How
to use this database?
It's very simple. The database is concentrating especially on low gen
tapes as well as original vinyl and silver discs. MIDI's, MP3's, CD-Rs
and DVD-Rs and all other unprofessional formats were omitted here. I
listed most of low gens and professionally released bootlegs available
in the underground music market for now, but I omitted many compilation
bootleg albums as well as few reissues of bootleg albums released by
more professional labels.
The dates are in the month-day-year format. The place of each performance
and the day it was played on are in the same line. Any additional information
such as support acts etc. were also added below.
Information about setlists is not always complete, because it is based
on original recordings' remainders. It is listed only when confirmed
by a tape source or other database, except for very few, which were
confirmed by other trustworthy sources. Also because of the common practice
of misdating many commercially pressed items or tapes, so there's still
a chance of error on my part.
All the tapes' characteristics and technical details are allegedly based
on low gen recordings, not commercially pressed bootlegs. Most of them
often run at incorrect speed and suffer from other issues, therefore
these pages show only approximate length of tapes listed and do not
indicate detailed descriptions. Unless any of these recordings won't
be released officially, there's a large margin of error on my side.
Commercially pressed albums are much more often prepared by the bootleggers/producers
to give more luxurious audio or visual aspect and many of the original
distortions/issues are industriously obscured or removed from the media,
so it means that commercially pressed recording can be shorter or much
more enhanced than the original tape because of adaptation of ultra-modern
digital mastering equipment. Knowing the differences comparing same
show tapes is very important. My two determining factors for an upgrade
are the completeness of the tape and its sound quality. My comparisons
of differences will mostly be brief summaries or outlines of my more
extensive notes, since many differences are considered trivial to normal
collectors.
Presentation of concrete, provable information learned from listening
to these titles is the only way I can help collectors. Premium packaging
and pricing never affect the quality of the audio contained therein.
It has no relevance. Music is the objective and always comes first.
While listening to two or more different tapes of the same show, I listen
for and compare all cuts, audience talk/noises to determine if different
source is used, tape length and speed, and
overall completeness.
Upgrades can sound better due to two primary reasons. It can be a different
tape entirely, or it can be a lower generation of the same tape. The
secondary reasons would be that the tape had less of some of the controllable
variables such as when copy of tape used was placed across multiple
cassette tapes, creating more cuts or when some traders simply aren't
or haven't been concerned with maintaining the integrity of the original
bootleg tape and don't mind unnecessary errors. Cuts, gaps, dropouts
and stretches during or between songs can be explained due fact that
if recording is turned off between songs to conserve tape, taper error,
recording device malfunction, damaged tape due to natural deterioration
or mistreatment, time missed while one tape ended and the next tape
got loaded into the recorder, if the taper or trader "marking"
the tape so he can identify it later, or if the taper does not want
to release full tape.
What
is the meaning of bootleg and underground tape?
Underground tape is nothing more than pure, master source from which
all the bootlegs are made. Speaking very simply, it can be done during
the concert by any member of the audience, during the concert as a soundboard
and in the studio during recording sessions. The most common underground
tapes are audience recordings made by audience members that have had
the chance to witness and record the band. For many cases, audience
tapes are rather poor sounding and less or more incomplete remainders
of the concert, but in some special cases the sound is superb (like
all of Mike Millard tapes). This was caused when the taper operated
on high-tech equipment and had the chance to get the best position on
the arena (dead centre or near the speakers). In contrast to the audience
recordings, soundboards are always professionally recorded multi-track
tapes that were prepared for the group's own needs, often for future
live projects. These tapes in most cases are excellent to superb sounding
complete recordings with all the instruments well-balanced, made by
professional sound engineers. The last category of underground tapes
are studio tapes. This category of underground tape is always superb
sounding professional recordings made during album or both radio and
TV sessions (except for cassette demos, which were made during rehearsals).
Needless to say that all underground tapes were dubbed several times
by the persons involved in the recording process or just by the fans
and/or professional bootleggers, so several generations of many tapes
are in circulation.
A "bootleg" is defined as an illegally manufactured disc or
tape that includes previously unreleased live or studio recordings.
Beside bootleg another two category of illegal albums are exists: a
"pirate" album considered as a copy of a commercially available
recording that has been repackaged in its own unique packaging and a
"counterfeit" album, which is a copy of a commercially available
recording that duplicates all aspects of the original official copy,
including the packaging.
What
is the sound rating and how it works?
The sound rating system is nothing more than the scale made to describe
the quality of recording. The rating used here is based on the sound
quality of bootlegs, not legitimate (official) albums. To give you an
idea of the quality, I've given numbers from 12 to 1 (that are equivalents
of terms Superb to Poor) beside each of the following ratings:
What
is the audience and soundboard recording and how is the difference between
them?
There is some confusion among collectors concerning the different types
of recordings available, with "soundboard" and "audience"
being the most common definitions. While accurate, the terms audience
and soundboard don't adequately cover all the different ranges within
those categories.
Audience recording
The quality of an audience tape depends on the equipment used by the
taper, as well as the position of the taper in the arena. There are
some excellent tapes available from several small tours, simply because
the band played smaller venues, and it was easier to capture the sound
when the band was only a short distance away. As the tours grew larger
and the band began to play arenas and stadiums, the position of the
taper became more important, and many of the audience tapes from the
latter tours pale in comparison to the earlier ones because the taper
was unable to record from a good location.
Unlike many soundboard tapes, audience tapes typically feature varying
amounts of audience noise. While sometimes annoying, an active audience
around the taper produces an effect similar to a professionally mixed
live album, which will typically have a small amount of audience noise
added to the mix to enhance the feeling of "being there".
If the taper was able to elevate his microphones, the audience noise
is greatly reduced, but many audience tapes were recorded right from
the taper's seat and sometimes have an overwhelming amount of talking,
cheering, and fighting, which can destroy the recording. That also caused
the incompleteness of many of the audience tapes as well as distortions
in such of bumps and other unanticipated errors.
Soundboard recording
Most PA (Public Address) systems consist of two soundboards; the FOH,
or "Front of House" mix, and the "monitor" mix.
The FOH is the source that is heard by the audience, while the musicians
on stage typically will each have a specialized monitor mix that allows
each musician to balance elements of the group's sound that are inaudible
or overwhelming on the stage. The "monitor" mixes also lack
reverb and room sound, the lack of which can produce a dry or lifeless
recording.
Except for the early radio broadcasts, which could be considered a form
of "FOH" mix, most available Led Zeppelin soundboard tapes
are monitor mixes and the quality of the sound is dependent on which
musician's mix was used for the tape. Typically, it's a two track recording,
either mono or stereo, left and right channels from the board (what
the audience hears). Much often, at least one instrument dominates the
mix, as they are the elements that can't be heard so clearly on stage
over the rest during the show. Good examples of an unbalanced mix are
numerous soundboard tapes available from the 1973 tour, all of which
feature varying musicians in the front of the mix while the others are
in the background. Most soundboard tapes will have little or no audience
noise, generally only what was picked up by the stage microphones.
Multitrack recording
A multitrack recording records each instrument onto a separate track
in order to allow for a better and more cohesive sound. Live albums
almost exclusively use multitrack recordings, as the sound levels of
individual instruments can be adjusted and balanced to give the best
sound presentation. A good example of this would be Led Zeppelin's "The
Song Remains The Same" and "How The West Was Won" live
albums. Both were later mixed and produced in the studio, where all
separate tracks have been carefully adjusted and balanced to give a
proper balance. Unfortunately, precious few multitrack recordings of
the band are known to exist.
What
is the "low" and "high" gen tape?
The "low" gen tape is a tape that stands very close to the
master tape, while "high" gen tape means the tape stands far
away from the master and was dubbed several times. For most cases, all
the soundboard masters are in the hands of the group. Except for very
few multi-track recordings, almost all the soundboards are 1st or so
gen copies. The audience tapes almost always come from less or more
"high" gen copy and only a small amount of them were sourced
directly from the original masters, which for the most cases have been
lost or destroyed/wiped accidentally.
How
to start my own bootleg collection and/or where to buy bootlegs?
As stated everywhere on this site, the author of this site has absolutely
no information as to where to buy them or where they may be found. A
big care must be taken after as many collectors received a sad trend
in this hobby of selling homemade CD-R copies of original silver CDs
for high dollar on the Internet auction sites. These auctions sometimes
give not only any indication that it is a copy and for the prices they
charge you would expect it is an original, but also offers stuff that
is unavailable and the only thing you have is a waste of a large amount
of money. However, collecting bootlegs can be quite a hobby, especially
if you care about beautiful graphics and having something unique. Sentimental
value is also important here, especially when it comes to vinyl records.
Many of them are real pieces of history that today constitute evidence
of the development of the underground market over several decades of
popular music evolution.
How
can I help to this site?
The rules are simple. If you have any information that is not included
here or if you have any confirmed information about any undiscovered
tape/show/bootleg or related stuff, just contact
me today. You can also try to browse each tour date and then - if you
have new information or would like to send any correction - use the
email update quick link posted below each date that is supplied with
setlist or related reference. This site is dedicated to the Led Zeppelin
Community and every new addition will be very appreciated not only by
me but also by the thousands of fans.