Unknown Soldier

Not a live album as such, but a soundtrack to a concert film and so certainly qualifies as a live album experience. The Song Remains the Same is basically the footage that was recorded by Eddie Kramer (Kiss Alive) back on Led Zeppelin’s 1973 US Tour and this footage is gathered from their three nights at New York’s Madison Square Garden. As far back as 1969, Led Zeppelin manager Peter Grant had considered a big screen movie documentary for the band, but he would have to wait several years until the right conditions granted him his wish. The film premiered in October 1976 and the soundtrack came out at the same time. The film was a movie of 137 minutes, which if anybody has seen it, will know that a good chunk of the movie is given over to the introduction of the band members in various settings. The rest of the film footage shows the band members in fantasy settings, which further add to the mystique to the band, along with manager Peter Grant’s somewhat amusing outbursts towards a concert promoter about illegal merchandisers amongst other things and a lot of these scenes are interlocked around the actual concert performances. Without doubt watching The Song Remains the Same is the ideal band experience and lasts an absorbing 137 minutes. So if you want to hear Led Zeppelin live from their golden early 1970s period, you’ve either got this soundtrack, the BBC Sessions or the monster triple set How the West Was Won. Both of those recordings predated this soundtrack, but they weren’t released until 1997 and 2003. Therefore The Song Remains the Same, remains the best official live band release between the 1976 and 1997 period, despite the fact that critics did criticise the soundtrack for sounding over produced and lumbering at times….which to be fair it did at certain times. As is often the case, there were some differences between the actual movie and the soundtrack, with a song like “Black Dog” being in the movie but not on the soundtrack and with “Celebration Day” replacing it. Also omitted from the soundtrack were “Since I’ve Been Losing You” “Bron-Ar-Aur” and “Autumn Lake” amongst the other discrepancies to annoy the purists. The album had a running time of 99 minutes and despite certain critics’ reservations towards it, I personally feel it’s a great listen and a must listen to for fans especially “Dazed and Confused” which lasts an amazing 26 plus minutes! Some of the omissions to the album were finally rectified in 2007, when the soundtrack was re-issued and an impressive 30 extra minutes were added to it.

Robert Plant- Vocals
Jimmy Page- Guitar
John Paul Jones- Bass/Keyboards
John Bonham- Drums

Production- Jimmy Page
Madison Square Garden 1973

__________________
Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History