo. I saw quite a few shows in both 95 and 98, and I enjoyed them, especially the ones from 98. Page was really back by that point, his best playing since 1973 imo. I enjoyed the WIC tour better than the first one. Cutting the waffle from the NQ tour and rocking out on WIC tour made that tour more enjoyable for me. At the end of the day, the Jones snub hasn't aged well. The fact that he apparently found out about it in the papers, and subsequent disrespectful Plant "quips", weren't a good look for P/P. That said, I went anyway and was glad I did. But I wouldn't blame Jones one bit if that era still sticks in his craw.

Love the packaging job on Eat A Peach. But the top end on that set is too hot for my ears. Slumpy's to me is a much warmer recording. I'm sure there's one or two versions out there I have yet to catch up with, but right now Slumpy's is the best to these old, battered ears.

I think Plant's angst during the "tax exile" period was at Page and Grant squirreling him into a studio to record Presence when he basically couldn't stand. From everything I've read, Plant likes a dollar as much as anyone, and no one could blame anyone of the era who had money not wanting to give it all to the British government.

"Slumpy" is the kind soul who worked on the recording and made it sound so nice.

My personal fave is Individually and Collectively, a 3-source Slumpy matrix, utilizing primarily the old Genuine Masters source, along with the "5th source", and a bit of the Rubber Dubber source to patch. It's a smooth listen imo.

Another great Thank You, and maybe the best, is from the LA Forum June 3, 1973. A real magic about that one imo.

Saturday Groovers was a great treat, so cool to see Jonesy play that bass. Thanks as always Deborah J, you rock!

Great story, I taped that too back in the day and that is the best of The Firm right there, imo. Cadillac was also monstrous in that gig, and the solo Jimmy played on Live In Peace is one of his best solos in or out of Zeppelin. If the band had been that good every night, they would be much more well remembered.

Thanks Charles. I've thought about purchasing the vinyl a few times, but the prices have always seemed a bit steep without knowing if it sounds better than the CD. I'll probably continue to avoid it. One thing that sounds great are the live tracks from Shepherd's Bush that were on the CD singles as b-sides. Those are tremendous.

Forgive me if this was covered elsewhere, but does the LP sound any better than the CD?

Thanks Deborah J! That HMMT from Montreux, especially the first part with the audience recording, is some of the most smoking Zeppelin ever committed to tape, always been a fave. Thanks again for putting these posts together, great stuff!

Re. Radioactive: Sure sounds like Jimmy to me...