Led Zeppelin
The Song Remains the Same - live - Swan Song 1976
Tracks: 1. Rock And Roll / 2. Celebration Day / 3. Black Dog / 4. Over The Hills And Far Away / 5. Misty Mountain Hop / 6. Since I've Been Loving You / 7. No Quarter / 8. The Song Remains The Same/ 9. The Rain Song / 10. The Ocean / 11. Dazed And Confused / 12. Stairway To Heaven / 13. Moby Dick / 14. Heartbreaker / 15. Whole Lotta Love
Comments:
“The Song Remains the Same” soundtrack live album was originally released in 1976, before being remastered and re-issued in 2007.
The original live-performances took place during three nights of concerts at New York's Madison Square Garden during a 1973 American tour.
The reception of the album was mixed and some critics disapproved of the sounds and some were critical of the actual performances on the album, which supposedly weren’t showing Led Zeppelin at their best.
In November 2007, with the surviving band members having overseen the remixing and remastering of the original release, the album was re-released in a significally expanded version, with 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.
I have not personally had the opportunity to hear the original version of the album and won’t be able to compare it with this extended version. I can just conclude that I’m totally satisfied with both the sound and playing, which I find absolutely terrific. Jimmy page is a musical wizard – he’s the orchestra, with Bonham and Jones as the perfect rhythm section and Plant vocally strong as we know his from the studio albums.
The song selection obviously has a lot of focus on the newest album “Houses of the Holy” from which five songs were taken. Live favorites like “Rock and Roll” and “Stairway to Heaven” are logically included in the set too, which closes off with a great trio of songs the breakthrough second album.
A minor personal gripe is the unusually long version of "Dazed and Confused", which runs for almost 30 minutes. I would have preferred a little more variety of songs from their amazing back catalog. Eg. "Immigrant Song", "Thank You," "What Is and What Should Never Be" or "Good Times, Bad Times" were songs that the group often played during their early shows. Nevertheless, a great live album by one of rock history's greatest bands.
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