Led Zeppelin packaged well - TSRTS Review

[Cat]

By Tony Ciarochi

The Song Remains The Same

Soundtrack), by Led Zeppelin. Swan

Song, 2-201 (Atlantic).

This album is the soundtrack to the

long-awaited Led Zeppelin movie that

everybody's been talking about for the

past two years. Both have been very

well received, with the soundtrack,

essentially a live album, becoming the

third-best-selling album in the nation

the first week it was released.

Almost all of the songs are fairlv

accurate reproductions of the original

versions. On some of the songs, they

add some nice-sounding effects that

aren't found on the originals, but it is

hard to tell whether or not they were

actually done live, or added later on, in

the studio.

1 personally have never really

believed in live albums. I have never

heard a band do a song as well live as

they did it in a studio. If all you want is

to hear Led Zeppelin, all you need do is

turn on your stereo and hear their best

version of the song. So why do people

spend $10-$20 to go see Led Zeppelin

live? Obviously for the thrill of seeing

them actually doing your favorite songs

on the stage, even though you expect

them to make a few mistakes.

This is just what you miss on a live

Zeppelin album: live Zeppelin. All

that's left are not-so-good versions of

songs that you already own.

From the pictures on the album

cover, and from the television previews

(don't you watch "Saturday Night"?), I

would say, however, that the movie has

to be fantastic. Led Zeppelin on stage is

like no other band in the world. Some

bands view a concert as just another

job, and it shows. Some bands make

their concerts like a big party. But to

Led Zeppelin, a concert is" like an

Odyssey, a mindship that will take you

to all sorts of faraway and exotic

places. Nobody can move around on the

stage the way that Robert Plant can,

while Jimmy Page always wears his

coy little smile on his face.

Side three, which includes "No

Quarter" and "Stairway to Heaven," is

the best side of the new album. "No

Quarter" is fairly good throughout,

though long, while "Stairway to

Heaven," which Plant introduces as a

"song of hope," starts out well, but fails

to climax at (he end. "The Rain Song,"

from Side One, comes off really well.

[SteveAJones]

Wow. Very obscure review! The author voices the oft-held bias of the era against live albums, but is compelled to admit Led Zeppelin are unlike any other group in a live setting.

[Cactus]

These reviews are so dumb, in hindsight. These people got it so wrong! So very, very wrong.

[SteveAJones]

These reviews are so dumb, in hindsight. These people got it so wrong! So very, very wrong.

How about the concert reviews from the '60s focusing on the fashion, not the music!

[*I*LOVE*JIMMY!!]

I have to disagree on the live recordings. I love the live music so much more than studio. So do the guys. They are able to play to their fullest extent. To hear the audiance clapping and yelling puts you right there. To hear the songs the way LZ wanted you to hear them. Not the boxy short version on studio recordings. I love my bootlegs, they are fantastic. To hear every note Jimmy hits is orgasmic.

[*I*LOVE*JIMMY!!]

I have to disagree on the live recordings. I love the live music so much more than studio. So do the guys. They are able to play to their fullest extent. To hear the audiance clapping and yelling puts you right there. To hear the songs the way LZ wanted you to hear them. Not the boxy short version on studio recordings. I love my bootlegs, they are fantastic. To hear every note Jimmy hits is orgasmic.