How_the_West_Was_Won_(Led_Zeppelin_album)

<i>How the West Was Won</i> (Led Zeppelin album)

How the West Was Won (Led Zeppelin album)

2003 live album by Led Zeppelin


How the West Was Won is a live triple album by the English rock group Led Zeppelin, released by Atlantic Records on compact disc on 27 May 2003, DVD-Audio on 7 October 2003 and Blu-ray audio in 2018. The recordings are taken from two 1972 performances in California during their tour of North America: L.A. Forum (25 June 1972) and Long Beach Arena (27 June 1972).

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Background

Guitarist Jimmy Page considers Led Zeppelin at this point to have been at their artistic peak, as is mentioned in the album's liner notes and in an interview he gave to The Times newspaper in 2010.[1]

For many years, recordings of these two shows circulated only in the form of bootlegs, such as Burn Like a Candle. Though soundboard recordings of Led Zeppelin concerts were circulated among fans after being stolen from Page's personal archive in the mid-1980s, no such versions of the 1972 Long Beach or LA Forum shows were taken, meaning How the West Was Won was the first chance fans had of hearing the soundboard versions of these concerts.[2] The songs from the two shows underwent extensive editing and audio engineering by Page at Island Studios in London before being released on the album.

"It wasn't in our thoughts to try and outdo The Song Remains the Same…" remarked engineer Kevin Shirley. "The reason those performances still stand up now is because Jimmy really was a genius. He could create tempests, summon storms. He really was the master of light and shade. And the musicians around him allowed him to flesh out that vision. Especially John Bonham, without whom Jimmy and Zeppelin would never have been able to do what he did."[3]

The album was remastered and reissued on 23 March 2018 in many formats, including 3CD, 4LP, Blu-Ray Audio and a Super Deluxe Edition box set.[4]

Reception

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The album debuted on the Billboard 200 chart for the week ending 14 June 2003 at number 1, with sales of 154,000 copies. It remained on the chart for 16 weeks.[13] It was certified gold and platinum by the RIAA on 30 June 2003.[14][15] How the West Was Won received an overall score of 97 by review site Metacritic.[5]

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Track listing

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Notes:

  • The DVD-Audio version of the album has tracks 1–11 on disc one with tracks 12–18 on disc two. It features the whole album in 24bit/48 kHz for both 5.1 and Stereo.
  • The Blu-Ray Audio version of the albums has all tracks on one disc. It features the whole album in 24-bit/96 kHz DTS-Master Audio 5.1, as well as two stereo tracks (PCM and DTS-MA)
  • The 4 LP version of the album has tracks 1–4 on Side A, tracks 5, 12 & 13 on Side B, track 6 & 7 on Side C, track 8–10 on Side D, tracks 11, 14 & 15 on Sides E, F & G respectively, and tracks 16–18 on Side H
  • The medley omitting "Hello Mary Lou" has a runtime of 20:59 in the 2018 reissue

Personnel

Led Zeppelin

Additional personnel

Charts

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Certifications

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Release history

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References

  1. Lewis, Dave (2003). Led Zeppelin: The 'Tight but Loose' Files: Celebration II (1st ed.). London: Omnibus Press. p. 156. ISBN 1-84449-056-4.
  2. Sinclair, Paul (24 January 2018). "Led Zeppelin / How The West Was Won reissued on vinyl, blu-ray and box set". Super Deluxe Edition. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  3. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. How the West Was Won at AllMusic
  4. DeCurtis, Anthony (20 June 2003). "Entertainment Weekly Review". Ew.com. Archived from the original on 19 February 2011. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
  5. Leone, Dominique (11 June 2003). "Led Zeppelin – How the West Was Won". Pitchfork.
  6. Kot, Greg (21 May 2003). "Led Zeppelin – How the West was Won". Rolling Stone.
  7. Smietanik, John. "Led Zeppelin – How the West was Won". stylusmagazine.com. Archived from the original on 27 October 2011. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
  8. Uncut. "Led Zeppelin – How The West Was Won". Uncut.co.uk. Archived from the original on 13 October 2008.
  9. "The Billboard 200: How the West was Won". Billboard. Retrieved 18 January 2009.
  10. "Classic Rock – The 50 Greatest Live Albums Ever (2003)". Classic Rock. Retrieved 10 February 2009.
  11. "2003 Best Reissues". Les Inrockuptibles. Retrieved 10 February 2009.
  12. "New Albums: Readers Top 10". Record Collector. Retrieved 10 February 2009.
  13. "Albums of the Year (2004)". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on 7 July 2009. Retrieved 10 February 2009.
  14. Best of Rock & Metal – Die 500 stärksten Scheiben aller Zeiten (in German). Rock Hard. 2005. p. 72. ISBN 3-89880-517-4.
  15. "50 Greatest Live Albums of All Time". Rollingstone.com. 29 April 2015. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  16. "10 of the best live albums every rock fan needs to hear | Guitar World". Guitarworld.com. 29 July 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  17. "Austriancharts.at – Led Zeppelin – How the West Was Won" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  18. "Ultratop.be – Led Zeppelin – How the West Was Won" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  19. "Ultratop.be – Led Zeppelin – How the West Was Won" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  20. "Dutchcharts.nl – Led Zeppelin – How the West Was Won" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  21. "Lescharts.com – Led Zeppelin – How the West Was Won". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  22. "Irish-charts.com – Discography Led Zeppelin". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  23. "Top 100 Albums – 11 June 2003". Oricon. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
  24. "Charts.nz – Led Zeppelin – How the West Was Won". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  25. "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2018. 13. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  26. "Rapports Annuels 2003". Ultratop. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  27. "The Official UK Albums Chart 2003" (PDF). UKChartsPlus. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  28. "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2003". Billboard. Retrieved 2 November 2021.

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