PiL
- Pasadena, Convention Centre, USA
7th November 1982 (1st night)
Review #1: LP Version
Running Order:
1. Blue Water (intro)
2. Where Are You?
3. Annalisa
4. Religion
5. Bad Baby
6. Attack
7. Careering
8. Bad Life
9. Chant
10. Death Disco
11. Public Image
12. Low Life
13. Under The House
Running Time:
57 minutes (approx)
Sound Quality:
(8) Clear Audience Recording
Tape Gradings Explained here
review by Scott M
Notes:
The first of 2 nights at the Pasadena, Convention Centre. This is a review
of the recording taken from the bootleg LP.
Review:
This recording is taken directly from the 'Force'
bootleg LP, to my knowledge no other master has ever surfaced (see
below). It's obviously taken from a clear audience recording,
occasionally it can be a little too tinny, but all in all, it's
a very good recording. The most noticeable imperfections are during
the first proper track of the evening, 'Where Are You', where the
taper is having problems sorting his levels, and during 'Low Life'
which features some drop-out. Some of the other tracks seem to dip
a little, but that was how the LP was and it's nothing too serious
anyway. Apart from that, there is really only the crackle of the
vinyl, and the occasional fade-in/out, again from the vinyl, to
put up with, which in bootleg terms is nothing.
It's a very good gig showcasing the potential of the 1982 line up. The set is a good mixture of their back catalogue, including some new tracks that were yet to be recorded such as 'Bad Life (Mad Max)' & 'Where Are You.' I've always thought this version of 'Where Are You' was particularly strong, and 'Mad Max' features some good alternative vocals; including lines from 'Bad Night'. If you can get the vinyl get it, but this audio recording should be enough for most fans...
PiL
- Pasadena, Convention Centre, USA
7th November 1982 (1st night)
Review #2: Audience recording master
Running Order:
1. Blue Water (intro)
2. Where Are You?
3. Annalisa
4. Religion
5. Bad Baby
6. Attack
7. Careering
8. Bad Life
9. Chant
10. Death Disco
11. Public Image
12. Low Life
13. Under The House
Running Time:
57 minutes (approx)
Sound Quality:
(7.5) Boomy Audience Recording
Tape Gradings Explained here
review by Scott M
Notes:
This is the original audience recording from which the bootleg LP is
taken. On my CDR version 'Bad Baby' & 'Attack' are not separated;
though this may not be the case with every CDR (the correct track
listing is shown above). There are drop-outs during
'Bad Life' & 'Careering'.
Review:
This '2nd' version – which
surfaced via the internet – comes from the same master
as the bootleg LP, however, it is poorer quality.
There is some distortion and fuzziness which doesn't seem so apparent on the LP. Whether this means the LP recording was mixed and improved at the time; or this recording has been damaged by someone trying to re-master it is unclear. The whole recording is louder than the LP so this may be the case.
Apparently the bootlegger taped the show on an Awia portable in the middle of the concert hall which would account for its boomy sound. It's a decent recording, and certainly listenable, however, I definitely recommend the LP recording over this; as it features exactly the same tracks. The only real advantage of this recording is that there is no fade in/out between tracks, but the sound quality lets it down.