CD Comparisons 1980



6-17-80
Dinosaurs Rule (Flying Disc), Dortmund (Tarantura), Dortmund 1980 Multiband Remaster (Wendy), Return of the Auschwitz (Neptune), & Tour Over Dortmund 1980 (Wendy)

Flying Disc is missing the last few seconds of Trampled and the title runs too fast.
Neptune's Trampled is complete. The title runs slow and doesn't sound nearly as clear as Flying Disc.
Tarantura's Dortmund runs at the correct speed, has excellent sound quality the whole way through, and has more tape after the show than Flying Disc and Neptune. However, it has an inexcusable cut in Train, losing 4 seconds.
Wendy's "Tour Over Dortmund 1980" title has all known soundboard tape, does not fade at the cuts during songs, runs at the proper speed, and has excellent sound.
Wendy's "Dortmund 1980 Multiband Remaster" is a JUNK title. Exactly like their "GOAT Destroyer," during the end of Nobody's Fault, someone's voice has been overdubbed to sing along with Robert, and in other places. There are also additional extremely weird, brief voice noises throughout the title. The beginning of Nobody has been tweaked horribly. The title is based on the soundboard and filled with audience tape. This is Wendy's second consecutive release with and extra singer and extremely weird, very bizarre sounds added in. This title and their GOAT Destroyer title are the worst titles ever issued.

6-18-80
Close Shave Parts 1&2 (Flying Disc), Cologne (Tarantura2000), Cologne 1980 (TDOLZ & Flagge), & Pure Nostalgia (Neptune), & Tour Over Cologne 1980 (Wendy)

Flying Disc runs fast. Neptune has poor sound and may run a hair slow.
TDOLZ runs at the proper speed, has better sound than Neptune and Flying Disc, but uses the audience tape to fill in the missing parts from the soundboard on Rain and Stairway. The audience tape is also used for half a minute after Stairway, where the soundboard is available.
Flagge's title is evidently from a lower generation tape than the others. It's sound is much clearer and louder.
Tarantura2000's primary tape is the soundboard. It unnecessarily overlays the audience tape on top of the soundboard tape between songs. A pointless release.
Wendy's title is based on the soundboard and filled with audience tape. Their familiar metallic sound is present. Also included at the end of the title are three songs from the good audience tape.
Flying Disc, Neptune, and Flagge contain only the soundboard, which isn't the complete show.

6-20-80, soundboard
Belgian Triple (Empress Valley), Brussels Affair (Swinging Pig & Wendy), Brussels 1980 (Tarantura & no label), Chien Noir (Antrabata), Dinosaurs That Rock (Boogie Mama), & Raid Over Brussels (Electric Magic)

Swingin' Pig is far from being complete, being only one disc long. It has many cuts between songs to edit out talk. It is also missing the beginning of Hot Dog and the last 2.5 minutes of Whole Lotta Love.
Antrabata has more tape before Train and has 5 less cuts between songs. Overall, it is about 8.5 minutes longer than Swingin' Pig due to more music and talk between songs.
Tarantura's tape is identical to the Antrabata as far as content and cuts but it's sound is much louder.
Electric Magic's title doesn't have a fade out as Rain is cut short. It allows the final note to be heard easier. This title runs a tiny bit slower than the others. It's sound is a just a tiny bit louder than Tarantura's.
Empress Valley's title uses audience source tape one to fill in the gaps of the soundboard. It isn't amplified as much as Tarantura's.
Boogie Mama uses the soundboard as it's foundation and fills gaps with an audience source. The splices occur too early and too late, needlessly displacing the soundboard, especially during the end of Stairway.
The no label title is based on the soundboard and filled with an audience tape for the end of Rain and after Stairway. No attempt was made to preserve all of the soundboard and ALS and Kashmir have a few instances of problems not found on any other title. It's not amplified as loud as some of the other titles.
Wendy's title is based on the soundboard and filled with an audience tape. Almost no soundboard is missed at the splices.


6-20-80, audience
Brussels Audience (Tarantura2000) & Raid Over Brussels (Electric Magic & TCOLZ)

These titles rely on the first audience source and use the second audience tape to fill two to three gaps. For the most part, they are similar in sound.
EMC and TCOLZ are almost identical, making the same unnecessary splice after Achilles. Tarantura2000 didn't make that same splice, but made two different ones to cover barely noticeable tape problems. At each of the tape glitches these titles have in common, they've cut them out and repeated tape. It's more annoying than the original problem. They also made some strange adjustment to the unbalanced tape during Rock and Roll, making it sound worse.

6-21-80
Live In Rotterdam (Swinging Pig, 1cd) & Rotterdum (Tarantura, 2cd)

Tarantura is strictly from the soundboard tape, which is not the complete show. It begins during the early part of Rain Song.
Swinging Pig is incomplete, mixing in another night to "complete" the unavailable beginning of Rain Song. White Summer is missing entirely.
TDOLZ is strictly from the audience tape.
Wendy is based on the soundboard and filled with the audience tape. There is a digital glitch during Nobody's Fault. It misses 19 seconds of the soundboard during the beginning of Rain Song. After Kashmir, they've decided to overlay the soundboard and audience tape simultaneously, even though the soundboard isn't cut in that area.

6-23-80
Bremen (Tarantura & Tarantura2000), Chein Noir (Antrabata), Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten (Wendy), & Tour Over Bremen (Moonchild)

Antrabata is missing 75 seconds of tape after Rock and Roll, but is otherwise virtually identical to Tarantura.
Wendy's DBS title uses the 7/2/80 soundboard to complete Trampled Under Foot. Since I've Been Loving You has a strange error early in the song that's not found on the other releases. The 6/21/80 soundboard is used to complete Stairway To Heaven. The use of these other shows is not noted on the title.
Tarantura2000's title is the first title to use the audience tape to fill the gaps in the soundboard. It's been amplified a bit.
Moonchild's title has the exact same content as T2K, but has different cue stops and isn't amplified as much. (It appears T2K may have copied the "Winston Remaster," which is also the basis of this Moonchild title.)
Wendy's Multiband Remaster is based on the soundboard and chooses to fill it's gaps from another tape of the same show, from the audience, instead of soundboard tapes from other nights of the same tour. The sound on this title suffers from the "remastering." The drumming seems odd and the higher frequencies screech at times.

6-24-80
Gracias (Antrabata), Hannover (Tarantura & Tarantura2000), Last Tour (FSS), Messehalle Echos (Flying Disc), & Tour Over Hannover (Wendy)

Flying Disc has too many cue stops and runs fast. Trampled of course is cut but is missing 19 seconds of tape. Since I've Been Loving You unexplainably has a cut, missing 22 seconds.
The Tarantura title runs at the proper speed. However, it is missing 15 seconds of tape from Trampled. Since I've Been Loving You is not cut.
Tarantura2000 is missing 19 seconds of tape from Trampled. Since I've Been Loving You is not cut.
FSS runs at the correct speed, has 15-19 seconds more of Trampled in the area of the cut, and Since I've Been Loving you is complete.
Antrabata's tape is identical to FSS.
Wendy's title mixes in the audience for the gap in Trampled, but it displaces about 15 seconds of soundboard.
All titles are highly similar in sound.

6-26-80
Deutchland Uber Alles (TDOLZ), Goodnight Vienna (Electric Magic), Unfinished Symphony (Wendy), & Vienna (Tarantura)

TDOLZ runs a little too fast and has a few extra cuts between songs.
Tarantura has fewer cuts than TDOLZ but is otherwise quite similar in content and sound to TDOLZ.
Electric Magic has extra cuts too and a couple of problems not found on other titles. It is also missing the most tape. It's music is louder than the other releases but the background noise has been suppressed - no gen difference. There are hints of that familiar "metallic sound" that this label uses almost on a regular basis. This is certainly the worst release of this show yet.
Moonchild's title is most similar to TDOLZ as far as cuts. It's missing a bit of inconsequential tape after Stairway.
Wendy's content is pretty similar to others, also not as complete as it could be, but they've messed with the sound, making it sound bad between songs.

6-27-80
Air Raids Over Germany (Tecumseh), Blitzkrieg Over Europe (Tarantura), Fly Over Nuremburg (TDOLZ), Sudden Attack (Flagge), Tight But Loose (SAKA), & Triumph des Willens (Wendy)

Flagge and Tarantura are the best sounding releases.
TDOLZ is better sounding than the remaining 2 releases, but it runs a little fast.
Tecumseh runs slow and has a deep hiss in the background.
SAKA's sound is also on the poorer side.
Wendy's title is highly similar to Flagge.

6-29-80
Blitzkrieg On Zurich (Tarantura2000), Blitzkrieg Over Zurich (Empress Valley), Conquer Europe (Empress Valley), A Good Hot One (TDOLZ), Gracias (Antrabata), Swiss Made (TDOLZ), Tour Over Zurich (Moonchild), Zurich (Tarantura), & Zurich 1980 (no label)

TDOLZ's Swiss Made features the audience tape.
"A Good Hot One" has 2 minor tape glitches during White Summer/Black Mountain Side.
Tarantura uses a small fade out on Kashmir.
TDOLZ and Tarantura both have similar sound quality. The Antrabata is not as clear.
Empress Valley's Conquer uses all of the available soundboard and relies on the audience tape to complete Kashmir. The sound is very excellent. The music is louder and the background noise is still almost non-existent. It's likely that this tape is another gen closer to the master but could possibly be due to a great job of equalization work.
EV's Blitzkrieg reissues the audio from the original release.
Tarantura2000's title is strictly from the soundboard. (The third cd of this title offers the Westwood One broadcast of the three songs from the show recorded by the BBC.)
Wendy's title is based on the soundboard and uses the audience tape too. Early on during In the Evening, the sound is overblown briefly. Although the soundboard is not cut during All My Love, Wendy splices to the audience tape before the song is over. The audience tape is used again for Kashmir, cutting away from the soundboard a couple seconds too early.
The no label title is a mix based on the soundboard and filled with the audience tape. The splice in Kashmir comes three seconds too early. It's sound is similar good quality like the others.
Moonchild's title is a mix based on the soundboard and filled with the audience tape. The splice in Kashmir comes three seconds too early. It's sound is similar good quality like the others.

6-30-80, soundboard
Blitzkrieg Over Europe (Tarantura), Frankfurt Special (Empress Valley), Hotter Than the Hindenburg (LSD), Sudden Attack (Flagge), Tour Over Europe 1980 (LSD), & Tour Over Zurich (Wendy)

Up through Achilles Last Stand, Tarantura's title sounds a little better than LSD's Tour Over Europe 1980. But, after that song, the sound is a little muffled and unbalanced in places for the remainder of the show.
LSD's Tour Over Europe 1980 has a 15 second fade out on Kashmir. It fades out way too soon, missing 66 seconds of the song. Like the Tarantura, this LSD title has a tape problem within the first few seconds of Stairway To Heaven.
LSD's Hotter Than the Hindenburg is a big improvement from it's other release. Kashmir is more complete and there is not a tape problem on Stairway To Heaven. It's sound is a good bit clearer and louder.
Flagge's title is very similar to LSD's better release. However, the dip in sound on Train Kept A Rollin is a little more noticeable. There does not seem to be a cut after Money, like on all the other releases. It's sound is very good like the newer LSD, but has slightly less bass.


6-30-80, mixes
Blitzkrieg Over Frankfurt (Empress Valley), Captured Battalion (Tarantura2000), Frankfurt Special (Empress Valley, original and reissue) & Triumph des Willens (Wendy)

EV's Special mixes in the audience tape for the few gaps in the soundboard. Some of the soundboard introduction was thrown out in lei of the audience tape. The sound as been amplified a touch.
EV's Blitzkrieg reissues the audio from Special.
EV's 2016 reissue of Special reissues audio from the original.
Wendy's title is a similar mix but doesn't use the audience tape during the introduction.
Tarantura2000's title is based on the soundboard and fills with audience. Kashmir's ending is completely from the soundboard, for the first time ever. Those few seconds are certainly from another night. Like many titles from this label, it has been highly amplified. It's been amplified so much that many parts of the background sound strange at times.

7-2-80
Dinosaurs Watching (Flying Disc), Eye Thank Yew (Tarantura), Mannheim (Wendy), Mannheim 1980 (Flagge), & Strangers In the Night (TDOLZ)

Flying disc is missing the introduction and is missing most of the tape after the show. It has a cut during In the Evening and is missing 3 minutes many at the cut during Kashmir.
Tarantura's title ends too soon, missing the last minute of Kashmir and the remainder of the show. It's sound is somewhat muffled and unbalanced.
TDOLZ has a long introduction. It too has a cut during In the Evening. It includes the additional 3 minutes of soundboard for Kashmir but then uses the audience source for the missing 1 minute.
Flagge's introduction is a few seconds shorter than TDOLZ's but has much more tape after the show. Unlike the other releases, Flagge is not cut during In the Evening and is not cut after Trampled Under Foot. Evidently, it is from a lower generation tape than the others. It is much better sounding than the prior releases.
Wendy also mixes in the audience source, but it fully displaces 25 seconds of the soundboard.

7-3-80
Eye Thank Yew (Tarantura), Last Day In Mannheim (Whole Lotta Live), Mannheim (Tarantura2000 & Wendy), Mannheim 1980 (Flagge), Song Remains Untamed (Monument Records), Strangers In the Night (TDOLZ), & Tour Over Mannheim (Moonchild)

Tarantura is missing some time after All My Love.
Whole Lotta Live is a direct copy of Tarantura.
TDOLZ is almost completely identical to Tarantura.
Monument Records is missing tape before the show, after All My Love, and after the show.
All titles seem to have varying degrees of sound quality during the second minute of Since I've Been Loving You. Flagge's is the least noticeable while the Tarantura's are undeniable.
All titles are cut during Kashmir. Tarantura, TDOLZ, and Monument cut out 8 seconds too early but then cut back in 8 seconds sooner than Flagge's. Those three releases have the same amount of tape for Kashmir, but don't share the exact same content. Tarantura2000's title is still cut but has all the tape found between the previous releases and then has another 2 seconds.
Flagge and Tara2000's titles are much better sounding than the other releases and have much more tape after the show. Tara2000's tape has been equalized to pronounce the lower end.
Wendy's soundboard is sourced from two different tapes and the audience tape is used to complete All My Love and some of Kashmir. Evidently their "main" soundboard source was missing more tape than it should, so they borrowed from a longer tape of the show (for Kashmir and after the show).
Moonchild is based on the soundboard and filled with the audience. No effort was made to preserve all time from the soundboard, as it's displaced with audience tape at the splices. About five seconds of board is displaced during Kashmir. The introduction is missing a dozen seconds.

7-5-80
Jamming With Simon Kirke! (Empress Valley), Munchen mag Dich (Wendy), & Munich 1980 (Tarantura)

Tarantura is exclusively from the first tape source but is missing some of the introduction and tape after the show. Their equalization emphasizes the higher frequencies.
Empress Valley uses relies on a second source to fill in the gaps of the first source. In doing so, they've forgone a little bit of source one. Their sound is natural feeling with middle and lower frequencies.
Wendy is a mix based on source one that displaces a bit more of source one than EV. It's sound is a little flatter/dryer than EV.

7-7-80, audience
Eternal Magic (Empress Valley, original and reissue)

EV's 2002 box set offers the audience tape on cds three and four. Their 2019 title reissues the same audio.

7-7-80, soundboard
Beautiful Concert (Wendy, original and reissue), Berlin 1980 (Tarantura), Berlin 1980 The Last Concert (no label), Bonzo's Last Stand (Empress Valley, 3cd) Complete Berlin (Baby Face & SIRA), Eternal Magic (Empress Valley, 5cd original, 3cd, & 5cd reissue), Forever Bonzo (Empress Valley), Heineken (Tarantura), Memory Frozen Forever (Godfatherecords), Mid Summers Night In Berlin (Magic Pyramid), & The Last (Immigrant)

Many of these titles use the audience tape to fill the gaps in the soundboard.
The audience tape reveals that Kashmir on the Taranturas is not actually complete and uncut, or even proper. EV's own soundboard (with audience splice) is not correct either. Tarantura repeats 43 seconds from earlier in the song to make it sound complete. The beginning of the edit is seamless but the end is noticed at 6:18. EV splices back to the same section as Tarantura. It only uses/repeats 10 seconds of the earlier soundboard then splices to the audience tape. (This time they supply the evidence against themselves. At least they didn't use a different night again without footnoting it on the back of the title.)
Heineken is the only title to feature any tape before the show but it isn't likely genuine. Berlin 1980 and EV's titles don't have the tiny glitch near the 30 second mark on Train Kept A Rollin.
EV's two newer 3cd titles "Bonzo's Last Stand" and "Eternal Magic" reissue the audio found on the first two cds of the original 5cd issue.
EV's 5cd "Eternal Magic" from 2019 reissues the audio from the prior releases, repeating the same poorly edited Kashmir.
Baby Face and Immigrant are missing the first several seconds of the opening track. Both have some tape problems during the first part of the show. They are also missing 23 seconds of Kashmir.
Baby Face has a cut during Stairway To Heaven and is missing the last half of Whole Lotta Love.
Immigrant's Whole Lotta Love runs too fast. It uses the audience tape some after Rock & Roll and Whole Lotta Love.
Tarantura's Berlin 1980 has louder music and background noise than Heineken and SIRA. There is no difference between their clarity. EV's soundboard has louder music and less background noise than any other release. However, it may not be due to a better generation of tape at all. The background noise has evidence that the tape has be eq'd - but obviously done very well. Baby Face and Immigrant have terrible background noise and are much less complete.
(The main differences between Heineken and Berlin 1980 are mentioned above. The less obvious differences are also minor. Heineken is missing 2 seconds of Plant talking and is missing a couple of seconds after Stairway To Heaven. There are several extra seconds of tape after Rock and Roll.)
Godfather's title mixes in the audience source to fill the soundboard's gaps. Their method of overlapping the audience tape and soundboard at the cuts, effectively displaces the soundboard in those spots. The first second of Whole Lotta Love is missing - this has never been cut before. The background noise sounds a bit unusual - it's minor, but undeniable during quite moments. The title has been highly amplified.
Wendy has all known soundboard tape and then debuts a little more of it. There's a few seconds at the cut after All My Love and a few more just before the cut in Kashmir. Wendy's splices are clean on this title, unlike some of their long overlapping splices on other titles.
The no label title is based on the soundboard and mixes in an audience tape to fill. Unfortunately, just too much of the soundboard is missed at the splices.
Wendy's reissue uses the same discs as the original.
The Magic Pyramid title contains all known soundboard and nothing else. It's sound is similar to Wendy and SIRA.
EV's Forever Bonzo is a matrix and sounds a bit weird in places, especially during the soundboard's gap in Kashmir.