LED ZEPPELIN

How The West Was Won (2018 reissue) Originally released as a triple-CD in 2003 alongside the revelatory Zeppelin ‘DVD’, this is a live album that has thrilled longtime devotees, a multitrack desk recording that captures the band firing on all cylinders in 1972 over two concerts in California, a corrective offering to ‘The Song Remains The Same’ which, for all its merits, has never been considered either an ‘on’ night or the best of recordings. ‘HTWWW’ is now reissued as a prelude to the band’s 50th anniversary celebrations, which will include a big official book (due October, 50 quid on pre-order) and possibly ‘new’ live recordings to come. This new release sounds identical to the 2003 one digitally, other than a country jam around Hello Mary Lou being seamlessly excised from the set-closing medley within Whole Lotta Love, perhaps simply to bring the formerly 23-minute track more within the reasonable limits of vinyl, Page confirming in a recent interview that the main reason for this re-issue was to put it on vinyl alongside the recent remasters. So the pictured 4-LP box set is the main review source here, though a Super Deluxe box set adds the CDs, a download voucher for high-res stereo, and a DVD with stereo and 5.1 Dolby Digital versions (stingily not including the Blu-ray version which has uncompressed multichannel). As with all Zep, it plays well on vinyl though the mix is slightly soft, and given the digital intermediary the added enjoyment really comes primarily from the vinyl experience of having the now 148 minutes presented as single sides—a start and an end to each little programme, rather than a continuous concert. As for the performance, it’s an absolute barnstorming wowser, the ultimate bootleg, and a must-have for every Zeppelin fan old, new or lapsed.