The first thing you'll experience watching The Song Remains The Same is how much the current rock scene owes to these four guys. Bands like The Strokes just couldn't exist without Led Zeppelin. Watching John Bonham beating a flaming gong also makes you realize how much the Metal bands of the eighties owed to Led Zeppelin. The main difference between Zeppelin and so many of the bands that came after them was that Zeppelin really had mastered their instruments, played original material, and came from the blues. Coming from the blues is an old thing with jazz musicians. Being rooted in tradition, and all that. Having heard loads of Top 40 music in the last 20 years, it's clear that the common thread for so many Brit rockers was loving electric, guitar-driven blues that descended on them from the US, probably during and after WWII. Led Zeppelin infused a bit of rhythm and melody that often just sounds original, but sometimes has a folk sound. The comparison would be to something like Janis Joplin singing "Me And Bobby McGee" on top of a set of screaming blues. The balance between delicate melody, screaming vocals, growling guitar, thundering drums, and booming bass is what makes so much of the seventies music so interesting. Peace and love wasn't dead, but it was definitely planning its retirement. The snarky eighties weren't yet arrived, though, so there's a real genuine quality to the music.
The film doesn't necessarily capture the best live moments of Led Zeppelin, but it is a great window into the band's performance style and showcases every member nicely. There are also some vanity segments filmed and inserted into the concert footage, showing each member of the band acting out a fantasy of some sort. These range from straightforward (Robert Plant's Arthurian vision of himself) to cryptic (Jimmy Page as a wizard and creature of the night) but add something to what would otherwise just be four guys on stage for a couple of hours. The film is presented in its original format with much improved audio quality and 5.1 surround. A second disk complete with extras contains songs recorded that night in '73 at The Garden but not included in the film. Period interviews, previews of the film, footage from TV surrounding the concert and its events, and a band feature produced by Cameron Crowe in the late seventies round out the special features. The production is top quality and really adds to the original film by setting the stage and building a context. Any Zeppelin fan should have this on his or her Christmas list and if you've never thought of yourself as a Zeppelin fan, prepare to be converted.
