Led Zeppelin - Southampton University Jan 22 1973 (Winston remaster)

Led Zeppelin
Live at the Old Refectory, Southampton University,
January 22, 1973
SBD - Remaster

Notes - From the files liberated on Royal Orleans. Cleaned up the
digital clicks best I could. No Noise reduction used. Enhanced with
Samplitude.

CD 1

1. Rock and Roll
2. Over the Hills and Far Away
3. Black Dog
4. Misty Mountain Hop
5. Since Ive Been Loving You
6. Dancing Days
7. The Song Remains the Same
8. The Rain Song
9. Dazed and Confused

CD 2

1. Stairway to Heaven
2. Whole Lotta Love (Medley)
3. Heartbreaker
4. Organ Solo
5. Thank You
6. How Many More Times
7. Communication Breakdown


Remastering is just a hobby. Hope you all enjoy.
All credit goes to the band and the liberators

Not for sale
Not for sale
Not for sale

Winston

My Comments:
When Jimmy Page was compiling live material for the Led Zeppelin DVD/How The West Was Won project in the early 2000s, this among one of the shows in consideration for a live album release. Eventually he chose the famous 1972 LA Forum and Long Beach Arena shows to represent Led Zeppelin's blistering live act as the band's first true live album. But that does not mean that this show is inferior to the one released, sure there are a couple of problems with this show but then again no show is truly perfect or flawlessly executed. This was an interesting time for the band, as sort of a transitioning period where they experienced much change in the way the band performed. Plant's voice had undergone a serious change, for he was singing at lower pitches than usual and his voice was constantly plagued by roughness. This problem all came very suddenly, in a span of two weeks from the end of the first leg of their 1972/1973 UK tour to the start of the 2nd leg, plant's voice had deteriorated dramatically to the point where he had to sing some songs two whole octaves below their usual pitch. In addition, the band had just reconfigured their entire setlist, the first major setlist change in about two years, just a few months before and were breaking in the arrangements. Nevertheless when Led Zeppelin walked up onstage that 22nd of January, all of those problems seemed to be more of a nuance as they preceded to put on not only a good show, but a memorable one. Luckily for us, this show was all captured on an excellent multitrack recording, unlike the rumored Japan 1971 multitracks that were deemed so bad in quality that jimmy page had them wiped clean. Also what is very evident on this recording, and unlike the 1972 LA Forum multitracks, were the drums, John Bonham's legendary drumming can be clearly and prominently enjoyed throughout this recording. But unfortunately the tape does suffer from very annoying dropouts, like notably in the beginning of Heartbreaker. Whether this is due to the recording engineers or the recording equipment itself is debatable but it might have been one of the factors weighed against this show regarding a official release. But going back to the show itself, it starts pretty shaky enough with rock and roll, and from the first verses it becomes very clear that something is wrong with Robert's voice, for it seems weak and tired. The rest of the band however seem to be in tiptop shape and the show really starts to improve by the second song. Over the hills is amazing tonight, with a very good guitar solo, and even with plant's rough voice, for even though he cannot hit the high notes of the song he still tries to work around the problem by singing at  a lower register. Black Dog receives a blistering rendition tonight, particularly with jimmy's amazing guitar work and Bonham's powerful drumming, even plant's rough voice enhances the song by giving it that raw hard rock feel. A nice Misty Mountain Hop leads into a very mellow yet at the same time very intense Since I've Been Loving You, which a furious guitar bridge jimmy leads into a very delicate and intense intro, matched by an equally good solo that is charged with emotion, and even with all the problems up to this point in the show the whole song is wonderfully played. After an alright Dancing Days the band launch into The Song Remains The Same, for what was left of the acoustic set, namely Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp, was dropped from the set a few weeks earlier at the start of the this leg of the tour. So despite the problem of plant's voice, both The Song Remains The Same and The Rain Song were played very well. Dazed and Confused is my favorite song of the night, to simply hear a unhampered multitrack version of this song is a treat, for one gets to hear every nuance of the transition of zeppelin from the high-octane, hard-hitting marauders of the early seventies to a band that took its playing to the next level in displaying technical, refined playing that would characterize the remaining 1973 tours. For example, one can hear the evolution of the "San Francisco" interlude that comes before the violin bow solo, and how it went from being a collection of chords used to set the tempo for the bow section to it becoming an important section in developing a calm eerie mood with its mysterious riff of ascending and descending notes that would later evolve into a song of its own, the ten-minute epic Achilles Last Stand. After the excellent Dazed, comes a nice version of Stairway to Heaven, which ironically did end up being on the live album, well only Jones' mellotron part anyways. This is followed by a excellent Whole Lotta Love, whose devastating funk and theremin sections are played at a furious tempo, the recording fully capturing the intensity of Bonham's drumming. The remainder of the melody is just as excellent, with fantastic versions of Everybody Needs Someone to love, Boogie Chillun, Let's Have a Party, and I Can't Quit You Baby. This was followed by a intense Heartbreaker, that is painfully plagued by a dropout at the beginning. Following this came jones' organ solo, which although is not like the LA Forum version, famous for its Louie Louie cover, it is still a pretty good showcase for Jones' musicianship. Thank You which follows this is also a showcase, well for jimmy page, and he delivers a really good solo. Then comes the surprise encore of How Many More Times, a early live staple that had not been played since early 1970, and considering the state of plant's voice and the fatigue of the band it is a very good and welcome encore indeed. The band finish the night off by delivering a quick and hard rocking Communication Breakdown, bringing to and end a very successful two and a half hour show. This is a very enjoyable show, the quality of the recording itself being reason alone to get this show, and i highly recommend this show to anyone, from casual Led Zeppelin fan to the hardcore collector. Enjoy :)

Mediafire Download links for Southampton 1973