Led Zeppelin/West Germany 1973

It is no exaggeration to say that ZEP’s interplay skills reached their peak on the 1973 European tour. You could even call it the Masterpiece Mass Production Tour. As a result of touring in England in the winter, Plant’s voice had changed, and at this point there were still some weak vocals here and there, but Page and Bonzo performed so powerfully that it didn’t matter. . The extremely thrilling interplay exchanges before starting to worry about the Enterprise side at American stadiums from May are very popular among enthusiasts. The release of “VIENNA 1973”, which was also a masterpiece, is still fresh in my memory, and as it was a highly popular period, many items were created. However, regarding the Hamburg performance on March 21st, there are surprisingly few items until now, and “MERCY ON ME” released eight years ago has been considered the definitive version. The parts that were lacking in the soundboard recording of the PA out, which was only recorded in the second half of the show, were supplemented with the audience recording from the same day, and the result that summarized everything from that day was praised by enthusiasts as “the definitive edition of Hamburg 73”. Ta. That too is now sold out. Just like the VIENNA 1973, which continues to sell well even without the sticker, we wanted the Hamburg version to be available as well…an obvious request. Therefore, the reissue of “MERCY ON ME” (hereinafter referred to as “already released version”) was materialized due to the renewal of the jacket, etc., but it was Hamburg 73, which is a masterpiece. Since this was a great opportunity, we decided to start by reviewing the existing sound sources once again, so the plan was reborn to release new items to replace the already released ones. However, it has been 8 years since the release of “MERCY ON ME”, and ZEP’s sound source world has already exhausted its capabilities, so there have been no dramatic discoveries or upgrades at Hamburg 73 (SBD has not been recorded any further). We have revised the AUD and SBD versions that are currently in circulation, and created a new version that can be heard with modern ears just for this occasion. Regarding AUD, we use the version that is available as 2nd gen., just like the previously released version. Compare it with sound sources that can be released in their entirety as AUD, such as the AUD part of “HAVING A PARTY” (now on sale) on March 17th in Munich and earlier in Vienna, which was released around the same time as the already released version. The sound quality here is quite poor. Sound quality is muffled throughout. Still, it is a relief that the performance is captured in a big way, and it is something that enthusiasts will greatly enjoy, especially in that it firmly conveys the power of the performance in the first half of the show. This part had some problems ignored in the previous release. First of all, there was the pitch fluctuation and sound distortion that occurred in the first three songs of the show. Among them, the distortion that occurred at 1:12 of “Over The Hills And Far Away” was so loud that I felt like I was going to lose my nerve, and the pitch of the next song “Black Dog” dropped for more than two and a half minutes from before the performance. It remained. For this release, we have carefully adjusted these issues. It is in a much more stable condition than the previously released version. The other thing is the sound distortion caused by over-leveling, which was noticeable in the first half of the show, such as “Over The~”. In particular, for this song, the level of the sound output from the venue suddenly increased while Plant was singing, and the sound source was also prone to distortion. This problem has been thoroughly resolved this time, so although it is a bit muffled, the unique charm of the warm and mild AUD part can be enjoyed even more. Finally, although it is a small point, the localization bias that was noticeable in the AUD part after “Stairway To Heaven” was corrected. The major change in this release is the SBD part. When the pre-release version was released, we used the version that was dropped from the master, but this time we decided to switch to the 1st gen. version. At first glance, isn’t the master the best? It’s natural to think that, but when the sound source was distributed, equalization was applied to suppress the hiss noise on the computer, and when you hear it from the speakers, the noise sounds low, but in fact, it is unique to equalization. It had a fizzing, unnatural feel to it. This is noticeable when the performance is quiet. The 1st gen. version used this time has a higher hiss level, but it is clearly natural. Regarding this part, the sound quality is equivalent to the old masterpiece Scorpio, Led Note, etc. In fact, it is quite possible that an equalized version of this version was deceived as the “master” and distributed. Nowadays, Hamburg seems to have established a firm position as one of the great performances in Europe, but it seems that it only became recognized in Japan more recently than I expected. The nostalgic paper jacket Rockin Records CD “APRIL FOOL’S DAY”, which first discovered the SBD part, had a completely different date in the title and included a live performance from another day at the beginning. Due to the sloppy production and incomplete recording, I couldn’t feel the impact beyond being an excavated SBD. In fact, I think it was only when ZEP live sound sources started appearing in the latter half of the 90’s that they gained acclaim. Even so, “Dazed And Confused” on this day is really amazing. Among the songs of this period, which are already filled with high-level performances, the great thing about Hamburg is Bonzo, who gets excited from the beginning of the song. In response to this situation, Plant repeatedly chanted “Cold Sweat” and the performance went even further out of control. Up until this point, things had been as good as they had been on other days, but on this day, even after Shizuka’s “San Francisco” started, Bonzo didn’t calm down at all, and on top of that, Page was able to respond with plenty of leeway. Something intense. That’s why I was waiting for you to finish playing the bow! Just like that, Bonzo reached the top with a furious drum performance. When the funky development of “Whole Lotta Love” begins, Bonzo explodes once again. He has completely emerged as the leading role in the ensemble, and his roars are captured everywhere. However, no matter how sharp he gets, Bonzo’s outstanding drumming in 73 Europe always feels like he has his feet on the ground. It’s a funny scene when Plant hums “D’yer Mak’er”. However, in addition to the overwhelming performance that is vividly captured in the SBD part, it is clear that Bonzo is already at full throttle from the first half of the show heard on AUD. And it’s interesting to see “Dancing Days” played at a slower tempo than usual (perhaps the slowest in history?) and the audience’s reaction to it, which doesn’t get excited at all. However, the overall voltage of the Hamburg 73 is extremely high, and the literal renewal version is finally here! Sorry to have kept you waiting. Live at Musikhalle, Hamburg, West Germany 21st March 1973 Disc 1 (57:19) 1. Rock And Roll ★Slightly cut in 2. Over The Hills And Far Away ★Unstable speed resolved 3. Black Dog ★Unstable The stable speed has been resolved 4. Misty Mountain Hop 5. Since I’ve Been Loving You 6. Dancing Days 7. Bron-Y-Aur Stomp ★The interval between songs is slightly longer than the previous version due to editing 8. The Song Remains The Same 9. The Rain Song Disc 2 (73:10) 1. MC 2. Dazed And Confused(Aud+SB) ★Change to SB after 4:38 3. Stairway To Heaven(SB+Aud) ★8: Change to Aud after 01 4. Whole Lotta Love(Aud+SB) ★Change to SB after 1:53 5. The Ocean