"The Bell Gets Louder" is the hottest performance by the
boys, rates a flat out 10 on the "inspiration &
improvisation" factor. Excellent digital fidelity (DDD) and
stereo separation; I give it a 10 here too. Almost no close
audience noise throughout, except for one instance early on
when some fool yells "m*therf*cker" as loud as he can, in
breathtaking full digital stereo fidelity, so this one's not
for your sainted mother's Christmas present. No noticable
ROIO flaws of the usual types. Packaging is on the simple
side, but very good; nice picture discs of the pigs. The
standard show (no Dark Side of the Moon set). I think it's
New York Yankee Stadium on June 11(?), 1994. This one's
worth finding at all costs; make this a Blues-Brothers-style
"mission from God". -ECHOES
I disagree with this comment. True, this is a remarkably
clean recording although it has some minor flaws. Very few
audience, in fact only between songs. BUT the stereo
perspective is bad and the bass a little bit too thin! The
whole recording has a "hollow" effect as if listening
through a pipe. I usually don't like this sort of sound
where there is no real "live" feeling. Call me crazy, I like
"The Live Bell" more. In fact, I like the bonus track
(Brain Damage / Eclipse) better just because of the great
stereo. Admittedly, it has more hissing and one especially
nerving guy singing along some verses. No, there _must_ be
better records around from this tour, still no "Sup" rating
from me ... Strange enough, the sound sometimes gets
incredibly good when the taper seems to turn his head!
"Brain Damage" is missing on the cover but also included as
a bonus track.
(There is also some sort of "hidden message" behind LtF
8^): "What are you doing?" - "I'm taping it ..." - "Can I
have a copy?" -HERWIG
I'll second Herwig's comment. In fact, far from having
'excellent stereo separation' I felt this CD sounded mono!
- THE HEDONIST
There's a great deal of disagreement about whether or not
this is the "best roio of '94"
The pro group cites the complete lack of hiss, the stellar
performace (they were cookin'), and (some people) excellent
stereo sound and dynamic range. From the sound of it, this
is definitely a DDD recording.
Additionally, there is very little to no crowd noise during
the songs, definitely a hard thing to get in an audience
recording.
The con group says (1) the bass is too thin (2) the sound is
hollow and not very close and (3) the recording sounds very
mono-ish.
I've listened to this recording quite a few times, and this
is my take on it:
The show is defnintely hot stuff, the band was celarly
having a good night. The sound is stunningly clear, no
annoying destortion or feedback, very little crowd noise
(except for the M*therF----er guy). The drums come through
nicely, especially nick's toms.
This recording is not perfect, however. The bass does sound
thin on the first few songs (like AD), but on others is very
close (ABITW). The keyboards are faint at times, and the
lead instruments often sound way too close. Some of the
songs sound distant, and occassionly it sounds like Dave is
singing through a pipe. Sometimes things sound mono, but
it's clearly a stereo recording, as you can hear things in
different channels, and the audience noise between songs is
clearly in stereo.
I think I know what's going on, though. The taper is sitting
right in front of the rear quad stack, rather than in the
center where the perspective would be better. So, any
instruments mixed to the back are really close, while the
others sound distant and hollow. The stereo is often thin
because the person was so much closer to just one set of
amps, while the others were on the other side of the
stadium.
For example, listen to the intro to 'Money' on this cd.
One part of the cash register sequence sounds like it's
right behind you, while the other three sound like they're
in the next state.
This is what was done on the recording for _In the Flesh_
(Oakland, 5/9/77). The taper merely held the mic near the PA
to get a clear recording and avoid lots of 'ambient noise'.
You can hear what I mean on this cd too, particuarly when
rick's synth solos fade from one stack to another. (try
Dogs, SOYCD, etc.)
Having said all this both pro and con about the cd, I must
say this surpasses all the other roios I have. Mind you, the
rest of my roios are from the seventies and sixties, before
the days of DAT, not to mention that the sound quality at
the shows has no doubt improved. -ANON
I do not think this is the best quality ROIO concert (Modena
1994 is better!!), but for sure this is an incredible
performance, Pink Floyd in a peak form, so every song is
thrilling. Hunt it if you want a jewel in your collection.
-PELLE
The recording is clearly stereo (audience sounds in different
channels), but the music is mostly mono. Great performance.
Highly recommended.
- FERNANDO
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