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How the West Was Won (Led Zeppelin album)

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How the West Was Won
Mixed-media stencil portrait of Led Zeppelin
Live album by
Led Zeppelin
Released27 May 2003 (2003-05-27)
Recorded25 June 1972, L.A. Forum,
27 June 1972, Long Beach Arena
GenreHard rock, heavy metal, blues rock, folk rock
Length150:27
148:18 [2018 Remaster]
LabelAtlantic
ProducerJimmy Page
CompilerJimmy Page
Led Zeppelin chronology
Led Zeppelin DVD
(2003) 		How the West Was Won
(2003) 		Mothership
(2007)

How the West Was Won is a triple live album by the English rock group Led Zeppelin, released by Atlantic Records on compact disc on 27 May 2003, and DVD-Audio on 7 October 2003. These original performances are from the band's 1972 concert tour of the United States, recorded at the L.A. Forum on 25 June 1972 and Long Beach Arena on 27 June 1972.

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. In an interview he gave to The Times newspaper in 2010, when asked which performances from Led Zeppelin's career stand out to him now, he made reference to these gigs:

I think what we did on ... How the West was Won – that 1972 gig – is pretty much a testament of how good it was. It would have been nice to have had a little more visual recordings, but there you go. That’s the conundrum of Led Zeppelin![1]

For many years, live recordings of these two shows only circulated in the form of bootlegs, and even then only certain audience recordings were available to fans and collectors (for example, Burn Like a Candle). Though several soundboard recordings of Led Zeppelin concerts were circulated amongst fans after having been stolen from Page's personal archive some time in the mid-1980s, no soundboards of the 1972 Long Beach or LA Forum shows were taken, meaning the release of 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 Sarm West Studios in London before being released on the album. Some songs which were played at the concerts, such as "Communication Breakdown", "Tangerine", "Thank You" and a rare version of "Louie Louie" from the 25 June show, were left off the album.

The album was remastered and reissued on March 23, 2018 in many formats, including 3CD, 4LP, Blu-Ray Audio and a Super Deluxe Edition.[3] For unknown reasons, the Whole Lotta Love medley was edited to remove Hello Marylou.[4]

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic97[5]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]
Entertainment WeeklyA−[7]
Pitchfork Media8.8/10[8]
Rolling Stone[9]
StylusA−[10]
Uncut[11]

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.[12] It was certified gold and platinum by the RIAA on 30 June 2003.[13] [14] How the West Was Won received an overall score of 97 by review site Metacritic.[5]

Accolades

Publication Country Accolade Year Rank
Classic Rock United Kingdom "The 50 Greatest Live Albums Ever"[15] 2003 4
Les Inrockuptibles France "2003 Best Reissues"[16] 2003 4
Record Collector United Kingdom "New Albums: Readers Top 10" (2003)[17] 2004 4
The Village Voice United States "Albums of the Year"[18] 2004 37
Q United Kingdom "10 Live Albums You Must Own"[19] 2005 *
Q United Kingdom "The 20 Greatest Live Albums"[20] 2006 11
Rock Hard Germany "The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time[21] 2005 342

(*) designates unordered lists.

Track listing

Disc one
No.TitleWriter(s)Recording date and venueLength
1."LA Drone"John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page27 June, Long Beach Arena0:15
2."Immigrant Song"Page, Robert PlantMixed from both nights3:41
3."Heartbreaker"John Bonham, Jones, Page, PlantMixed from both nights7:23
4."Black Dog"Jones, Page, PlantMixed from both nights5:40
5."Over the Hills and Far Away"Page, PlantMixed from both nights5:07
6."Since I've Been Loving You"Jones, Page, Plant27 June, Long Beach Arena8:01
7."Stairway to Heaven"Page, PlantMixed from both nights; Mellotron from Southampton University, Southampton, England, 22 January 19739:36
8."Going to California"Page, Plant27 June, Long Beach Arena5:36
9."That's the Way"Page, Plant25 June, LA Forum5:53
10."Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp"Jones, Page, Plant27 June, Long Beach Arena4:52
Disc two
No.TitleWriter(s)Recording date and venueLength
11."Dazed and Confused"
"Walter's Walk"
"The Crunge"		Page (inspired by Jake Holmes)
Page, Plant
Bonham, Jones, Page, Plant		25 June, LA Forum25:25
12."What Is and What Should Never Be"Page, Plant27 June, Long Beach Arena4:41
13."Dancing Days"Page, PlantMixed from both nights3:42
14."Moby Dick"Bonham, Jones, Page25 June, LA Forum19:20
Disc three
No.TitleWriter(s)Recording date and venueLength
15."Whole Lotta Love"
"Boogie Chillun"
"Let's Have a Party"
"Hello Marylou" Not on 2018 reissue
"Going Down Slow"		Bonham, Willie Dixon, Jones, Page, Plant
Bernie Besman, John Lee Hooker
Jessie Mae Robinson
Cayet Mangiaracina, Gene Pitney
James B. Oden		25 June, LA Forum23:08 (20:59 2018 Reissue)
16."Rock and Roll"Bonham, Jones, Page, Plant27 June, Long Beach Arena3:56
17."The Ocean"Bonham, Jones, Page, Plant25 June, LA Forum4:21
18."Bring It On Home"
"Bring It On Back"		Dixon
Bonham, Jones, Page, Plant		25 June, LA Forum9:30

Note
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 48Khz/24bit 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 96kHz/24-bit 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

Personnel

Led Zeppelin

Additional personnel

Charts

Chart (2003) Peak position
French Albums Chart[22] 11
Italian Albums Chart[23] 7
Irish Albums Chart[24] 9
Canadian Albums Chart[25] 1
Polish Albums Chart[26] 24
Norwegian Albums Charts[27] 10
Finnish Albums Chart[28] 23
UK Albums Chart[29] 5
Spanish Albums Chart[30] 39
Austrian Albums Chart[31] 17
Japanese Albums Chart[32] 3
Swedish Albums Chart[33] 16
US Billboard The 200 Albums Chart[34] 1
US Billboard Top Internet Albums[35] 1
Belgian Albums Chart (Walloon)[36] 2
Dutch Albums Chart[37] 15
Australian ARIA Top 50 Albums Chart[38] 10
German Albums Chart[39] 11
Swiss Albums Chart[40] 20
Belgian Albums Chart (Flemish)[41] 9
New Zealand RIANZ Top 50 Albums Chart[42] 13
Danish Albums Chart[43] 25

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[44] Gold 50,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[45] Platinum 100,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[46] Gold 100,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Region Date Label Format Catalog #
United States 27 May 2003 Atlantic Records Compact Disc 83587-2
7 October 2003 DVD-Audio 83587-9
Japan 27 May 2003 WEA Japan Compact Disc 11585-7

References

  1. ^ James Jackson, "Jimmy Page on Led Zeppelin IV, the band's peak and their reunion, The Times, 8 January 2010 .
  2. ^ Lewis, Dave (2003). Led Zeppelin: The 'Tight but Loose' Files: Celebration II (1st ed.). London: Omnibus Press. p. 156. ISBN 1-84449-056-4.
  3. ^ Sinclair, Paul. "Led Zeppelin / How The West Was Won reissued on vinyl, blu-ray and box set". Super Deluxe Edition. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  4. ^ "The upcoming remaster of How The West Was Won appears to have cut some audio that was on the original release". Led Zeppelin News. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  5. ^ a b How the West Was Won at Metacritic. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
  6. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. How the West Was Won at AllMusic
  7. ^ DeCurtis, Anthony (20 June 2003). "Entertainment Weekly Review". Ew.com. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
  8. ^ Leone, Dominique (11 June 2003). "Led Zeppelin - How the West Was Won". Pitchfork.
  9. ^ Kot, Greg (21 May 2003). "Led Zeppelin - How the West was Won". Rolling Stone.
  10. ^ Smietanik, John. "Led Zeppelin - How the West was Won". stylusmagazine.com. Archived from the original on 27 October 2011. Retrieved 7 October 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ Uncut. "Led Zeppelin - How The West Was Won". Uncut.co.uk. Archived from the original on 13 October 2008.
  12. ^ "The Billboard 200: How the West was Won". Billboard. Retrieved 18 January 2009.
  13. ^ "American album certifications – Led Zeppelin – How the West Was Won". Recording Industry Association of America.
  14. ^ "Zeppelin Smashes Records as CD/DVDs Debut at No. 1 – 4 June 2003". Billboard. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
  15. ^ "Classic Rock – The 50 Greatest Live Albums Ever (2003)". Classic Rock. Retrieved 10 February 2009. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  16. ^ "2003 Best Reissues". Les Inrockuptibles. Retrieved 10 February 2009.
  17. ^ "New Albums: Readers Top 10". Record Collector. Retrieved 10 February 2009.
  18. ^ "Albums of the Year (2004)". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on 7 July 2009. Retrieved 10 February 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  19. ^ "10 Live Albums You Must Own – April 2005". Q. Retrieved 10 February 2009. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  20. ^ "The 20 Greatest Live Albums – June 2006". Q. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  21. ^ [...], Rock Hard (Hrsg.). [Red.: Michael Rensen. Mitarb.: Götz Kühnemund] (2005). Best of Rock & Metal die 500 stärksten Scheiben aller Zeiten. Königswinter: Heel. p. 72. ISBN 3-89880-517-4. {{cite book}}: |last= has numeric name (help)
  22. ^ "Top 100 Albums – 25 May 2003". lescharts.com. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
  23. ^ "Top 100 Albums – 29 May 2003". italiancharts.com. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
  24. ^ "Top 75 Albums – 29 May 2003". acharts.us. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
  25. ^ "Top 100 Albums – 1 June 2003". CRIA. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
  26. ^ "Top 50 Albums – 1 June 2003". OLiS. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
  27. ^ "Top 100 Albums – 5 June 2003". norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
  28. ^ "Top 100 Albums – 5 June 2003". finnishcharts.com. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
  29. ^ "Top 100 Albums – 7 June 2003". chartstats.com. Archived from the original on 2 January 2013. Retrieved 19 January 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  30. ^ "Top 100 Albums – 7 June 2003". PROMUSICAE. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
  31. ^ "Top 100 Albums – 8 June 2003". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
  32. ^ "Top 100 Albums – 11 June 2003". Oricon. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
  33. ^ "Top 100 Albums – 12 June 2003". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
  34. ^ "Billboard.com How the West Was Won – 14 June 2003". Billboard. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
  35. ^ "Top Internet Albums – 14 June 2003". Billboard. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
  36. ^ "Top 100 Albums – 14 June 2003". ultratop.be. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
  37. ^ "Top 100 Albums – 14 June 2003". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
  38. ^ "Top 100 Albums – 15 June 2003". ARIA. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
  39. ^ "Top 100 Albums – 15 June 2003". musicline.de. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
  40. ^ "Top 100 Albums – 15 June 2003". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
  41. ^ "Top 100 Albums – 21 June 2003". ultratop.be. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
  42. ^ "Top 100 Albums – 29 June 2003". RIANZ. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
  43. ^ "Top 100 Albums – 8 August 2003". danishcharts.com. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
  44. ^ "Brazilian album certifications – Led Zeppelin – How the West Was Won" (in Portuguese). Pro-Música Brasil.
  45. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Led Zeppelin – How the West Was Won". Music Canada.
  46. ^ id MUST BE PROVIDED for UK CERTIFICATION.
Preceded by Billboard 200 number-one album
8–14 June 2003 		Succeeded by
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