boot reviews

[Brian Ingham <bingham@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Room 2/3 (IQ-019/20/21)
Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco, California November 6, 1969
CD 1: (64:36) Good Times Bad Times/ Communication Breakdown, I Can*t Quit =
You (volume drops for 10 seconds near beginning, dropout in the middle), =
Heartbreaker, Dazed & Confused, White Summer/ Black Mountain Side =
(contains a tape speed up near the beginning and a cut near the end), What =
Is & What Should Never Be, Moby Dick (cut near beginning of drum solo)
CD 2: (63:33) How Many More Times (contains 3 separate dropouts near =
beginning), C*mon Everybody, Something Else,
Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco, California November 7, 1969
Good Times Bad Times/ Communication Breakdown, I Can*t Quit You, Heartbreak=
er, Dazed & Confused (contains 8 separate tape speed problems from middle =
to end)
CD 3: (56:07) White Summer/ Black Mountain Side (first few seconds cut, =
volume fluctuations in the beginning), Babe I*m Gonna Leave You (first few =
seconds cut, slightly distorted), What Is & What Should Never Be (tape =
speed up in middle and near end, slightly distorted), Moby Dick (muffled =
near beginning, tape speed up/ cut just before drum solo, cut near end of =
drum solo, slightly distorted), How Many More Times (includes Suzie Q, The =
Hunter) (contains 7 speed ups in middle and 3 near end, cuts out as The =
Hunter starts, slightly distorted)

The audience tape used for the November 6th show is clear and very good. =
It does, however, contain hiss. The sound, and level of hiss, are very =
similar  to the audience tape of the April 26th show at the  Winterland =
Ballroom (same taper?). The same tape source was used for Blow Up =
(Immigrant),  Punk (Tarantura) and its CD clone, The End of 69 (Whole =
Lotta Live). I passed on acquiring Blow Up after listening to it. It is =
from a higher generation tape and I doubt if it is any more complete. The =
tape used for Punk was electronically processed and the sound slightly =
enhanced. Normally, this would be a good thing if handled properly. But =
you can hear when the processor was turned on as the hiss suddenly =
vanishes at the beginning of Communication Breakdown. The processor also =
opens and closes around the music, making quiet passages more pronounced. =
For better or worse, the tape used for Room 2/3 was left alone. Punk does =
not have  the cut near the end of  White Summer (possibly edited out). =
Punk lacks Plant*s introduction before How Many More Times. There is a 3% =
speed difference between the two releases. I*m not sure which is correct. =
The audience tape used for the November 27th show is from one source and =
is good at best. It too suffers from hiss. The instruments are also =
unbalanced in the mix. The guitar is mostly up-front while the vocals are =
in the background. Plant*s vocals are barely audible during Communication =
Breakdown. There are also numerous speed problems throughout and the =
volume distorts the tape at the end of its run. Page plays Suzie Q as part =
of the instrumental warmup to How Many More Times.

It*s Time to Travel Again (TDOLZ 419701/419702)
Voorst Nationaal, Brussels, Belgium January 12, 1975
CD 1: (47:45) Rock & Roll (contains 2 small dropouts near beginning, first =
minute cluttered and distant sounding), Sick Again,  When the Levee Breaks =
false intro./ Over the Hills and Far Away (volume increases then decreases =
for 30 seconds near the beginning, the bass overloads the recording at =
this point), When the Levee Breaks (recording overloaded by opening =
harmonica playing, volume decreases a couple minutes in), The Song Remains =
the Same, The Rain Song (minor dropout in middle, minor volume changes =
after dropout), Kashmir (volume increases in beginning, dropout in =
beginning, tape ends abruptly at end of song)
CD 2: (60:14) The Wanton Song, No Quarter, Trampled Underfoot, In My Time =
of Dying, Stairway to Heaven, Whole Lotta Love (quick fade down/ fade up =
in the beginning), Black Dog, Communication Breakdown

This release uses an alternate audience tape than the one reviewed in Luis =
Rey*s book. After the initial sonic clutter, it clears up and can be =
considered very good with very little hiss. With the exception of Over the =
Hills and Far Away, the volume changes are minor. They were probably due =
to the repositioning of the recorder. The recording is clear enough to =
hear that Plant*s voice was in good shape. The Wanton Song and Communicatio=
n Breakdown are witness to this. The newer songs from Physical Graffiti =
are handled quite well considering their infancy on the road. The band =
does makes a couple of errors during Kashmir though. Whole Lotta Love is =
played as an instrumental introduction to Black Dog. Page slips up a few =
times during Black Dog.

Standing in the Shadow (TDOLZ 379701/379702/379703)
Long Beach Civic Arena, Long Beach, California March 12, 1975
CD 1: (74:33) Rock & Roll, Sick Again, Over the Hills and Far Away, In My =
Time of Dying, The Song Remains the Same false start, The Song Remains the =
Same (small cut at beginning and in middle, last few seconds cut), The =
Rain Song  (first few seconds cut), Kashmir, No Quarter (small cut after =
solos, ending cut)
CD 2: (56:24) Trampled Underfoot, Moby Dick, Dazed & Confused (includes =
Woodstock)
CD 3: (39:39) Stairway to Heaven, Whole Lotta Love, The Crunge (includes =
Rhythm Stick), Black Dog, Heartbreaker (includes I*m A Man)

This release uses a very good audience recording. The recording is very =
close to the stage and all the instruments are clear, but not well =
balanced. The bass distorts the tape in places. The tape *shakes* because =
of this. It is at its worse during  Dazed & Confused and Stairway to =
Heaven. The recording picks up very little closeup audience noise except =
in a few places. The same source tape was used on Trampled Under Jimmy*s =
Foot (Silver Rarities). That release used a higher generation tape that =
ran 4% too slow. Both have the same number of cuts. A better, alternate =
tape was used for Long Beach Arena Fragment (Holy). Unfortunately, as the =
title implies, it is only a fragment (from most of Stairway to Heaven to =
the end of the show). I was informed the taper was unaware there was a =
problem with the recorder until the end of the show. Too bad, this =
performance is  better than the previous night*s.

Push=21 Push=21 (IQ-026/27)
Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, California July 24, 1977
CD 1: (72:14) The Song Remains the Same (first minute a little wishy-washy =
sounding, small cut near beginning), The Rover intro., Sick Again, =
Nobody*s Fault But Mine (first few notes cut), Over the Hills and Far Away =
(first few notes cut), Since I*ve Been Loving You, No Quarter (first few =
notes cut, small cut in middle of piano solo), Ten Years Gone, The Battle =
of Evermore (first few notes cut)
CD 2 (73:18) Going to California, Mystery Train (beginning cut), Black =
Country Woman, Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp, White Summer/ Black Mountain Side (first =
few notes cut), Kashmir, guitar solo (includes Star Spangled Banner) =
(first few notes cut), Achilles Last Stand, Stairway to Heaven (first few =
notes cut), Whole Lotta Love (first few notes cut), Rock & Roll

The audience tape used for this release is very good to near excellent. =
The recorder was very close to the monitors and the instruments are clear =
with very little audience noise or hiss in the recording. The sound does =
not *breathe* like other outdoor recordings. The taper turned the recorder =
off between songs, cutting the tips off most songs. In most cases, it is =
minor. No sign of Moby Dick on this recording.