Led Zeppelin
How The West Was Won

THE REVIEW

We are in the not-too-distant 2003 and finally the great Mr. Page decides to release in the form of a live album material chosen by him, dating back to 1972, more precisely from two concerts at the LA Forum (June 25) and Long Beach Arena (June 27), which according to James Patrick represent the golden era in which the Led will conquer America. Led Zeppelin are considered one of the greatest live bands of all time, and listening to this triple album one will understand why.

Starting with the outburst of "Immigrant Song", where Page adds a splendid guitar solo not present on the studio version and where Bonham performs his magic on the drums, continuing with the dirty riff of "Heartbreaker" where Plant gives his best with an excellent vocal performance, and ending with the immortal "Black Dog", with Page setting the rules of the game and Plant executing them to perfection.

The waters calm a bit with the sweet "Over The Hills And Far Away" (note that the album "Houses Of The Holy" containing it had not yet been released in '72), still in development but still beautiful. And it is here that in my opinion comes the best live version of the first album, the heart-wrenching blues of "Since I've Been Loving You", where Plant screams like a madman and Page releases painful fiery notes from his Les Paul. Note also Bonham's versatility, who from the calm and pleasant rhythm of this song will later move to an unforgettable solo, namely "Moby Dick". After finishing the painful blues, Plant, with a smiling voice, announces "Stairway to Heaven" and from here Jimmy starts the arpeggio followed by John Paul Jones's flutes. The song in the live version is a succession of poignant moments where Plant's voice blends splendidly with Page's doubleneck to conclude in the final solo with driving drums and Robert's screams. These are the moments that make rock great, and Led Zep have given us so many... The enjoyable flow of "Going To California", with Page's mandolin at work, and two tracks from "Led Zeppelin III", namely "That's The Way" and "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp", follows.

The second disc opens with the majestic "Dazed And Confused", the group's ultimate psychedelic moment, with Plant delivering another truly magnificent vocal performance, concluding with a jam led by Page, which includes snippets of "The Crunge" and "Walter's Walk" (from Coda). We emerge from the psychedelic mist with the grand "What Is And What Should Never Be", which leads the audience into ecstasy, where the four of the Zeppelin perfectly understand each other and create a truly wonderful version. The cheerful "Dancing Days" precedes Bonham's masterpiece, that is the aforementioned "Moby Dick", nineteen minutes of fury, improvisation, incredible control in playing the instrument, the piece that in my opinion, along with "Achilles Last Stand", demonstrates all of John's greatness.

This brings us to the third disc, which begins with the hard rock of "Whole Lotta Love", with Page at his best, passing through the memorable "Rock and Roll", to "The Ocean", concluding the album grandly with "Bring It On Home", one of the Dirigible's best blues/rock improvisations. Few groups can work so well together as they do, and that's why without Bonham they will face the inevitable split.

And finally, this triple album represents the essence of the group, what they were and can never repeat again, in short, their best years. Once they climbed the mountain, gradually the group will start to descend, and there will be no more such testimonies. A must for every fan. Long live Led Zeppelin, the best. Always and forever.