Led Zeppelin
The Song Remains The Same

New York. For three years, Led Zeppelin has been the most popular band in the world. America loves them as much, if not more, than England, and they reciprocate the affection by giving their all in live performances. This DVD captures three performances that took place between July 27th and 29th, 1973, at Madison Square Garden in New York.

The arrival in the Big Apple is very evocative, accompanied by the acoustic sweetness of "Bron Yr Aur." It's always nice, at least for me, to see images from the past, and here we see cars on the street that we can spot in major films from the '70s. It almost feels like seeing the New York of "The French Connection."

Of course, it's nice to see a stage that's human-sized, without the oversized stages we see today. It was in the '90s, maybe due to U2's "Zoo Tour," that madness took precedence over the songs.

In live performances, the song almost never "remains the same." Here are my impressions of the differences between live and studio versions.

The show starts with "Rock and Roll" where Plant's voice sounds more virile in the live version. Page's guitar on the album is cleaner; in the live performance, the Gibson amplifies the noise. I prefer the original for its music; the live version for the vocals.

"Black Dog" is a half-crack of a whip live, almost a continuation of the previous track. On the album, it's much slower, more reflective rock. And I prefer it.
De gustibus for "The Song Remains the Same," "Heartbreaker," and "Whole Lotta Love" (the latter extended to 14 minutes as the concert's finale).

"Since I've Been Loving You" can't reach the unique magic of the album version, which, although a classic slow blues, wouldn't bore even if it lasted an entire hour, and which even Lester Bangs, a sworn enemy of the group, appreciated and called "very touching." The live version is still beautiful and very instructive because it shows the effort needed to play it. At the end of the performance, Page is exhausted and drenched in sweat, while at the beginning of the song, he wasn't.

"No Quarter." In the live version, it loses its psychedelic dimension, but in my opinion, it gains in emotional capacity. Although I really like psychedelia, folk-rock has another level of heart-touching ability.

"Dazed and Confused" is excellent – but the studio version, for me, is absolutely unparalleled. Jones is really brilliant and elegant when he follows Page's solo on bass. I had no idea the bassist was so good. Also curious is the shot of Jones and Bonham, with the drummer telling the bassist with a nod that the extra bass note wasn't necessary.

"The Rain Song." For me, the live version is superior. The live folk-rock version is better because it is more stripped down. The essence of the song comes out here – by "subtracting." "Less is more." Proverbs should be taken with a grain of salt, but this time the proverb doesn't fail.

The solo of "Moby Dick"? As a drum lover, it has the flaw of ending too soon… Watching it, you can note how much Bonzo preferred drums over cymbals – as he often said.

"Stairway to Heaven": folk for the first 2:20, then folk-rock in the middle part, and finally rock-blues in the last part. "All the souls of the band" – as Led used to say. In the live performance, the purely acoustic initial part is missing, due to the double-neck electric guitar used by Page, but it's fine the same. Even the live version is splendid – although less "complete" than the original. Curious is the moment when there's a mistake by either Page or Plant. Plant stops, smiles, and then continues. The position is absurd. This song can only be at the end.

Let's take a look at the band members.

Although it's pleonastic to say, Plant is magnificent, and not just because of his voice. What strikes me is his modesty. I thought that "the man with the primal scream" (as Page called him) would move around wildly on the (small) stage. Instead, Plant is not a performer who wants to exhibit himself; what he exhibits are the songs.

At the end of "Stairway to Heaven," after receiving all the applause, he throws a smile at an exhausted Page, who returns it. It's a smile with which Plant almost wants to apologize: "I get the applause, but you're still the leader." Go back and watch it. The singer in a band always attracts more attention than the others, and one has to be careful not to abuse it to avoid making the rest of the band jealous. Plant was a truly intelligent person (as I verified by reading his illuminating interviews) and didn't abuse it. There's almost a shyness in his performance when there's no song to hide him. His low profile can only be admired. I like seeing an anti-diva, without the pretense of being an anti-diva.

Bonzo is deeply focused on the drums: he thinks only about playing and keeping time. He would have behaved the same way even if there were no audience in front of him. Bonham had too much personality to show off.
Jones does an excellent job on the organ and bass, but it's noticeable that he's a bit in the background and never truly part of the group. He seems more like a session player than anything else.

The scene that leaves me speechless is when some girls are shown sitting and captivated while listening to "Since I've Been Loving You." Sitting in silence. The first time I saw the DVD, I couldn't believe it. It's hard to believe that at a concert of the quintessential rock band, the girls were sitting and listening, and not screaming – like they did ten years earlier at Beatles concerts. This scene is one of those that even my most fervent imagination couldn't have conjured.

It could have been an excellent DVD, but it isn't – and we all know why. The tale of the confiscated gadgets and the images of manager Peter Grant's fury is really unnecessary. Why did they want to literally mar the unity of the concert this way?
Similarly, the extra images (Plant on the horse, Page as a hermit, Bonzo with the tractor, Jones with his son) are beautiful, almost cinematic, but out of place. If they had made a documentary with interviews, they would have been great. Inserting them between the songs is, for me, incomprehensible. Did they think they appeared too boring just being filmed as musicians on stage?

Let's give it a 5, albeit not a full one.