The Song Remains The Same (Remastered / Expanded) (2CD) [Original recording remastered, Live, Extra tracks]

Led Zeppelin | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 20, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Original recording remastered, Live, Extra tracks
• Label: Rhino Records
• ASIN: B000VWYNNW
• In-Print Editions: Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (80 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,086 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #42 in Music > Hard Rock & Metal > British Metal
  • #64 in Music > Classic Rock > British Invasion

Editorial Reviews

Led Zeppelin s sold-out concert tours became rituals of high-energy rock and roll theater. The SONG REMAINS THE SAME...attests to the group s powerful and somewhat saturnalian appeal at the height of their popularity.
- from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame s web page on the band s 1995 induction
The Hall of Fame s assessment of the legendary band also states, Led Zeppelin redefined rock in the Seventies and for all time. They were as influential in that decade as the Beatles were in the prior one...Then and now, Led Zeppelin looms larger than life on the rock landscape as a band for the ages with an almost mystical power to evoke primal passions. That power is communicated full-force in the updated, 2CD reissue of the soundtrack to their concert film THE SONG REMAINS THE SAME. First released in 76, the recording captures a celebrated three-night stand at NYC s Madison Square Garden in July 1973. The newly updated edition now contains six songs not featured on the original release, and the entire project was remixed and remastered with the band members direct oversight. Featuring liner notes by Oscar-winning director and former Rolling Stone editor Cameron Crowe, the set will be released simultaneously by Warner Home Video with the new, expanded DVD edition of the film.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

97 of 103 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning Remastering, Blazing Performances...This Version Elevates Song to a New Level, November 20, 2007

By 

Just Bill (Grand Rapids, MI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Song Remains The Same (Remastered / Expanded) (2CD) (Audio CD)

I admit I wasn't a fan of The Song Remains the Same live album when it was released back in 1976 (was it that long ago?). The concert seemed flat. When the CD was first issued, I thought it sounded even worse. Hardly any highs or lows -- sound-wise and performance-wise.

But Jimmy Page and Kevin Shirley have waved a magic wand over the master tapes. This isn't the same album any more. It's dynamic, vibrant, blistering. The bass guitar is there now! The guitar rings out clear as a bell. And Plant's voice is right up front where it belongs.

I've been listening all afternoon to this remastered edition of The Song Remains the Same. There have been projects around the house I was supposed to get to. There was another new CD I wanted to hear. But I couldn't take this 2-CD set out of my player. It held me in its grip for the entire concert.

Led Zeppelin continues to astound some 25 years after they broke up, and a full three decades plus after this concert was performed at Madison Square Garden in 1973.

If you've held off buying this because the original version left a bad taste in your mouth, rest assured this is a unique experience now. It's crisp as a new can of Pringles and twice as tasty.

I highly recommend The Song Remains the Same remastered 2-CD edition.

38 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars What a waste of opportunity..., November 22, 2007

By 

Puffany (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Song Remains The Same (Remastered / Expanded) (2CD) (Audio CD)

This updated version had the potential to be up there with "Made In Japan", "Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out" etc. etc. as a classic live album even if the performances are somewhat uneven mainly due to them going into unknown territory and natural causes. That's the great thing about LZ if you listen to their live bootlegs - no version of any song is the same as another. It's a hit and miss but always exiting game.
Plant's voice changed dramatically for the worse after hitting his peak in Australia in 1972. However, he still hits plenty of peaks as well as the lows here. In fact, still great compared to years to come!
As stated by other reviewers, yes the sound is great and the edits are incomprehensible. TSRTS was never an honest document in either version and the disappointment is now larger than previously. I've got bootlegs of the Madison Square shows and therefore can confirm there are huge chunks missing from many songs: Black Dog was always played in full unlike this circumcised edit; Dazed and Confused has been chopped in the section before San Fransisco; No Quarter here has Page jumping straight into the his solo whereas we know he feels his way around before exploding; Heartbreaker has a chunk of Pages solo missing after the drums and bass come back in just before WLL; Whole Lotta Love's edits are glaring even to the blind. There's alot more but i'll leave it alone. The question is, why?? Another confusing band decision has The Ocean placed at the end of the 1st cd when it was actually played as an encore - I even looked at the time length of the 2nd cd and there's no problem there with room to fit it in (??). (I've burnt myself a copy with The Ocean where it should be).
On a positive note, it's great to hear the extra songs even if they aren't all the ultimate renditions.
I'll still give it 3* based on the sound quality and the sheer balls they play with at times - the title track and The Rain Song have never sounded better and that includes other bootlegs from the same, and different years.
Let's hope the surviving band members listen to their fans and decide to release a 3rd version as a triple cd without the edits. Hey Jimmy - you readin' this, mate?
Overall, I'll still recommend it. Make sure you keep your old copy - if you don't have it, hurry and get it before it's deleted.
As Otto the bus driver on The Simpsons says - "Zeppelin rules!!"

21 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars The Song Remains The Same (Remastered/Expanded), November 20, 2007

By 

J. Novosel (Pittsburgh, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Song Remains The Same (Remastered / Expanded) (2CD) (Audio CD)

As much as I agree with the other reviewers of this title that is has supurb sound, the rest of it is a very big let down. When the movie and sountrack came out in 1976, they were two seperate items. Now what has happened is that they took the remixed soundtrack from the movie itself and put it onto the CD. What's wrong with that is that there are a lot of bad edits in the movie that were transfered over to the CD itself. That did not happen in 1976. THIS IS TOTALLY UNEXCEPTABLE. I cannot believe that Jimmy Page would alow this to happen. If you want to save yourself some money this holiday season, buy the DVD and listen to the music. Don't waste your time on the CD (I would take mine back for a refund if I could). I am so happy I didn't get rid of my original copy.

As a hard-core fan who has been waiting over 20 years for this to come out, I do not recommend it at all. A very big disappointment.