Overall Sound Quality: 6.

Comments: It is probable that this show includes the live debuts of Heartbreaker and What Is And What Should Never Be (intriguingly introduced as "But WIAWSNB" by Robert). Heartbreaker gets and intense and hurried performance -- Jimmy starts his unaccompanied solo (which is strangely advanced in form) almost before the rest of the band have stopped. These are by no means the only reasons to get this show -- GTBT/CB explodes from the stage and Jimmy is all over the place in a brilliant I Can't Quit You, Dazed And Confused gets a long experimental treatment with a fantastic introduction and many Yardbirds references. The highlights are a seriously heavy You Shook Me (despite the cut; from before the first guitar solo to the finale) and (as ususal) How Many More Times -- thankfully the medley is intact, and there is also an interesting Whole Lotta Love reference in the same place as in the Texas show on August 31.

The cut in You Shook Me is not mentioned by Luis Rey (Live), although he gives a run-time of 60 minutes. I think this is just an omission, as other releases have the same cut. This release runs at the correct speed c.f. the recent Totonka release of the same show (62 minutes). I remain unconvinced that Dazed and Confused appears in the correct place: it appears after Heartbreaker in most other shows of the era (i.e the Fourth U.S. tour). It is probable that the concert was reshuffled to fit onto vinyl, and there are fades in/out during the applause to support this.

The packaging is standard Cobla: a cardboard slip case with the cover art from the vinyl "Led Zep Live At The Lyceum" -- a coloured version of the cover of the studio debut album on the front and some amusing historical notes on the rear.

Adrian Campbell (8/1/96)

The review for "Lyceum" is ©1997 Adrian Campbell, and may not be reproduced in any media, electronic or otherwise, without the express permission of the author.