Led Zeppelin/Utah,USA 1973 Upgrade

Following the release of “DEFINITIVE MOBILE 1973” a few weeks ago, which surprised enthusiasts around the world with its upper feeling, he has come again. He has newly worked on remastering the Salt Lake City direct-connected soundboard on May 26th, about two weeks after the previous Mobile. Although this sound source is the same direct-connected soundboard, it appeared in a different situation from the Mobile. This is a recording that appeared as part of the soundboards from the 1973 US tour, which were excavated in large quantities in the 21st century, and was also a representative of the 73 sound sources that appeared at that time. Among the 73 direct-connected soundboards excavated at the same time, Salt Lake was particularly in the spotlight because it captured a very rare happening in which the strings of Page’s Les Paul broke while playing “Over The Hills And Far Away”, and the standard “Georgia On My Mind” was played in the middle of the scene. Therefore, although it was a particularly popular day among the sound sources that should be called “21st Century 73 Sound Board”, the sound quality was poor as if it was covered with a veil compared to other sound sources. Therefore, the items released in the past were given a fairly strong equalization in order to eliminate that. Rather, the equalization emphasized the hiss noise, and above all, Bonzo’s cymbals resonated with a swoosh, which also made me want to call it “21st century equalization”. Perhaps because of this, items containing the same sound source did not appear as expected after that, and only a release combined with an audience recording was barely produced, which told us that the condition of the sound source was not very refreshing despite the big topic it caused when it was released. However, the condition of the sound source itself in this new remaster is clearly better than the previous version, and the information on the sound source was actually written as being from the master. The quality has been improved so dramatically that you can hear the freshness at first listen, which makes you believe that it is from the master, and that alone has elevated it to a level that I would like to declare as the new definitive version without exaggeration, following the previous mobile. Rather than equalizing to change the image of the sound source, it is truly impressive that the whole thing has been “adjusted”. However, once again, the neglect play against the pitch deviation peculiar to overseas enthusiasts is alive and well (bitter smile), and this time the pitch was randomly high throughout, so it has been carefully adjusted to raise it to a state that is not ashamed of the release. Of course, this sound source is not a complete recording of the entire show, as is the case with the 1973 American desk-direct sound board. First of all, recording started from the second half of the opening “Rock And Roll”, and recording ended in the middle of “Whole Lotta Love” (the cassette was not changed). As mentioned at the beginning, an item that covered the finale “Communication Breakdown” in combination with the audience recording of the same day was released, but in front of the upper feeling of the sound quality this time, the sound quality of the audience on the same day was of a very strict quality. By connecting them, it would be more stressful. Although an attempt was made to compensate the audience, the decision was made to release only the sound board, which had achieved an astonishing improvement in quality. The performance content that was thus clearly highlighted is also very interesting. Two weeks ago, the mobile still had the atmosphere of the spring European tour, but the solid performance was attractive, but here, the appearance of the good taste that can be said to be unique to America in 1973 is clearly described. Among them, Paige’s play was a series of ups and downs. The only thing that was a bit of a problem was the incident where the string broke. So, “Georgia On My Mind” started with Jonesy’s lead, but as soon as Page’s Les Paul was ready, Plant said, “Well, the nightclub is over,” and stopped the performance. From there, it returned to normal business, but as anyone who has played the guitar can imagine, a guitar that has just had its strings changed is prone to going out of tune. As expected, in “Misty Mountain Hop,” the strings that were changed loosened as soon as they were played, and finally, at the end of the performance, Page played the lead while playing harmonics to fix the tuning. It is only possible to document such a rare scene with a stunning clarity, which is unique to the sound board directly connected to the table. Bad luck overlaps, and even the double neck, which is not a Les Paul, was insufficiently tuned only on this day. As proof, when “The Song Remains The Same” started, the upper 12 strings were fine, but when the lower 6 strings were played, the tuning was out of tune. It becomes even more noticeable when it comes to the quiet “Rain Song”. What a bad timing. After an accident early in the show, Page’s feet are pulled down by the roadie’s incompetence. It’s inevitable that he will be in a bad mood. In “Dazed And Confused”, where the heated development was heard in the mobile, Page had expectations up until the “San Francisco” part, but when he returned from the obligatory bow section, Page was not quite ready. Plant and Bonzo made the performance more exciting and it was a performance that was worth listening to. When it came to the solo of “Stairway To Heaven”, Page was playing the phrases so roughly that it seemed like he had already rotted, and the worst part was that he played the phrase he always plays at a low pitch when the performance returned. This way of closing was also seen in the official DVD of Earl’s Court in 1975, but there it was caused by a broken string, whereas here it sounded like a problem with Page’s motivation. This is because even the hammering solo with the guitar raised in “Heartbreaker” was played in an uncharacteristically rough manner. However, when this part ended and the band returned, Paige suddenly woke up, and began to play with a spirited performance that seemed to make the rough play up to that point a lie. This is the great advantage of the sound board directly connected to the table, and the difference in his expression is clearly conveyed. Such a sharp play, as if he had come to his senses, is a complete turnaround from the previous one, and he also sings the back chorus of the next song, “Whole Lotta Love,” with great enthusiasm (and it sounds good!). Although these obvious unevenness in Paige’s playing is documented, he is still in his 20s, and perhaps due to his age and light footwork, he recovered at the end of the show. Of course, the scene of the famous ad-lib “Georgia On My Mind” from long ago, but the happening play throughout the whole day was really interesting. This sound source has been reborn as an upper version sound board that clears away past items. Thanks to this excellent sound quality, the performance on this day can be enjoyed even more realistically. And yet Bonzo’s drumming, which is extremely stable despite the above-mentioned happenings, is also excellent. Following the previous mobile, here is a new generation upgrade version of the familiar sound source! *The pitch is 15 to 30% higher than the semitone, so it has been corrected. Salt Palace, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA 26th May 1973 SBD(UPGRADE) Disc 1 (61:50) 1. Rock and Roll 2. Celebration Day 3. Black Dog 4. Over the Hills and Far Away 5. Georgia On My Mind★ 6. Misty Mountain Hop 7. Since I’ve Been Loving You 8. No Quarter 9. The Song Remains the Same 10. The Rain Song Disc 2 (56:12) 1. MC 2. Dazed and Confused 3. Stairway to Heaven 4. Heartbreaker 5. Whole Lotta Love