This is one of my favorite ways to have tapes re-issued - in a themed or grouped manner, or box set. I like that strategy when it's simply a good idea. And Scorpio has really served us a nice set here with "Fresh Garbage" which certainly caters to new Zeppelin collectors but those that have been around these blocks several dozen times should stop and take note too.
The preliminary info heading into this release highlighted the 3 prominent recording dates of January 10, 11 and 12, 1969. These tapes have seen the light on many different titles over the years and there isn't anything new but in my opinion the two earlier dates really sound nice and natural. In any case, better sounding to these ears vs. earlier incarnations. I should mention that this set also covers off on the only track to surface over the years from, supposedly, the January 9th appearance at The Fillmore West, "Train Kept A-Rollin'" which is tacked on to the end of Disc 3. By bringing this material back around it obviously gets another inspection and this January 9th track is now met with underscored suspicion as Robert's comment during the intro, "...thank you, it's nice to be back for a second time..." contradicts the date credit here (and with previous instances as well).
The January 10th tape, Discs 1 & 2, is without question the best it's ever sounded. It has always been held in high regard due to the wonderful surprise encore of The Yardbirds' "For Your Love", and it commands attention with it's liveliness this time around. To have this awesome early tape re-introduced and sounding fresh is worth the time and money alone. I found myself actually hitting the 'back' button on a couple of tracks just to confirm things were all what they seem! To this point it was really just a good early audio document and we were all thankful somebody had a tape rolling - like we do with many a marginal audience tape where we have to listen with bootleg ears. On this set it just seems to have a little more life to it. Lower generation source? Who knows. The good news is that the quality is nice and this presentation is as complete as can be, including the ending of "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" which was presented for the first time on Wendy's 2006 Live Adventure From The Fillmore West double-disc set. I am now going to let that one go from the collection after comparing to this new Scorpio version.
As noted above, Disc 3 contains the incomplete January 11th soundboard tape, as it is just the First Set from that evening, along with the one track from January 9th. The tape from the 11th has been issued on a slew of titles that include: How Many More Years (Empress Valley), Anybody Got a Les Paul? (Equinox), Syonen Zep Zokango (Akashic), Whole Lotta For Your Love (Pirate Records, and is now suffering from CD-rot!), Birth of the Gods (Balboa), Pb+ (Wild Card), Psycho A Gogo! (Led Note), and apparently a non-label title called Streets of San Francisco but I've never ever seen a copy first-hand. This is also a wonderful listen and precious in terms of getting to experience the personality of the band in a tough spot as we sense throughout that there is an ongoing equipment issue. The obvious commentary at the start of the tape when Robert is doing a rap to buy some time, it seems Jimmy's guitar is having issues as Robert prompts, "Does anybody have a Les Paul?" This initial predicament causes the band to ease into the set via "I Can't Quit You Baby" versus the running "Train Kept A-Rollin'". The adversity of having equipment problems lends to the performance having an aggressive but focused edge. This is a low-gen tape as with some of the other recent issues of this performance because if you listen closely, you can hear the underlying audio of a previous recording on the same tape. It's easier to notice in-between songs but frankly I found it to be less noticeable on this one versus some of the shared sources through the collector circles. A really enjoyable and nice sounding 43 minutes or so.
Discs 4 & 5 present the balance of the first Zeppelin stand at The Fillmore West on this initial U.S. Tour. Issued previously on Lemon Song's "California '69" circa 1991 or so and more recently this year on Empress Valley's "Legendary Fillmore Series Vol. 6 - Fourth Night". The January 12th tape is good-to-very good audience tape of another aggressive night. While this tape wasn't met with the same excitement as what the previous 3 discs did on "Fresh Garbage", it was fun to at least compare to Lemon Song's "California 69" a bit and revisit another classic show. The sound here isn't as good as the earlier title and seemed noisier lending credence to the suspicion that a higher generation tape is utilized. I haven't heard the recent Empress Valley effort but other sources have commented on it being a copy of Lemon Song's title with the audio boosted. At least I can comment that this isn't the same approach taken with the new Scorpio title for this January 12th tape. Great performance once again though.
The packaging, as you have seen, is a fatboy style jewelcase with 6CD trays to store the 5 beautiful picture discs. Overall I was quite satisfied with the warmth of the package and whatever didn't stimulate visually was overshadowed by the surprise of the first two tapes in the set. Even with the January 12th tape not being the best of what is available I would still recommend picking this one up. Through word-of-mouth apparently there was also a DVD-R included in the local Japanese version of the set though I haven't been able to positively confirm that. Not exactly sure what the material included would have been. Feel free to post information if anyone finds out. Imagine experiencing this initial barrage by the young Zep and then going back to see them again in just over 3 months at this venue...and how much their performance, material and presence matured by mid-April...oh, to have been able to do just that. Thank god for the tapers and their tapes.
