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Europe 73 - Best of


ZepHead315

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I did a pretty extensive search of the forum and was shocked to discover that (apparently) no one has made a topic of this yet! Unless I'm retarded of course! :P

This month-long tour, from Copenhagen on March 2nd to Paris on April 2nd, is one of the greatest tours/runs that Zeppelin has ever done. Jimmy and Bonzo were on a whole other level here!

Since this is such a phenomenal run, I'm curious to see what you all would put in your "best of Europe 73" compilation. For mine, since the soundboards don't kick in until Dazed, I focused only on the good quality audience tapes (Vienna 3/16, Munich 3/17, Offenburg 3/24, and Paris 4/2):

1. Rock and Roll - 4/2 (yeah the beginning is cut and the tape is slightly overloaded at the start, but Plant's voice was in very good shape here, which gets things off to a strong start)

2. Over the Hills and Far Away - 3/24

3. Black Dog - 4/2

4. Misty Mountain Hop - 3/24

5. Since I've Been Loving You - 3/24

6. Dancing Days - 3/17

7. Bron-Y-Aur Stomp - 3/17

8. The Song Remains The Same - 3/24

9. The Rain Song - 3/24

10. Dazed and Confused - 3/16 (this is VERY tough! Hamburg, Essen, and Offenburg are right up there neck and neck along with this one. It's practically a toss-up for me!)

11. Stairway to Heaven - 3/24

12. Whole Lotta Love - 3/22

13. The Ocean - 3/21

14. Heartbreaker - 3/24

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You could probably do a best-of from just Offenburg and Hamburg alone.  Stairway from Vienna is one of my all-time favorites, really shows off the interplay between Page and Bonham.  As already mentioned, Heartbreaker and WWL from Vienna are also outstanding.

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12 hours ago, Amstel said:

Must add Thank You and How Many More Times from Southampton!

 

1 hour ago, JohnOsbourne said:

Technically not part of the (continental)  European tour in March, but FWIW you could also include Communication Breakdown from Southampton.

Yeah, Southampton has its moments, but that show is fairly low-key, even downright sloppy at times. The winter UK tour has some good shows, but as I said above, Page and Bonzo were really on another planet for this March tour. I really wish they had multitracked these shows and done a "best of" live album rather than TSRTS. That album is good, but these shows wipe the floor with it. I think if they had done a "Euro '73" live album, it'd be right up there with Live at Leeds or At Fillmore East as the greatest live rock album ever!

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14 hours ago, ZepHead315 said:

 

Yeah, Southampton has its moments, but that show is fairly low-key, even downright sloppy at times. The winter UK tour has some good shows, but as I said above, Page and Bonzo were really on another planet for this March tour. I really wish they had multitracked these shows and done a "best of" live album rather than TSRTS. That album is good, but these shows wipe the floor with it. I think if they had done a "Euro '73" live album, it'd be right up there with Live at Leeds or At Fillmore East as the greatest live rock album ever!

Southampton is mediocre compared to the Continental shows . The problem with multi tracks (if they existed) is Plants vocals are so fucked they'd have to be seriously edited for official release. That's true of most anything from 73, 75 and a much of 77 too...though he was in better voice in 77. Jimmy and Bonzo were off the chain in spring of 73 . I'd be happy with Soundboards of just the instrumentals.  

Edited by porgie66
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7 hours ago, porgie66 said:

Southampton is mediocre compared to the Continental shows . The problem with multi tracks (if they existed) is Plants vocals are so fucked they'd have to be seriously edited for official release. That's true of most anything from 73, 75 and a much of 77 too...though he was in better voice in 77. Jimmy and Bonzo were off the chain in spring of 73 . I'd be happy with Soundboards of just the instrumentals.  

Yeah Plant was certainly a shadow of his former self by 73. But honestly, I've been listening to several Euro shows again, and his voice is actually not that bad. He seems to have accepted that he can't go for the really high notes anymore and seems to have settled into his new range. Yeah his voice cracks every now and then, but by the time of, say, Dazed and Confused, he seems to have found his groove. He certainly sounds much better than he did at the January shows.

Sadly, by 1975, Page's playing was subpar too (at least compared to 73). And 77 was even worse. But he still had his moments. The 77 LA run is proof of that. If only they had multi tracked those shows. Now THAT would be a killer live album, imo. Of course, Page would probably Frankenstein the hell out of it, assuming he'd want to release it at all.

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  • 9 months later...
23 hours ago, paplbojo said:

Is it feasible that if the band soundboard recorded the Paris shows where plant is at his '73 peak, Page could take the vocals and put them on top of say, Offenburg etc? There's a chance they're all soundboard recorded for the band's own purposes

Yeah.. Unfortunately the only way to do that would be if they multi tracked the shows, which a soundboard recording does not have individual tracks.. 

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