LED ZEPPELIN
"How The West Was Won"
Advance Sampler
(Allantic Records)

by Jonathan Mariante

The Led legacy continues with the release of "How The West Was Won", a three disc live recording of Led Zeppelin's performances at the L.A. Forum and the Long Beach Arena in the summer of '72, which have never been released to the public until now. This is a five song taster from "...West...", containing, "Black Dog", "Immigrant Song", "Over The Hills And Far Away", "The Ocean", and "Heartbreaker" (in which Jimmy tinkers around with his guitar, extending the song a bit). All the Zep classics (and then some!) are including in the full set. If this is a sample of what "...West..." is like, Zeppelin fans should eat it up! The five songs on this sampler disc sound great (I'm not sure if any overdubs were used, but I'll assume that none were unless I learn otherwise), and with three discs and all those Zeppelin songs, it should be a live album to end all live albums! An ultimate Zeppelin collection! If you're a Zep fan who's too young to have seen them in concert (or, for the matter, an older one who wants to wax nostalgic about a Zeppelin concert experience you once had), then this album is the next best thing. Close your eyes, crank it up, and you're there, bell bottoms and all! If that doesn't do the job, then there's also a Led Zeppelin DVD coming out, which will be a two disc set, so all you Zep-heads out there are going to have a lot to get your teeth into!

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