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On June 8, 2003 the mighty Zeppelin returned to the Billboard Top 200 charts with the Number One album in the Country. The legendary triple live set How The West Was Won was culled from two different shows during the band's 1972 North American Tour. The L.A. Forum on (June 25th) and Long Beach Arena (June 27th) concerts were epic indeed and highly sought after by bootleggers the World over for decades. Thankfully for we, the purists, Jimmy Page and Co. were rolling tape at the soundboard. Granted the songs were heavily produced and edited. Page even spliced together sections of songs from these two shows to create a seamless experience. What we got was a master class in live rock and a look (or listen) back at a band nearing the height of their superpowers.
The album has been hailed by many outlets including Rolling Stone, Guitar World, Classic Rock and Q magazine as one of the greatest live albums of all time. Following its first week of relaes it sold over 150,000 copies and remained on the charts for four months. It was certified gold and platinum by the RIAA June 30th, 2003. Below you can listen to some of the reasons why it cemented its place in Rock History.