Inner City Blues

One of the many semi-official (bootleg) cds originating from the early seventies that now proliferate Amazon (and other sources). All documenting the live experience of some of the biggest rock bands there will ever be.This particular one comes from the night Led Zeppelin played Southampton University 22nd Jan '73, one of the final dates of their winter 72/73 UK tour, and one of the very last occasions they would play venues of this size. In fact, after Jan '73 Zeppelin would only play seven more gigs in the UK (Earls Court '75 and Knebworth '79) as their output became ever more sporadic through the second half of their career together before Bonham's untimely death.Zeppelin's 1973 set is more than familiar to anyone with even a passing interest in them, primarily due to the official TSRTS record/film from MSG later that year. This night follows Zeppelin's well established set with all the usual highlights in there (Stairway, Whole Lotta Love, the extended Dazed & Confused and so on). The quality of recording here is superb, good enough for an official release, with everything in clear balance throughout. Also, it may be due to the gig being in a small venue but they all sound a good deal more relaxed than on recordings from later that summer, by which time I think a certain weariness had started to set in after an extended period on the road (a situation which almost led to JP Jones quitting the group in late '73). On this UK leg of the tour, Zeppelin are still playing with a great deal of energy and belief, totally committed to what they are trying to achieve together. A Zeppelin that was flying high at this point in proceedings. Unfortunately, for UK audiences, the group would virtually disappear from view after this tour ended, rarely being spotted in their homeland.For any serious, or even half-serious, Zep-head this is fairly essential stuff. High quality recording of LZ at one of their peaks, before laziness, drug abuse and some tragic personal circumstances knocked them permanently off-course. The full Led Zeppelin 1973 live experience, in high quality, at a price way cheaper than it would have been 30/40 years ago (if you could get your hands on this stuff back then).Fully recommended for any Zeppelin fan or for anyone interested in 1970s UK rock, a golden age for so many acts.

if you're a zeppelin fan buy it now before it disappears.i wanted to get an early review in for people worried about sound quality - don't be.i'm no audiophile or a hardcore bootleg collector but this is superb, it has the sound and feel of the paris theatre concert on the bbc sessions cd.it is stereo with page mainly in the right channel, drums and bass in the left both bleeding across with plant up centre.it plays through both cds as one concert with no nasty edits, crowd noise is obvious between songs, (as are plants sometimes cringeworthy intros) but does not bleed into the playing.it is 1973, not 72 as stated and two months before the release of hoth, so arrangements are largely similar to tsrts, although dazed and confused and whole lotta love do explore noticeably new avenues.the few bars of beck's bolero on how many more times is of course touching and apt, in fact the feature of cd 2 in particular is the range and freedom of improvisation.the only hiccups are page turning down too low at the outro of over the hills and a ramshackle start to heartbreaker, as first page's guitar is too low, then plant's vocals - all corrected during the solo.i have 6 of these zeppelin radio broadcasts from amazon and this is the best, although jimmy's birthday bash has great sound too ( ripped from the dvd?) and osaka deserves an honourable mention.if this was a official release i would still be over the moon with this but as always if you're new to zeppelin always go through the original back catalogue first.

Decent cd

Agree with other reviews this has superb sound and is a dynamic performance that is an early example of the HOTH 73 tour that is so loud and bright in your face it sounds like you are there in the front row. Plants voice is submerged in the first part of the opener but that is fairly normal as Zepp often did not do soundchecks as Jimmy Page believed the sound completely changed betwern a sound check in an empty hall and when full of people and it would take the first song or two to get the sound balance right. I highly recommend this live cd for those who want more than the official live albums. It really is an undoctored gem.

Wow! I'm always a bit dubious about these releases and wondering what the sound quality will be like when they claim it is a 'broadcast'. This is probably the best non-official live release I've ever heard - OK, not as pristine as if Jimmy had mastered and they'd dubbed a couple of places, but it's beautifully clear and clean like it's been taken from the soundboard and equalised and the performance is a band on fire. The only slightly weak track in my opinion is the Organ Solo where JPJ may not have reached the heights of the solo on 'Blueberry Hill' as I'd hoped, but otherwise this is a great recording of an excellent show.

Love this. Of course, it's a bit ropey in places, due to the recording technology, but it's as enjoyable to listen to as "How the West Was Won". Really great stuff.