Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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51 of 52 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
heavy weight, 19 Jun 2003
For years, Led Zeppelin fans complained that there was one missing item in the group's catalog: a good live album. It's not that there weren't live albums to be had. The Song Remains the Same, of course, was a soundtrack of a live performance, but it was a choppy, uneven performance, lacking the majesty of the group at its peak. BBC Sessions was an excellent, comprehensive double-disc set of their live radio sessions, necessary for any Zeppelin collection (particularly because it contained three songs, all covers, never recorded anywhere else), but some carped that the music suffered from not being taped in front of a large audience, which is how they built their legacy - or, in the parlance of this triple-disc collection of previously unreleased live recordings compiled by Jimmy Page, How the West Was Won. The West in this case is the West Coast of California, since this contains selections from two 1972 concerts in Los Angeles: a show at the LA Forum on June 25, and one two days later at Long Beach Arena. This is the first archival release of live recordings of Zeppelin at their peak and while the wait has been nigh on interminable, the end result is certainly worth the wait. Both of these shows have been heavily bootlegged for years and while those same bootleggers may be frustrated by the sequencing that swaps the two shows interchangeably (they always prefer full shows wherever possible), by picking the best of the two nights, Page has assembled a killer live album that captures the full, majestic sweep of Zeppelin at their glorious peak. And, make no mistake, he tries to shove everything into these three discs - tight, furious blasts of energy; gonzo freak-outs; blues; and rock, a sparkling acoustic set. Like always, the very long numbers - the 25-minute "Dazed and Confused," the 23-minute "Whole Lotta Love," the 19-minute "Moby Dick" - are alternately fascinating and indulgent, yet even when they meander, there is a real sense of grandeur, achieving a cinematic scale attempted by few of their peers (certainly no other hard rock or metal band could be this grand; only Queen or David Bowie truly attempted this). But the real power of the band comes through on the shorter songs, where their sound is distilled to its essence. In the studio, Zeppelin was all about subtle colors, textures, and shifts in the arrangement. On-stage, they were similarly epic, but they were looser, wilder, and hit harder; witness how "Black Dog" goes straight for the gut here, while the studio version escalates into a veritable guitar army - it's the same song, but the song has not remained the same. That's the case throughout How the West Was Won, where songs that have grown overly familiar through years of play seem fresh and new because of these vigorous, muscular performances.
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20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
How the Gods Hammered, 11 Jun 2003
Quite simple - one of the best rock albums ever released.
From the opening "LA Drone" through to Robert Plant's harmonica coda, this is the real deal.
All Zep fans will be astounded by the clarity of the sound.
Jimmy Page has obviously done a fantastic job of re-mastering the original tapes and I am sure he has done a little "tinkering" here and there!!
I have a bootleg of an LA Forum gig from 72 or 74 and his "flub" quota was always quite high but who cares??
The dynamics are astounding and demands to be played at high volume to fully appreciate the sonic variations.
2 minor criticisms though - without visuals, the 20 mins drum solo (Moby Dick) and 7 mins of bowing the guitar in Dazed are hard going.
They would have been better left to the DVD and edited down for the CD. This would have left room for another gem or two (Rain Song or No Quarter?).
People have tended to overlook the contribution of JP Jones and Bonzo over the years and concentrated on the Page/ Plant partnership.
However, this is as much about them as Pagey's magical guitar playing and Plant's exuberant vocals.
John Bonham proves what a truly great drummer he was, displaying an awesome array of styles and volume control that adds dynamics by the bucket load.
JP Jones shows what a solid (without being flashy) player he was and I particularly enjoyed his mandolin playing on the acoustic section.
If there was any doubt before, this album proves what Zep fans already know - they were the best rock band of all time.
I cannot think of a better way of spending 14 quid, that's for sure!!
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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Finally, a true live Zeppelin album, 29 May 2003
It's amazing how little material Led Zeppelin has actually released. Until now the only live Zeppelin available was the poorly thought of soundtrack to the movie "The Song Remains the Same." It's nice that Jimmy Page and company finally did something to change that. "How the West Was Won" is brilliant, showcasing just how great of a live act Zeppelin really was.
Plant sounds great, but what's really amazing is the instrumental firepower he had behind him. That Jimmy Page is a great guitarist is often taken for granted, these three discs illustrate just how much we've taken him for granted. Some of the throwaway chords and riffs that come out of his guitar during the many solos he has on this album are superior to what many of today's musicians labor over. You could write a great rock record with the things that Jimmy thinks aren't worth building a song around.
Perhaps more eyeopening than Page is the work of John Bonham and John Paul Jones. The music revolves around the drums of Bonham, he controls almost everything from his perch behind the drums. The drum sound is incredible too, heavy, thundering, powering, it's like he's issuing you a challenge to ignore him. John Paul Jones also shines. In the studio Page layered guitars upon guitars, you can't do that live, and providing the full rich Zeppelin sound people got used to on the albums fell upon the shoulders of Jones, and he does not dissapoint. Where a lesser band might have had a slight "gap" in their live sound, Jones fills the void. It's amazing, his bass sounds like a lead guitar on "Bring it on Home."
In a world mostly full of disposable pop music it's a real treat to be able to listen to the worlds greatest rock band once more, and to realize just how great they truly were.
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