Led Zeppelin The Song Remains the Same U.S Classic Records Reissue 200 Gram Vinyl Rip Flac
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The Song Remains the Same
Live album / soundtrack by Led Zeppelin
Released 28 September 1976
Recorded 27–29 July 1973 at Madison Square Garden, New York, New York, United States
Genre Hard rock, heavy metal
Length 99:45
Language English
Label Swan Song
Producer Jimmy Page
The Song Remains the Same is the soundtrack live album of the concert film of the same name by the English rock band Led Zeppelin. The album was originally released in 1976, before being remastered and re-issued in 2007.
Contents
Overview
The recording of the album and the film took place during three nights of concerts at New York's Madison Square Garden, during the band's 1973 concert tour of the United States. All songs were recorded by Eddie Kramer using the Wally Heider Mobile Studio truck, and later mixed at Electric Lady Studios in New York and Trident Studios in London.
The album was released on 28 September 1976, by Swan Song Records. The sleeve design depicted a dilapidated movie house located on Old Street film studios in London, which was used by the group for rehearsals prior to their 1973 tour.
Until both the album and the film were remastered and re-released in 2007, there were significant differences between the two in terms of the songs included on each. These differences were as follows:
The film included "Black Dog", but not "Celebration Day".
The soundtrack album included "Celebration Day", but not "Black Dog".
The film also included "Since I've Been Loving You", the introduction to "Heartbreaker", the instrumental "Bron-Yr-Aur" (which appeared on Physical Graffiti) and a hurdy gurdy piece called "Autumn Lake", none of which were featured on the album.
In addition, of the songs that both the album and the film had in common, some of the recordings featured on the album were of different performances from those in the film. Other tracks which were recorded at Madison Square Garden, but omitted from both the film and the soundtrack album, included "The Ocean" and "Misty Mountain Hop". A comprehensive analysis of the sources of the original album and the edits is available at The Garden Tapes.
Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 3/5 stars [4] (original version)
Robert Christgau (C+) [5] (original version)
Q 2/5 stars [6] (original version)
Blender 3/5 stars [7] (original version)
Upon its initial release in 1976, the album received some poor reviews, with some critics considering it to be over-produced and lumbering.[10] Indeed, the band's members themselves have since expressed a lack of fondness for the recording. Page has admitted that the end product was hardly the best representation of Led Zeppelin as a live band:
Obviously we were committed to putting this album out, although it wasn't necessarily the best live stuff we have. I don't look upon it as a live album...it's essentially a soundtrack.[11]
In an interview he gave to rock journalist Cameron Crowe, Page elaborated:
As far as Led Zeppelin's studio recordings went, every single one of them has a certain ambiance, certain atmospherics that made them special. When it came to the live shows, we were always trying to move things forward and we certainly weren't happy leaving them as they were. The songs were always in a state of change. On [The] Song Remains the Same you can hear the urgency and not much else. The live shows were an extension of the albums.[12]
In contrast, the 2007 reissued version received generally much more positive reviews. In a review published in Mojo magazine in December 2007 James McNair gave the album four out of five stars,[13] as did David Cavanagh in Uncut magazine, who wrote:
... The sound is vastly improved, as is the playing of the musicians (due to digital re-editing of the three MSG concerts, presumably). Not so much remastered as reconstructed, the 15 tracks (six previously unreleased) showboat, strut and snarl.[14]
However, disappointment with the 2007 reissue has been expressed by some fans due to the deletion of some sequences from the original release. Notable among these was a drum and organ sequence by John Bonham and John Paul Jones in "No Quarter", which was completely cut from the reissue.
Track listing
Original release
Side one
"Rock and Roll" (John Bonham, John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant) – 4:03
"Celebration Day" (Jones, Page, Plant) – 3:49
"The Song Remains the Same" (Page, Plant) – 6:00
"Rain Song" (Page, Plant) – 8:25
Side two
"Dazed and Confused" (Page) – 26:53
Side three
"No Quarter" (Jones, Page, Plant) – 12:30
"Stairway to Heaven" (Page, Plant) – 10:58
Side four
"Moby Dick" (Bonham, Jones, Page) – 12:47
"Whole Lotta Love" (Bonham, Willie Dixon, Jones, Page, Plant) – 14:25
Sales chart performance
Original release
Chart (1976)? Peak Position?
Japanese Albums Chart[15] 6
UK Albums Chart[16] 1
US Billboard The 200 Albums Chart[17] 2
Norwegian Albums Chart[18] 21
Swedish Albums Chart[19] 29
Canadian RPM Top 100 Albums Chart[20] 8
New Zealand Top 50 Albums Chart[21] 6
German Albums Chart[22] 28
Spanish Albums Chart[23] 23
*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone
Personnel
Led Zeppelin
John Bonham – drums, percussion
John Paul Jones – bass guitar, keyboards, Mellotron
Jimmy Page – electric guitars, backing vocals, Theremin, production
Robert Plant – vocals
Additional personnel
Cameron Crowe – liner notes
Peter Grant – executive producer
George Hardie – record sleeve
Hipgnosis – record sleeve
Eddie Kramer – engineering, mixing
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