How West Was Won

High quality sound! Zeppelin at its best!!! Plant’s vocals are sublime!! Page’s guitar playing is epic, before the heroin years. Bonham and Jones rhythm section are prefect!!!!!

I have a half-dozen bootleg albums of Led Zeppelin concerts from the mid-1970s salted away, which means that when it comes to listening to the group in live performance the sound on "How the West Was Won" is actually a step up from what I was used to during Led Zep's glory years. But even if your experience to Led Zeppelin live is limited to the soundtrack for "The Song Remains the Same" you can still appreciate the way the group refused to simply get up on stage and play their songs the way they appeared on their albums. "Whole Lotta Love" and "Dazed and Confused" were always an opportunity to indulge in the wide variety of musical forms that had inspire Jimmy Page and Robert Plant. This is why when you listen to the former you find John Lee Hooker's "Boggie Chillun," Jerry Leiber's "Let's Have a Party," Gene Pitney's "Hello Marylou," and James B. Oden's "Going Down Slow" into the mix. But during the later Led Zep would reference its own work, both known ("The Crunge") and unknown ("Walter's Walk"). Both "Heartbreaker" and "Bring It On Home" are extended in similar ways as well, playing to the group's strengths.The tracks collected here are taken from two concerts, recorded two days apart, in June of 1972. The order of the 18 tracks follows the set list for those two concerts, with the only omission from both concerts being "Tangerine" from the acoustic set that ends Disc 1 (Disc 3 has half of the encore material from the L.A. gig, which apparently went on much longer than the one in Long Beach, including "Louie Louie," "Thank You" and "Communication Breakdown"). The bottom line is that "How the West Was Won" is one of those albums where the fact that it has previously unreleased live Led Zeppelin music is enough to make you decide whether or not you want to pick it up, even if you already have any of the bootlegs that exist (I have one of 1973 Forum concert that was Bonzo's 25th birthday, but that is not this one).Even when you are aware of the similarities between some of the songs that are on both this album and "The Song Remains the Same," there are always some significant differences that makes you appreciate the way Led Zep usually made their songs extended jam sessions. Besides, you get a version of the one song that is in the concert film of "The Song Remains the Same" but not on the album, "Since I've Been Loving You," which is a Led Zeppelin blues classic that I never thought got the credit it deserved. The expectation is not that "How the West Was Won" is going to converst anybody. This CD-collection is for the faithful.

I have a half-dozen bootleg albums of Led Zeppelin concerts from the mid-1970s salted away somewhere, which means that when it comes to listening to the group in live performance the sound on "How the West Was Won" is actually a step up. But even if your experience to Led Zeppelin live is limited to the soundtrack for "The Song Remains the Same" you can still appreciate the way the group refused to simply get up on stage and play their songs the way they appeared on their albums. "Whole Lotta Love" and "Dazed and Confused" were always an opportunity to indulge in the wide variety of musical forms that had inspire Jimmy Page and Robert Plant. This is why when you listen to the former you find John Lee Hooker's "Boggie Chillun," Jerry Leiber's "Let's Have a Party," Gene Pitney's "Hello Marylou," and James B. Oden's "Going Down Slow" into the mix. But during the later Led Zep would reference its own work, both known ("The Crunge") and unknown ("Walter's Walk"). Both "Heartbreaker" and "Bring It On Home" are extended in similar ways as well, playing to the group's strengths.The tracks are taken from two concerts, recorded two days apart, in June of 1972. The order of the 18 tracks follows the set list for those two concerts, with the only omission from both concerts being "Tangerine" from the acoustic set that ends Disc 1 (Disc 3 has half of the encore material from the L.A. gig, which apparently went on much longer than the one in Long Beach, including "Louie Louie," "Thank You" and "Communication Breakdown"). The bottom line is that "How the West Was Won" is one of those albums where the fact that it has previously unreleased live Led Zeppelin music is enough to make you decide whether or not you want to pick it up, even if you already have any of the bootlegs that exist (I have one of 1973 Forum concert that was Bonzo's 25th birthday, but that is not this one). Even when you are aware of the similarities between some of the songs that are on both this album and "The Song Remains the Same," there are always some significant differences that makes you appreciate the way Led Zep usually made their songs extended jam sessions. Besides, you get a version of the one song that is in the concert film of "The Song Remains the Same" but not on the album, "Since I've Been Loving You," which is a Led Zeppelin blues classic that I never thought got the credit it deserved.

Simplemente el mejor de los álbumes en vivo de la banda, me llegó antes el pedido y en excelentes condiciones

This 2003 release of archive material from two big arena concerts in California in 1972 contains probably the best available material of Zeppelin playing to a live audience in their heyday. The compilation was put together by Jimmy Page from material he discovered "...while searching through the archives for visual and audio material for the Led Zeppelin DVD". The gigs were at the LA Forum on 25th June & Long Beach Arena on 27th June, so several months before the `Houses of the Holy' album was released in March 1973 (though a few numbers from that release are performed here) and prior to any of the material for `Physical Graffiti' being composed or recorded.You get 3 separate CDs.The first disk is the real star of the show, with `Immigrant Song', `Heartbreaker', `Black Dog', `Over the Hills & Far Away' & `Since I've been loving You' (definite highpoint especially from a highly expressive Plant with beautiful lyrical phrasing) moving into the familiar 1970s Zeppelin acoustic set, which is truly sublime: `Stairway' is followed by `Goin' to California', `That's the Way' & `Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp' with phenomenal acoustic playing from Page's open-tuned 12-string & Jones on mandolin. It's here above all that the high quality of the recordings & mix shines, with perfect balance of sound doing justice to the exemplary playing & Plant in top form giving astounding vocal expression to these great numbers.Only on disk 2 do some of the notorious 1970s excesses of self-indulgence make their presence felt, with `What is & what should never be' & `Dancing Days' sandwiched between a 25-minute `Dazed & Confused' medley & Bonzo's overlong `Moby Dick', surely of interest only to rock drummers (but it gave the rest of the band a welcome break in mid-concert).Things pick up nicely again on disk 3, with the 23-minute `Whole Lotta Love' medley, a storming `Rock & Roll', new track `The Ocean' & 9-minute `Bring it on Home' as the closer.This really is the definitive live Zeppelin album. If you're of a later generation and don't understand why your parents' generation speak of Zeppelin with such reverence, then put Disk 1 into a big sound system, crank up the volume & listen. You'll start to get it, and might wish you'd been of an age to see & hear this great band live during the definitive & never-to-be-repeated golden era for rock music.

Bought as a present for my son and he is over the moon with this... apparently it's being played almost non stop!!!

Arrived in perfect condition and much better than the Song Remains The Same in sound clarity and live performance.

thank you i liked led zap