BBC Set...Comments....and a general rant

[Richard James Nigel Allcock <jpage@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> I have been reading all these posts about the BBC set and I can't help
> but wonder why most of us care.  What we are getting is a bunch of
> sessions most of us have had for ages.  They may be slightly better
> quality, but hell they're edited and most of Plant's chatter is gone.
> They didn't even include anything rare, or is Eddie Edwards the only
> person in the world with a decent copy of Sunshine Woman? Doesn't Page
> even have this? Even with all my idiotic bitching, I'll buy the damn set
> as soon as it comes out in the States.

Hi all,
In response to Brett's "concerns" I thought I'd voice a few opinions over
this set of CDs.
If you've got the Antrabata or Tarantura CDs already, there is really
no need to bother buying these CDs. After listening to the 1st CD, the
quality of the 1969 material is no better than that found on the "White
Summer" Bootleg and the "Birth of the Gods" CD. If you've already got
those, then it's a waste of a CD. The 1971 stuff sounds slightly better
than copy from the master tapes that I've got), but loses something by
missing the chatter, cutting out WIAWSNB and Communication Breakdown and
cutting part of the WLL medley.
If you dont have this stuff yet, then by all means go and buy the new CDs.
But if you've already got it, chances are you're going to be wasting your
money. Still, if money is no object and you're a completist..........
The packaging is OK, but not spectacular and in Australia the set retails
for $45 (sounds like the same price as New Zealand, about $30 US). A bit
pricey for most people. Marketing in Australia has been almost
non-existent. Warner (the distributor over here) have a policy of telling
the shops wha t is coming out a week or less in advance, so the shops
themselves generally have no clue about what is available or couldnt care
less. Hell, the day before yesterday when I bought my CDs I asked one of
the shop assistants for "the new live Led Zeppelin 2 cd set" and he tried
to sell me "Remasters". Unbelieveable. 
Here in Oz there are 2 kinds of music shops. 1 - the big chains run by
faceless corporations who only sell what is pushed at them. They dont have
any taste anyway, so they're likely to mix Zep with Metallica and not see
any difference. The other kind of shop is that run by a local independent
chap who, more often than not in this city, is a young guy who'se idea of
good music is something like Nirvana and who bascially thinks that
anything older than 1990 is dinosaur-like. ie he couldnt give a shit about
Zep. So, these CDs aint gonna sell well here in Australia. Pity really,
because even though the BBC stuff rates in the bottom 20% of the Zep
performances I've heard, it still kicks the shit out of 90% of live
performances I've heard by other bands. Maybe that's why the boys didnt
release anything better tha the BBC stuff - it would have just blown
everybody's minds and we would all have turned into Zombies :)

<rant mode off?>

Richard Allcock
PhD Student
Perth Western Australia
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I'm always looking to trade Led Zeppelin tapes, so if you'd like to check
out my tradin list, go to :
http://cygnus.uwa.edu.au/~jpage
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