The Song Remains the Same

The Song Remains the Same
Live album soundtrack to The Song Remains the Same by Led Zeppelin
Released	28 September 1976
Recorded	27–29 July 1973 at Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, United States
Genre	Hard rock
Length	99:45
Language	English
Label	Swan Song
Producer	Jimmy Page
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Robert Christgau (C+) link Q October 2000
Led Zeppelin chronology
The Song Remains the Same (1976) BBC Sessions (1997)

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.

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.

Upon its release, the album received some poor reviews, with some critics considering it to be over-produced and lumbering.^[1] Indeed, the band's members themselves have since expressed a lack of fondness for the recording. Guitarist and producer Jimmy 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.^[2]

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.^[3]

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 featured on the album.

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.

2007 reissue

The Song Remains The Same soundtrack album was reissued on CD on November 20, 2007, with the surviving band members having overseen the remixing and remastering of the original release. This coincided with the re-issue of the film, available on DVD. The new version of the soundtrack included six songs that were not on the original album release: "Black Dog", "Over the Hills and Far Away", "Misty Mountain Hop", "Since I've Been Loving You", "The Ocean" and "Heartbreaker", plus new liner notes by Cameron Crowe.

Thus, with the 2007 re-release of both the album and film, the songs were synchronized so that the full set-list from the concerts was available on both, with each song mixed the same way (the only exceptions being "Bron-Yr-Aur" and "Autumn Lake", both of which continued to be absent from the album).

Jimmy Page stated:

We have revisited The Song Remains The Same and can now offer the complete set as played at Madison Square Garden. This differs substantially from the original soundtrack released in 1976, and highlights the technical prowess of Kevin Shirley, who worked with us on How The West Was Won.^[4]

Due to legal complications, the band decided not to change the video portion of the original movie for the re-release.^[5] Instead, Shirley created an entirely new mix of the three 1973 Madison Square Garden concerts so that the audio portion of the film would better match the on-screen visuals. The audio on the new CD release was nearly identical to the soundtrack of the new DVD release. One difference was that the songs included on the CDs that were not featured in the original movie were included as bonus tracks on the DVD.^[6]

The audio mixes also differed from those found on the 2003 Led Zeppelin DVD. The most obvious example is that "Black Dog" was two minutes longer on the 2003 DVD than on the 2007 releases.

On 29 July 2008, a four-LP edition of the 2007 re-issue, on 180 gram audiophile vinyl, was released. It was presented in a deluxe archival two-piece box with foil-stamping. It includes a 12-page oversized full-color booklet with dozens of previously unpublished stills from the film, as well as four individual jackets with new and unique artwork. A special white vinyl edition was also printed in very limited numbers. Just 200 were produced, with only 100 being made available to the public (only from Led Zeppelin.com).

Track listing

Side one

1. "Rock and Roll" (John Bonham, John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant) – 4:03
2. "Celebration Day" (Jones, Page, Plant) – 3:49
3. "The Song Remains the Same" (Page, Plant) – 6:00
4. "Rain Song" (Page, Plant) – 8:25

Side two

5. "Dazed and Confused" (Page) – 26:53

Side three

6. "No Quarter" (Jones, Page, Plant) – 12:30
7. "Stairway to Heaven" (Page, Plant) – 10:58

Side four

8. "Moby Dick" (Bonham, Jones, Page) – 12:47
9. "Whole Lotta Love" (Bonham, Willie Dixon, Jones, Page, Plant) – 14:25

Reissue

All tracks written by Jones, Page, Plant, except as noted.

Disc one

1. "Rock and Roll" – 3:56
2. "Celebration Day" – 3:37
3. "Black Dog" (with "Bring It On Home" intro) – 3:46*
4. "Over the Hills and Far Away" (Page, Plant) – 6:11*
5. "Misty Mountain Hop" – 4:43*
6. "Since I've Been Loving You" – 8:23*
7. "No Quarter" – 10:38
8. "The Song Remains the Same" (Page, Plant) – 5:39
9. "The Rain Song" (Page, Plant) – 8:20
10. "The Ocean" (Bonham, Jones, Page, Plant) – 5:13*

Disc two

1. "Dazed and Confused" (Page) – 29:18**
2. "Stairway to Heaven" (Page, Plant) – 10:52
3. "Moby Dick" (Bonham, Jones, Page) – 11:02
4. "Heartbreaker" (Bonham, Jones, Page, Plant) – 6:19*
5. "Whole Lotta Love"/"Boogie Mama" (Bonham, Jones, Page, Plant, Willie Dixon) – 13:51

(* Not on original soundtrack release) (** Longer than the original soundtrack release)

Sales chart performance

Original release

Re-release

Digital download

Notes:
(*) Remastered and expanded edition

Sales certifications

Note: (*) Pre-remastered sales only

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
• Barry Diament – mastering (original Compact Disc release)
• Peter Grant – executive producer
• George Hardie – record sleeve
• Hipgnosis – record sleeve
• Eddie Kramer – engineering, mixing
• Bob Ludwig – remastering on 2007 re-release
• Kevin Shirley – remixing on 2007 re-release

External links

• The Garden Tapes - a study of sources of the live material and the edits for release on this album.

References

v • d • e Led Zeppelin John Bonham · John Paul Jones · Jimmy Page · Robert Plant Studio albums Led Zeppelin · Led Zeppelin II · Led Zeppelin III · Led Zeppelin IV · Houses of the Holy · Physical Graffiti · Presence · In Through the Out Door · Coda Live albums The Song Remains the Same · BBC Sessions · How the West Was Won Compilations Led Zeppelin · Profiled · Remasters · Boxed Set 2 · Complete Studio Recordings · Best of Led Zeppelin · Mothership · Definitive Collection Singles "Good Times Bad Times" / "Communication Breakdown" · "Whole Lotta Love" / "Living Loving Maid (She's Just a Woman)" · "Immigrant Song" / "Hey Hey What Can I Do" · "Black Dog" / "Misty Mountain Hop" · "Rock and Roll" / "Four Sticks" · "Over the Hills and Far Away" / "Dancing Days" · "D'yer Mak'er" / "The Crunge" · "Trampled Under Foot" / "Black Country Woman" · "Candy Store Rock" / "Royal Orleans" · "Fool in the Rain" / "Hot Dog" Films The Song Remains the Same · Led Zeppelin Tours Scandinavia 1968 · U.K. 1968 · North America 1968/1969 · U.K. & Scandinavia 1969 · North America Spring 1969 · U.K. Summer 1969 · North America Summer 1969 · Europe Autumn 1969 · North America Autumn 1969 · U.K. 1970 · Europe 1970 · North America Spring 1970 · Iceland, Bath & Germany 1970 · North America Summer 1970 · U.K. Spring 1971 · Europe 1971 · North America 1971 · Japan 1971 · U.K. Winter 1971 · Australasia 1972 · North America 1972 · Japan 1972 · U.K. 1972/1973 · Europe 1973 · North America 1973 · North America 1975 · Earls Court 1975 · North America 1977 · Knebworth 1979 · Over Europe 1980 · Ahmet Ertegün Tribute Concert 2007 Related articles Discography (Bootlegs) · Peter Grant · Richard Cole · Jason Bonham · Swan Song · The Yardbirds · XYZ · The Firm · Coverdale-Page · Page and Plant · Them Crooked Vultures · Bron-Yr-Aur · Strange Sensation · The Starship · Caesar's Chariot · Shark episode · Charlotte Martin · Hammer of the Gods: The Led Zeppelin Saga · Stairway to Heaven: Led Zeppelin Uncensored · When Giants Walked the Earth: A Biography of Led Zeppelin The Led Zeppelin portal