How the West Was Won (Led Zeppelin album)

How the West Was Won is a live triple album by the English rock group Led Zeppelin, released by Atlantic Records on compact disc on 27 May 2003, DVD-Audio on 7 October 2003 and Blu-Ray Audio in 2018. The recordings are taken from two 1972 performances in California during their tour of North America: L.A. Forum (25 June 1972) and Long Beach Arena (27 June 1972).

How the West Was Won
Live album by Led Zeppelin
Released	27 May 2003
Recorded	25 and 27 June 1972
Venue	L.A. Forum Long Beach Arena
Genre	Hard rock heavy metal blues rock folk rock
Length	150:27
Label	Atlantic
Producer	Jimmy Page
Compiler	Jimmy Page
Led Zeppelin chronology
Led Zeppelin DVD (2003) How the West Was Won (2003) Mothership (2007)

Background

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 and in an interview he gave to The Times newspaper in 2010.[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.

The album was remastered and reissued on 23 March 2018 in many formats, including 3CD, 4LP, Blu-Ray Audio and a Super Deluxe Edition box set.[3]

Reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	97/100[4]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[5]
Entertainment Weekly	A−[6]
Pitchfork	8.8/10[7]
Rolling Stone	[8]
Stylus Magazine	A−[9]
Uncut	[10]

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.[11] It was certified gold and platinum by the RIAA on 30 June 2003.[12][13] How the West Was Won received an overall score of 97 by review site Metacritic.[4]

Accolades for How the West Was Won

Publication	Country	Accolade	Year	Rank
Classic Rock	UK	"The 50 Greatest Live Albums Ever"[14]	2003	4
Les Inrockuptibles	France	"2003 Best Reissues"[15]	2003	4
Record Collector	UK	"New Albums: Readers Top 10" (2003)[16]	2004	4
The Village Voice	US	"Albums of the Year"[17]	2004	37
Q	UK	"10 Live Albums You Must Own"[18]	2005	*
Q	UK	"The 20 Greatest Live Albums"[19]	2006	11
Rock Hard	Germany	"The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time[20]	2005	342
Rolling Stone	USA	"The 50 Greatest Live Albums of All Time[21]	2015	23
Guitar World	USA	"The 10 Best Live Albums You Must Hear[22]	2019	7
Planet Rock magazine	UK	"The 100 Greatest Live Albums Ever"	2020	*

(*) designates unordered lists.

Track listing

Disc one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Recording date and venue	Length
1.	"LA Drone"	John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page	27 June, Long Beach Arena	0:14
2.	"Immigrant Song"	Page, Robert Plant	Mixed from both nights	3:42
3.	"Heartbreaker"	John Bonham, Jones, Page, Plant	Mixed from both nights	7:25
4.	"Black Dog"	Jones, Page, Plant	Mixed from both nights	5:41
5.	"Over the Hills and Far Away"	Page, Plant	Mixed from both nights	5:08
6.	"Since I've Been Loving You"	Jones, Page, Plant	27 June	8:02
7.	"Stairway to Heaven"	Page, Plant	Mixed from both nights; Mellotron from Southampton University, Southampton, England, 22 January 1973	9:38
8.	"Going to California"	Page, Plant	27 June	5:37
9.	"That's the Way"	Page, Plant	25 June, LA Forum	5:54
10.	"Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp"	Jones, Page, Plant	27 June	4:55

Disc two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Recording date and venue	Length
1.	"Dazed and Confused" "Walter's Walk" "The Crunge"	Page (inspired by Jake Holmes) Page, Plant Bonham, Jones, Page, Plant	25 June	25:25
2.	"What Is and What Should Never Be"	Page, Plant	27 June	4:41
3.	"Dancing Days"	Page, Plant	Mixed from both nights	3:42
4.	"Moby Dick"	Bonham, Jones, Page	25 June	19:20

Disc three

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Recording date and venue	Length
1.	"Whole Lotta Love" "Boogie Chillun" "Let's Have a Party" "Hello Mary Lou" (omitted from 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	23:07
2.	"Rock and Roll"	Bonham, Jones, Page, Plant	27 June	3:56
3.	"The Ocean"	Bonham, Jones, Page, Plant	25 June	4:21
4.	"Bring It On Home" "Bring It On Back"	Dixon Bonham, Jones, Page, Plant	25 June	9:30
Total length:				150:27

Notes:

• 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 24bit/48 kHz 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 24-bit/96kHz 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
• The medley omitting "Hello Mary Lou" has a runtime of 20:59 in the 2018 reissue

Personnel

Led Zeppelin

• John Bonham – drums, percussion, backing vocals, co-lead vocals on "Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp"
• John Paul Jones – bass guitar, double bass, bass pedals, keyboards, mandolin, backing vocals
• Jimmy Page – guitars, mandolin, backing vocals, production
• Robert Plant – vocals, harmonica

Additional personnel

• Jim Cummins – photography
• James Fortune – photography
• Drew Griffiths – sound assistant
• Ross Halfin – package creative consultant
• Eddie Kramer – engineering
• Phil Lemon – design, artwork
• Jeffrey Mayer – photography
• Michael Putland – photography
• Kevin Shirley – engineering, mixing
• John Davis – mastering (2018 reissue)

Charts

Sales chart performance for How the West Was Won

Chart (2003)	Peak position
French Albums Chart[23]	11
Italian Albums Chart[24]	7
Irish Albums Chart[25]	9
Canadian Albums Chart[26]	1
Polish Albums Chart[27]	24
Norwegian Albums Charts[28]	10
Finnish Albums Chart[29]	23
UK Albums Chart[30]	5
Spanish Albums Chart[31]	39
Austrian Albums Chart[32]	17
Japanese Albums Chart[33]	3
Swedish Albums Chart[34]	16
US Billboard The 200 Albums Chart[35]	1
US Billboard Top Internet Albums[36]	1
Belgian Albums Chart (Walloon)[37]	2
Dutch Albums Chart[38]	15
Australian ARIA Top 50 Albums Chart[39]	10
German Albums Chart[40]	11
Swiss Albums Chart[41]	20
Belgian Albums Chart (Flemish)[42]	9
New Zealand RIANZ Top 50 Albums Chart[43]	13
Danish Albums Chart[44]	25

Certifications

Sales certifications for How the West Was Won

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[45]	Gold	50,000^*
Canada (Music Canada)[46]	Platinum	100,000^^
United Kingdom (BPI)[47]	Gold	100,000^^
^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone

Release history

Release formats for How the West Was Won

Region	Date	Label	Format	Catalog #
United States	27 May 2003	Atlantic Records	Compact Disc (×3)	83587-2
	7 October 2003		DVD-Audio (×2)	83587-9
Japan	27 May 2003	WEA Japan	Compact Disc (×3)	11585-7
Worldwide	23 March 2018	Warner	Blu-ray (×1)
Worldwide	23 March 2018	Warner	Vinyl (×4)

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. How the West Was Won at Metacritic. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
5. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. How the West Was Won at AllMusic
6. DeCurtis, Anthony (20 June 2003). "Entertainment Weekly Review". Ew.com. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
7. Leone, Dominique (11 June 2003). "Led Zeppelin – How the West Was Won". Pitchfork.
8. Kot, Greg (21 May 2003). "Led Zeppelin – How the West was Won". Rolling Stone.
9. Smietanik, John. "Led Zeppelin – How the West was Won". stylusmagazine.com. Archived from the original on 27 October 2011. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
10. Uncut. "Led Zeppelin – How The West Was Won". Uncut.co.uk. Archived from the original on 13 October 2008.
11. "The Billboard 200: How the West was Won". Billboard. Retrieved 18 January 2009.
12. "American album certifications – Led Zeppelin – How the West Was Won". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
13. "Zeppelin Smashes Records as CD/DVDs Debut at No. 1 – 4 June 2003". Billboard. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
14. "Classic Rock – The 50 Greatest Live Albums Ever (2003)". Classic Rock. Retrieved 10 February 2009.
15. "2003 Best Reissues". Les Inrockuptibles. Retrieved 10 February 2009.
16. "New Albums: Readers Top 10". Record Collector. Retrieved 10 February 2009.
17. "Albums of the Year (2004)". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on 7 July 2009. Retrieved 10 February 2009.
18. "10 Live Albums You Must Own – April 2005". Q. Retrieved 10 February 2009.
19. "The 20 Greatest Live Albums – June 2006". Q. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
20. [...], 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.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
21. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/50-greatest-live-albums-of-all-time-173246/led-zeppelin-how-the-west-was-won-2003-161202/
22. https://www.guitarworld.com/amp/gw-archive/top-10-live-albums
23. "Top 100 Albums – 25 May 2003". lescharts.com. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
24. "Top 100 Albums – 29 May 2003". italiancharts.com. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
25. "Top 75 Albums – 29 May 2003". acharts.us. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
26. "Top 100 Albums – 1 June 2003". CRIA. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
27. "Top 50 Albums – 1 June 2003". OLiS. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
28. "Top 100 Albums – 5 June 2003". norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
29. "Top 100 Albums – 5 June 2003". finnishcharts.com. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
30. "Top 100 Albums – 7 June 2003". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
31. "Top 100 Albums – 7 June 2003". PROMUSICAE. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
32. "Top 100 Albums – 8 June 2003". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
33. "Top 100 Albums – 11 June 2003". Oricon. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
34. "Top 100 Albums – 12 June 2003". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
35. "Billboard.com How the West Was Won – 14 June 2003". Billboard. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
36. "Top Internet Albums – 14 June 2003". Billboard. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
37. "Top 100 Albums – 14 June 2003". ultratop.be. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
38. "Top 100 Albums – 14 June 2003". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
39. "Top 100 Albums – 15 June 2003". ARIA. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
40. "Top 100 Albums – 15 June 2003". musicline.de. Archived from the original on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
41. "Top 100 Albums – 15 June 2003". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
42. "Top 100 Albums – 21 June 2003". ultratop.be. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
43. "Top 100 Albums – 29 June 2003". RIANZ. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
44. "Top 100 Albums – 8 August 2003". danishcharts.dk. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
45. "Brazilian album certifications – Led Zeppelin – How the West Was Won" (in Portuguese). Pro-Música Brasil.
46. "Canadian album certifications – Led Zeppelin – How the West Was Won". Music Canada.
47. "British album certifications – Led Zeppelin – How the West Was Won". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type How the West Was Won in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.

External links

• How the West Was Won from Led Zeppelin's official site
• The Garden Tapes – analysis of live tracks edits for the album
• How the West Was Won at Metacritic