The Song Remains the Same (2018 Remaster)

I bought this album the day it was originally released and the consensus among friends was that it was a disappointment. In a decade when so many less-regarded rock bands released exciting, classic live albums, it was a surprise that Zep failed to match them. The old faults are still there and tend to be on the better-known songs on the second disc. It's something of an endurance test too. The original album featured nine tracks across 100 minutes. The additional tracks add half an hour. What makes this album so appealing for me is the brilliance of the first disc, which constitutes an hour of great value rock music, some of it high-energy, some of it beautiful. The segued opening tracks, 'Rock and Roll' and 'Celebration Day' comprise some of the most exciting live music you'll hear and were the biggest highlights of the LP release. The playing is incendiary, a quality that was restricted on the studio version of the former track. Most of the other less-heralded tracks also come into their own in the live arena, though 'Black Dog' and 'Misty Mountain Hop' arguably lack that extra kick. Meanwhile, 'The Rain Song' is even tastier than its studio counterpart. Robert Plant's sensitive delivery complements Jimmy Page's gentle, dripping, epiphanic notes. The menacing blues of 'Since I've Been Loving You' is a winner as is the buoyant 'Over the Hills and Far Away.' 'The Ocean,' which always sounded to me like the sort of thing Zep could knock off in five minutes, is a joy in this context. J.P. Jones's eerie 'No Quarter' is moved on to the first disc in exchange for the gargantuan version of 'Dazed and Confused' which took up the whole of the second side of the LP. 26 minutes seemed too long then and it does now, regardless of sundry effects and Page's guitar bowing. The momentum of the first disc is lost. 'Stairway to Heaven,' not surprisingly, doesn't match up to the standard of the original. 'Moby Dick,' which featured a drum solo of acceptable length on Zep II, becomes the dreaded extended version here. The new track, 'Heartbreaker,' is a welcome addition, but 'Whole Lotta Love' splutters to the end. Trying to replace/replicate the weird middle section was always going to be tough. Despite its shortcomings, I reckon 'The Song Remains The Same' is full value for its price, given that you get a killer disc lasting an hour. You can always skip the second one.

OK, imagine this: It's 8:45pm on the evening of August 4th 1979. You're in a gently sloping field in Knebworth Park, Hertfordshire. The sun has long since gone down and all you can see on the stage are the standby lights on a series of Marshall MV100 amps. Figures are walking on the stage in front of the amp lights and suddenly... a staccato strike on the open D on the 6/12 SG double-neck rings the opening chords of "The Song Remains The Same". [That's how to use an electric 12 string!]. I still get a shiver running down my spine thinking about that moment even now. It was one of those life changing experiences. And this album takes me back there every time I hear it. Especially now! The original CD release always suffered from a rather two-dimensional sound, but the remastered sound is BRILLIANT. This was always a favourite live album for me and my most played Led Zeppelin album. The packaging of the remastered CD looks great (kind of like a mini LP) but is functionally lousy - just try getting the discs out without touching the playing surface. But the music: WOW! So much better than "How the West Was Won", especially the 27 minute version of Dazed and Confused (you know, the bit from the end of the violin bow solo to the end of the track - totally sublime electric guitar playing from Mr Page proving that he even understands the super-lochrian mode!) But what happened to "In between last time we came and this time..."? OK, thanks for the extra tracks, but this omission is in the same category as the deletion of the cough on the early CD releases of Physical Graffiti which Pagey himself lambasted. I'm surprised he let this one through. But it's all about the music! There's that splendid title track referred to above (with the spine tingling open D), "Dazed and Confused", the Wah-Wah solo in "No Quarter" and that brilliant rock `n' roll medley in "Whole Lotta Love". And then you get the six tracks that didn't make the original release which I'm going to savour. So, just turn out the lights, turn up the volume and soak up the joy of one of the finest rock bands ever doing what a rock band does best. And as Robert says, "Shake it one time for Elvis...Alright!”

The Song Remains The Same is the only live album released by Led Zeppelin during their active career although it was a soundtrack to a rather eccentric movie. The album showcases performances from Madison Square Garden during the 1973 tour of the U.S.A. the performances display what was great about this band with seismic drumming of John Bonham over which the virtuosity of Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones ride this particularly evident on an epic version of Dazed And Confused surfing on top of all this is the banshee wail of Robert Plant. The album is over 2 discs, the first disc contains shorter songs such as Black Dog, Rock 'n' Roll, No Quarter and Since I've Been Loving You. The second disc is for the more committed with epic versions of Dazed And Confused, Whole Lotta Love and Stairway to Heaven and for those with real stamina that dreaded staple of seventies rock shows the drum solo with Moby Dick. For me the best rock live album is The Who Live At Leeds and this album does not match that album for power and energy it can be a bit lacklustre in places. As I said this was the only live album of Led Zeppelin for a long time until Jimmy Page found some live performances for the enormous 3 disc set How The West Was Won this is a better live representation of Led Zeppelin at their peak and is right up there with Live At Leeds. As for the film if you want to see Led Zeppelin live get the Led Zeppelin DVD with some of the performances from this film plus a BBC concert recorded in 1970 this gives the full powerful performance of Led Zep.

When I was a kid, I remember having this on vinyl, gatefold sleeve and the booklet.. Watching the film which I didn't get.... I thought its an OK live album, preferred Made in Japan..or strangers in the night... But this remastered cd edition is a must..and a bargain... Sounds great... 25 mins of days n confused too.

Considering all the live albums ('How The West Was Won' + 'At The BBC')that have been released post the demise of the band, 'The Song Remains The Same', mightily flawed document that is, still for many fans like me,represent vital listening. Having got the album on vinyl and played it to death, I then got the CD. The sound on the CD is slightly sharper and more detailed then the original vinyl effort, but even so as a live recording it lacks a sense of immediacy.In fact ,in places it sounds rather muddy. I have always enjoyed 'TSRTS',but as to why, I can't quite be sure. The main reason I think is because I love the extended version of 'Dazed and Confused', which shows just how musically adventurous the band- especially Jimmy Page could be when given time and space to fully get going. Added to this is of course Page's monumental solo on 'No Quarter'. The rockabilly section of 'Whole Lotta Love' is wonderful exploration of the band's musical roots and effectively shows how the band could play with dynamics to sustain audience interest. For me the deal is sealed by the outro solo of 'Celebration Day'. Here the band play so tightly and with such drive,that they give the impression of being unstoppable.Once again Jimmy plays a beautifully formed, intense, solo transforming a fairly ordinary rock tune into something much more worthwhile and memorable. 'TSRTS' of course can be criticized on a number of fronts- Plant's voice sounds a little shot and tunes like 'The Rain Song' good as it is here, does not improve upon the original,particularly. 'Moby Dick' might have been a great excuse for the band to take a breather and visit the bathroom or passing groupie,but there is really no need for it it here.The vitality of the disc is sapped by it's inclusion. Criticisms aside (and I think they are fair comment), this is a set that still manages to excite and entertain in equal measure.Given,that most rock live albums are pretty cynical cash-in jobs lacking in any real creative merit, but I think 'TSRTS' at least shows the band trying , and largely succeeding in broadening their musical horizons.In the final analysis,this is a Led Zep disc,so by definition it must have something going for it,and indeed it does! Cautious recommendation...

Even though this is NOT the remastered version (which finally features all of the songs at Madison Square Garden) THIS edition features the LP versions of the uncut Whole Lotta Love (extra guitar jam beginning of a minute & a half before the psychedelic theramin interlude), of which I've been looking for for quite some time (...I'm just looking for the bridge! section). You can hear it on the special edition dvd (out of context though) in the titles menu. Another feature on this cd is the full length versions of No Quarter & Moby Dick. Why anyone would want to edit out Jimmy Page's guitar jam solos and John Henry Bonham's drumming by 2 minutes is beyond me! If Jimmy Page edited it out himself then by thunder! SOMEBODY TELL HIM TO PUT THESE BACK IN! Dazed And Confused is edited by 2 minutes here but I can't pinpoint where! Was it in the audience noise? Here it's 26:53 and on the special edition it's 29:18. Hmmm... strange. The special edition has more songs, correct running order & is remastered so I highly recommend it to the fans. But the LP version was what I was listening to growing up and there are somethings you just do not tamper with when it comes to the flow of the music coming at you from your Marantz 400 watt speakers! And I finally found this flow intact in this earlier edition of this Zep classic. For the price of this cd its worth every penny! Which was 1970's prices to boot! Thank you!

The first thing you notice when you've unwrapped this is how gorgeous it feels, something that wouldn't be immediately apparent if you've picked up a shrink-wrapped copy in a store - the central image is raised (as with the original vinyl release) but the black background, instead of being matte, has a kinda leatherette feel - the word 'sumptuous' springs to mind ' I always felt with my old vinyl copy that I was holding something special, and this pushes all the same buttons. I was a bit surprised (to say the least) that many of the tracks are completely different to the ones I knew and loved from the original release, but this isn't a problem as they're equally awesome. I think Pagey's been trying with all the Zep remasters to achieve as analogue a sound as possible in a digital format, and this is no exception. For anyone thinking that an album recorded in 1976 is gonna sound either dull and lifeless or tinny, think again, such is the Man's skillset you'd be forgiven for thinking this was recorded rather than remastered last week. The 'bonus tracks" are not the throwaway B-sides tossed in by record company execs to pad out a sparse recording, but absolute bangers which should definitely have been included on the orignal release. Every track has cd text, although slightly irritatingly, both track and artist are included on the track title info (see image) which means it marquees like the Times Square ticker, but hey, you can always turn it off. The best (cd) version of this remarkable album available. Recommended.

This was the first rock albums I ever bought as a teenager in 1976. Being brought up on three minute pop songs by T.Rex, Slade and the Sweet, nearly half an hour of Dazed and Confused was mind blowing! The Led Zeppelin double DVD and "How the West was Won" are even better than this, but this full version of The Song Remains The Same has all the best songs from their first five albums together in one place. Some of the songs are edited because of the time limit for a CD, but that should only be a problem for the purist and the collector. When you listen to this, you will understand why when people are asked to vote for the musicians and singers to be in the supergroup of supergroups, they simply end up with Bonham, Jones, Page and Plant!

Très bon Live de ce groupe "mythique" ... un des dinosaures du rock des années 60 et 70 . Excellent patchwork de leurs meilleurs morceaux tirés de leurs cinq premiers albums ( de 1969 à 1973 ). Super double CD (en 3 volets cartonnés pour cette édition) avec des photos inédites par rapport à l'édition vinyle d'origine et avec plusieurs morceaux qui n'y figuraient pas ( "Black Dog", "Over The Hills And Far Away", "Misty Mountain Hop" ... ). A l'écoute, on se rend bien compte de la magie et de la force de leurs concerts .... en 1973.

O vinil tem o som espetacular!! . A entrega foi feita dentro do prazo, nas melhores condições de segurança ao produto. Obrigado Amazon.br!

CD arrived on time in excellent condition.

Tenia el cd doble primitivo sin remasterizar, la diferencia de sonido es muy considerable con respecto a este, además tiene 6 temas más....ya nadie hace discos de tanta calidad, actualmente la música está de muy capa caida y sin visos de mejora.

If you are a led zeppelin fan but cant afford the super classy box sets, or the wonderfully packed lp's, then this product could help you give a start to your fanhood, as well bring peace to your soul with its mesmerising music and the recording quality. The seller supplied the original quality product, and im really happy...yeaaaa