Led Zeppelin - Destroyer Final Edition
Richfield Coliseum
Cleveland, Ohio
April 27, 1977
Soundboard @flac
*Enclosed Notes*
Destroyer (Cobra, Eelgrass, Empress Valley, Flesh, Last Stand Disc, Shout To the Top, SODD, & the October 2007 issue with dark green discs in jewel case - no label), The Destroyers (Tarantura & Tarantura2000), The Destroyer Gold (Tarantura), Final Statements (Antrabata), Maximum Destroyer (Empress Valley, original and reissue), & Supreme Destroyers I (Empress Valley, 9cd & 3cd)
Foreword
Empress Valley's original Destroyer title was released in 2000. It was more complete with better quality than prior releases and subsequent releases (by other labels and EV's own "Supreme Destroyers" released in 2004) until the "no label" version came out in October of 2007.
The "no label" version wasn't any better - it was pretty close to being an equal. Two months later, Empress Valley released "Maximum Destroyer," which was technically (minor differences) better than their original. Then in May 2008, Eelgrass released the title too, virtually identical to the two titles just mentioned.
Both original Tarantura releases are exactly alike in respect to cuts but are equalized differently. These two titles are missing the first 3.5 seconds of the opening song. They are also missing about 70 seconds of White Summer / Black Mountain Side. A few seconds are also lost at the cut just before Achilles Last Stand. The tape used was highly edited, removing about 5 minutes of tape from between songs.
Antrabata and Shout To the Top are almost completely identical. There are edits between songs too. They both are among the poorest sounding triple cd titles ever released.
Cobra and LSD are both exactly alike in respect to cuts and to good sound. They are missing the first second of the opening song and only have a few edits between songs.
The Tarantura2000 claims to be the longest version and the best sounding. It is missing the first half second of the Song Remains the Same. Like the original Tarantura releases, this one too is missing about 70 seconds of White Summer and it's warm-up. There are distinct changes in sound with each song. The changes are so abrupt, they sound like cuts. The songs are much louder than the time between songs. Additionally, evidence of further tweaking can be heard between songs. (It's the same treatment they've used before, making the audience sound a little like birds. This time it isn't as heavy handed as with earlier titles.) Other less than natural sounds can be hear after Dying and during the cut and repeat after Moby.
Flesh's release is the worst sounding of them all. It is totally overblown - not simply over amplified like Antrabata and STTT, but overblowncruined. The background is rough and muffled without loosing too much of the higher frequencies. At points during the acoustic set, the "equalization" makes the guitars and Bonham sound completely irritating. It's White Summer isn't incomplete like the three Tara's.
The Empress Valley Destroyer (released in 2000) is by far, the best sounding and most complete release ever issued. (Unfortunately, the last dozen seconds of tape after the show seem to be faked by repeating a section.)
Empress Valley's Supreme Destroyers I is a step down from it's original Destroyer. There's a strange sound problem (brief) about 1.5 minutes into Going To California that's not found on any other titles. After that track, the sound trouble starts again and lasts into the beginning of Black Country Woman. Later during that track, the left channel begins to dominate the right. It continues through the end of the disc. It's music and background are not as loud as their original Destroyer. The 9cd box and 3cd release both use the same discs.
SODD's Destroyer has three minor flaws. No Quarter has a glitch that's not found on any other title, and it misses a split second of tape between the discs, during guitar warm up and commentary. A slight bit of tape overlap between the discs would have cured that issue, but they elected not to repeat even a millisecond. Other than that, all other tape is present. The sound quality is excellent and similar to EV's original release.
The "no label" version issued October 2007 is an excellent title. It doesn't miss any tape, barely has overlapping tape between discs, and doesn't have any rogue cuts or glitches. The title has no amplification. If it had been amplified some, it would have been an alternative to EV's original release.
Empress Valley's Maximum Destroyer is a much improved release over their previous version "Supreme Destroyers" and even has some small differences that makes it even better than their original "Destroyer." The title isn't amplified as loud as the original, has it's cue stops positioned a little better, has a little less overlapping tape and blank tape at the end of the discs, and doesn't have any potentially "faked" tape after the show. Their jewel cased version reissues the same discs.
Eelgrass's Destroyer is not a copy of any Empress Valley title. It's an amplified version of the "no label" title, with a few seconds of blank tape added to the end of the discs.
pass-fbsvw
Fixed!
!!#!!
