The Song Remains the Same

Released theatrically in 1976, The Song Remains the Same captures a speaker-shaking concert (especially in the newly-remastered DTS or Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtracks) by the legendary (and recently resurrected) rock band Led Zeppelin at NYC's Madison Square Garden in July 1973. Virtuoso guitarist Jimmy Page, heir-to Joplin (Janis, not Scott) singer Robert Plant, steady bassist John Paul Jones, and late powerhouse drummer John Bonham take the stage in typically flamboyant fashion, with long-blond-curled Plant in open shirt and crotch-(or garden vegetable)-form-fitting pants, and Page wearing some kind of star-studded flair-pants-with-long-jacket Wizards of the Coast getup. If I hadn't been on my unworthy knees bowing before these rock gods, I might have snickered…at least until the band kicked into their 16-song set (four songs—“Over the Hills and Far Away,” “Celebration Day,” “Misty Mountain Hop,” and “The Ocean”—appear as extras on this two-disc set), after which substance trumped style (although, let's face it, Led Zep had stage presence in spades) on signature songs such as “Rock and Roll,” “Since I've Been Loving You,” “No Quarter,” the de rigueur “Stairway to Heaven” and the show closer “Whole Lotta Love.” One of the major highlights is a near-half-hour rendition of “Dazed and Confused,” with Page—one of the original guitar heroes—displaying fret-shredding nimbleness that is truly wondrous to behold (although, to be honest, there's also a wee bit of self-absorbed noodling here). The only drawback is that The Song Remains the Same is…um…a movie, which means that we are treated to a tedious round-up-the-band prologue and four individual band member fantasy sequences sprinkled throughout the concert (god-awful stuff, with the exception of Bonham's straightforward montage of fun stuff he liked to do). In addition to the four bonus songs, other DVD extras include an archival BBC interview with Plant and manager Peter Grant, featurettes on a 1973 Tampa concert and a New York hotel robbery (in which the band lost about $200,000), and an audio profile by cub Rolling Stone reporter Cameron Crowe, who would go on to write and direct the partially-Led Zep-inspired Almost Famous. Looking pristine and sounding exquisite, this landmark rock concert film is highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (R. Pitman)