| Tech Note | Vienna 1973 (TDOLZ 489701/489702 The Diagrams of Led Zeppelin)
Stadthalle, Vienna, Austria, March 16, 1973
CD 1: (56:57) Rock & Roll (overloaded and unbalanced throughout), Over the Hills and Far Away, Black Dog, Misty Mountain Hop, Since I've Been Loving You, Dancing Days, Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp, The Song Remains the Same (switches to second tape source near the beginning), The Rain Song
CD 2: (70:13) Dazed & Confused (includes San Francisco) (small cut in the beginning, switches back to first tape source during the fast guitar portion prior to San Francisco, minor volume drop near the ending, dropout near the ending), Stairway to Heaven (contains a quick high-pitched squeal during the guitar solo), Whole Lotta Love (includes Boogie Woogie, Baby I Don't Care, Let's Have A Party (switches to second tape source at the beginning, contains minor speed problems), I Can't Quit You, Lemon Song) (small cut at end, speed problems worsen), Heartbreaker (switches back to first tape source at beginning of guitar solo, but is very muffled)
The first audience tape source used for the majority of this release is very good and very close to the stage with little audience noise or tape hiss. All the instruments are very clear. Only a couple of factors keep this recording from being excellent. The first is proximity of the recorder to the stage. The instruments, particularly the bass, overload the tape. It lessens after Rock & Roll and is acceptable. The sound also washes in and out in places. The recorder was probably blocked by either members of the audience or the taper. The recorder was also positioned on one side of the stage. During portions of the show where the sound was switched from one side of the stage to the other for effect (i.e. Dazed & Confused bow slapping solo), the sound level drops in the recording as the sound transfers to the other side of the stage. This also occurs on the second tape source, but not as pronounced. No cue stop is provided for Black Dog. Page plays hints of That's The Way during Bron-Yr-Stomp. A between song cut starts The Song Remains the Same on its first note. The second tape source used is a little shy of very good. It is not as dynamic as the first tape source or as close to the stage. But because of its location, the tape is not overloaded by the instrumentation. It does contain a noticeable amount of tape hiss. After the tape switch during Whole Lotta Love's medley, speed problems can be detected on the second tape source, but they are not as noticeable as they will be after the cut at the end of Whole Lotta Love. The same show has previously been released on Led Poisoning (Cobla). It primarily used the second tape source. It switched to the first tape source in the same location during Heartbreaker. Rock & Roll is cleaner sounding on the second tape source. It starts with only a few seconds of tape garble. It contains the same cut at the beginning of Dazed & Confused but none at the end of Whole Lotta Love. The high-pitched squeal during Stairway to Heaven is only present on the first tape source. Speed problems with the second tape source start after a cut between Dazed & Confused and Stairway to Heaven. Where the two releases share the same second tape source, the TDOLZ release sounds better. The Cobla release sounds very shrill and not as dynamic. It does, however, lack the tape hiss found on the TDOLZ release. The first tape source shared at the end of Heartbreaker sounds similar for both releases. Another release of this show, Led Poisoning (Flying Disc Music), uses an excellent sounding soundboard portion of the show. It cuts in during the fast guitar portion prior to San Francisco and runs to the end of Stairway to Heaven. It then picks up during the Boogie Woogie part of Whole Lotta Love and runs through the rest of the show. It too does not have the high-pitched squeal found on the first tape source during Stairway to Heaven. Unfortunately that is all that is available from the soundboard. (Brian Ingham Jan 98)
This boot uses all of the 90 minute audience source which is very good combined with an inferior audience source to complete the set. It sounds as if the recording was made right next to the stage! |
