GiGinJapan Artwork of Japanese CDs (mostly) Led Zeppelin / LA Forum 1977 4th Night Mike Millard Master Tapes / 3CD / Non Label
The Forum, Inglewood, California, USA 25th June 1977
Play sample :
This week, a new version featuring the first appearance sound source on the first day of the LA Forum in 1971 will be released, but at the same time, it will be a luxurious week that the mirrored master on June 25 will be released at the same time from the LA Forum continuous performance of ZEP 1977. increase. After all, even among mirrored sound sources, recording of ZEP live is something that even non-maniacs can not hide their excitement.
In the first place, the only sound source on this day is the mirrored recording, and it is also one of the famous sound sources of 1977 where items have been produced since ancient times. Under such circumstances, the definitive edition in recent years would be “L.A. FORUM 1977 4TH NIGHT DEFINITIVE MILLARD MASTER”. Before that, there was a bestseller called “LOS ANGELES 1977 4TH NIGHT”, but the quality that surpassed it also turned it into a big bestseller.
but. The master released this time is overwhelmed by the amazing upper feeling that even such best-sellers in recent years are dismissed lightly. Naturalness is completely different. Those existing boards are based on the first generation (that is, copied from the master to another cassette) that Millard in his later years prepared for trade instead of hiding the master and was dropped on VHS. It has long been considered the best of its kind.
However, there was a “boom” hum noise that was caused by passing through VHS, and it bothered me in the quiet parts. For example, the level that can be clearly heard when it comes to the intro and acoustic corner of “Since I’ve Been Loving You”. It was wiped out in this master.
This alone is enough to make a clear difference from the already-launched version, but even more than that, the clear upper feel and natural feel are overwhelming. The listening comfort is really wonderful, and it’s finally mild when listening with headphones. Even “L.A. FORUM 1977 4TH NIGHT DEFINITIVE MILLARD MASTER”, which is highly praised as the definitive version, is not equalized, but the unnaturalness such as high-pitched sounds is still worrisome compared to this version. After all, the inro called master is heartless.
Of course, we have also realized the simultaneous release of a version with equalization, which is an annual event when the ZEP Mirrored Master is released, but this time it was an extra help. As usual, dadgad was in charge of the remastering, but he has a tendency to make the sound more high-pitched, but this time he made it sound crisp and even used spatial effects to create a very vulgar sound. I finished it with a feeling.
There were times when we were able to combine both normal and remastered tapes, like in the case of “L.A. FORUM 1975 2ND NIGHT MIKE MILLARD MASTER TAPES” where the remastering he worked on went well, but this time it was impossible. Therefore, it was decided to release only the conventional version and “Flat Transfer”, which has a clear upper feeling, on a limited press CD.
And it’s not just the natural sound quality that conveys the upper feeling unique to the master in an easy-to-understand manner. It is longer than the already released board from the start of recording. Of course, it is a scene before ZEP starts playing, but there is evidence of the master from such a place as well.
Although it is a continuous performance of the LA Forum where famous performances are lined up even in the 1977 tour, Jimmy’s mistakes and coarseness are conspicuous in the opening “The Song Remains The Same” because it was after a day off on this day. . After all, it is a stable mirrored quality, so his guitar sound image is also close. After 1975, ZEP tended to perform better as continuous performances including Jimmy overlapped, and it seems that the off-opening was generally a slow starter. It is mirrored quality that conveys Jimmy’s feeling of waking up.
But this is the LA forum, which loves ZEP. Such Jimmy immediately awakened and the engine was fully opened from “Nobody’s Fault But Mine”. The first performance of the day that was created on this momentum would be “In My Time Of Dying”. In the final stage, Robert suddenly sang Little Richard’s “Rip It Up” instead of the usual “You Shook Me”, which showed ad-lib / oldies development like the old days, but in the first place Robert played It seems that I was going to sing “Rip It Up”, where the lyrics start with “Saturday night”, telling me that this day is Saturday before I started.
And when I started singing, the three people other than Robert were splendidly caught off guard, and each of them hurriedly followed Robert. Among them, Jimmy is splendidly supporting Robert by firmly playing rock and roll patterns even with open tuning for bottlenecks. Nevertheless, thanks to the mirrored quality, the song that Robert set up ended in the first place, and the other three were showing gestures that seemed to say, “Are you done yet?” come.
After that, I think that the unique charm of this day is the high tension and the calm atmosphere that allows you to play slowly, which you can’t shake off as much as on June 21st. After the middle of “No Quarter”, Jimmy’s elaborate solo is a masterpiece, and Robert sings carefully in “Going To California”, which was also a local song literally. Here too, the tension unique to this day, which has a good balance between stillness and movement, appears well, and it is no exaggeration to call it the best take of the same song in 1977. Jimmy’s precise play also appears in “Stairway To Heaven”, and I feel that this day has a unique charm.
And instead of the usual “Rock And Roll”, the encore is played in the form of “Communication Breakdown” falling from “Whole Lotta Love”, but this is also a rare and stunning 77 year version. . The recording from the master, which finally realized such performances, makes it even more attractive. Come to think of it, when the masters were released this time, there was a gap between the songs, which is rare for JEMS, but please don’t worry, I’m picking it up properly!
(Remastered memo))
★I just divided Flat Transfer into disk.
★For reference, I think the remaster is probably flashy with spatial effects.
★Silence occurred at the original song cut position, but it was fixed. (Phenomenon for the first time with mirrored tape)
Non label
