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CD Shows
Last Updated 11.20.05 - Update coming in March '07The following are a list of all my non-Rush shows on CD.
If you want DVDs, check this out
= Essential title for that artist. Highly recommended.
= Just arrived!
AC/DC
Quality Ratiing: A
Quality Rating: A/A+
ABC
Quality Rating: A+
A Flock Of Seagulls
- MTV Live (1CD). From London, 1983 this TV broadcast sounds excellent and includes "Space Age Love Song", "Wishing", "Man Made", "Telecommunication", "DNA" and more. A couple of notes here...all songs are on one track (and there are 10 songs overall). "I Ran" is curiously missing. On a positive note, the sound quality is quite good.
Quality Rating: A+- King Biscuit Flower Hour (1CD). Pasadena '82 and Brighton '83. Here are a couple of rare radio concerts with excellent sound quality. Songs include "I Ran", "Space Age Love Song", "You Can Run", "Telecommunication" and more.
Quality Rating: A+
A-ha
- Germany 91 (1CD). 03/03/1991 Hans-Martin-Schleyer Halle, Stuttgart , Germany. An very good radio broadcast. Songs include "The Sun Always Shines On TV", "Take On Me", "Hunting High And Low", "Touchy" and more.
Quality Rating: A-
Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman & Howe (see also Jon Anderson, Yes, U.K.)
- We Make Believe (2CD) Demos from their never released second album, "Dialogue". The demos are very Anderson/Wakeman heavy with Steve on a couple of tracks. Is it a drum machine or Bill Bruford? Not sure...probably a machine. This set also contains some bonus tracks from the Tormato sessions, including "Picasso" and "Rail 14", an instrumental version of "Arriving UFO". The sound throughout is very good. Artwork Available.
Quality Rating: A-- 3/7/90 Yokahama, Japan (2CD). This sounds like an ALD recording of this show because the sound seems to be compressed into the mid-ranges. Definitely not the best ABWH show I've heard, but if you can deal with the flat sound and don't crank it too loud, it doesn't sound bad at all. All instruments are fairly clear. Songs here include "And You And I", "Bruford/Levin Drum Duet", "Zoh San" (a Japanese song sung by Anderson), "Birthright", "Starship Trooper", "Themes", more.
Quality Rating: A-- The Meeting In Birmingham (2CD). 10/24/89, UK. I know this was recorded by the BBC for broadcast...not sure if this is the broadcast or the pre-broadcast version...but based on the quality here I would say this is taken from a pre-broadcast source as the sound is very clean. Tony Levin is featured in this show...what a nice bass he lends to "Heart Of The Sunrise"! Songs include "Themes", "Close To The Edge", "The Meeting", "Birthright", and more.
Quality Rating: A+- Stockholm, Sweden 11/8/89 (2CD). Here is an excellent soundboard from the ABWH tour, which featured bassist Tony Levin throughout. Highly recommended for fans of this era.
Quality Rating: A
Quality Rating: A+
Jon Anderson (see also ABWH and Yes)
- Animated (1CD). Asbury Park, NJ 8/6/82. These are the original King Biscuit Flower Hour broadcast discs, so quality is high. If I had to pick one Jon Anderson tour to own it would be this one since I think "Animation" is his best, most consistent solo album. That being said, I think it's those songs that make this collection most interesting. Even though Jon has assembled a capable band of musicians, their renditions of such Yes classics as "I've Seen All Good People", and even their medley of "Disgrace/Trooper/Awaken" leave little to be desired...but when you think about it, at that time (1982) there was no such thing as Yes with Jon Anderson...so the fans didn't take anything for granted that night and seemed to love the performance.
Quality Rating: A+
Animal Logic
- 1991"Rose Colored Glasses" Remixes (1CD) Here's some below average sounding remixes of "Rose Colored Glasses", which was on their second album. This is for die-hards only.
Quality Rating: A-- Park West (1CD) 02/17/1990, Park West Theater, Chicago, IL. It's a real shame the sound quality here isn't better because they're a great live band. I'm speaking, of course, of Stewart Copeland on drums, Stanley Clarke on bass and vocalist Deborah Holland, who is probably one of the most overlooked female singers ever. It's obviously from a radio broadcast, but it's many generations down the line. Not something you'll want to hear too often but it's good for a one time listen at a lower volume. There's a brief interview segment at the beginning which is pretty interesting mainly because hearing any interview footage of this band is a rare treat. If only it were just a little better....
Quality Rating: B
Quality Rating: A+
Arcadia (see also Duran Duran)
- Heaven's Eyes (12" Mixes) (1CD). Here are some nice, rare remixes from the brief side project for Simon LeBon, Roger Taylor and Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran. Included are usually more than one mix for each tune, such as "Election Day" (3 mixes), "Goodbye Is Forever" (2 mixes), "Say The Word" (2 mixes), "Rose Arcana" (1 mix).
Quality Rating: A+
Asia (see also GTR, ABWH and Yes)
- Your Eyes Will Tell (1CD). This is taken from the Superstar Concert Series broadcast by Westwood One. This is NOT the same audio from the Asia in Asia VHS, but it is taken from the same show. The difference here is, this CD includes some songs the VHS tape didn't have, including live versions of the B-Side "Daylight", "Time Again" and "Cutting It Fine". Please note that Greg Lake is on vocals for this performance. The quality is great and highly recommended.
Quality Rating: A
Audioslave
- Westwood One (1CD). Universal Amphitheatre, Universal City, CA, Dec. 7, 2002. Here's an excellent radio broadcast which features Audioslave for 31:10 and then Godsmack for the remaining 37:55. Songs include "Light My Way", "Like A Stone", "Cochise", "Set It Off" and more.
Quality Rating: A
The B-52's
Quality Rating: A+
The Beatles (see also Paul McCartney)
- The Complete Rooftop Concert (2CD) Probably one of the oddest boots out there for one of the most historic shows ever. This is the complete show from the Beatles' last ever performance on a London rooftop. Yeah, some fans have complained this collection is overkill, but it does present the sounds of the day like no other collection. You see, these discs contain the audio as heard by the various cameras that were on location that historic day. Camera A is the best as it captured the band's sound quite nicely, probably getting a direct feed from a mixer. The audio from the other cameras vary...but I'll tell you, it's eerie to hear the audio from a camera down on street level. You can hear the band in the distance, echoing off the London downtown almost making you feel as if you were there. You even get to hear the band comment on their performance as they listen back to the tapes after the concert. All in all, a very interesting collection even if it is a bit of overkill with the multiple audio tracks. Artwork Available.
Quality Rating: Varies, but mostly A
Ben Folds Five
- Supper Club, NYC (2CD). 11/6/97. Here is a rare full-show soundboard with nice sound. The vocals are mixed a bit hotter than the band but you can still enjoy this set. Songs include "Philosophy", "Underground", "Kate", "Smoke", "Brick" and more.
Quality Rating: A- Live At Ziggy's 1997 (1CD). The first of part of this cd sounds like FM broadcast quality, however, because of the language in certain songs, it's not likely to be from a broadcast. But then towards the end, the last few songs are an awesome mix from the soundboard (different show than first part, but still at Ziggy's). Songs include "The Last Polka", "One Angry Dwarf", "Underground", "Boxing", "Video", "Emaline", and a very good cover of The Buggles' "Video Killed The Radio Star".
Quality Rating: A- /A+
Quality Rating: A+
Pat Benatar
- Live At Electric Ladyland Studios (1CD). From 1993, here's an excellent soundboard from her in studio performance in NYC promoting her then new album "Gravity's Rainbow". The quality is superb and the band is very raw. This works for some songs and not for others. Songs like "Invincible" and oddly enough, "One Love", benefit from the live edge found here. Others like "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" and "Heartbreaker", which are beat to begin with, don't fare too well here, in my opinion.
Quality Rating: A+
The Black Crowes & Jimmy Page (see also Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Page, Page and Plant)
Quality Rating: A+
Blue Oyster Cult
- Live At The Grove Nightclub (1CD). Anaheim, CA 2/13/03. Here's a pre-broadcast Westwood One show which comprises some popular fan favorites such as "See You In Black", "Shooting Shark", "Tattoo Vampire" and more. The quality could be better considering it's off the broadcast disc, but it's still listenable.
Quality Rating: A-- 4/30/88 SAN RAFAEL, CA @ NEW GEORGE'S (2CD). This is a very good radio broadcast from San Fran radio. Songs include "R U Ready 2 Rock", "Dominance & Submission", "E.T.I., Buck's Boogie", "Flaming Telepaths", Take Me Away", "The Last Days Of May" and more.
Quality Rating: A-/B+- 9/3/95 VENTURA, CA @ VENTURA THEATRE (2CD). This is a very bright sounding board feed from one of BOC's "Heaven Forbid" west coast shows. If you can crank up the bass it will help the sound, but overall it's an excellent boot not only for sound, but performance. Songs include, "Stairway To The Stars", "Dr Music", "O.D.'d On Life Itself", "E.T.I.","Before The Kiss (A Redcap)","See You In Black", "Take Me Away", "Cities On Flame", "Astronomy", "In Thee" and more.
Quality Rating: A- King Biscuit Flower Hour (1CD). This is an excellent performance from their 1986 "Club Ninja" tour. Songs include "RU Ready To Rock", "White Flags", "Burnin' For You", "Winds Of Mercury", "Dancing In The Ruins", "Shadow Warrior" and more. This is an original broadcast cd so it does contain radio promos and commercials, however it does not interfere with the songs.
Quality Rating: A+- The Thing (2CD). An excellent broadcast from a stop in New York 1981. Songs include "Burnin' For You", "Joan Crawford", "Fire Of Unknown Origin", "ME-262", "Heavy Metal: The Black and the Silver", "Born To Be Wild", "Flaming Telepaths" and more.
Quality Rating: A
Jackson Browne
- The Pretender Strikes Germany (2CD) 3/15/86. Here is a radio broadcast from Browne on his "Lives In The Balance" tour (Rockpalast, Germany). The quality here is superb and features such songs as "Boulevard", "In The Shape Of A Heart", "Tender Is The Night", "For America", "Lawyers In Love", "The Pretender", "Doctor My Eyes" and more. This disc also includes performances from 10/28/93 which include "World In Motion", "Late For The Sky", "Miles Away" and more.
Quality Rating: A+
David Bowie
Quality Rating: A+- Superstar Concert Series (2CD) Tokyo, Japan 5/16/90. Here's a pre-FM broadcast of a show from his "Sound And Vision" tour. This is the tour where Bowie announced he wasn't going to play his older hits again. Of note, his band here is top notch, including Adrian Belew on guitar. This disc does include the commercials and tracks are not indexed. Songs include "Changes", "Ashes To Ashes", "Let's Dance", "Ziggy Stardust", "Fame", "Panic In Detroit", "Modern Love", "Space Oddity" and much more.
Quality Rating: A- Overture & Beginners (1CD). Here is a soundboard tour rehearsal for the "Sound And Vision" tour. The quality is very good to excellent. While this tour was hyped as featuring his radio hits for the last time, the set here contains many deep album tracks, some of which he didn't perform on the upcoming tour. Adrian Belew of King Crimson fame is on guitar here. Songs include "TVC15", "John I'm Only Dancing", "Queen Bitch", "Life On Mars?", "Stay", "Station To Station", "Moon Of Alabama", Pretty Pink Rose", "Fashion" and more.
Quality Rating: A-- Live In Montreal (2CD). 7/13/83, Montreal, Canada. This is from the "Serious Moonlight" tour and I should add this is not the audio from the DVD or VHS of this same tour. The source is a broadcast of some kind. Songs include "Let's Dance", "Rebel Rebel", "Heroes", "China Girl", "Space Oddity", "Ashes To Ashes", "Modern Love", "Fame" and more including bonus tracks from the second night's broadcast ("Golden Years", "TVC15").
Quality Rating: A- Serious Rehearsal (2CD). This is a rare treat in a couple ways; First, you get to hear a full rehearsal from David Bowie direct from a soundboard on the eve of the Serious Moonlight tour. Also, on guitar is none other than Stevie Ray Vaughan, who wound up not doing the tour at all, so that just makes this recording even more memorable. The band seems to plod along through some songs as if they don't have much enthusiasm, and that could be because there's no audience, but sometimes it can be a bit distracting, at least to me anyway. If you're a Bowie or Stevie Ray fan you may want to give this a listen. Songs include "Cat People", "Let's Dance", "Heroes" and more.
Quality Rating: A+
Lindsey Buckingham
Quality Rating: A+
The Cars
Quality Rating: A+- SNL '87 (1VCD). This is a video of the 2 song set from The Cars on a Halloween edition of Saturday Night Live. The quality is perfect coming from a rebroadcast of the segments on Comedy Central and is probably taken right from a satellite source. The only drawback is the song selection...two sub par tunes from the band's last album "Door To Door" including "Double Trouble" and "Strap Me In". For diehards only.
Quality Rating: A+
Quality Rating: A+- Heartbeat City Videos (1DVD). Here's a transfer from VHS to DVD of The Cars' Heartbeat City Videos collection. This features mainly videos from the "Heartbeat City" album as well as "Panorama" and "Shake It Up". Included here is the rarely seen and uncensored version of "Hello Again", which was directed by Andy Warhol. Also included here is a "making of" segment about the video. Also included, "Drive", "You Might Think", "Why Can't I Have You", "Magic" and more.
Quality Rating: A- Candy-O Sessions (1CD). Cherokee Studios, Los Angeles, CA. Here are the monitor mixes for their Candy-O album taken from the studio reels. The quality here is amazingly clear and upfront. The lead guitar and backing vocals aren't present here (rhythm guitar can be heard). As a matter of fact, the lead vocals aren't even the final ones used on the album. The mix is heavy on the drums and keyboards, but overall, this sounds excellent and is a very interesting listen. A few songs here are given working titles such as "Night Life Baby" (Let's Go), "One Too Many Times" (It's All I Can Do) and also included are "Nightspots", "Dangerous Type" and more. This isn't for the casual fan, but a must for diehards or fans of this album.
Quality Rating: A+
Quality Rating: A+- Learner's Permit (1CD) 8/19/78, Old Waldorf, San Francisco, CA. This is a raw soundboard from an early West Coast date. There are also 5 tracks of excellent quality recorded from a NYC show on the same tour. Songs include "Bye Bye Love", "Night Spots", "Best Friend's Girl", "Take What You Want", "When Did You Change", "Moving In Stereo", "Candy-O" and more.
Quality Rating: A- Agora '78 (1 CD). 7/18/78. The Agora, Cleveland, OH. This is an excellent radio broadcast of their performance at Cleveland's Agora Theatre. Highly recommended for fans of the band's early stuff.
Quality Rating: A
Chicago
- RFK Stadium 1974 (1CD). This is an excellent recording from an early show in their career. Most of the early hits are here...sounds like it could be a radio broadcast.
Quality Rating: A
Eric Clapton
Quality Rating: A+- Providence (2CD) 4/26/87. Providence, R.I. Here's an excellent soundboard from the "August" tour. Phil Collins is on drums. Songs include "White Room", "Hung Up On Your Love", "Holy Mother, "Miss You", "I Shot The Sheriff", "Crossroads" and more.
Quality Rating: A+- Montreux 86 (2CD) Montreux, Switzerland 7/10/86. Here's an excellent soundboard from the "August" tour. Phil Collins is on drums. Songs include "Run", "It' sIn The Way That You Use It", "Crossroads", "White Room", Tearing Us Apart" and more.
Quality Rating: A+
The Clash
- Clash Calling. (1CD) US Festival, 5/28/83. This is a very good soundboard recording. Songs include "Rock The Casbah", "Brand New Cadillac", "Train In Vain", "Should I Stay Or Should I Go", " Koko Kola", "The Sound Of Sinners", "London Calling" and more.
Quality Rating: A-
Col. Bruce Hampton and The Aquarium Rescue Unit
Quality Rating: A+
Col. Les Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade (also see Oysterhead and Phish)
- Ira Allen Chapel (2CD). 11/15/02, Burlington, VT. A superb soundboard, which does include some static pops from time to time, but certainly not enough to detract from the enjoyment of the show. There are many songs from "Purple Onion", which is Les' first solo album...that could be good or bad. Personally, I could do without them. Songs include "Hendershot", "Whamola", "Buzzards Of Green Hill", "Groundhog's Day", "Intruder" and more.
Quality Rating: A+- Gathering Of The Vibes (1CD). 6/24/00, Bridgeport, CT. Here's an excellent soundboard from a short set that consists mainly of covers. The versatile band does a 12 minute version of "Taxman" and a slower, groovier version of "Tommy The Cat". Les also explains to the crowd how "Rapper's Delight" and "Another One Bites The Dust" are a few basslines apart...and proves it. He then goes on to explain how the jam band scene is more open to verbal rambling onstage. If it had been a Primus show he'd be dodging shoes thrown at him. Also included "Winona's Big Brown Beaver" (in which he forgets the words!). Overall, this show is alot of fun and highly recommended for fans of Les Claypool.
Quality Rating: A+
Quality Rating: A+- Moe Down Festival 9/2/00 Turin, NY. Excellent show and sound here! This soundboard recording includes "Thela Hun Gingeet", "Pigs (Three Different Ones)", "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", "Harold Of The Rocks", "Tomorrow Never Knows" and more.
Quality Rating: A+- Live At The House Of Blues Las Vegas 9/29/2000 (2CD). An odd name for a band, that is unless you're Les Claypool, the man behind Primus. It's hard to describe the sound here...very experimental and very jam oriented, more along the lines of Phish than Primus. Nevertheless, the boys (or is it "the troupe"?) certainly do play well here. Included are covers of King Crimson's "Thela Hun Gingeet", Sausage's "Shattering Song", and more...much more. The boys even have time to perform Pink Floyd's "Animals" album in it's entirety on Disc 2 and for a guest appearance from Trey Anastasio (Phish) and Stewart Copeland (The Police) as they roll through an original called "He Used To Be The Owner Of The World" and the Beatles' "Tomorrow Never Knows". The only drawback? It's an audience recording. Now, if you've looked at my bootleg list, you'll notice I don't collect too many audience recordings unless they are really good...and this one is the exception. I'm not sure where it was recorded from, but my guess is VERY CLOSE to the stage. The sound is quite excellent.
Quality Rating: A-
Collective Soul
- Live At Ziggy's (2CD). 9/4/04. Winston Salem, NC. Here's an excellent audience recording of the band on a warmup tour for their upcoming "Youth" album. When it comes to audience recordings, this is what you hope for - nice clarity, deep bass to give it depth. Overall, very enjoyable. Songs include "Heavy", "Where The River Flows", "December", "She Said", "Energy", "Counting The Days", "Under Heaven's Skies", "Gel", "The World I Know", "Why", "Run".
Quality Rating: A+- "In Concert" 12/94 (2CD). This is an excellent radio show, possibly taken right from the broadcast discs themselves. This performance is from their Roxy Theatre (Hollywood, CA) show, which showcased songs from their yet-to-be released debut album. Songs include "Simple", "Breathe", "Gel", "Shine", "The World I Know", "Bleed", "Love Lifted Me" and more.
Quality Rating: A+
Phil Collins (see also Genesis)
- Perkins Palace (2CD). 12/19/81. From the "Hello....I Must Be Going Tour" video (out of print), this is a fine show featuring all the necessary solo Phil tunes at the time including "I Don't Care Anymore", "I Cannot Believe It's True", "It Don't Matter To Me", "Hand In Hand", "The Roof Is Leaking" and more.
Quality Rating: A+- Behind The Lines (1CD). Taken from his "Hello...I Must Be Going" tour, this is an excellent soundboard recording. Songs include "I Don't Care Anymore", "I Missed Again", "Behind The Lines", "The West Side", "In The Air Tonight" and more. A must for Phil Collins fans.
Quality Rating: A+
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young (see also Neil Young)
- 2/2/00 (3CD). This is a soundboard from a recent CSN&Y reunion tour. The sound is quite raw and definitely from the board (possibly an ALD source).
Quality Rating: A
Quality Rating: A+
Sheryl Crow
- Rock In Rio (1CD) 1/20/01. Here's a broadcast from her Rio appearance in 2001. The sound here is pretty good but I should mention there are these split second (if even that) silences at the beginning of each track. It's hard to say what's causing that...it's not a 2 second gap found commonly in non-dao recordings. It doesn't sound like an mp3 artifact either....but just thought I'd let you know. If you're into Sheryl Crow and don't have this, I'd recommend it. Songs include "A Change Would Do You Good", "Anything But Down", "My Favorite Mistake", "If It Makes You Happy", "Everyday Is A Winding Road". This also includes some bonus tracks including one with Willie Nelson and another with some female singers I can't identify!.
Quality Rating: A-
Dire Straits
Quality Rating: A+- Heavy Fuel (2CD). 6/28/92, Basel, Switzerland. Here's an excellent soundboard from the "Every Street" tour. The sound is not nearly as upfront as "On Every Planet", but it's still okay. If you're looking for just one from this tour, get "On Every Planet". If you want a sampling of boards from this tour, be sure to get both. Songs include "Money For Nothing", "Romeo And Juliet", "Calling Elvis", "The Bug", "Sultans Of Swing".
Quality Rating: A- Australian Dream (2CD). 4/26/86. Sydney, Australia. This is taken from their final date on the "Brothers In Arms" tour. Songs include "Industrial Disease", "Romeo And Juliet", "So Far Away", "Why Worry", "Money For Nothing", "Your Latest Trick" and many more. It's either a soundboard or radio broadcast...quality is excellent. For a video of this show, see "Sydney '86" above.
Quality Rating: A- Houston, TX (2CD) 8/17/85. Here's a radio broadcast from the "Brothers In Arms" tour with decent sound. Songs include "Ride Across The River", "Romeo And Juliet", "Why Worry", "Sultans Of Swing", "Money For Nothing", "Tunnel Of Love" and more.
Quality Rating: A-
Dirty Vegas
- Warming Up In Austin (1CD). 7/15/02. Austin, TX. Here's an excellent audience recording from an up and coming band. On this night they were opening for Moby. Songs include "Ghost", "Simple Things, Part II", "Lost Not Found", "7am", "The Brazillian".
Quality Rating: A
Duran Duran (see also Arcadia)
Quality Rating: A+- Tokyo Live (1CD) 7/03, Tokyo, Japan. Here's an excellent soundboard from one of their early reunion shows, which started in Tokyo. Songs include "Come Undone", "Hungry Like The Wolf", "Planet Earth", a killer version of "Night Boat" and more. The only problem here are quick gaps between tracks. This is the result of having been ripped a certain way and not due to compression.
Quality Rating: A+- Costa Mesa Reunion (2CD) 7/16/03. Here's an excellent soundboard from very early in their reunion tour, possibly the first night or second night. Simon LeBon introduces their new song "Reach Up For The Sunrise" by saying it was the first time it's ever been played live in the U.S. Because it's so early in their tour and they haven't played much together in about 20 years, they do sound a bit rough around the edges. Some cues are missed, Simon isn't all there and Andy's guitar is kinda shaky, especially on "Ordinary World", where it's clear to see what former bandmate Warren Cuccurillo brought to the band. The mix tends to favor Simon LeBon's vocals and Nick's keyboards, but everyone is definitely in the mix. It's worth checking out if you're a fan. Songs include "Careless Memories", "Planet Earth", "Friends Of Mine", "Wild Boys", "The Reflex", "Girls On Film", "Rio", "Night Boat". The only obvious omission is "Union Of The Snake".
Quality Rating: A+- Jingle Ball '99 (1CD).12/17/1999 Cox Arena, San Diego, CA. This cd actually includes highlights of the entire Jingle Ball, including songs from Jars Of Clay, Dave Wakeling, Jewel, Melissa Etheridge and more. Duran Duran have 3 songs here, including the best live version of "Girls On Film" I've ever heard. The drums are tight and Warren is sharp on guitar...a very spirited performance from a very underrated version of this band. Also included are "Come Undone" and "Hungry Like The Wolf".
Quality Rating: A+
Quality Rating: A+- Planet Heart (1CD).This sounds like it was taken from a television broadcast. Quality is quite good. Doesn't have that much dynamic range but it's certainly listenable. Songs include "Rio", "Hungry Like The Wolf", "Friends Of Mine", "Come Up And See Me", "Save A Prayer" and more.
Quality Rating: A- Live At The Odeon, 12/16/81 (1CD). Sourced from vinyl, this is generally a very good sounding performance. The problem here is there's no bottom end! It sounds like it's coming out of radio without any bass. Othewise you can hear the singing and playing with a nice amount of sharpness and clarity. Songs include "Anyone Out There", "Planet Earth", "To The Shore", "Late Bar". "Khanada", "Last Chance On The Stairway", "Careless Memories", "Girls On Film" and more. Recommended for diehards.
Quality Rating: A-- Fiesta, Live From Buenos Aires, April 30th, 1993. (1CD). This is an excellent soundboard recording of the band doing a rare acoustic set. Songs include "Breath After Breath", "Ordinary World", "Come Undone", "Too Much Information", "Notorious", "Wild Boys", "Crystal Ship", "Rio" and more.
Quality Rating: A+- Dance Into The Fire (2CD). This is a truly excellent bootleg! Taken from two shows on their "Strange Behaviour" tour of 1987, these performances are top notch and include a much better representation of their live sound than the earlier live album "Arena". They're minus a couple of members by this point (Andy and Roger Taylor) but are still in very fine form on such songs as "A View To A Kill", "American Science", "Notorious", "Is There Something I Should Know", "Union Of The Snake" and more. They even perform Arcadia's "Election Day" and a cover of Power Station's "Some Like It Hot". Then, at the end, the Bangles join them for their song "If She Knew What She Wants". The audio of this was taken from the master video soundtrack of the "Working For The Skin Trade" video. The video, however, is a very incomplete edit of both these shows. Highly recommended.
Quality Rating: A+
The Eagles
Quality Rating: A+
Emerson, Lake and Palmer/Powell
- Live In Poland 1997 (1CD). This is a soundboard from a stop in Poland during their 1997 tour. Songs include "Touch And Go", "Bitches Crystal", "Take A Pebble", "Tarkus/Pictures At An Exhibition" and more.
Quality Rating: A+- Welcome Back Again (2CD). Recorded in 1986, this is a very interesting and rare look at a band rehearsing for their upcoming tour. All songs are recorded at Sprocket's Rehearsal Studio in Los Angeles. There is some talk between a couple tracks, basically Greg Lake discussing how some transitions are to be made for the real shows. Songs include "The Score", "Learning To Fly", "The Miracle", "Pictures At An Exhibition", "Love Blind", "Step Aside", "Pirates", "Touch And Go" and more. The sound quality is excellent...highly recommended for ELP fans!
Quality Rating: A-
The English Beat (also see Dave Wakeling)
- The Palace Theatre (1CD). 3/8/83. This sounds like a soundboard just a few generations down the line, quality is pretty good. Songs include "Twist And Crawl", "Door Of Your Heart", "Tears Of A Clown", "Too Nice To Talk To", "Save It For Later".
Quality Rating: A-
The Firm
- In Concert (1CD). From the 1986 "Mean Business" tour, this is directly from the broadcast vinyl. Sound quality is excellent and has the full sound you'd expect from an lp source. Tracks include " Fortune Hunter", "Make Or Break", "Radioactive", "All The King's Horses", "Midnight Moonlight".
Quality Rating: A
The Fixx
Quality Rating: A+- Live From Electric Ladyland (1CD). 4/29/91, New York City. Here the band performs in the very same studio they mixed their album "Ink". Since this was their new album at the time, the song selection favors it, including "All Is Fair", "How Much Is Enough" and "Shut It Out". The setlist is a bit odd, but the superb performance makes up for it. The band play crisp and tight on "Driven Out", "Deeper And Deeper", "One Thing Leads To Another" and "Red Skies".
Quality Rating: A+- The Ritz (1CD). 7/10/86. The Ritz Theatre, New York. Here's an excellent board from the "Walkabout" tour. Songs include "Deeper And Deeper", "Cameras In Paris", "Walkabout", "Can't Finish", "Sense The Adventure", "Camphor", "Built For The Future", "Secret Separation", "Saved By Zero", "Lost Planes", "Question" and more.
Quality Rating: A- Denver 1983 (1CD). This is taken from an MTV broadcast from the Rainbow Music Hall. The sound here could use more high end, as it has plenty of bass. However, the performance is top-notch. Songs include "Sign Of Fire", "Reach The Beach", "Lost Planes", "Saved By Zero", "Outside" and more.
Quality Rating: A-
Fleetwood Mac
- Anaheim, CA (2CD). 7/17/03. Here's a broadcast from the "Say You Will" tour. The quality is okay. The highs are a bit swishy, but oddly enough, it's not that distracting once your ears adjust. I wouldn't crank it up too loud. It's the best sounding show I've heard from this tour. Songs include "Rhiannon", "Stand Back", "Come", "Dreams", "Landslide", "I'm So Afraid", "Gypsy", "What's The World Coming To" and much more.
Quality Rating: A-- Buffalo 5/15/03 (2CD). Here's an ALD-sourced show from the most recent "Say You Will" tour. The sound is a bit flat and unbalanced, but it's still fairly enjoyable after you get used to it. The vocals are mixed a bit hot and there's not too much bass. Most favorites are here, "Come", "What Is The World Coming To", "Gypsy", "Big Love", "Go Your Own Way", "Silver Springs" and more.
Quality Rating: A-- Shine Angel (2CD). Missouri Arena, St.Louis, Missouri, USA 11/1979 + Oakland Arena, Oakland, California 1982. There's no doubt this is a raw soundboard feed. The vocals are mixed a bit high at first, but the mix improves as time goes on. If you're a fan of this era Mac, it's a must. Songs include "Sara", "Not That Funny", "I'm So Afraid", "Tusk", "Hold Me", "Go Your Own Way", "Oh Well", "Landslide", "Dreams" and many more.
Quality Rating: A
Foreigner
- Paris '85 6/7/85 (1CD). Here's a radio broadcast from their Agent Provocateur tour. The band is rocking pretty hard on this tour, especially on "Double Vision". The sound is very good and may be a couple generations down the line. Songs include "Cold As Ice", "Tooth And Nail", "Reaction To Action", "That Was Yesterday" and more.
Quality Rating: A
Frankie Goes To Hollywood
- Sex From Mars (1CD). Not sure of the year or venue for this, but I suspect it's around 1986. The flat sound is compressed to the middle range so it's not too impressive. However, if you're curious about their live sound, this will give you a good idea. There are many songs here including "Two Tribes", "Lunar Bay", "Welcome To The Pleasure Dome", "Relax", "Rage Hard", "Warriors Of The Wasteland" and more.
Quality Rating: B
Freddy Jones Band
- The Venice Sessions (1CD). Here is an unreleased album from this Chicago-based, roots rock band. I'm not sure of the names for these songs but quality is high.
Quality Rating: A+- Live '96 (2CD). 11/11/96. Here is a soundboard from the "North Ave. Wake-Up Call" tour. The vocals are little upfront in the mix, but otherwise and enjoyable show. Songs include "Waitress", "In A Daydream" and more.
Quality Rating: A+
Peter Gabriel (see also Genesis)
- Philadelphia Spectrum (2CD). 7/21/87. This sounds like a soundboard feed because of it's rawness. That being said, this is an excellent boot from his "So" tour. Songs include "Shock The Monkey", "Red Rain", "San Jacinto", "Intruder", "Games Without Frontiers", "Mercy Street", "Big Time", "Don't Give Up", "In Your Eyes" and more.
Quality Rating: A
Genesis (see also Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel)
- Royal Albert Hall '92 (2CD) 11/16/92. England. Here is an excellent radio broadcast from the final tour with Phil. The quality here is great, as is the performance which is on par with the show officially released from this tour. Songs include "Fading Lights", "No Son Of Mine", "Domino" and more.
Quality Rating: A+- Vienna '92 (2CD). July, 1992. Vienna, Austria. Here is a very good quality radio broadcast from the final tour with Collins. Songs include "Turn It On Again", "Old Medley", "Driving The Last Spike", "We Can't Dance", "No Son Of Mine" and more.
Quality Rating: A- We Can't Dance Tour Rehearsals (1CD). 5/4/92, Dallas, TX. The sound quality here is okay for a board and includes some songs I didn't think the band performed on this tour like "The Way Of The World" and "Throwing It All Away". I would recommend this for the hardcore fan only as it's really nothing too special in terms of playing or song selection.
Quality Rating: A-- Live In The City Of Light (2CD) 7/4/87 Wembley Stadium, London. Here's an excellent show from the "Invisible Touch" tour taken right from the BBC master reels, so quality is high. Songs include "The Brazilian", "Domino", "Home By The Sea", "In The Cage Medley", "Abacab" and more.
Quality Rating: A+- Wembley 1987 (2CD). This sounds like probably came right from the audio of the Invisible Touch Tour VHS. The sound quality is excellent and includes tunes from the "Invisible Touch" tour including "Land Of Confusion", "Throwing It All Away", "That's All", "In The Cage/Slipperman Medley" and a rare long live version of "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight", plus many more. The best version of this show is "Live In The City Of Lights".
Quality Rating: A+- King Biscuit Flower Hour 1986. 8/15/86 LA Forum, CA. (2CD). Here are two broadcast discs of the Genesis King Biscuit show from their "Invisible Touch" tour. This isn't one of my favorite Genesis tours (the next one was much better, for instance), however it does contain some "nuggets" such as the "In The Cage/In That Quiet Earth/Supper's Ready" medley and perhaps "Domino" and "Home By The Sea". Other than that it's the typical smattering of hits, such as "In Too Deep", "Land Of Confusion", "That's All", "Turn It On Again", "Throwing It All Away" and more.
Quality Rating: A+- Westwood One (1CD) 1/14/84. LA Forum, CA. Here is an excellent show from the "Genesis" tour taken from the FM transcription discs (possibly vinyl). The quality is high and songs include "In The Cage", "It's Gonna Get Better", "Keep It Dark", "In That Quiet Earth/Slippermen" medley, "Los Endos" and more. Commercials have been edited out, which makes this sound almost like an official live album. Good stuff.
Quality Rating: A+
Quality Rating: A+- Six Of The Best (2CD). 10/2/82. London. Once Gabriel left Genesis in 1975 after "The Lamb" he never looked back...well, maybe once. This is it. This show was a one time only reunion of Gabriel with his old bandmates. At it's core, this show was intended as a benefit concert for Gabriel's WOMAD charity, which had fallen on hard financial times. Instead of watching their friend lose money, the guys in Genesis decided a reunion show with Peter would help raise money for his cause. Steve Hackett is here, but only on the encore tracks (Daryl Stuermer plays most of the show). This show was intentionally not recorded for posterity, however, this very good audience recording captures a brief historical moment in the career of Genesis. Songs include "Carpet Crawlers", "Firth Of Fifth", "Musical Box", "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway", "Supper's Ready" and more.
Quality Rating: B+- Live In Saratoga Springs. 8/26/82 NY (2CD). This is taken from the 1982 "Encore Tour" promoting the live album "Three Sides Live". This is taken directly off the soundboard so the quality is high. I should note the first few songs were recorded a bit "hot" so you can hear high-end distortion. This clears up during "Dodo" and from that point on the sound is quite excellent. This tour contained a few nuggets which would never again be performed in their entirety, such as "Dance On A Volcano" and especially "Supper's Ready", in which Collins and the gang plow through all 20+ minutes of this classic tune. Collins also has fun with the crowd on this night and probably uses more foul language than I've ever heard during a Genesis show. For example, he often says they'll be playing lots of "old shit" and "new shit" and makes it very clear which song falls into which category. Collins also engages the audience with a 15 minute story before tackling the classic "Supper's Ready". Another highlight is "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway" which segues into "Watcher Of The Skies". Other songs include "Behind the Lines", "Man On The Corner", "Who Dunnit", "Los Endos", "I Know What I Like", "Abacab" and more. Highly recommended.
Quality Rating: A- Cincinnati, IL 11/21/81 (2CD). An excellent soundboard from the "Abacab" tour. They do "Firth Of Fifth" for probably one of the last times ever (later it would become part of a medley). The sound starts off a bit dull but then brightens up after the first couple songs. Good performance by the band here. Songs Include "Me And Sarah Jane". "Who Dunnit", "No Reply At All", "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway" and more.
Quality Rating: A-- Fiaba (2CD). New York, City 1981. I love this one...an excellent recording from the Abacab tour. This could be a pre-broadcast source but not sure. It is sourced from vinyl because you can hear some surface noise when things are low. Otherwise the recording is very bright and punchy. Plus, this the last tour to feature the full length version of "Firth Of Fifth". Other songs include "Man On A Corner", "Dodo", "In The Cage/Slippermen/Aferglow", "Me And Sarah Jane" and more.
Quality Rating: A+- Abacab Complete. (1CD) This cd is a complete look at the recording session from the "Abacab" album. Now, the versions of some songs here will be hard to distinguish from the official release. However, with "Paperlate" you can definitely hear the difference. I haven't really given this a good listen yet so it's hard for me to be specific about what's different. The track list on the cd shows the working titles of these songs, including "Jangley" (You Might Recall), "Nationwide" (No Reply At All), "Vocal 3/4" (Naminanu), "Spike" (Me & Sarah Jane), "Don" (Like It Or Not) and more.
Quality Rating: A/A+
Quality Rating: A+- Knebworth '78 (2CD). Knebworth Park, Stevenage UK. 6/24/78. This is from a pre-FM source and the sound is wonderful. If you're a fan of this era ("...Three") you must have this. Since this is from the original transcription discs there are some commercials. Songs include "Squonk", "Burning Rope", "Fountain of Salmacis", "One For The Vine", "The Lady Lies" and more.
Quality Rating: A+- Master Of Chicago Show (2CD) This is an excellent radio broadcast from the "And Then Their Were Three" tour, the first without Steve Hackett. Songs include "Deep In The Motherlode", "Say It's Alright Joe", "Eleventh Earl Of Mar", "Burning Rope", "One For The Vine", "Dance On A Volcano" and more.
Quality Rating: A-- Live In Southampton England, 1977 (2CD). This was the band's second night in Southampton. If you're a fan of this era, you're in for a treat. This is a very nice soundboard from the "Wind and Wuthering Tour". Now, it's not "Musica", but it's not that far off either. There's good bass response, fairly good depth and decent enough highs to make this a very raw and edgy sounding show. The setlist is incredible too...songs include "Robbery, Assault and Battery", "Carpet Crawlers", "Supper's Ready", "Dance On A Volcano", "Squonk", "One For The Vine" and more.
Quality Rating: A- Before Riches (2CD) Another excellent radio broadcast from the "Wind And Wuthering" tour, the last one with guitarist Steve Hackett. Songs include, "One For The Vine", "Inside & Out", "In That Quiet Earth/Afterglow", "Supper's Ready", "The Knife" and more.
Quality Rating: A- A Living Story London, England 1/2/77 (1CD). It was the start of a brand new year for Genesis and also one that would see the departure of guitarist Steve Hackett. That being said, this performance is among the last of the "classic era" shows (with Gabriel having had the "Golden" years). The sound quality is very good for a late 70's radio broadcast. Not the entire show, unfortunately. Songs include "Squonk", "In That Quiet Earth", "All In A Mouse's Night", "One For The Vine", "Eleventh Earl Of Mar" and more.
Quality Rating: A- Melody Of 1976 (1CD) This is a soundboard from their 6/11/76 appearance at the Hammersmith Odeon. The sound is a bit thin, but details can be heard. Songs include "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway", "The Cinema Show", the rare "White Mountain" and more.
Quality Rating: A-- Live In Burbank (2CD). Starlight Bowl 5/1/76. This is a very good audience recording from the "Trick Of The Tail" tour. At first I thought it was an soundboard, but after doing some reading about this title online I found it's an audience. I guess what threw me was Bill Bruford's clear drumming (which always seems to stand out in a recording). You can also hear Collins' vocals very well and the other instruments are decent in the mix as well. If you add some bottom end to this recording it doesn't sound bad at all. Songs include, "Dance On A Volcano", "White Mountain", "Entangled", "Supper's Ready", "It/Watcher Of The Skies" and more.
Quality Rating: A-/B+- A Trick Of The Stage (2CD) While this is the exact same show as "Pittsburgh '76" above, the quality isn't quite as good. I would highly recommend getting "Pittsburgh '76"...only get this if you are a Genesis fanatic and must have it all.
Quality Rating: A-- Pittsburgh '76 (2CD) This is either an excellent broadcast or soundboard from their "A Trick Of The Tail" tour, their first without Peter Gabriel. A great thing about this boot is that it features Bill Bruford on drums and includes the following, "Cinema Show", "White Mountain", "Firth Of Fifth", "Entangled", "Supper's Ready" and many more.
Quality Rating: A
Quality Rating: A- Academy of Music, New York, NY, May 6, 1974 (2CD). Here's a decent sounding show from the "Selling England" tour. Songs include "Watcher Of The Skies", "Dancing With The Moonlit Knight", "Firth Of Fifth", "The Battle Of Epping Forest" and more.
Quality Rating: A-- Montreal 1974 (2CD) This is a radio broadcast from April 21,1974 at the University Sports Centre in Montreal, Canada. Quality is excellent for it's age and songs include "Dancing With A Moonlit Knight", "The Musical Box", "Firth Of Fifth", the rare "Horizons" and "Battle of Epping Forest" as well as others. This is a big improvement over "Live In Montreal", which now appears to be a higher gen.
Quality Rating: A- Melody TV Broadcast. Paris, France. 2/12/74 (1 VCD). I've always wanted video of classic Gabriel doing his weirdness. This one features Gabriel clutching a blade of grass between his teeth while freakily "mowing the lawn" for "I Know What I Like". His face is in makeup the entire time and his act is probably at it's most outrageous. This is a classic performance and a must for any fan of the older stuff. The video and sound quality are average, definitely enjoyable. Songs here include "Supper's Ready" and "Wardrobe"...and that would be the only downside...only 2 songs! But still, that's a good 30mins.
Quality Rating: A-- Selling England By The Session (2CD). If you love this album (which any die-hard fan would) then you'll find this set very interesting. The sound is pretty good for this rare 1973 collection of outtakes, including many alternate versions, instrumental takes, session takes, as well as some improvisations. It's a good example of the band jamming away and find tuning the songs that would eventually shape on of their best ever albums. This set also sees the band loosening up and giving "The Last Time" (Rolling Stones) and "You Really Got Me" (Kinks) a spin in the studio. Again, recommended for the die-hards only.
Quality Rating: B+- Hogweed #9 (1CD). This is made up of recordings from various sources, including Belgian TV 1972 ("Salmacis", "Alehouse"), Frankfurt Radio 1973 ("Watcher Of The Skies") and France TV 1974 ("Supper's Ready"). The sound quality is consistently very good throughout. Songs include "The Music Box", "Hogweed" and more.
Quality Rating: A-- Bataclan 1/10/73. Le Club, France (1 VCD). This is rare treat from French TV and transferred nicely to VCD. The sound is very good and the picture surprisingly clear considering it's age. If you're a fan of the "Foxtrot" era Genesis, this is a must. One annoying thing (if you really want to call it that) are the interview segments. Of course, the band are answering the questions in English, but you can hardly hear them because of the French interpreter, who is speaking over top of them! Songs include "The Musical Box", "Supper's Ready", "The Return Of The Giant Hogweed" and "The Knife". Oh yeah, check out Peter with the fox's head! Classic stuff.
Quality Rating: A+- Belgian TV, 1972 (1 VCD). 3/20/72. This is not an audio boot, but rather a video bootleg of the band's performance on Belgian television. The performance is about 30mins long and includes the following, "Fountain Of Salmacius", "Musical Box", "Twilight Alehouse", and "Return Of The Giant Hogweed". The quality here is better than I had expected...a nice find. Highly recommended for fans of their early Nursery Cryme period. Just so you know, VCDs can be played on most newer DVD players and also should be playable on all CD-ROMs along with an mpeg player.
Quality Rating: A
David Gilmour (see also Pink Floyd)
- In Floyd We Trust (1CD). 7/12/84, Allentown, PA. Here's a truly excellent soundboard from David Gilmour's 1984 solo tour. Songs include, "All Lovers Are Deranged", "Love On The Air", "Money", "You Know I'm Right", "Run Like Hell" and more. The setlist heavily favors his new solo album at the time, but there are some Floyd nuggets in there as well. His touring band included Chris Slade (The Firm, AC/DC, Asia) and also Mick Ralphs (Bad Company).
Quality Rating: A+
GTR/Steve Howe & Friends/Robert Berry (see also ABWH, Asia and Yes)
- Demos (1CD) Not an official release, but an interesting find. This is a batch of demos recorded for a couple of projects. The first being the never released second GTR album. Therefore, some tracks feature Max Bacon on vocals, and I believe the remainder of the band (minus Hackett). When that album never happened, Steve Howe played with vocalist/bassist Robert Berry and some of those songs are also present here. The latter project was termed "Steve Howe and Friends", but again, never materialized. There are also some tracks which served as demos for Robert Berry's debut solo album. I'm not clear if Howe plays on those tracks or not. This collection is similar to another boot called "Netrotrendo", except this one contains more tracks, including a version of "Eleanor Rigby". A few of the songs on this disc serve as demos and inspirations for tracks that would later surface on Steve's "Turbulence" album and even on "Union" by Yes. The quality is pretty good, definitely a couple of generations down the line, but very listenable.
Quality Rating: B+/A-- Baltimore Acoustic Set (1CD) 6/20/86. Lyric Theatre, Baltimore, MD. This is a rare treat. Here is an audience recording of the full acoustic set which opened their shows. First, Steve Hackett comes out and does "Horizons", "Blood On The Rooftop", "Black Right", "Supper's Ready" and more. Then Steve Howe comes out and does "Surface Tension", "Mood for a Day", a Chet Akins tribute and more. Then Hackett and Howe both plan on "Time Runs Slow". The total time here is 40mins. Being that it's only acoustic, the sound is excellent for it's age.
Quality Rating: A-
Hall And Oates
- LA 1984 (2CD) 12/17/84. The source here is probably radio. The performance is top-notch, just wish the sound could be a bit better. It doesn't have that depth I like, but it would do you fine at a lower volume. The setlist is full of hits inlcuding "Out Of Touch", "Say It Isn't So", "Possession Obsession", "Maneater", "Adult Education", "You Make My Dreams", "Art Of Heartbreak" and more.
Quality Rating: A-
Heart
Quality Rating: A/A+
Jimi Hendrix
- Last American Concert (2CD). 7/30/70, Haleakala Crater, Maui, Hawaii. Here is the last U.S. show of Jimi Hendrix. He would also pass away about 3 months after this show. He and his band performed two shows this day and both are great. The sound here is very good for it's age. Songs include "Voodoo Chile", "Foxey Lady", "Message To Love", "In From The Storm" and more.
Quality Rating: A-
Quality Rating: A+
The Human League
- There's Always Rubbish On The TV (1CD). 8/3/03. The Downtown, Farmingdale, NY. It's such a shame the recording quality isn't better here because this is a great, rare performance with a nice setlist. While this audience recording seems to have a lot of dynamic range, something is lost in the middle that makes this not too enjoyable a listen. However, you can certainly hear what is going on. Songs include "Mirror Man", "All I Ever Wanted", "Keep Feeling Fascination", "Tell Me When", "Human", "Don't You Want Me" and more.
Quality Rating: C+/B-
Quality Rating: A+
Icehouse
- Live In New York City (1CD). Here is a radio broadcast from 1986. The band had just released their "Measure For Measure" album and songs include "Mr. Big", "No Promises", "We Can Get Together", "Paradise" and more.
Quality Rating: A
INXS
- Kick The Devil Inside (1CD). This is a radio broadcast from the final leg of the Kick tour in California 1988. The sound is very good and contains the following, "Guns In The Sky", "Original Sin", "Listen Like Thieves", "Soul Mistake", "Need You Tonight", "This Time", "Good Times", "Don't Change" and more.
Quality Rating: A-
Quality Rating: A- Original Sin (1CD) 6/27/86. St. Gallen, Switzerland. Here's a board from the "Listen Like Thieves" tour. The sound is a bit raw but certainly enjoyable. Songs include "Melting In The Sun", "I Send A Message", "The One Thing", "Soul Mistake", "Original Sin", "Kiss The Dirt", "Same Direction" and more.
Quality Rating: A-- US Festival (1CD). May, 1983. If you love early Inxs, you'll love this one. This might as well be called "Shabooh Shoobah Live" because it features quite a few songs from that album including "To Look At You", "Black/White", "Old World/New World" and even "Just Keep Walking" from the first album. The quality is very good for it's age and is probably FM sourced.
Quality Rating: A-
Joe Jackson
Quality Rating: A+
Jars Of Clay
- Jingle Ball '99 (1CD).12/17/1999 Cox Arena, San Diego, CA. This cd actually includes highlights of the entire Jingle Ball, including songs from Duran Duran, Dave Wakeling, Jewel, Melissa Etheridge and more. While only two songs from Jars Of Clay are included here, the live version of "Flood" is just phenomenal, and the superb soundboard mix is icing on the cake. The other song here is "Unforgetful You".
Quality Rating: A+
Billy Joel
- Hartford '02 (2CD). Hartford, CT 2/802. Here's a soundboard from a Billy Joel/Elton John show. The sound quality here is excellent, I just wish the performance was top-notch. Billy's voice isn't what it used to be and his band didn't seem to have quite the same energy that I remember. Elton, as always, is in fine form, probably because he has rarely stopped performing over the past couple decades. Songs include "Don't Ask Me Why", "Angry Young Man", "New York State Of Mind", "Allentown", "River Of Dreams" and more.
Quality Rating: A+- Face to Face Live in Japan 1998 (2CD) This is a rare gem. This is taken right from the soundboard of a show from Billy and Elton's "Face To Face" tour. Songs (for Joel) include: "Angry Young Man", "My Life", "Just The Way You Are" and more. Songs (from Elton) include: "Grey Seal", "Bitch Is Back", Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" and more. A must for any Elton or Billy Joel fan.
Quality Rating: A- Storytellers (1CD). This appears to have been lifted from the broadcast audio of the VH1 Storytellers program. This is not the complete sessions since VH1 did air two, one hour episodes of Billy's performance. However, the sound quality is generally very good. Songs include "No Man's Land", "Summer Highland Falls", "Sunshine Of Your Love", "Scenes From An Italian Restaurant" and more.
Quality Rating: A-- After The Flood (2CD) 1994, Europe show. This is a very good soundboard from his "River Of Dreams" tour. Songs include, "No Man's Land", "Pressure", "Scenes From An Italian Restaurant", "An Innocent Man", "Shades Of Grey", "Goodnight Saigon", "Honesty", "Leningrad", "Ballad Of Billy The Kid" and more.
Quality Rating: A-- Songs From The Backyard (2CD). This is a live compilation of shows from 1980/81. All sources are soundboard and quality is generally excellent. Some songs here are bootleg versions of tunes that appeared on "Songs In The Attic", which was released around this time. I believe "Everybody Loves You Now", "Miami 2017", and "Streetlife Serenader" are from that album. (Washington D.C. and MSG). Overall, this is the best batch of live tunes in terms of sound quality from this era. Practically serves as an extended edition of "Songs From The Attic". Songs include "You May Be Right", "The Stranger", "I'll Cry Instead", "Piano Man", "Angry Young Man", "Zanzibar" (surprisingly, the best track here!), "New York State Of Mind" and more. If you like Billy from this period, it's a must.
Quality Rating: A-/A+
Quality Rating: A/A+- C.W. Post College, Greenvale, NY 5/6/77 (2CD). Here's a glimpse into the early career of Billy Joel...right before he became such a mainstream success. This recording is a broadcast from his "Stranger" tour. Songs include "Miami 2017", "Scenes From An Italian Restaurant", "James", "The Entertainer", "Root Beer Rag", "Worse Comes To Worse", "Ain't No Crime", "Piano Man" and more.
Quality Rating: A-- Bottom Line (2CD). This is a classic radio broadcast from Billy Joel on his "Turnstyles" tour in 1976. Sound quality is pretty good considering it's age and offers up a nice collection of early tracks.
Quality Rating: A-/B+
Elton John
- Hartford '02 (2CD). Hartford, CT 2/802. Here's a soundboard from a Billy Joel/Elton John show. The sound quality here is excellent, I just wish the performance was top-notch. Billy's voice isn't what it used to be and his band didn't seem to have quite the same energy that I remember. Elton, as always, is in fine form, probably because he has rarely stopped performing over the past couple decades. Songs include "Funeral For A Friend", "That's Why They Call It The Blues", "Rocket Man", "I Want Love" and more.
Quality Rating: A+- Face to Face Live in Japan 1998 (2CD) This is a rare gem. This is taken right from the soundboard of a show from Billy Joel and Elton's "Face To Face" tour. Songs (from Elton) include: "Grey Seal", "Bitch Is Back", Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" and more. A must for any Elton or Billy Joel fan. Songs (for Joel) include: "Angry Young Man", "My Life", "Just The Way You Are" and more.
Quality Rating: A
Howard Jones
- Aylesbury 1984 (1CD). Rare Howard Jones radio concert. FM sourced, excellent sound.
Quality Rating: A- London 1985 (1CD). Another rare Hojo show. FM sourced, excellent sound.
Quality Rating: A
John Paul Jones (also see Led Zeppelin)
- New Orleans 2000 (2CD). 3/14/00, New Orleans, LA. I was able to catch John Paul Jones live once as an opener for King Crimson. He put on an awesome show and this one is no exception. It's not enough that John Paul Jones plays the bass expertly, throw in Nick Beggs (formerly of Kajagoogoo) and you've got some downright powerful playing going on here. They rip through heavy and raw versions of tunes not only from Jones' solo albums, but also his Zeppelin days. Usually when it's time for a return to the past, Jones hops on the slide guitar and all hell breaks loose, even on songs like "No Quarter", Jones makes the slide wail like you've never heard on a rock tune. The fact this is an excellent soundboard is icing on the cake.
Quality Rating: A+- Toads (2CD) 10/13/99. Here is an audience recording that sounds very close to a board. The audience chatter really gives it away, otherwise the sound is pretty good. Not quite as sharp and bright as you would hope but you can hear most everything okay. This show is from John Paul Jones' first ever solo tour. Most of the songs played are from his album "Zooma" in addition to some Zeppelin classics.
Quality Rating: A-
Journey
- Raised On Philly (1CD). This sounds like it was recorded from an FM broadcast. It's Journey during their last days as a powerhouse band, a period not covered by any live album, which makes this so special. I wish the quality were a bit better, but considering when it's from it's not that bad at all.
Quality Rating: A-
Judas Priest
- Long Beach (2CD) 5/5/84, Long Beach, CA. Here's a radio broadcast with very good sound. Songs include "Love Bites", "Jaw Breaker", "Grinder", "Metal Gods" and more.
Quality Rating: A-- Memphis (2CD) 12/12/82, Memphis, TN. The audio here is taken from a VHS source. The sound quality here is excellent.
Quality Rating: A+- Live In Chicago 1981 (1CD). Excellent sound here...probably from a very good FM source or possibly a board. Songs include "Breaking The Law", "Sinner", "Grinder", "Living After Midnight", "Victim Of Changes". "Troubleshooter", "Diamonds And Rust" and more.
Quality Rating: A+
The Kinks
- Rehearsals '91 (1CD). March 1990, Club Vegas. Here are about 30mins worth of rehearsals. The sound is off the board, but has a tinny quality to it. The band runs through quite a few songs, including some medleys. I would only suggest this for the hardcore fan. Songs include "I'm Not Like Everybody Else" (Dave vocal), "Set Me Free", "Have A Cup Of Tea", "State Of Confusion" and more.
Quality Rating: A-- Fox Theatre '88 (1CD). Here's a soundboard from the "Word Of Mouth" tour on 4/14/88 at the Fox Theatre, IL. Nice selection of songs here and the quality is very good to excellent. Songs include "Do It Again", "Guilty", "Living On A Thin Line", "Come Dancing", "All The Day And All Of The Night", "Cliches Of The World" and more.
Quality Rating: A- U.S. Jive (1CD). Riverside Theater, Milwaukee, WI, 4/8/88 and Fox Theater, St. Louis, MI, 4/15/88. Here's a great sounding show from "The Road" era (don't let the title fool you, it's not from the U.K. Jive tour). Most tracks are from WI and a few bonus cuts are from St. Louis. Song include "Apeman", "Sleepwalker", "The Road", "Living On A Thin Line", "Welcome To Sleazy Town" and more.
Quality Rating: A- Rockplast '82 (2CD). This was recorded during the "Give The People What They Want Tour", which is my favorite period of the band. This is a very raw, energetic recording taken right from an FM broadcast, I believe. You'll also hear a pre-release version of the Dave Davies tune "Bernadette", which was released on the Kinks' "State Of Confusion" the following year. Overall, a great collection with great sound.
Quality Rating: A
Quality Rating: A+
Kool And The Gang
Quality Rating: A+
Lenny Kravitz
Quality Rating: A+- 5 Alive (1CD). 10/29/98 House Of Blues, Orlando, FL. This excellent boot sounds like it was captured from a digital broadcast. Songs include "Always On The Run", an awesome lengthy dose of "Supersoulfighter", "Mr. Cab Driver", "Let Love Rule", "Are You Gonna Go My Way" and also includes 3 bonus tracks. These tracks include appearances on David Letterman (7/20/98), Chris Rock Show (8/28/98) and with Iggy Pop (10/28/98) for the Vh1 Fashion Awards on Bowie's "Rebel Rebel". If you're a Lenny fan, pick this up for sure.
Quality Rating: A+
Led Zeppelin (see also John Paul Jones)
- The Last Show (2CD) 7/7/80, Berlin, Germany. Here is a soundboard of the last Zeppelin show with drummer John Bonham, who would die a little over two months later from an alcohol binge that included nearly 3 dozen vodka shots within just hours...talk about a bad idea! The sound quality is pretty good...nice full bass with enough clarity to hear everything great. It does sound like the highs are a bit compressed, possibly due to it being a couple gens down the line. Songs include "In The Evening", "All Of My Love", "Black Dog", "Whole Lotta Love" and more.
Quality Rating: A-
Quality Rating: A+- Conspiracy Theory (3CD) 3/14/75. San Diego, CA. Good news first - the sound quality is great, sounds almost like an official release. The bad news - this isn't a very good Zeppelin performance. Plant's vocals are shot and Page sounds mainly disjointed...not a thundering performance (more like a lumbering one). I mean, just compare "Over The Hills And Far Away" to the one found on "How The West Was One" and you'll see what I mean.
Quality Rating: A+
Quality Rating: A+- Flying Circus (3CD). 2/12/75, Madison Square Garden, New York. This is an awesome sounding board...and since it didn't see the light of day on the recent official Zeppelin releases and Page says there won't be more live material coming, it makes this show even more of a treat. This is probably the best sounding Zeppelin boot out there. Plant sounds like he's standing in your living room and Page's guitar is very upfront as well. A must for any Zeppelin fan. Songs include "Dazed And Confused", "Sick Again", "Kashmir", "Black Dog", "Trampled Underfoot", "No Quarter" and more.
Quality Rating: A+- Texas International Pop Festival (1CD). Motor Speedway, Dallas, TX. 8/31/69. In support of their debut album, this rare early performance is nothing short of electric. You can sense the band is onto something the way they attack on the bluesy "I Can't Quit You Baby", steamroll on a 17 minute "How Many More Times" and the savagery of the encore, "Communication Breakdown". Also included is a 15 minute "Dazed And Confused". The soundboard audio here is quite good considering it's age. If you want to hear the way this band started, be sure to give this a listen.
Quality Rating: A
Level 42
- The White Funky (1CD). That's right, this is the same band that brought you the 80's staples "Something About You" and "Lessons In Love". However, this rare soundboard recording is taken from their pre-pop period when they were a straight ahead jazz/ska fusion band. This sounds nothing like their latter day 80's pop sound and is quite awesome to say the least. When you think of Level 42 you don't think in terms of bootlegs...but this is a great disc.
Quality Rating: A
Living Colour
- New Year's Eve 2001 The Tabernacle, Atlanta, GA 12/31/01 (2CD). Here's an excellent audience recording from a recent reunion show, this one on New Year's Eve. Because of that, there's a bit more talking by the band but it does make for a more unique show. The band don't sound like they ever stopped touring as they are extremely tight here. Songs include "Time's Up" (which they start twice because of some problem), "Memories Can't Wait", "Go Away", "Ignorance Is Bliss", "Love Rears It's Ugly Head", "Solace Of You", "Cult Of Personality" and more.
Quality Rating: A
Quality Rating: A+
Loverboy
- An Evening With Loverboy (2CD). WI 3/5/84. This is taken from the pre-broadcast cds for the Superstar Concert Series radio show. Songs include "The Kid Is Hot Tonight", "Turn Me Loose", "Working For The Weekend" and other hits. If you're a Loverboy fan, you've died and gone to 80's rock heaven.
Quality Rating: A+
Dave Matthews Band
- 8/27/02 (2CD) UMB Bank Pavilion, Maryland Heights, Missouri. An excellent board with the band performing very well. Songs include "Kit Kat Jam", "All Along The Watchtower", "Rhyme And Reason", Say Goodbye", "The Stone" and more.
Quality Rating: A- 7/25/01 (3CD) AmSouth Amphitheater, Antioch, Tenessee. Here is an excellent soundboard and performance too. Songs include "Too Much", "So Right", "JTR", "Space Between", "Bartender" and more.
Quality Rating: A
Quality Rating: A+- 5/26/99 RFK Stadium (2CD). Here's an excellent board show...can't remember much else...good show, though.
Quality Rating: A- 12/3/98 (3CD). Madison Square Garden, NY. Here's a pretty good sounding board show. Songs include "Jimi Thing", "Lie In Our Graves", "Minarets" and more.
Quality Rating: A-/A- 7/24/98 (3CD). Sony Blockbuster Amphitheater, Camden, New Jersey. Here's a pretty good sounding board. Performance is okay, definitely not as great as it could be. Songs include "Lie In Our Graves", "The Last Stop", "Seek Up", "Crash Into Me", "The Best Of What's Around", "Typical Situation" and more.
Quality Rating: A-
Brian May & Friends (also see Queen and Van Halen)
- Starfleet Project (1CD). This is sourced from an out of print CD. Actually, this album (originally an EP) only has 3 songs and they were re-released in the 90's as B-sides for May's "Back To The Light" album. This EP was originally released in 1983 and has never been released on CD in it's original form. It was never intended for release as Queen's Brian May had shelved the tapes of his jamming around with friends Eddie Van Halen, Phil Chen (Rod Stewart) and Alan Gratzer (REO Speedwagon). Brian was soon persuaded by friends to release the sessions so fans could enjoy it. Does is sound like Brian May meets Eddie Van Halen? No, not really. It sounds more like Eddie jamming on some Brian May fodder than anything else. The album opens with "Star Fleet", which sounds like throwaway Queen. When I first heard this as a teenager I thought it was cool, but now it does come off a bit overblown and cheesy. There are some good licks between Brian and Eddie, though. And that's what really saves this album overall. These are very loosely structured songs. In fact, the last one, "Blues Breaker", is nothing but 12 minutes of bluesy guitar solo dueling. For fans of Brian May or Van Halen I would give this one listen at some point, but not essential.
Quality Rating: A+
Paul McCartney (see also The Beatles)
- Washington, DC 2002 (2CD). Here's a show from Paul McCartney's latest tour. The source here apparently is from an ALD (assisted listening device). These are used primarily for fans hard of hearing. It's also meat and potatoes for your average bootlegger because it tends to offer clean sound at the very least. Because it is an ALD, it does sound a bit compressed to the middle ranges. There isn't much bass and the highs are not going to make your ears bleed. Sounds like a very clean FM source, which is basically what it is! Songs include "Let Me Roll It", "Coming Up", "Jet", "Band On The Run", "My Love", "Lady Madonna", "Mother Nature's Son" and more.
Quality Rating: A- Last Flight 12/17/79 Glasgow, Scotland (2CD). Here's a radio broadcast from the "Back To The Egg" tour. The sound is very good for it's age with the typical mid to low range dynamics that are typical for radio boots of this time. Songs include "Every Night", "Getting Closer", "Arrow Right Though Me", "Wonderful Christmastime" and many more. Highly recommended for fans of this era.
Quality Rating: A-
Michael McDonald
- Live in New York City (1CD). Excellent soundboard of his 2000 show at B.B. King's Blues Club in Manhattan. This is not the entire show, but does include the highlights including "Sweet Freedom", "I Keep Forgetting", "Yah Mo Be There", "Minute By Minute", "What A Fool Believes", "Taking It To The Streets" plus a rendition of Neil Young's "Down By The River". As a bonus, this set also includes a solo unplugged performance of "Matters Of The Heart".
Quality Rating: A+
John Mellencamp
Quality Rating: A+
Men At Work
- Westwood One (1CD) 8/83 Dayton, OH. Here's a vinyl sourced pre-broadcast show from the "Cargo" tour. The sound quality is very good...probably the best of any Men At Work show I've heard. Songs include "Overkill", "No Restrictions", "Who Can It Be Now, "I Can See It In Your Eyes" and more.
Quality Rating: A- Greek Theatre 1983 (1CD). Pretty good FM broadcast from the "Cargo" tour. Sounds like was recorded straight to cassette. It sounds a couple generations down the line, so there's not as much depth as there can be, but overall, this can be an enjoyable listen. All the hits are represented here including, "Overkill", "Underground", "High Wire", "Who Can It Be Now?", "It's A Mistake", "Be Good Johnny", "Blue For You" and many more. There are also 4 bonus tracks with better sound quality, but not as good a mix...probably a soundboard recording. Songs there include "No Restrictions", "Down By The Sea" and the b-side "F-19".
Quality Rating: A-- Maryland '83 (1CD). 05/20/1983 Civic Center, Baltimore, MD. Here's a radio broadcast from their "Cargo" tour. The sound quality is generally very good and clear, especially in the upper ranges. I wish it had more bottom end, but then again this was probably originally recorded to a cassette. That being said, it's still worth a listen if you're a fan of this band.
Quality Rating: A- Rockpalast (2CD). 12/2/82, Rockpalast, Markthalle, Hamburg, Germany. Here is a surprisingly clean sounding board from their Rockplast performance before the "Cargo" album was released. While the quality of the recording is very clean and bright, the mix is a bit odd. You can clearly hear Greg Ham's saxophone flourishes and Colin Hay often sounds like he's in your living room. Even the guitars have a nice presence, however this could use much more bottom end. The performance here is excellent as the band shows they were not simply a studio band. They certainly have the chops to pull it together live, especially drummer Jerry Speiser whose precise, tight drumming makes fun listening. Standout tracks here are "Be Good Johnny" and possibly "High Wire". Overall an excellent show. Songs include "People Just Love To Play With Words", "I Can See It In Your Eyes", "Down Under", "Underground", "Overkill", "Shintaro", "F19", "It's A Mistake" and more. If you're a fan, get this one.
Quality Rating: A/A+
Missing Persons
- Irvine Meadows 10.5.84 (1CD). Here's an excellent sounding radio show from the mid-80's. These guys are pretty raw live, I mean Bozzio on drums is a monster live and Warren is no slouch on guitar...toss in Dale Bozzio's vocals and it's pretty raucous.
Quality Rating: A+
The Moody Blues
- Rock Of Ages (1CD) 8/18/89, Blossom Music Center, Cleveland, OH. Here is a nice soundboard from their '89 tour. Songs include "Gemini Dream", "The Voice", "I Know You're Out There Somewhere", "Tuesday Afternoon" and more.
Quality Rating: A
Mr. Mister
- Pull (1CD). This is their very rare, never released 4th album. Apparently the record company took a few listens and decided it was better off not releasing it. It's a shame because it may be their best album. True, it doesn't have any songs with hit potential or the hooks of their earlier albums, but it does show the band coming together and making a very organic album. Trevor Rabin of Yes fame guests on 4 tracks adding not only his guitar skills, but also some bass playing as well. This album also features Pat Mastelotto (now of King Crimson) on drums.
Quality Rating: A+- Cincinnati 8/27/86 (2CD). Here's a show from pretty much the final days of this band, the "Go On" tour. The problem here is the sound quality. Although it's a soundboard, the sound is very thin so you don't get much in the bass end at all.
Quality Rating: B+
Quality Rating: A+
The New Deal
- Water Street Music Hall, Rochester, NY 11.13.03 (3CD). An excellent audience recording (mic hung over the balcony) with DJ Logic sitting in for the first of 3 sets, including the encore.
Quality Rating: A- Castaways Ithaca, NY 10/21/03 (2CD). Another excellent audience boot from this unique "breakbeat" trio. Nice tip of the hat to "Sunglasses At Night" here as well as some tracks from their latest album "Gone Gone Gone".
Quallity Rating: A+- The Echo Los Angeles, CA 9.04.03 (2CD). Here's my other favorite trio from Canada, The New Deal. It's hard to categorize their instrumental style, but it's commonly referred to as "progressive, breakbeat house". They're definitely a jam band, but coming from a dance direction instead of rock, which is most commonly found in groups like Phish, Moe, Widespread Panic, etc. As of this review, The New Deal are fairly new to the scene and are beginning to make more waves with each new tour and release. This show is wonderfully captured in an audience recording that you may be hard pressed to tell from a board recording once you get into it. There's decent highs and enough bottom end as well.
Quality Rating: A+- Lewisburg WV 7.12.03 (1CD). Their set from the Mid-Atlantic Music Experience stop in WV. I had planned to see this show but doh!! Their set was the final one of the night, around 2am! Great set and sound is pretty nice for an audience recording.
Quality Rating: A- Berkshire Mt. Music Festival Great Barrington, MA 8.10.02 (2CD). An excellent audience recording, though maybe a tad hot on the bass end. Otherwise a great, energetic performance.
Quality Rating: A+
No Doubt
- Much Music 1997 (1CD). An excellent broadcast source from their appearance on Canada's Much Music. Songs include "Excuse Me Mr.", "Don't Speak", "Spiderwebs" and more.
Quality Rating: A+
The Outfield
- Detroit '86 (1CD). This sounds like it's sourced from a vinyl Westwood One show. The sound quality is nice and full and includes a great version of "Your Love" and also "Say It Isn't So", "Playground" and more. This show does include national commercials.
Quality Rating: A+
Quality Rating: A/A+
Oysterhead (see also Phish and Col. Les Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade and Primus)
- Massey Hall 11/07/01 (2CD). This is a pretty good audience show but one of the things I got this for was Les' tribute to Rush. Being that this show took place at the same venue Rush recorded their first live album "All The World's A Stage", Les tips his hat to Rush by playing some of the intro to "Cygnus X-1" and then at some point later remarks how that venue was used for their live album. Songs here include "Pseudo Suicide", "Army's Are On Ecstasy", "Rubbernecking Lines", "Owner Of The World", "Polka Dot Rose" and more.
Quality Rating: A- Reverb (1VCD - Video CD). This is an episode of the HBO live music showcase "Reverb". In this episode Oysterhead share the bill with another band (whose name slips my mind) and you see about 25 minutes of each band, maybe a tad more Oysterhead, which is good. The quality here is excellent in both picture and sound. It's rare to see this lineup so if you're a fan of this group, I'd check this out. This VCD will play on most newer DVD players.
Quality Rating: A+- Tsongas Arena (2CD) 11/10/01. While this is an excellent audience recording, my copy wasn't burned DAO so there are 2 second gaps between the tracks. Other than that, this is a great glimpse into the world of "Oysterhead" because you can actually hear each instrument very clearly...as a matter of fact, I would say it rivals an A- soundboard. Songs include, "Pseudo Suicide", "Owner Of The World", "Oz Is Ever Floating", "Little Faces" and more.
Quality Rating: A+- Jazzfest 2000 (2CD). This is the supergroup containing Les Claypool (Primus), Trey Anastasio (Phish) and Stewart Copeland (The Police). This show was their first ever concert performance. The band plays many original tunes and jams quite often. They also tear through Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" and the Animals' "House Of The Rising Sun". Overall it's an interesting listen...sometimes quite impressive, sometimes a bit sloppy...but that's what you'd expect from any band's first performance. I would imagine more performances together would truly make for an awesome sound. The source of this cd is most likely from a soundboard...excellent quality (expect lots of bass end). Highly recommended, especially if you're a fan of Phish or Primus.
Quality Rating: A+
Jimmy Page & The Black Crowes (see also Page & Plant and The Black Crowes)
Quality Rating: A+
Page & Plant
- Japan 1996 (Nagoya) (2CD). This is an excellent soundboard or FM broadcast from their '96 Japanese tour. Songs include "Heartbreaker", "Custard Pie", "Ramble On", "Rain Song", "Dancing Days", "Song Remains
the Same", "Celebration Day", "Rock n Roll", "In The Evening" and many more. An excellent show!
Quality Rating: A+
Robert Palmer
- Feel The Heat: Live At The Towne & Country Club (1CD). London, 1991. This is an excellent soundboard which contains a very broad sweep of Palmer's music from the island sounds of "Change His Ways" and "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight" to the grooving "Some Like It Hot" and "Sneaking Sally" to the rocking "Simply Irresistible" and "Addicted To Love".
Quality Rating: A+- San Diego State (2CD). 7/28/86 San Diego, CA. Here is a broadcast the "Riptide" tour. The sound is okay, wish it were better because the performance is top notch. He does a version of ZZ Top's "Planet of Women", which surprised me. Also included are "You're In My System", "Flesh Wound", "Addicted To Love", "Hyperactive", "Bad Case Of Loving You" and more.
Quality Rating: A-/A
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
- Germany '82 (1DVD). 12/18/82, Westfalenhalle - Dortmund, Germany. Here is a broadcast from a show on Petty's "Long After Dark" tour. This only runs about a half hour and songs include "Refugee", "You Got Lucky", "The Waiting", "Change Of Heart" and more.
Quality Rating: A- Straight Into Darkness (2CD). 12/4/82 Utrecht, Holland. Here's an excellent soundboard from the "Long After Dark" tour. Songs include "American Girl", "Change of Heart", "Don't Do Me Like That", "You Got Lucky", "A Woman In Love", "Breakdown", "Refugee" and more.
Quality Rating: A+
Phish (see also Oysterhead)
- Haverford College 2/23/90 (2CD). Excellent soundboard which includes the following tunes: "You Enjoy Myself", "Possum", "Rocky Top", "Dinner And A Movie", "Bouncing Around The Room", "Reba", "Bathtub Gin" and more...plus great covers of "Jesus Just Left Chicago", "Highway To Hell" and "Good Times, Bad Times".
Quality Rating: A
Pink Floyd (See also David Gilmour)
- Turin, Italy 9/13/94 (2CD). Here is a pretty decent soundboard from the Pulse tour.
Quality Rating: A- A Perfect Reception (1CD). 6/30/90. Knebworth Park, England. This is the pre-broadcast cd, which means the quality is excellent. I wish I could say so for the mix, which seems to be a bit heavy on the vocal side. However, they do play a classic set including "Shine On You Crazy Diamond Parts I-V", "The Great Gig In The Sky", "Wish You Were Here", "Money", "Run Like Hell" and more.
Quality Rating: A+- Off The Wall (1CD). This is a collection of outtakes from "The Wall" sessions. Of note, you get a version of "Young Lust" without the overdubbed phone operator at the end. Also, there's no glitch at the beginning of "Comfortably Numb". The mix for "Run Like Hell" even appears to be slightly different. The sound quality here is superb. For die-hard Floyd fans.
Quality Rating: A+- Under Construction (1CD). Very interesting stuff here. These are the second round of demos for "The Wall" album, as performed by the whole band. You'll hear very rough sketches of most every song on the album, including some musical passages and lyrics that didn't make the final version. Highlights include instrumental versions of "Young Lust" and "Run Like Hell" plus "Comfortably Numb" features some different lyrics. This is a must for all Floyd fans. Extensive artwork is available, including front/back scans along with a booklet scan, which features all the lyrics on this demo collection (many of which were never used on the final release).
Quality Rating: A-
Quality Rating: A+- Live At The L.A. Sports Arena (2CD). 4/26/75. Here's one of those audience shows that you could almost swear was a board. This audience recording has a very tight sound and most everything is pretty clear with good separation, which is surprising considering it's age. The first disc is comprised of material from "Animals" and "Wish You Were Here". Disc 2 is basically "Dark Side Of The Moon" live, ala "Pulse" style. The preferable version of this show is "Echoes From The Past" below.
Quality Rating: A- Echoes From The Past (2CD). 4/26/75. An excellent audience show from the "Wish You Were Here" tour. I want to stress that although this is an audience show, it should not be overlooked. If you didn't listen close enough you would wonder if this was a board show, the sound is that clear! If you're a Floyd fan of this era, you definitely need to pick this one up. Songs include "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", "Have A Cigar", "Wish You Were Here", "Raving And Drooling" and then entire "Dark Side Of The Moon" album.
Quality Rating: A+- Brain Damage (1CD) 11/16/74 Wembley Empire Pool. London, UK. Here is a soundboard from the "Dark Side" tour. It sounds close to what you'd expect from a 74 boot, but it's very enjoyable. I wish it were the whole show, though. This is pretty much "Dark Side Of The Moon Live" because all songs on that album are here, and nothing more.
Quality Rating: A- Interstellar Fillmore 4/29/70 (2CD). Here's an excellent soundboard recording from the vintage days of Floyd. I'll admit I have not had a chance to really listen to this boot yet, but the person I traded it from says it's "mind-blowing". From the little I heard, I tend to agree. A must for all Pink Floyd fans.
Quality Rating: A
Robert Plant (see also Page & Plant and Led Zeppelin)
- Universal Amphitheatre (2CD). 11/1/90. Here's a soundboard show from Robert's "Fate Of Nations" tour. There's a fairly good mix of solo tunes here and the performance is fine.
Quality Rating: A- Now and Here (1CD). 6/89. Here's a board from the Now and Zen tour. The sound quality is very good and includes "Other Arms", "Heaven Knows", "Black Country Woman", "Misty Mountain Hop".
Quality Rating: A- Marquee Club, London (1CD). 2/3/88. Here's a board from the Now And Zen tour. The band is playing well, but the sound is a bit flat. Songs include "Little By Little", "Other Arms", "Dimples", "Messin' With The Mekon", "Trampled Underfoot", "Big Log", "Misty Mountain Hop" and more.
Quality Rating: B+/A-- Other Arms (2CD). 8/2/84. Newcastle, Australia. Here's an excellent board from the "Shaken N' Stirred" era. There's songs like "Slow Dancer", "Moonlight In Samosa", "In The Mood", "Pledge Pin", "Big Log", "Little By Little" and "Rockin' At Midnight", "Sea Of Love" (Honeydrippers).
Quality Rating: A/A+
Quality Rating: A+
Quality Rating: A/A+- In The Moonlight (2CD). Brighton, U.K. 1983. Here's a board from the "Principal" tour. I wish the sound were better because the performance is really good. Sounds like it probably went from the board to a cassette and then maybe copied a couple times. Not too bad, but something you'll want to crank too loudly. Songs include "Horizontal Departure", "In The Mood", "Other Arms", "Moonlight In Samosa", "Wreckless Love", "Slow Dancer", "Like I've Never Been Gone" and more.
Quality Rating: A-- Studio Rehearsals (2CD). Here are rehearsals for Plant's first solo album "Pictures At Eleven" (still my favorite of all his albums). Cozy Powell is on drums. Basically this soundboard sourced collection contains numerous jams which sound similar to songs that wound up on the album and even a couple that didn't, such as "Far Post". If you're a really big fan of this album it may be worth a listen.
Quality Rating: A-
The Police (also see Sting and Animal Logic)
- Amnesty International (1CD). Recorded 6/15/86 this cd contains the final public performance of the Police. Also, this CD contains the U2 set as well. As a matter of fact, Bono lends a guest vocal to "Invisible Sun". Sound quality is very good and is sourced from broadcast.
Quality Rating: A-- Honolulu 84 (1CD). 2/24/84. Sting tells the crowd this is an historic night because it's the last date of their final U.S. tour. Too bad this isn't the complete show, which would have made this mandatory for all Police fans. Aside from Sting's mic being a tad "hot" from time to time, the raw soundboard audio is superb (possibly the best I've ever heard on a Police boot). There are cuts between tracks but it all flows pretty well. Included here are some rare songs from their final tour such as the incredible "Invisible Sun", "Murder By Numbers" and "One World (Not Three)". I usually avoid songs like "Roxanne" but trust me, this is the best version of the song you will ever hear, simply amazing. "Can't Stand Losing You" is also played like their lives are on the line. A couple of songs are really edited - "King Of Pain" is cut halfway though and then comes the last part of "Don't Stand So Close To Me". That being said, it's still an amazing soundboard collection of tunes from this show. Strongly recommended for fans.
Quality Rating: A+- Norfolk, VA 8/15/83 (2CD). An excellent soundboard from the final Police tour. Loads of good tunes here and highly recommended for Police fans.
Quality Rating: A-- Many Miles Away (1CD). 2/8/83, Montreal, Canada. Great soundboard from the Synchronicity tour. Songs include "Synchronicity I" (as well as 2), "Walking In Your Footsteps", "Hole In My Life". "Tea In The Sahara", "Message In A Bottle", "King Of Pain", "So Lonely" and more.
Quality Rating: A-- Barcelona, Spain (1CD). 1/10/83. A pretty good sounding board from the Synchronicity tour. Overall, everything is pretty clear, just a bit hot. Songs include "Synchronicity", "Synchronicity II", "Walking In Your Footsteps", "Message In A Bottle", "Walking On The Moon" and more. Aside from the audio of the officially release tour video, this is the best sound quality I've heard from this tour.
Quality Rating: A- Synchronicity Tour Rehearsals (1CD). Pennsylvania, 1983. Here are rehearsals for the band's final tour. This is a soundboard and quality is pretty good. On some songs Sting barely sings and when he does it's often in a lower register, I would assume to avoid straining his voice. Recommended for hardcore fans only.
Quality Rating: A-- Gateshead (2CD) UK, 7/31/82. Here's an excellent soundboard from the "Ghost" tour. Because it doesn't have much bottom end, the recording sounds kinda dry, but all instruments are clear. Songs include "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic", "Hungry For You", "Demolition Man", "Shadows In The Rain", "Invisible Sun", "So Lonely", "The Bed's Too Big Without You", "Driven To Tears" and more. See above for DVD version.
Quality Rating: A- Lakeland 82 (2CD) 3/14/82. This is a below average audience recording from the "Ghost Tour". There is clarity, but the recording is so flat and thin that it's not really worth listening to unless you're hardcore. Songs include "Hungry For You", "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" and more.
Quality Rating: B
Quality Rating: A- Wallaby 3/16/81 (1CD). This is an excellent soundboard from the "Zenyatta Mondatta" tour. Songs include "Don't Stand So Close To Me", "Death Wish", "Man In A Suitcase", "Truth Hits Everybody", "Driven To Tears", "When The World Is Running Down" and more.
Quality Rating: A
Quality Rating: A- Live In Berkeley (1CD). 3/4/79 Berkeley, CA. Here's an excellent soundboard from the band's first tour. It's actually taken from the KSAN pre-FM tapes. The sound could use more bottom end, but overall it's very clear and mixed nicely. Songs include "Truth Hits Everybody", "Born In The 50's", "Be My Girl/Sally", Next To You" and more.
Quality Rating: A
Elvis Presley
Quality Rating: A+
The Pretenders
- US Festival (1CD). This CD is taken from a radio show vinyl source (which includes commercials). The sound quality is excellent and includes "My City Was Gone", "Message Of Love", "Stop Your Sobbing" and more. To see a few songs from this excellent performance, be sure to check out my "US Festival" DVDs. This disc also includes some songs and interview footage from A Flock Of Seagulls.
Quality Rating: A+- Santa Monica Civic Center Sept 4, 1981 (1CD). This is an excellent soundboard show from the band's early days, which includes their original lineup, featuring the late James Honeyman Scott. Songs include "Message Of Love", "The Adultress", "Mystery Achievement", "Stop Your Sobbing", "Bad Boys Get Spanked", "The Wait" and more. Don't get this for the hits...get it for a great live performance from a band in their early prime.
Quality Rating: A
Primus (also see Col. Les Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade and Oysterhead)
- One World Festival (2CD). Crested Butte, CO 9/6/99. An excellent soundboard from the last tour with Brain on drums ("Antipop" tour). Early on the sound is a bit rough, particularly the first song. Les even comments to the audience about how shitty the sound is on stage and they needed time to get everything back on track. Songs here include "To Defy The Laws Of Tradition", "Jerry Was A Racecar Driver", "AntiPop", "Harold Of The Rocks", "Groundhog's Day". The sound could use a bit more bass as the sound is more in the upper ranges. You can definitely hear everything clearly...just needs more bottom end, in my opinion.
Quality Rating: A- New Year's '98 (1CD). 12/31/98. Here's an excellent audience recording from Primus doing a New Year's Eve show in '98. Songs here include "To Defy The Law Of Tradition", "Mr. Knowitall", "Groundhog Day", "Those Damn Blue Collared Tweakers", "The Air Is Getting Slippery", "DMV", "My Name Is Mud" and more.
Quality Rating: A-- KZSU Radio San Mateo, CA, 5/3/89 (1CD). An interesting boot. Here's "local band" Primus playing on college radio, many months before the release of their first albums (the live "Suck On This" and "Frizzle Fry"). Yet, you will find some tracks here that didn't surface until 1991 like "Tommy The Cat" and "Sgt. Baker" (I had no idea the latter was an old song). Of course, I also like the short "YYZ" intro to "John The Fisherman". The quality is pretty decent, a bit dry but definitely listenable.
Quality Rating: A-
Prince
Quality Rating: A+- Fonky Gifts (1CD). This CD contains two tracks, each clocking in around a half hour in length. The first track is "The Remix Experience" which is simply amazing. Prince had a DJ friend (Brother Jules) remix his tracks for special in-house only use (Paisley Park). This remix would play before a show to get the crowd warmed up. This remix seamlessly incorporates many Prince songs and is an amazing listen, probably one of the best remixes I've ever heard. The second track is live and called "The War". This is a live improvisation that has many Prince fans divided and I'd agree it's not one of his best works. This was supposed to be mailed to those who purchased his "Crystal Ball" album online.
Quality Rating: A+- Minneapolis 1994 (1CD). 2/15/94. This is an excellent soundboard recording. Songs include "Interactive", "Days Of Wild", "The Ride", "Martial Law", "None Of Your Business", "The Jam" and more.
Quality Rating: A+- Thunder (2CD). 6/24/92, London. An excellent soundboard show including the songs "let's go crazy","kiss", "dead on it", "jughead", "purple rain", "live 4 love", "lively up yourself","delirious", "willing & able", "damn u", "sexy mf" and many more.
Quality Rating: A- Black Funk Invitation (2CD). 2/1/89, Japan. Excellent soundboard and great performance! Songs include "a love bizarre", "when u were mine", "little red corvette", "controversy", "u got the look", "superfunkycalifrexisexy", "bob george", "anna stesia", "interlude", "eye know", "lovesexy" and many more.
Quality Rating: A+- Small Club (2CD). Not only is this probably the most bootlegged Prince show ever, it's also considered to be one of his very best. Recorded on August 18, 1988, this set includes the following: "DMSR", covers of "Just My Imagination" and "I'll Take You There", "Housequake", "Rave Until The Joy Fantastic", "Cold Sweat" and more. The sound quality is superb making this a must have for all Prince fans.
Quality Rating: A+
Quality Rating: A+- Paris Affair (1CD). 6/87, Paris, France. Excellent soundboard featuring bandmate Sheila E. Songs include "Little Red Corvette", "Housequake", "I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man", "Hot Thing", "Sheila E Solo", "Let's Go Crazy", "When Doves Cry", "Purple Rain", "1999" and more.
Quality Rating: A- Purple Finale (3CD). 4/7/85, 3/8/86, 10/25/84. This boot recreates the Sheila E/Prince setlist for their 84-86 world tour. You get all of Sheila E's opening act (which is fantastic) which includes "The Belle Of St. Mark", "Erotic City", and "Glamour Life". She also performs with Prince for a few including "A Love Bizarre" and "Girls And Boys". The rest of the 3CD set is Prince territory ranging from "Delirious" to "Africa Talks 2 U", a song intended for Live Aid, but never aired. This is a soundboard and the sound is excellent! Other songs include "When Doves Cry", "Take Me With U", "Irresistible Bitch", "Let's Pretend We're Married", "Darling Nikki", "Do Me, Baby" and many more.
Quality Rating: A+
Project Object
Quality Rating: A+
Queen
- Complete BBC Sessions 73-77 (2CD). Here is a compilation of BBC sessions (some previously unreleased) between Feb. 1973 and Oct 1977. The quality is excellent throughout, although sources do vary. Songs include "Keep Yourself Alive", "Doin' Alright", "Great King Rat", "Ogre Battle", "Tenement Funster" and more.
Quality Rating: A-/A- The Prophet's Queen (2CD). This is a very good soundboard from their "A Day At The Races" tour. It's actually 6/6/77 at the Earls Court in London. Songs here include "Doin' Alright", "White Man", "The Prophet's Song", "39", "Killer Queen", "Ogre Battle" and more.
Quality Rating: A-
Quality Rating: A+- London 1975 (1CD). This is a really good recording from their Christmas Eve performance at the Hammersmith Odeon in 1975. It includes "Ogre Battle" and a live version of their previously unreleased track "See What A Fool I've Been". The latter sounds much better live than the studio track which was eventually released on the Hollywood label reissues as a bonus track. I give this show the "definitive check" only because it's more complete than the other above.
Quality Rating: A- Master Of Sheetkeekers (1CD). This is taken from two sources, the first being an awesome sounding radio broadcast from 9/13/73, before Queen II was released. I think this CD is worth the price of admission right here with excellent performances of "Father To Son", "Ogre Battle", "Son & Daughter" and "Liar". The rest of the disc is taken from their 3/31/74 performance at the Rainbow in London. The quality of the latter isn't bad as it is a soundboard, just not as great as the first part.
Quality Rating: A+/A-
Trevor Rabin (also see Yes and Mr. Mister)
- Can't Look Away Live (1CD). Trevor Rabin, former guitarist for Yes, had a brief tour behind his "Can't Look Away" solo album and it's mostly captured here in this broadcast from Boston, MA on December 5, 1989.
Quality Rating: A-
Radiohead
- Live In Holland (2CD). 9/16/00. Here's an excellent soundboard (broadcast?) from their KidA tour. Songs include "Fake Plastic Trees", "Paranoid Android", "Karma Police", "Exit Music" and more.
Quality Rating: A+
R.E.M.
- The Avalon, LA (2CD) 10/29/03. Here's a board from their latest tour. The sound can be a bit hot at times and doesn't sound as good as you'd expect from a board. Songs include "Finest Worksong", "The One I Love", "World Leader Pretend", "NightSwimming", new songs "Bad Day" and "Animal" and more.
Quality Rating: B+/A-- Red Rain (2CD). 9/14/87, Utrecht, Holland. Great soundboard from the "Document" tour. Songs include "These Days", "The One I Love", "Driver 8", "I Believe", "Wolves, Lower", "Superman", "Fall On Me", "Exhuming McCarthy", "Strange", "Moral Kiosk", a really nice medley of "Time After Time/Red Rain/So. Central Rain" and more.
Quality Rating: A-
Simon And Garfunkel
Quality Rating: A+- Washington D.C. 2003 (2CD). 12/14/03. Here's a nice ALD (Assisted Listening Device) feed from their reunion tour. For two 63 year old guys they still sing pretty well together. The Everly Brothers are guests and perform "Wake Up Little Susie", "Dream" and also perform with Simon and Garfunkel for "Bye Bye Love". Overall, there is noticeable hiss, but the vocals are very clear. Quite frankly, the hiss and occasional static drift don't take away from this show. Other songs include "America", "I Am A Rock", "Slip Slidin' Away", "Homeward Bound", "The Boxer", "Hey Schoolgirl", "The Only Living Boy In New York", "Mrs. Robinson" and more.
Quality Rating: A
Rolling Stones
- Rock The Palais (1CD) 8/16/02. Excellent Soundboard. The sound here is very upfront and raw...the band tends to be a bit sloppy at times and has sounded better. Songs include the new "Don't Stop" and many classics including "Honky Tonk Women", "Happy", "Torn And Frayed" (their first time ever playing it live), "Can't You Hear Me Knocking" (another first time ever live).
Quality Rating: A+- Twenty Flight Rock (2CD). This is an excellent radio broadcast of their 12/18/1981 show in Hampton, VA. A few of these tracks wound up on the official release "Still Life" as a matter of fact. This is really is an excellent show featuring the band arguably at their peak. Songs include "Under My Thumb", "When The Whip Comes Down", "Let It Bleed", "Little T&A", "Neighbors", "Beast Of Burden", "Waiting On A Friend" and many many more.
Quality Rating: A
Quality Rating: A+- Welcome To New York (1CD) 7/26/72 Madison Square Garden, NY. A smoking show from the Stones here on Mick's 29th birthday. Songs include "All Down The Line", "Midnight Rambler", Love In Vain" and more. This is definitely a soundboard. The recording could use some more highs, but for 1972 it sounds great.
Quality Rating: A-
The Smithereens
- Live At The Ritz, NYC 10/86 (1CD). I believe this recording was initially available only to fans through a fan club. The quality is excellent here and includes "Blood And Roses", "Behind The Wall Of Sleep", a cover of The Who's "The Seeker" and more. This also includes a few tracks from an LA performance at the Roxy in 1986.
Quality Rating: A
Split Enz
Quality Rating: A+- London '80 (1CD). 9/27/80, Hammersmith Odeon, London, England. Here is an excellent show (which may be from a rebroadcast). Tim Finn pretty much passes the torch to young bro, Neil Finn here. In one introduction Tim jokes about how Neil is too good a songwriter and will leave him in the dust soon - how prophetic of him. Songs here include "I Wouldn't Dream Of It", "I Got You", "Missing Person", a great version of "I Hope I Never" and more.
Quality Rating: A
Bruce Springsteen
- Roses and Broken Hearts (3CD). 5/3/88. From the "Tunnel Of Love" tour, this sounds like it's taken from an ALD source (assisted listening device) because it resembles more of a clean FM source than anything else. The sound isn't as full as, "Winterland Night" or even "Nassau Night", but it's still enjoyable if you're not too picky on the sound (which is more near the mid-ranges). Songs include "I'm On Fire", "Tunnel Of Love", "Cover Me", "Brilliant Disguise", "War", "One Step Up", "Born To Run", "Tougher Than The Rest", and many more.
Quality Rating: A-- Nassau Night (3CD). 12/31/80. Here's the famous New Year's performance right off the soundboard. The sound here is excellent and includes "Hungry Heart", "Racing In The Street", "Darkness On The Edge Of Town", "The River", "Candy's Room", "Because The Night" and more.
Quality Rating: A+
Quality Rating: A+- Oakland, CA 10/26/99 (3CD). This is a truly excellent sounding boot...as well as an excellent show from the band. From what I understand, the sound for this boot was intercepted from an ALD (Assisted Listening Device) at the show. This device is used for the hearing impaired...but has also helped the bootleg circuit greatly as you could imagine! The sound is very clean...definitely worth it for any Boss fan. Songs include "The Ties That Bind", "Trapped", "Factory", "Badlands", "Racing In The Street", "Hungry Heart", "Thunder Road" and many more.
Quality Rating: A+
Billy Squire
- King Biscuit Flower Hour (1CD). Worchester, MA 1983. These are the pre-broadcast cds so the quality is supreme. Songs here include "Everybody Wants You", "Emotions In Motion", "My Kind Of Lover", "The Stroke", "In The Dark" and more...
Quality Rating: A+
Steely Dan
- Caves (2CD). 8/11/03 Clarkston, MI. Excellent soundboard from the "Everything Must Go" tour. Sound quality boasts a very clean mix with nice separation. Could use some more bottom end but overall it's quite amazing. Songs include "Aja", "Time Out Of Mind", "Haitian Divorce", "Parker's Band", "Caves Of Altamira" and more.
Quality Rating: A+- Manifest 7/22/00 Nissan Pavilion, VA. (4CD). This is an incredible, soundboard from early in the "Two Against Nature" tour. The first two cds are from the show itself while the final two discs are rehearsals, an extremely rare thing to hear from this band. With these rehearsals they're not simply running through the set. They sometimes take multiple run-throughs of a song, such as with "Dirty Work", "My Old School" and "Babylon Sisters". You can clearly hear Fagan discussing with various band members what the next note should be and how to proceed through certain tracks. The show itself is excellent with yet another nice setlist which includes "Don't Take Me Alive", "Glamour Profession", "The Boston Rag", "The Royal Scam", the new tunes "Cousin Dupree", "Janie Runaway" and many more. The only drawback is that occasionally the mix is a bit hot, which causes some high-end distortion, but it's really no big deal if you don't have it cranked too loud. This isn't as evident on the live portion as it is on the rehearsal where the sound gets a bit more rough, but still a very enjoyable listen. This is a must-have for any Dan fan as it not only provides you with an excellent show from the last tour, but also gives a rare look into how they rehearse for a show.
Quality Rating: A/A+- Ain't No Drag? 7/15/00 Tweeter Center, Mansfield, MA. (2CD). Here's a nice ALD sourced show from the "Two Against Nature" tour. As with most ALD shows, the sound is a tad thin, yet still quite dynamic in that all instruments can be heard very distinctly. Unfortunately there are times when you'll get a static drift, which is common with ALDs. Songs here include "Black Friday", "Peg", "The Royal Scam", "Jack Of Speed" and many more.
Quality Rating: A
Quality Rating: A+
Quality Rating: A+- No Static At All (2CD) 9/17/94 Irvine, CA. This is a real gem! A different setlist than some of the other well known boards from the 90's tours. This is an excellent soundboard, among the best you could expect. Songs here include, "Aja", "Chain Lightning", "True Companion", "FM", "Parker's Band", "The Fez", "The Royal Scam", "Deacon Blues", "Black Friday" and many more. Definitely check this one out!
Quality Rating: A+
Quality Rating: A+- Live In '94 (2CD) St. Louis, Missouri, 9/1/93. This is the same show as "Doing It Live" (see below). Excellent sound. Songs include "I.G.Y.", "Josie", "Green Flower Street", "Babylon Sisters", "Reeling In The Years", "Teahouse On The Tracks" and more.
Quality Rating: A+- The Summer of 1993 (2CD) Performing Art Center, Saratoga, NY, USA. 8/22/93. An amazingly clear soundboard...a must for Dan fans. Songs include, "Green Earrings", Hey 19", "Home At Last", "Tuzz's Shadow", "Tomorrow's Girls", "FM", "Third World Man", "Countermoon" and many more.
Quality Rating: A+- Katy Lied Outtakes (1CD) Here's a look at some rare takes from the "Katy Lied" sessions. The quality here ranges from just okay "Daddy Don't Live In The New York City No More", "Black Friday", "Rose Darling", "Throw Back The Little Ones" to excellent studio quality "Black Cow" which is just the piano and vocal track. For Steely Dan diehards only.
Quality Rating: B/A-
Quality Rating: A+- Metal Leg (1CD) 3/9-10/74, University of California, Irvine, CA and San Diego. Here is an amazing, newly surfaced soundboard from the early days of Dan. As I listened to the 8 minute opener, "Do It Again", I was blown away by the musicianship. The band features Jeff Porcaro (Toto) on drums, Michael McDonald (Doobies) on keyboards, Jeff "Skunk" Baxter on guitars and others. The band here is very energetic and raw turning in a classic performance. Songs include "King Of The World", "Any Major Dude Will Tell You", "The Boston Rag", "My Old School". Since this is sourced from two shows (on back to back nights) you will hear some songs twice, but that's not a problem as the quality here is superb. Their album Pretzel Logic was released the same week as these shows and the title track is included here as well.
Quality Rating: A+
Sting
- Live At The Universal Amphitheatre, 10/29/99 (1CD). One word about the sound quality...wow. This is an awesome soundboard from his "Brand New Day" tour. Songs include "If You Love Somebody, Set Them Free", "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic", "Desert Rose" (featuring Cheb Mami), "Message In A Bottle", "Fragile" and more. For the Sting collector, this is a must.
Quality Rating: A+
Quality Rating: A+/A- Hollywood Bowl, CA 12/2/92 (2CD). This is from Sting's 40th birthday show, which was broadcast live on radio stations nationwide. However, the source of this cd is not from the broadcast, as it's much better than that. Sounds like it's right off the board...has a rawness that comes from board mixes. It's an extraordinary show...sound is excellent and the performance is top-notch. Songs include, "All This Time", "Driven To Tears", "The Soul Cages", "Fortress Around Your Heart", "Message In A Bottle", "King Of Pain", "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free" and more.
Quality Rating: A+- The Art Of The Heart (3CD) July 1988. A private party of Sting's for 3000 invited guests and a three hour show. Definitely a rare event with excellent sound quality. Lots of covers, Police and solo material here including, "Too Much Information", "Little Wing", "If You Love Somebody", a cover of the Squeeze song "Tempted", "Rock Steady", "Consider Me Gone", "The Lazarus Heart", "Mack The Knife" and more.
Quality Rating: A- One Day Happiness (2CD) An excellent broadcast of his show at the Radrennbahn in Hildesheim, Germany, 21.08.93. The setlist is heavy from latest album at the time "Ten Summoner's Tales" and songs include "Heavy Cloud, No Rain", "Love Is Stronger Than Justice", "Synchronicity II", "She's Too Good For Me", "King Of Pain", "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" and many more.
Quality Rating: A
Quality Rating: A+
Stone Temple Pilots
- House Of Blues 2000 (1CD). 3/15/00 West Hollywood, CA. This is take from a Pay Per View Broadcast so the quality is quite good. Songs include "Crackerman", "Meatplow", "Big Empty", "Sour Girl", "Interstate Love Song (acoustic), "Plush", "Sex And Violence", "Down", "Roadhouse Blues (w/Robbie Krieger)" and more.
Quality Rating: A- San Jose State (2CD). San Jose, CA. 11/9/96. This is an okay soundboard from the "Tiny Music" tour. The sound is somewhat compressed into the low-mid ranges but still listenable. The lead vocals are mixed upfront and often it's not a good thing as Weiland can be off key. The backing vocals are also kind of horrendous in places. Songs include "Pop's Love Suicide", "Crackerman", "Meatplow", "Tumble In The Rough", "Vaseline" and more. Not too highly recommended.
Quality Rating: A-- Live USA 1995 (1CD). This is a soundboard from their '95 "Purple" tour. The quality is excellent, with more of the dynamics of a radio broadcast than that of a raw board feed. Songs include "Meatplow", "Vaseline", "Lounge Fly", "Crackerman", "Still Remains", "Midnight Roundup", "Andy Warhol", "Army Ants", "Interstate Love Song", "Creep" and many more.
Quality Rating: A-
Quality Rating: A+
Styx
- The Live Illusion (1CD). An excellent soundboard from their "Paradise Theatre" tour. Songs include "Rockin' The Paradise", "Great White Hope", "Borrowed Time" and the rare "Half-Penny, Two Penny" plus many more. This is taken from their January 13, 1982 show at the Budokan in Tokyo, Japan. The sound quality takes a slight dip about halfway through...possibly due to a tape flip, but it's still great.
Quality Rating: A/A+- Piece Of Eleven (1CD). Taken from their "Pieces Of Eight" tour, this boot includes quite a few tracks they wound up dropping in favor of their increasing amount of radio friendly songs such as "I'm Ok", "Great White Hope", "Queen Of Spades", "Sweet Mademoiselle" and more. The problem here is the sound quality. It's a few generations down the line so the quality isn't that great...but it is a soundboard.
Quality Rating: B+
Supertramp
- The Last Live (2CD). Recorded in 1983, this boot sounds like it could have been taped from a TV broadcast (possibly the one from Canada above?). Great song selection including "The Logical Song", "Rudy", "School", "Bloody Well Right" and more.
Quality Rating: A-
Talk Talk
- Talking Colours (1CD) 1986. This is a great sounding boot from Talk Talk in their early prime. I'm not sure of the source...sounds too good to be FM so I'm guessing it's a board. Some songs work better than others live but the reworking of "Talk Talk" and "It's My Life" make this worth it alone. Other songs include "Life's What You Make It", "Dum Dum Girl", "Living In Another World", "Such A Shame" and more.
Quality Rating: A+
Talking Heads (also see Tom Tom Club)
- Saratoga Performing Arts Center (2CD). 8/5/83. Here is an pretty good board from the same tour as "Stop Making Sense". It sounds like it was recorded to cassette and then transferred to cd. This would have been a goldmine had the band not released "Stop Making Sense" but it's still a good show with lots of great songs. Tunes include "Burning Down The House", "Making Flippy Floppy", "Psycho Killer" and more.
Sound Quality: A
Tears For Fears
Quality Rating: A+- London '95 (1CD). 01/06/1995 Sheppards Bush Empire, London. Sounds like a broadcast from the "Raoul" tour. Sound quality is very good to excellent. Songs include "Elemental", "God's Mistake", "Sowing the Seeds Of Love", "Fish Out Of Water", "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" and more.
Quality Rating: A-- Famous Last Words (2CD). 5/26/90. Santa Barbara, CA. This is a fairly comprehensive boot from the band's 1989 tour. All the hits are here with mostly other songs rounding out the tracklist. Songs include "I Believe", "Change", "Pale Shelter", "Badman's Song", "Woman In Chains", "Everyone Wants to Rule The World", "Head Over Heels/Broken" and more. Superior soundboard!
Quality Rating: A+- Amerika (1CD). This is another soundboard from the "Sowing The Seeds Of Love" tour 1990. I'm not sure of the location but it is different from the above show "Famous Last Words". The differences are the tracklist (more condensed here) and the quality (not quite as sharp as "Famous"). This sounds like it's sourced from vinyl, but overall has excellent sound. Songs include : "Shout", "Everybody Wants To Change The World", "Woman In Chains", "All You Need Is Love", "Year Of The Knife", "Head Over Heels/Broken" and more.
Quality Rating: A- Cape Fear (1CD) Manchester, UK, 1985. Here's an excellent soundboard from the "Big Chair" tour. Songs include most of what you'd expect from this time period, "Shout", "Mother's Talk", "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" and more.
Quality Rating: A+
The Thompson Twins
- London 1983 (1CD). Here's a pretty decent radio broadcast from some vintage days of the Thompson Twins. The recording could use a bit more in the high end and have more overall dynamic range, but the quality is still very good.
Quality Rating: A-
Toad The Wet Sprocket
Quality Rating: A+- The Warfield 2002 San Francisco, CA 12/21/02 (1CD). Here's an audience recording from Toad on their much anticipated reunion tour. The band sounds like they never took any time off, handing in a fine performance. The recording is from a DAT so there's plenty of high and low end. This recording could sound a bit closer, but after your ears adjust to the acoustics, it's enjoyable at a certain level. Songs include "All I Want", "Brother", "Walk On The Ocean", "Whatever I Fear", "Something's Always Wrong" and more.
Quality Rating: A-
Quality Rating: A+
Tom Tom Club (also see Talking Heads)
- Concert Of Colors (1CD). Chene Park, Detroit, MI. 7/15/01. Here's an excellent soundboard and a more concise "festival" set which includes all the favorites such as "Genius Of Love", "Who Feelin' It", "Time To Bounce", "Wordy Rappinghood", "You Sexy Thing", "Take Me To The River" and more.
Quality Rating: A+
Pete Townshend (also see The Who)
- Brixton '85+ Bonus Tracks (2CD) This is the complete performance of the "Deep End Live" show which has been released in various forms, mostly now out of print. This is the definitive version with it's excellent soundboard sound. Songs include "After The Fire", "Give Blood", "Secondhand Love", "Slit Skirts", "Rough Boys", "Face The Face", Behind Blue Eyes", "Save It For Later" (yes the English Beat song), and two songs from a David Letterman TV appearance in 1993, including a version of "Won't Get Fooled Again". Highly Recommended.
Quality Rating: A+- Acoustic Magic (1CD). Taken from his acoustic tour in 1996, this is a very nice intimate set from Pete which includes mainly his solo tunes including "A Friend Is A Friend", "Let My Love Open The Door", "Slit Skirts", "Rough Boys" and the Who classic "Magic Bus". I'm guessing the source is from an FM broadcast because he is "bleeped" at one point during the show. The quality is superb here. Artwork Available.
Quality Rating: A+
Toy Matinee
Quality Rating: A+
Traffic
- NY State Fair '94 (2CD). 8/31/94, Syracuse, NY. Here's an excellent audience recording from the Traffic reunion tour (days after their Woodstock appearance), which featured Steve Winwood and Jim Capaldi. The show was recorded from 12th row center, which allows for very well balanced sound. You could definitely put this on, crank it and enjoy the show. Highly recommended for Traffic fans. Songs include "Medicated Goo", "Empty Pages", "Low Spark", "Freedom Rider", "Light Up Or Leave Me Alone", "Mozambique" and more.
Quality Rating: A+- Woodstock '94 (1CD). 8/14/94, New York. This is a soundboard from their set at Woodstock. Sound quality is a bit flat but still very enjoyable. Songs included "Rock and Roll Stew", "Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys", "Glad", "Empty Pages", "Light Up Or Leave Me Alone, "Give Me Some Loving" and more.
Quality Rating: A
U2
- Irving Plaza, NYC 2000 (1 CD). This is a cool show. It's rare that a huge band like U2 would play in a small venue like Irving Plaza, which can only hold 1000 people max. The band delivers a fine set that really has a lot of heart. Included are the new songs "Beautiful Day" and "Elevation" along with "Desire", "I Will Follow", "Mysterious Ways", "One", "Bad", the Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again" and more. The disc is rounded out by a brief interview with the band by Matt Pinfield and K-Rock's Cane. I've played this for friends and they've been blown away. The quality is great as it is was taken from an FM broadcast.
Quality Rating: A- Sarajevo 9/23/97 (2CD). An excellent radio broadcast. Songs include "Mofo", "Lemon (Perfecto Mix) Intermission", "Discotheque", "Where The Streets Have No Name", "Pride", "Until The End Of The World" and more.
Quality Rating: A
Quality Rating: A+- ZooTV From The Mixing Desk (2CD). This is an excellent soundboard from the Achtung Baby tour. Songs include "The Fly", "Mysterious Ways", "Dancing Queen", "Bad", "Desire", "Bullet The Blue Sky" and many more.
Quality Rating: A
Quality Rating: A+- Amnesty International (1CD). Recorded 6/15/86 this cd contains both the U2 set and also the one by the Police. The latter is special because it's their final public performance. Also, Bono lends a guest vocal to "Invisible Sun" during the Police set. Sound quality is very good and is sourced from broadcast.
Quality Rating: A-- Sharks In The High Chair (1CD). An excellent soundboard of their October 23, 1984 show in Nantes, France at Saint Herblain Hospatlier during the "Unforgettable Fire" tour. It's a great show and includes the only known bootlegged performance of "Indian Summer Sky".
Quality Rating: A
U.K. (see also Asia, Yes, ABWH)
- Road Test (1CD). 9/11/78 Cleveland Agora. Because of the great Cleveland radio scene in the 70's, many up and coming bands were featured whenever they stopped by The Agora Theatre (which still exists). This excellent FM broadcast is one of the last shows performed by this lineup, which featured Bill Bruford and Alan Holdsworth. Songs include, "Alaska/Time To Kill", "The Only Thing She Needs", "Thirty Years", "Forever Till Sunday", "In The Dead Of Night" and more.
Quality Rating: A
Quality Rating: A+
Van Halen (also see Brian May & Friends)
- US Festival (2CD). Glen Helena Regional Park, San Bernardino, CA 5/29/83. Here's a new version of this show from the "Diver Down" tour. This has been one of the better sounding Roth era shows and it just got much better with this lower gen release. As a matter of fact, this is direct from the video master. The sound is much cleaner but it's still not release quality. I really like the early instrumental version of "Girl Gone Bad" which then winds up becoming an Eddie solo. Songs include "Jamie's Crying", "Little Guitars", "Running With The Devil", "Unchained" and many more.
Quality Rating: A-- Hammersmith '78 (1CD). Hammersmith Odeon, London, England. 6/1/78. Here's an excellent soundboard from the band's first tour. I believe these tracks were intended for a radio broadcast that never happened. The result is some of the finest sounding Roth-era material ever "unofficially" released. Songs include "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love", "Runnin' With The Devil", "I'm The One", "On Fire", "D.O.A." and more.
Quality Rating: A+
Quality Rating: A- Zero and Mammoth Demos (1CD). Here are the demos that got Van Halen their record deal with Warner Bros. It's very interesting to hear the early versions of "House Of Pain" and "Running With The Devil". Also included are some great unreleased songs like "Woman In Love" and "In A Simple Rhyme". If you're a big fan of the Roth era, you must have this. Sound quality varies but is generally pretty good to excellent.
Quality Rating: B+/A
Stevie Ray Vaughan
- Peace In The Valley (1CD). Every time I hear this I get the chills, mainly because it was recorded the night before he was tragically killed after leaving this very same venue by helicopter. This excellent soundboard show is taken from one of his final shows in Alpine Valley in East Troy, WI on August 25, 1990. It's an excellent performance which includes "Couldn't Stand The Weather", "Superstition", "Crossfire", "Look At Little Sister" and more. The only drawbacks to this set are that "Tightrope" is faded in and "Going Down" is cut at the end. Otherwise, this is a very special performance and must have for the casual and long time Stevie Ray Vaughan fan.
Quality Rating: A+- Stiletto Rain (1CD). This is an excellent soundboard from Stevie's performance at Red Rocks Amphitheatre on June 19, 1985. Included are "Pride And Joy", "Texas Flood" an excellent version of "Little Wing" and more.
Quality Rating: A+
Dave Wakeling (see also The English Beat)
- Jingle Ball '99 (1CD).12/17/1999 Cox Arena, San Diego, CA. This cd actually includes highlights of the entire Jingle Ball, including songs from Duran Duran, Jars Of Clay, Jewel, Melissa Etheridge and more. Wakeling's set is around 10 minutes as he performs "Tenderness" and "Save It For Later". His band is playing very well too.
Quality Rating: A+
Weather Report
Quality Rating: A+- Atlanta, Georgia 2/24/80 (1CD). Taken from the Night Passage tour, lots of new stuff played much differently form the album. Songs include "Sightseeing", "Port Of Entry", "Dream Clock", "Birdland", "Teen Town Jam". This is an very good audience boot...all the instruments are audible...almost sounds like a soundboard a few generations down the line. Highly recommended for fans..
Quality Rating: A
The Who (also see Pete Townsend)
- Captured Live Off The Air! (2CD). This recording is made from three FM sources. The show starts out with "I Can't Explain" and "Substitute" which are taken from a lousy FM source of their June 29, 2000 performance in Pittsburgh. The next two songs "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere" and "The Relay" are taken from a very good FM source of their June 25, 2000 show in Chicago. The rest of the show is from their Sept. 30 2000 performance in Cleveland, which was broadcast with very good quality. Overall the performance is top notch and it's great to hear the boys back to basics without the orchestra and 10 piece band. Songs include "Baba O'Riley", "Bargain", "The Real Me", "5:15", "Won't Get Fooled Again" and much more. This boot does have some minor drawbacks that I should mention. Firstly, the radio station runs these very short 2 second promos between most of the tracks...and a few times they run them over the intros of the songs. It's not that big a deal because it's done in parts where there's no singing and it is very short....just annoying (another reason I hate commercial radio, but that's another subject!). Also, for some reason most of "My Wife" is missing, maybe because the person who taped the show missed it or the radio station took a break and joined late...not sure. Also, the beginning of "My Generation" is missing, probably due to sloppy work on the part of the radio station. Anyway, with the majority of boots from this tour being audience recordings, I would have to recommend this one to Who fans.
Quality Rating: A-- Houston, TX '75 (2CD). 11/20/75. Here is an excellent soundboard from the Moon years. The performance here is top notch and the quality is very good for it's time. Songs include "I Can't Explain", "However Much I Booze", "Summertime Blues", "Naked Eye", "Won't Get Fooled Again", "Behind Blue Eyes" and more.
Quality Rating: A
Steve Winwood
Quality Rating: A+
Stevie Wonder
Quality Rating: A+
Yazoo
Quality Rating: A+
Yes (also see ABWH, Jon Anderson, UK, Asia, Trevor Rabin and GTR)
- Mexico '04 (2CD). 9/22/04. Monterrey, Mexico. Here is a superb audience recording from the final date on the Yes 2004 tour. The sound quality is amazing here so don't pass it by if you're looking for a show from this tour. Songs include "Yours Is No Disgrace", "Awaken", "Sweet Dreams" and more.
Quality Rating: A+- Is This The End? (2CD) Universal City, CA, 9/19/04. Here's an excellent audience recording from the second to last date of the 2004 tour. All instruments can be heard clearly here and it's quite an enjoyable show. Songs include "Sweet Dreams", "America", "Awaken", "Starship Trooper" and more.
Quality Rating: A+- New Mexico '04 (2CD). 9/13/04. Albuquerque, NM. Like the "Phish Land" show below from VT, this is another downright awesome audience recording from the 35th Anniversary tour. There's lots of depth and clarity here that is, at times, stunning. Highly recommended for all Yes fans of this tour. Songs include "Sweet Dreams", "Awaken", "Every Little Thing", "America", "Going For The One" and more.
Quality Rating: A+- Yes In Phish Land (2CD) 9/4/04, Essex Junction, VT. Here is a phenomenal audience show from the Anniversary tour. The sound here is very clear, full, dynamic with a very nice balance between all instruments. Songs include "Sweet Dreams", "Wondrous Stories", an acoustic "Roundabout" and "Owner", plus a very rare encore performance of "Every Little Thing". When Steve Howe does "Clap" you'll swear he was standing in your living room, that's how clear the acoustics are. Yes are in a good mood this night and there's even a Viagra joke for your pleasure. I have not seen Yes on this tour, but hearing this made me feel like I was there.
Quality Rating: A+- Jones Beach '04 (2CD). 8/28/04, Wantagh, NY. This was recorded 17th row center on the 30th Anniversary tour. Sound is a bit distant, but overall not a bad sounding show. The band performs "Close To The Edge", "Awaken", "Going For The One", "Don't Kill The Whale", "Wondrous Stories" and more.
Quality Rating: A-- PNC '04 (2CD). 8/27/04. An audience recording from the 35th Anniversary tour. Sound is very good as you can hear everything pretty clearly. Songs include "Don't Kill The Whale", "America", "Close To The Edge", "And You And I", "Awaken" and more.
Quality Rating: A
Quality Rating: A+- KLOS-FM 1/27/04 (1CD). If you heard the XM Studios performance and thought it was laid back, this one is almost out of control. Host Jim Ladd is always busting on Wakeman and Howe for playing while he's talking. Chris Squire cracks a Michael Jackson joke, Jon Anderson almost refuses to play "Long Distance Runaround" ..needless to say, it's a pretty entertaining listen. The band performs acoustically in front of a small crowd and the sound quality is very good. There is some slight, high end interference from time to time but overall, very good sound.
Quality Rating: A- Opening Night 10/24/02 (3CD). When the band walks on to the stage this night, there's an extra dose of applause in there for the return of Rick Wakeman. This is the first show of Yes' first tour with Wakeman, who is officially back in the group. This is an audience recording that's very easy to listen to. Perhaps it's a bit bright in spots, but some treble adjustments should be able to fix that. You can hear everyone very nicely...definitely recommended for fans of this lineup. Songs include "Siberian Khatru", "Don't Kill The Whale" and more...
Quality Rating: A-
Quality Rating: A+- XM Studios (1CD). 8/10/02. This is an in-studio performance at XM Radio (satellite radio) and the sound quality is top-notch. The band performs acoustically along with some chatter between songs. At one point they start up an impromptu version of "You Move" which Jon later claims was "painful". Then they try "Long Distance Runaround" but soon abandon it after they can't seem to get on track. Obviously, there was no clear cut set list so it's very laid back and spontaneous. Steve Howe is in a good mood as well, making cracks right beside Wakeman. What's most interesting is the lengthy discussion about "Awaken" and how that song came to be. They break it down into sections and explain how it all came together...fascinating. Songs include "South Side Of The Sky", "Leaves Of Green", "Show Me" and more.
Quality Rating: A+- Live At The Vegas Hilton 8/24/02 (1CD). It's a shame this set wasn't longer, otherwise it's quite excellent. Taken from a radio broadcast, the quality here is very high and probably the best boot from this tour. Of course, this show includes Wakeman on keyboards and you can tell the band has been re-energized again. Their playing sounds tighter and much more alive than in recent years. Highly recommended.
Quality Rating: A- 8/23/02 Universal Amphitheatre, Los Angeles, CA (3CD). Here's an excellent audience recording of Yes on their 2002 tour with Rick Wakeman. All the instruments are heard very clearly, especially Steve Howe's guitar. Highlights include "South Side Of The Sky", a nugget from "Fragile" which the band performs for the first time ever on this tour (they even precede it with "We Have Heaven").
Quality Rating: A- 8/13/02 Atlanta, GA (3CD). A nice audience recording from the Yes 2002 tour. The highs are a bit dulled, but with this recording it seems to help the overall sound. Otherwise, there's quite a bit of dynamics here, including lots of deep bass. Songs include "South Side Of The Sky", "America", "In The Presence Of" and solos from Anderson, Wakeman, Howe and Squire/White.
Quality Rating: A-- Camden, NJ 8/8/02 (2CD). Here's a soundboard from the "Full Circle" tour. The quality here is okay...the high end is gone and most everything, including bass, is pushed into the mid ranges. It sounds more like a radio broadcast than anything. With the Yesspeak DVD in stores which features a full show in 5.1, this really isn't worth going through too much trouble for. The quality is decent enough to enjoy, though. Songs include "Siberian Khatru", "We Have Heaven/South Side Of The Sky", "Don't Kill The Whale", "Magnification", "In The Presence Of...", "Awaken" and more.
Quality Rating: A-- 8/2/02 Tweeter Center, Mansfield, MA (3CD). Here's a very nice audience recording from their Rick Wakeman reunion tour 2002. There are some spots where you can hear close by fans yapping, but for the most part you can clearly hear Steve's guitar and Ricks keys. Jon's vocals are very good as well and you can hear Alan's snare fairly well, although it could use more high end. Songs include "The Revealing Science Of God", "Don't Kill The Whale", "Siberian Khatru", "Magnification", "Heart Of The Sunrise" and more.
Quality Rating: A- Legendary Masterworks (2CD). 6/21/00, Concord Pavilion, Concord, CA. Here's a nice soundboard from the "Masterworks" tour. The sound is a bit compressed in the upper/mid-ranges, but the instruments are clear. Songs include "Gates Of Delirium", "Ritual", "Leaves Of Green", "Close To The Edge" and more.
Quality Rating: A- Real Masterworks (2CD). This is another bootleg of their Holmdel NJ performance in the summer of 2000. What separates this collection from any other are the bonus tracks. Included are 4 tracks recorded at KLOS studios in Los Angeles on Nov. 1, 1999. These tracks are "The Messenger", "Lightning Strikes", "Face To Face" and "I've Seen All Good People" and the quality is very good, probably sourced from a broadcast. I should also mention that the concert portion of this collection has excellent sound. As with any other collection from this show, the song "Ritual" did not air in the radio broadcast, so a version from the webcast has been used to fill the gap. However, the difference in sound quality is not that noticeable.
Quality Rating: A+ /Studio Tracks: B+
Quality Rating: A+- The Revealing Science Of San Diego (2CD) 12/9/97. This sounds like an excellent FM broadcast. Of note here is the version of "The Revealing Science Of God" with Igor on keyboards.
Quality Rating: A- Album Network: Universal Amphitheatre, Los Angeles, CA 12/7/97 (2CD). These are the original broadcast CDs and NOT something recorded off the airwaves. Please note, these CDs do come with commercials, promos etc. However, the music quality is superb and uninterrupted.
Quality Rating: A+- Madison Square Garden 9/10/94 (2CD). As are most boots from this tour, this is sourced from an in-house broadcast feed. The quality isn't quite as dynamic as the boots "Endless Dream" or "Gimmie More", but it's certainly worthwhile.
Quality Rating: A-- Endless Dream (2CD) 6/19/94. This, like "Gimmie More" is taken from an in-house FM broadcast. The only real drawback to this boot is that the opening "Perpetual Change" is missing...otherwise, an excellent show. The quality is excellent, but not quite as crisp as on "Gimmie More".
Quality Rating: A- Gimmie More (2CD). 6/18/94. This is taken from an "in-house" FM broadcast of a show on the Talk tour (or final tour with Trevor Rabin). The quality is excellent throughout. The first CD could use some more low end, and it actually does start to appear towards the end of the first disc. The second disc sounds practically flawless...superb sound quality. Songs include "Perpetual Change/The Calling", "I Am Waiting", "Heart Of The Sunrise", "Hearts", "Endless Dream", "Walls" and more.
Quality Rating: A+- Yes Shows 1991 (2CD). This is a very nice soundboard from the final date of the Union tour. There is a video of this show which was only released in Japan. However, this is NOT taken from that video as it includes some songs not found on there including "Lift Me Up" and "Changes".
Quality Rating: A+- Live In Montreal (1CD). This is a soundboard recording from the Union tour. It's a shame the whole show isn't here...but don't despair, it does contain some great classic songs, including a live version of "Lift Me Up", "Shock To The System" and "Rhythm Of Love". The sound quality is excellent.
Quality Rating: A- The Perfect Union (2CD). This set consists mainly of outtakes and pre-release versions from the "Union" album. The first disc is the latter, a pre-release version of "Union" with some slight differences in the mix. Of note here would be "Lift Me Up" in which all the vocals are handled by Trevor Rabin. The second disc contains demos that never made the album (very much like "We Make Believe") and a demo with Billy Sherwood and a 1994 radio show performance of "Distant Thunder" by Jon Anderson. The last track is a Eddie Jobson single from 1976...not sure why that's even on here. The quality varies throughout, but remains good to very good.
Quality Rating: B/B+- Austin 2/22/88 (2CD). From the "Big Generator" tour, this is obviously a soundboard because the mix is often out of whack, especially early on. Tony Kaye's cheesy licks come though loud and clear on this one. But as well, I hear Tervor doing some nice guitar work throughout. Songs include, "Changes", "Big Generator", "Shoot High Aim Low", "Yours Is No Disgrace", "Holy Lamb", "Rhythm Of Love" and more.
Quality Rating: A-- Big Generator Show and Rare Tracks (2CD). This is among my favorite Yes boots from this era. It documents the band live with Trevor Rabin, something which has never really been done with any official release. Also, you get to hear very interesting studio outtakes from "Big Generator" and there's also some neat remixes of songs from "Generator" and "90125". The live material sounds excellent. The outtakes sound very good, although you can tell they are a few generations down the line. However, they reveal versions of "Generator" songs before they were finished. The music is most often different than what you're used to hearing and there are some spots where the lyrics are even different. I found these outtakes to be very interesting and worth listening to if you're a fan of this period. To round off the set, there are some cool remixes taken from the official 12' singles. Highly recommended.
Quality Rating: A- The Alternate Generator (1CD). This cd contains 13 tracks of studio outtakes from the "Big Generator" sessions and also 5 tracks are unreleased Jon and Vangelis demos from 1986, including a working version of "Distant Thunder".
Quality Rating: A-- 90125 Live World Tour (1CD). This is basically lifted from the audio of the VHS tape called "9012Live". Songs include "Starship Trooper", "Owner Of A Lonely Heart", "Changes" and more.
Quality Rating: A+- They (2CD). An excellent broadcast of a show from the 90125 tour. Songs include "Changes", "Starship Trooper", "Yours Is No Disgrace", "It Can Happen", "City Of Love" and more.
Quality Rating: A-- Phoenix 3/22/84 (1CD). Here's a soundboard from the first leg of the 90125 tour featuring then new guitarist Trevor Rabin. Quality is pretty impressive and the sound is very punchy, although not sharp enough to take the absolute highest rating. There does sound like high end noise, but it doesn't get the way of enjoying this show. Still, all the instruments come through fairly clearly. Songs include "Leave It", "Yours Is No Disgrace", "Hearts", "Changes", "And You And I", "Make It Easy/Owner Of A Lonely Heart", "Starship Trooper" and more. An incomplete show, but worth a listen. One of the better sources from this period.
Quality Rating: A- Cinema Sessions (1CD). This recording brings you into the recording sessions for both the "Drama" album and "90125" albums. The "Drama" material actually sounds the best here, although it is quite a few generations down the line. Here you get some rough demos for songs like "Tempus Fugit", "Does It Really Happen" and "Run Through The Light". The quality of the 90125 demos (referred to here as the "Cinema" sessions) is pretty poor, but may be worth listening to simply because it's the very early stages of the writing process for Trevor, Chris, Alan and Tony. You can hear some talking and tuning up between the songs, so it has a very live feel to it...just a shame the quality isn't better. The set is rounded off with "Run With The Fox" which is a demo version of the song Chris and Alan officially released in the early 80's. For hardcore fans only.
Quality Rating: C+- Drama Tour NYC 9/6/80 (1CD). Here is a pretty good FM source from the 7th show of the U.S. "Drama" tour and the last of a three night stand at Madison Square Garden. Too bad this isn't a complete show because it has the best sound quality of any Drama boot I've heard. Trevor Horn does a very good job on vocals, considering he's filling some huge shoes. When the band toured Europe the fans weren't so nice and that prompted the realization that it was best to hang it up for a while. Not only do we get some classic Yes revisited on "And You And I" but we are also treated to two unreleased songs from that lineup, "Go Through This" and "We Can Fly From Here". From what I understand, Steve Howe recently said the band were planning on including those two tracks on an upcoming live box...we can only hope. My only real complaint with this one is that it's over too soon.
Quality Rating: A-- Live in Boston 1980 (2CD). This is a very good audience boot from the brief "Buggles" era of the band. I've heard this may also be a soundboard recording, although if it is it's a few generations down the line.
Quality Rating: B+- The Golden Age (1CD). These are the highly sought after Paris session demos from 1979. It's an interesting listen and the quality is pretty good, although it's evident to be a few generations down the line.
Quality Rating: B+- Chicago Of Heaven (2CD). This show from 6/4/79 sounds great. It's no doubt a soundboard with lots of bottom end. My only complaint is that sometimes it's a bit too bright, but overall this is an excellent board from the "Tormato" tour.
Quality Rating: A- Circus Of Heaven (2CD). This is an excellent soundboard from a stop on their "Tormato" tour. Songs here include "Sound Chaser", "Future Times/Rejoice", "On The Silent Wings Of Freedom", "And You And I" and more.
Quality Rating: A
Quality Rating: A+- 9/19/78 Richfield Coliseum, Cleveland, Ohio (2CD). An excellent radio broadcast from WMMS radio in Cleveland. This show took place one day before "Tormato" was officially released in the U.S. Songs here include "Siberian Khatru", "Future Times/Rejoice", "The Fish", "Don't Kill The Whale", "Heart Of The Sunrise", "Clap", "Time And A Word", "Awaken" and more.
Quality Rating: A- Long Beach '77 (2CD) 9/26/77 on the Going For The One Tour. Sometimes when you're listening to this show it sounds almost like a soundboard. It's quite an amazing audience boot from 1977. The separation and clarity of the instruments is incredible. It's things like this that give the middle section of Awaken so much depth. Highly recommended. Songs include "Parallels", "Close To The Edge", "Going For The One" and more.
Quality Rating: A+- Making For The One (2CD). An interesting collection of studio outtakes from the "Going For One" sessions. You get to hear all the songs in their various development stages. Some of the songs are complete, while others are merely jams or brief parts. Of note are two takes of Bob Dylan's "Positively 4th Street" sung by Howe and Squire. The sound quality is pretty good considering it's age.
Quality Rating: B- The Story Of Relayer (2CD). This is most likely a broadcast from their Jersey City performance in '76. The quality is really good on this rare document of their "Relayer" tour. Songs here include "Sound Chaser", "The Gates Of Delirium", "Ritual" and more. Of note, it includes a version of the Beatles' "I'm Down", which was the version used on the Yes box set.
Quality Rating: A- King Biscuit Flower Hour (1CD). Recorded from a Boston 1974 show, this is the broadcast cd from King Biscuit, so the sound quality is excellent and does contain some radio promos and commercials. However, that does not interfere with the songs at all. The great thing about this show is that you get an excellent live version of "Sound Chaser" and "To Be Over" (which is not on "The Story Of Relayer"). Also included are "Close To The Edge", "Roundabout" and "And You & I". Highly recommended for fans of this era.
Quality Rating: A+- Tales From The Edge (2CD) 4/14/74. An audience show from the Tales tour. The sound is below average and shows it's age. Recommended for completists only. Songs include "Ritual", "Revealing Science Of God", "Siberian Khatru" and more.
Quality Rating: C- Tour Of The Oceans (2CD) 2/28/74 Detroit, MI. Here's a rare performance of a full show from the Topographic Oceans tour. Yep, they perform all 4 sides of the epic album here. Unfortunately, the quality of the recording shows it's age. While you can hear what's going on, you don't have too much clarity. It's good to have on in the background at a lower volume. Songs include "Close To The Edge", "Siberian Khatru", "And You And I" and more.
Quality Rating: B- Bartz Tales Remasters (1CD) Here is the result of one Yes fan's desire to "remix" the "Tales" album to the way he thought it should sound. This album has suffered from poor remastering over the years so here is an attempt to clean up the mix a bit. The result: a better sounding "Tales" for sure. However, with the release of the Japanese remasters, which used original master tapes and released them on HDCD discs, this boot becomes less important as the quality on the Japanese remasters is ten times better. For the curious fan only.
Quality Rating: A- Winterland (2CD). 3/10/72. Yes, it features Bill Bruford on drums from this audience recording on the "Fragile" tour. However, this sound on this recording is pretty poor. You can hear the vocals fairly well, but there's no real definition between instruments. There are bonus tracks here but they sound really bad! For this reason I would only recommend this for completists. Songs include "Perpetual Change", "Your's Is No Disgrace", "Mood For A Day", "Six Wives", "Heart Of The Sunrise" and more.
Quality Rating: C-- Perpetual Change (1CD). This is a nice soundboard from Yes' July 24, 1971 performance in New Haven, CT. What's great about this show is that includes Bill Bruford on drums. Because of his relatively short tenure, most live recordings (official and bootleg) featured Alan White. This CD is from two sources. Most of it is from New Haven and the quality is excellent. The last song, "America", is from a June 5, 1974 performance in Berlin. The quality of that isn't as good...but this still makes an excellent boot. Songs include "Yours Is No Disgrace", "I've Seen All Good People", "Perpetual Change" and more.
Quality Rating: A-
Neil Young
- Amsterdam '89 (1CD). 12/10/89. Here's an excellent soundboard from the "Freedom" tour. This performance is mostly solo acoustic with Frank Sampedro and Ben Keith filling in where needed. Songs include "Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black)", "Rockin' In The Free World", "Crime In The City", "This Note's For You", "The Needle And The Damage Done", "Ohio", "After The Gold Rush", "Eldorado" and more.
Quality Rating: A- Chicago Hurricane (2CD). 11/15/76, Chicago Auditorium. From what I've read, this was a late show on a cold winters night, 1976. It's Neil Young solo and very intimate. This one is a nicely recorded soundboard. Songs include "The Needle And The Damage Done", "Heart Of Gold", "Lotta Love". "Like A Hurricane", "Too Far Gone", "Tell Me Why" and more.
Quality Rating: A+- Chrome Dreams (1CD). This is a rare find. It's an unreleased studio album from Neil Young, circa 1976. Here you'll get alternate versions of "Pocahontas" and "Hold Back The Tears", an unreleased studio version of "Too Far Gone" and also an awesome version of "Sedan Delivery"...plus much more. There's a few songs here that are mixed differently than the tracks that eventually wound up on "American Stars N' Bars". A must for any serious Neil Young fan.
Quality Rating: A-
Frank Zappa
Quality Rating: Video: A ; Audio: A-- Assault On New York: Toxic Shock Palladium, New York, NY. 11/17/81 (2CD). The performance is fantastic here. The sound is a bit below average, however. So, definitely not one you would want to crank too loud. At a lower volume level, this sounds like a fairly decent FM broadcast from the early 80's, which it is. Songs include "Stevie's Spanking", "Easy Meat", "Suicide Chump" and more including tracks from the "Baby Snakes" video.
Quality Rating:: A-/B+
ZZ Top
- London, England 6/6/91 (1CD). I'm really not sure of the source here...defintely not a broadcast...either an excellent audience or high generation soundboard. Either way, it's very listenable. This is taken from their "Recycler" tour and songs include "Planet Of Women", "Ten Foot Pole", "Gimmie All Your Lovin", "Manic Mechanic", "I Heard It On The X" and more.
Quality Rating: B-- Live Nationwide (1CD). 8/30/80 Passaic, New Jersey. This is taken from their "Deguello" tour, which was during the last days of their pure blues period...before they went pure pop. The boys from Texas really tear it up here...lots of great songs including "I Thank You", "I'm Bad I'm Nationwide", "Tush", "Arrested For Driving While Blind", "Cheap Sunglasses", "Fool For Your Stockings" and more.
Quality Rating: A
CD Shows
= Essential title for that
artist. Highly recommended.
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