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I'm gonna put a spanner in the works here and say that for me anyway (especially at the time), both 1976's single studio album "Presence" and the ludicrous indulgence of the film "The Song Remains The Same" were two nails in a very unwilling coffin. I thought the first piss-poor and the second - supposedly a representation of my most rave Rock Band in the world in their natural live habitat - a huge disappointment and frankly pretentious to the point of walk out (many of us did as I recall).
Like most Zeppelites of my age, I worshipped at the altar of all things Led. But for me, the unbelievable run of genius from "Led Zeppelin" in January 1969 to the legendary twofer "Physical Graffiti" in February 1975, stopped abruptly in 1976, first with the obvious mediocrity of "Presence" only to be compounded by "The Song Remains..." film and its underwhelming vinyl companion.
To that - I was 18 on the day of US release, Tuesday, 28 September 1976 (we would have to wait until late October in Ireland and England) and just so invested in them. But crappy sound at a mega arena and using concerts that were three years old (the end of a US tour) which featured zilch from the mighty Graffiti - wasn’t my idea of magic or brilliance. Coming after the truly lacklustre "Presence" with its garish and pointless Hipgnosis artwork – it was all too much.
But here’s the rub - having vented all that personal horror and disappointment of old – bizarrely I cannot get enough of the Extended Edition of "The Song Remains The Same" because of its new inclusions - six genuinely fantastic bonus tracks slotted into the play list rather than just tagged on at the end. They have turned Song into an entirely different beast of live burden. As well as that, the Remaster upgrade by JOHN DAVIS on the latest 2018 variant – the man who made the Mothership Remasters of 2009 sound so utterly stunning – has taken a pig's ear and whipped it into a proper peacock strutter. Let's get bare chested and shake it on down...to the details...
20 November 2007 had seen "Song" appear in the USA as a 2CD Expanded Edition set on Swan Song/Rhino R2 328252 (Barcode 081227996116) with Six Bonus Tracks mastered by BOB LUDWIG (there was also a 4LP Expanded variant). This is essentially a 2018 reissue of that 2007 set with a different Remastering Engineer at the helm – JOHN DAVIS (supervised by Jimmy Page). Here are the 2018 details...
US released Friday, 7 September 2018 - "The Soundtrack From The Film The Song Remains The Same" aka "The Song Remains The Same" by LED ZEPPELIN on Swan Song/Rhino R2-565219 (Barcode 603497862757) is a 2CD-Set Expanded Deluxe Edition Reissue and Remaster of Their 1976 Soundtrack and Live Double-Album with Six Bonus Tracks in a Six-Panel Foldout Card Sleeve that plays out as follows:
CD1 (60:33 minutes):
1. Rock And Roll
2. Celebration Day
3. Black Dog (featuring a portion of "Bring It On Home") *
4. Over The Hills And Far Away *
5. Misty Mountain Hop *
6. Since I've Been Loving You *
7. No Quarter
8. The Song Remains The Same
9. The Rain Song
10. The Ocean *
1. Rock And Roll
2. Celebration Day
3. Black Dog (featuring a portion of "Bring It On Home") *
4. Over The Hills And Far Away *
5. Misty Mountain Hop *
6. Since I've Been Loving You *
7. No Quarter
8. The Song Remains The Same
9. The Rain Song
10. The Ocean *
CD2 (71:25 minutes):
1. Dazed And Confused
2. Stairway To Heaven
3. Moby Dick
4. Heartbreaker *
5. Whole Lotta Love
Tracks 1, 2, 8 and 9 on CD1 were the original Side 1
Track 1 on CD2 (nearly 27 minutes) was the original Side 2
Tracks 7 on CD1 and 2 on CD2 were the original Side 3
Tracks 3 and 5 on CD2 were the original Side 4
* Previously Unreleased; first issued November 2007, same placing for the September 2018 re-release
1. Dazed And Confused
2. Stairway To Heaven
3. Moby Dick
4. Heartbreaker *
5. Whole Lotta Love
Tracks 1, 2, 8 and 9 on CD1 were the original Side 1
Track 1 on CD2 (nearly 27 minutes) was the original Side 2
Tracks 7 on CD1 and 2 on CD2 were the original Side 3
Tracks 3 and 5 on CD2 were the original Side 4
* Previously Unreleased; first issued November 2007, same placing for the September 2018 re-release
The 9-track 2LP-Set "The Soundtrack From The Film The Song Remains The Same" aka "The Song Remains The Same" was originally released 28 September 1976 in the USA on Swan Song SS 2-201 and 22 October 1976 in the UK on Swan Song SSK 89402. Produced by JIMMY PAGE and Recorded Live at Madison Square Gardens in New York across the 27th, 28th and 29th of July 1973 – it peaked at No. 1 in the UK and No. 2 in the States.
The 6-panel card-sleeve for this 2018 Reissue that repro's the look and feel of the original vinyl double (mottled sleeve, raised lettering etc) is beautifully done and the 24-page booklet the same - all those colour photos and stills from the fantasy sequences in the movie. American Filmmaker CAMERON CROWE and Director/Writer helmsman of the hugely underrated "Roadies" TV Series (a massive Zep fan who has used their music in many of his films) does the gushing gussets liner notes that include reminiscences from Plant and Page too.
But it's the JOHN DAVIS Remaster (supervised by Jimmy Page) that really lifts things up so much. Their is a barnstorming kick to these transfers and especially the slotted-in extras. To the music...
The opening double salvo of running IV's "Rock And Roll" into III's "Celebration Day" kicks things off well although I never really liked it. But then you're hit with a stunning double of IV's "Black Dog" and "Over The Hills And Far Away" from "Houses Of The Holy" and suddenly this is the gig I wanted to hear let alone see. Page's playing in both is fantastic and when that Rock punch kicks in for "Hills" - it's so good. It astonishes too just how these songs seem to have always been there. Next up is another IV fave - the Side 2 opener "Misty Mountain Hop" introducing Jones on keyboards whilst allowing Plant to sing his guts out. What a front man he was as he sang "...really don't know what time it was..." There is a swagger and swing to Zeppelin here that is thrilling and felt absent to me when I first bought the platter in 1976.
And again another peach, the slow Blues from Side 1 of III that is "Since I've Been Loving You" - and again you're left wondering why this winner was left off the original - another string to their bow. Plant's echoed 'drag drag drag' vocals are fantastic but it's Page's show - his playing on fire as the canvas allows him to slow-fast and back again for eight and half minutes of what is essentially one long solo. There is great Bass and play between Bonham too. We now return to one that actually appeared on the original, House's "No Quarter" stretched into 10:38 minutes of swirling keyboard from John Paul Jones and was one of the occasions where the live reinterpret outdoes the studio cut.
Like many I can't help thinking that "The Rain Song" from Houses like say "Ten Years Gone" from Graffiti is an arrow-point to their greatness – pretty – powerful – beautiful – and so Zeppelin. The Remaster of that delicate guitar intro is superb, then as the keyboard floats in – oh yes. Down and dirty and gritty comes another Bonus – the riffage of "The Ocean" that sees them looser (I can hear why it was left off, but here it feels just right). Never could suffer out the full Side long "Dazed And Confused" and the fantastic opening riffage of the instrumental "Moby Dick" quickly gives way to the insufferable drum solo that accompanied all concerts like this in those hedonistic days. Far better is another inclusion – "Heartbreaker" – another riffage winner from 1969's II. And it all ends on a near fourteen minute whig-out on "Whole Lotta Love" – a worthy violin-bow stretch-out or an aural indulgence – I think it's a bit of both actually - you re-decide.
To sum up – this reissue is a triumph – turning an initial disappointment into a viable goer for the 00's. You probably could and should argue that if official live Zep is yer crave, then the far better thought-out triple-live-CD set "How The West Was Won" from 2003 is better - showing the power and the subtlety of the band in full flight with real aplomb and blistering audio – Rock and Acoustic sides too.
"...You've been learning...I've been yearning...gonna give you every inch of my love..." – Plant sang on the iconic "Whole Lotta Love" (now thankfully with its Willie Dixon songwriting credit sat alongside the foursome).
Well maybe not every inch – but with a flaming heart that can't get my fill - I'll take the few extra feet boys to make up for that midnight movie horror-show all those years ago...
