The Who - Bootlegs: 

[ Bootlegs - Studio ]   [ Bootlegs - Live ]   [ Bootlegs - Live Directory ]

About Bootlegs:

This section of the discography is divided into two parts: Studio Bootlegs and Live Bootlegs. In some cases, there might be bootlegs which have both live and studio recordings (those you'll find cross referenced in both sections).

The studio bootlegs are shown in alphabetical order, while the live ones are in order of the performance date. (If a particular release has several different performance dates, it may be shown in several different places so that you can find the performance you are looking for.)

In most cases, the correct song titles are listed (vs. the titles listed on the LP  or CD).

Ratings:

Ratings are subjective. If your typical sound quality standard is a professionally released "official" CD, then it stands to reason that this should be the "best quality" one could hope for. Naturally anything that is less than that, has to be rated lower. If the source was a master tape such as "From Lifehouse To Leeds", it will probably be in the "A" rating range. However, if someone recorded a concert off the radio on a cheap cassette tape that wobbles every now and then, then even though that might still be considered a soundboard, that release might only warrant a "B".

In some cases an "A" rated release might have a few tracks that sound bad (typically the "bad" stuff is filler material). My attitude is, the rating should cover the majority. For the "live" ratings, whatever date is being reviewed, holds the rating for that review. For example, there might be a bootleg that has a soundboard on "date 1" that merits an "A-", while the other date ("date 2") of the CD/LP might be a bad audience tape source. Where that date is listed, you might see a "C", even though it's the same bootleg. While this might be somewhat confusing (as explained here), it should actually make some sense as you go through the actual pages.

Ratings Defined:

A Range - All (or the major parts of) sounds as good as or close to an official release. Typically excellent live soundboards, great studio recordings.

B Range - Weaker soundboards, very good (B) to decent (B-) audience recordings. Less-than-perfect studio dubs.

C Range - Average audience recordings (You can hear the band). Why you'd want to at this point is up to you. Also really bad studio dubs.

D Range - OK to very poor audience recordings. Major screw-ups, very bad ripoffs, etc.

E Range - Don't even bother.

F Range - Don't even bother.

G Range - Don't even bother.

H Range - Don't even bother.

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