View Larger Image |
Led Zeppelin - The Song Remains the Same Actors: John Bonham, John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant Directors: Peter Clifton, Joe Massot Number of Items: 1 Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen Format: Color, Dolby, Widescreen Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) Running Time: 136 minutes Studio: Warner Studios Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Region Code: 1 Product Group: DVD Release Date: 1999-12-21 Buy from Amazon |
 "The Best Ever"The Song Remains the Same is a great trip into the eyes of each band member. The music is great and this video shows that Led Zeppelin really is the best band that ever lived!  "Unintentionally Hilarious!"Could these guys have taken themselves any more seriously? Along with Emerson, Lake & Palmer and The Moody Blues, I think Zep takes the cake for the 70s hubris crown. Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean that their music is bad. It's just not as great as Zeppelin thought it was. The Song Remains The Same is really a prototype for the state of modern hard rock music. If you catch any of those ridiculous rock videos on MTV, TSRTS's influence is usually obvious. John Paul Jones (who's by far the most dignified of the bunch) is seen galloping around in some graveyard with a K-Mart Halloween mask on. He then goes to his incredibly nice house and returns to being a normal family man. Robert Plant (who's the most earnest of the bunch) goes off on some knight-in-shining-armour kick complete with fair maiden and castle. Plant has some Welsh flags flying around, but I believe Bobby-boy is English.... Nevertheless, at least we don't have to listen to a violin bow screeching on a guitar for ten minutes through this sequence. John Bonham (who was the most obnoxious of the bunch, if you believe all the stories) is shown racing in a car, walking around with a cow, and beating on a drum. Bonham's video isn't as pretentious as the others', it's just merely boring. Jimmy Page (who's by far the most self-absorbed of the bunch) has a very, very scary sequence that involves some old guy on a hill. It was so scary that I was on the floor laughing about three minutes into it. Personally, I enjoy atonal music, but Jimmy's little violin solo is purely self-indulgent. However, the music redeems TSRTS to a certain extent. No Quarter is truly a haunting piece, as is also Since I've Been Loving You. Rock and Roll is as good as rocker as any, and Moby Dick is the best rock drum solo that I can think of. Stairway is almost capsized by Robert Plant's extracurricular vocals, but it still remains majestic. Not that it's Zeppelin's fault, but Whole Lotta Love, Bring It On Home, and Black Dog sound like every hard rock band of the last thirty years. Hey, I know Zep was the first but a little overexposure goes a long way. "I Sit Stupifyed"You know a band is good when they can go on stage and come out with better versions of songs than the studio versions. That's exactly what Zeppelin does in The Song Remains the Same, and if you have any question of their talent, I urge you to watch the introduction of Since I've Been Loving You, in which they zoom in on Page's fingers during an incredible solo. Incredible. Then watch the 1/2 hour version of Dazed and Confused, including Page's bow trick which makes the most unbelievable sound come out of the guitar. Just watch the whole thing. You wont be sorry.  "You're better off with the VHS!!"First of all, The Song Remains The Same is a cool film, with great music. If you have never seen it, check out all of the other reviews here. "No Quater" and "Since I've Been Loving You" are, in my opinion, superior to the LP versions. BUT! This is one of the (worst) DVD trasfers I have ever seen. Except for the original trailer, there are no special features. And the sound is HORRIBLE! I REPEAT, HORRIBLE! Anyone familar with the film knows that some of the editing is dubious at best. Jump cutting around different performances within the same song. After decades of watching the film you kinda got used to it. Well, whenever there is an edit between performace footage in a song, the sound goes completly out of phase, and you're left with a thin, "flangy" sounding audio track. It gets very annoying, and very mich in the way of the music. I guess Jimmy Page wasn't consulted on this DVD reissue, much like he wasn't for the original CD reissues of the Zep catalouge. The band hass always seemed keen to wash their hands of this project anyway. My advice: Stick with the VHS. "A must have for Zeppelin fans"This DVD by far illustrates Led Zeppelin on there game. It was one of the best music DVD's I have ever seen. The music was phenomenal and the imagery was superb. Classic Zeppelin hits like Black Dog and Since I've Been Lovin You sounded even better on the stage than in the studio. Robert Plant was competely on his game, and gave us one of the best performances i've ever seen, in every song. Stairway to Heaven was done wonderfully, with Jimmy Page giving us one of the best guitar solo's i've ever heard. John Paul Jones was good on his bass, but even better on the keyboards, especially with No Quarter. John Bonham delivered a powerfull, heartpounding drum solo (with his bare hands) on Moby Dick. The only songs I have to critizize was the 30 minute long Dazed and Confused, which seemed to drag on forever, and Whole Lotta Love, which I believe was improvised too much. Other than that, this is a killer rock video, and a must have for Zeppelin fans. |
