BBC Archives (Scorpio LZ-040171)
Paris Theater, London, England – April 1st, 1971
Disc 1″pre-FM master”: Intro., Immigrant Song, Heartbreaker, Since I’ve Been Loving You, Black Dog, Dazed and Confused, Stairway To Heaven
Disc 2: Going To California, That’s The Way, What Is And What Should Never Be, Whole Lotta Love, Thank You, Communication Breakdown
Disc 3, “FM master”: Intro., Immigrant Song, Heartbreaker, Since I’ve Been Loving You, Black Dog, Dazed and Confused, Stairway To Heaven
Disc 4: Going To California, That’s The Way, What Is And What Should Never Be, Whole Lotta Love, Thank You, Communication Breakdown
Led Zeppelin’s April 1st, 1971 BBC In Concert appearance has been and still is one of the most booted tape since the earliest days of the industry. Scorpio, with BBC Archives, adds another title to the expanding list of titles that cover this material. The first two discs cover the mono tape which was also used on discs two and three of BBC Sessions on Last Stand Disc and sounds very good on this release.
The second two discs cover the stereo tape which first surfaced on Stairway To Heaven on Cobra and has been used on BBC on Antrabata, BBC In Concert on Forever Standard Series, discs four and five of BBC Sessions on Last Stand Disc and the latest box set on Empress Valley among many other knock offs.
The sound quality is again excellent but the stereo separation is very wide with the vocals dominating the left channel and the guitar in the right. For some people this is an issue and for others it isn’t. The Forever Standard Series edition is still probably the best available version of the stereo version with the sound being much more centered and balanced than any of these other releases.
The “FM-Master” is in mono and sounds very crisp and sharp and is fantastic, sounding much better than the stereo version found on the first two discs. This comes packaged in a fatboy jewel cases with a slipcover that fits very snug over the case and is budget priced. If you don’t have any of the other releases then this is recommended
