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Led Zeppelin - Mystic San Diego (Genuine Masters) (1975)

Track listing:
Volume 1
  1. Rock And Roll 4:07
  2. Sick Again 6:14
  3. Over The Hills And Far Away 8:13
  4. In My Time Of Dying 12:25
  5. The Song Remains The Same 5:23
  6. The Rain Song 8:58
  7. Kashmir 9:41
Volume 2
  1. No Quarter 31:01
  2. Trampled Underfoot 8:03
  3. Moby Dick 25:18
Volume 3
  1. Dazed And Confused 32:55
  2. Stairway To Heaven 12:48
  3. Heartbreaker 8:50

Notes

San Diego Sports Arena

Soundboard

Genuine Masters (GM.LZ.14.03.1975.DVD.A.11)
Original Silver


Review:
Hard to believe that 25 years after Led Zeppelin's premature demise, Zep bootleg collecting is in its renaissance. Is there any other way to characterize the bounty of new tapes and seismic upgrades that have hit the streets the last few years--Physical Graffiti outtakes; complete and finally excellent quality Knebworth video; the evening of 9/19/70; and board recordings galore. So much so the latter, that perhaps we're occasionally guilty of taking them for granted. While we welcomed Conspiracy Theory as much as the next fan, something about that particular release of the March 14, 1975 San Diego show just didn't resonate with us as much as it did with others (conversely, St. Louis Blues hit us like a hammer from the get-go). Perhaps spoiled by the quality of further new discoveries, Conspiracy Theory sounded a little off, a little out of focus and considerably out of balance. But beggars can't be choosers, right? Any new Zep board should be cause for celebration. And somehow, through whatever alchemic black box Black Dog uses for his remastering (or just good sourcing), the Genuine Masters version of the show--the high-res audio DVD Mystic San Diego--has restored what Conspiracy Theory was lacking. Sound quality comparisons are, of course, utterly subjective, but Mystic puts the sonic house in order, and to our minds, more faithfully represents the natural sound of the band than did Conspiracy. There's now space in the sonic horizon, a little breathing room that had been previously wrenched out and it makes a difference in instrument separation, especially the attack of Page's guitar (compare "In My Time of Dying") and the positioning, so to speak, of Plant's voice in the mix ("Kashmir" provides a good example of the clarifying). Add to that GM's smashingly appropriate cover art, and you have the definitive edition of what is now NOT just another board tape.
-Butterking (Feb 05, an expanded Review from Going Underground, ICE Magazine, Feb 05)