HOW the West was won? Dazed And Confused runs or rather ambles to 25 minutes, Moby Dick to 19, and Whole Lotta Love (And A Whole Lotta Medley In The Middle) to 23 in the heat of the Californian night in June 1972.

That's time enough for empires to rise, fall and rise again. No wonder punk decided enough was enough in '76. Yet for all the excesses - Jimmy Page fiddling about on his guitar with a violin bow, John Bonham giving his drums one hell of a beating while the world took a collective time-out in Moby Dick - Led Zeppelin were an awesome, horny metal monster, especially live. This triple CD - all two-and-a-half hours of it - has been assembled by Page from Long Beach Arena and Los Angeles Forum shows 31 years ago at the peak of their propulsive, promiscuous powers. Yes, we all know the great barrier riffs were huge - Stone Roses would build their Second Coming around them 22 years later - but there was melodic grace and delicate touch too and oh how they could improvise from their tightest of blues and boogie bases. Peacocks they may have been, but none has rocked heavier. Whole lotta live.

Updated: 10:27 Thursday, July 10, 2003