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How the West Was Won

Led Zeppelin - How the West Was Won Audio CD

A fair review of the Led Zeppelin "How the West Was Won" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Led Zeppelin reviews here, or go back to the Led Zeppelin tabs.

Band: Led Zeppelin
Title: How the West Was Won
Rating:

Release Date: 2003-05-27
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: LA Drone 2: Immigrant Song 3: Heartbreaker 4: Black Dog 5: Over The Hills And Far Away 6: Since I've Been Loving You 7: Stairway To Heaven 8: Going To California 9: That's The Way 10: Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp 11: Dazed And Confused 12: What Is And What Should Never Be 13: Dancing Days 14: Moby Dick 15: Whole Lotta Love (Medley) 16: Rock And Roll 17: The Ocean 18: Bring It On Home

DVD-Audio Review: Not A Reference Disc, But Better Sound Than The CD
1 surround sound that can be played back in a DVD-Audio player or a DVD-Video player in Dolby Digital. Content-wise, this double-disc DVD-Audio set is pretty much the same as the 3CD set, but it is mixed for 5.

The album is a collection of songs performed live at venues in Southern California between the band's landmark "fourth" album and their creatively stellar 'Houses of the Holy' record, circa 1975. This DVD-Audio disc captures a time in history when live audiences came to hear performers play and would sit through and enjoy 25-minute versions of "Dazed and Confused" and 19-minute "Moby Dick" drum solos. Today, audiences more often than not have to be mesmerized by pyrotechnics, lasers and video screens rather than by virtuoso performances.

One of these performances of note is on one of the band's signature songs "Heartbreaker," featuring the guitar handiwork of Jimmy Page, which on How The West Was Won includes a long, stream-of-consciousness solo. The tune starts off meandering through a few verses until it gets to the solo. This is when the 5. 1 mix takes a very tasty "Heartbreaker" solo to new levels, considering that the crowd interaction with the solo makes the listening experience richer. About 30 seconds into a hoedown portion of the solo, the crowd starts to clap along. When listening to the DVD-Audio mix, you want to follow along. You feel like there are other fans directly behind you, yet the performance is still in front of you. Ultimately, Page breaks the solo down into a little sloppy classical guitar work and you get a chance to hear some of the more subtle additions that the DVD-Audio format makes to the recording.

Another example of little details sounding better on DVD-Audio is on "Going To California," where you can hear the mandolin better than on the CD. It sounds more rich and textured on DVD-Audio and in surround sound.

The surround mix doesn't put too much besides crowd noise and acoustic ambience in the rear speakers, but there are times when it seems like the engineer is pushing to make more of the recording than is there in terms of an adventurous surround mix. A good example of this is on Robert Plant's vocal on "The Immigrant Song," which is mixed in such a way that seems a little too loud for the rear speakers for a few brief moments.

With surround sound now in the mix and backwards compatibility to all DVD players, all Led Zeppelin fans should have 'How The West Was Won' on DVD-Audio. The most important reason is the historical importance of the performance, paired with the excellence in musicianship captured in the master. But buyer beware -- this DVD-Audio makes listening to Led Zeppelin more fun live, but it is not a reference caliber DVD-Audio surround sound disc. We have yet to delve into the master tapes of the classic Zeppelin records and attempt to remix them for discrete surround. Some say that because of the four-track recording techniques used on the early albums, the project may be close to impossible. Others suggest that it can be done and point to the Beach Boys' 'Pet Sounds' as an example of an older recording taking on wonderful audio quality in DVD-Audio and surround sound. Nevertheless, 'How The West Was Won' is better and more exciting on DVD-Audio than on CD. -- Jerry Del Colliano, 10/2003
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Was at the LA Forum show that night
It's the best live show I have ever been too. I was forunate enough to be at the LA Forum show on 25Jun1972. I have attended over a 100 concerts in my life and this one sticks as the best live show ever. I'm so glad they came out with the CD music from this concert. Now I can listen to the music from that special night again and again. .

LED ZEPPELIN LIVE on three CD's
This is a Led Zeppelin record worth checking out, Led Zeppelin performing live from the mid 70's, the sound quality could be better at times, but all in all, you get a whole lotta live zeppelin, to listen to, and they are quite good as usual, playing their best material from this time period.

Call the police on this garage band
And yeah, those rocked. Zep needed Jimmy Page's well-honed expertise in the recording studio to put across the two or three (sometimes less) listenable songs per album. In fact, the only tolerable Zep CD would be a 14-song compilation from their studio albums, and that might be stretching it. I really believe this band was the basis for This Is Spinal Tap, only Tap had better material. ("Big Bottom" would be a songwriting advancement for these clods. ) I was watching The Song Remains The Same the other night and it was almost torture. No, it was torture except for Rock N Roll and Peter Grant foaming at the mouth. Of course, all you had to do was look at the stoned-out 16-year-olds in the audience to know Zep wasn't exactly performing for a discerning audience. And the volume was always turned to 11, so what did it matter? The sloppiness continues on these California shows. The untreated Plant vocals are fingers on a blackboard. Screeeeeeeeech. And Jimmy's thunderous riffing gets OLD OLD OLD. If Robert Johnson knew how these limeys would butcher the blues, he never would have made that supposed pact with the devil. Zep's Greatest Hits--demand it. The rest is garage band junk with a whole lotta SUPERHYPE.

A very welcome addition to the Zeppelin library. Superb, in fact.
This release seems to, in many ways, trump SRTS. For 30 or so years, people lamented that Song Remains the Same just didn't catch Led Zeppelin in the right light, at least as a live act. You may not agree, but that's not important. What's important is that we now have a second live Zeppelin album, and it's a damn good one. I never expected to get more Zeppelin, much less a crisply recorded live recording of two top-notch shows in 1972. How the West Was Won is a Zeppelin fan's dream come true. Thank you Jimmy Page. That's it. .

You can see a complete list of all Led Zeppelin discography, or go back to the Led Zeppelin tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.