The Chronicles Of Led Zeppelin Presents: the 3rd stop of Zeppelin's Tour Over Europe 80 in stellar quality. Although the recording seems a bit distant it is quite clear and very pleasant to listen to. There is no real noticable hiss and all of the instruments are equally balanced. I didn't really notice any overloading or distorting of the sound either. One thing that is apparent right off the bat is that this audience recording sounds better than the soundboard recording. The majority of the 1980 soundboards are flat and lifeless while this audience recording gives off the actual feeling of being at the show. It's full and rich sounding. This recording is definitely one to have.
Led Zeppelin are still energized from the beginning of the tour a few days earlier and it shows in their playing. All four members sound great and put their all into this show. The only low point seems to be Robert's apparent boredom with Stairway To Heaven. He does not through too much feeling into this version. Jimmy gets a bit lost during Achilles Last Stand. One thing that is great about this recording is that Kashmir is complete unlike the soundboard recording which has a cut in the middle. There is a slight cut at the end of Kashmir but none of the music is missing. This cut is more than likely due to a tape swap.
This recording has been released before as "Brussels Audience (Tarantura2000)" but this version sounds much better. The packaging for this release is the standard TCOLZ brown paper bag artwork. As I've stated in previous reviews this artwork does not bother me and did not remotely keep me from getting this release. Ultimately it's the music that matters in the end. At the end of the day I am really impressed with the sonic quality of this release and I am glad to have it in my collection. TCOLZ has done us all proud again.
