The Film
Where most critics fail in judging the merits of The Song Remains the Same is their seeming compulsion to treat it as a documentary of sorts, with some musical performances added in as a bonus. In that regard, the film truly fails. Treated as it should be -- a concert film with some annoyingly obtrusive fantasy and behind-the-scenes segments interspersed -- it excels.
Led Zeppelin is one of the most influential Hard Rock bands in history; the band's impact has reached across many genres. From being sampled by Rap and Hip Hop artists to helping spawn Heavy Metal, there is no doubt they have left a far reaching legacy that continues to be felt even today. Though some may argue the premise that Led Zeppelin helped create the Heavy Metal genre, they only need be reminded that Black Sabbath themselves, those preeminent godfathers, if you will, of the genre, will readily admit to trying their best to imitate Zeppelin on a number such as "Paranoid", for example. But, I digress -- the point is Zeppelin was and is influential in the annals of Rock music history.
The Song Remains the Same captures the famed band in their prime, during their now legendary New York City concert stay at Madison Square Garden in 1973. Whilst watching these original "monsters of rock," it is not difficult to fathom how it came to be that in the 1970's the band routinely grossed more in concert and sold more records than the likes of The Rolling Stones and Aerosmith. The pure joy and energy in the performance of each song readily comes through, from the soulful wails of Robert Plant's vocals to the oft imitated but never duplicated rhythms of John "Bonzo" Bonham's pounding backbeat.
What this concert film does best -- aside from the intrusive fantasy segments that overlay parts of the musical performances -- is focus on Led Zeppelin's music in a way that no post-MTV era production can ever hope to rival. These were the days before having forty HD cameras was the normal mode of operation; before excessive pyrotechnics and light shows took hold and distracted from the actual performance. What you'll see when you watch The Song Remains the Same is a great band putting out tremendous effort to entertain their audience with a high level of musicality. Perhaps more people should realize today that, that is what true music should be about first and foremost.
The Picture
Arriving on Blu-ray Disc in a 1080p/24 VC-1 high definition encoding in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1, The Song Remains the Same, originally filmed on 35mm, is of varied picture quality on this Blu-ray Disc release. At times full of grain and film-like and other times clean and smoothed over, it is obvious that this release has had the usual Warner treatment of DNR (dynamic noise reduction) applied.
Although DNR is not as heavy-handed as some of their other titles, the evidence is clear in the overall lack of sharpness and finer detail such as the lack of finer skin texture or the near impossibility to make out the wood grain of the fretboard on Jimmy Page's guitars. Even droplets of sweat seem nonexistent in close up shots, though it is readily apparent that the musicians were sweating from the sheen on Robert Plant's chest, in particular. I'm certain that Warner's usual low-bitrate VC-1 encoding didn't help matters either. Foreground detail is presented the best, but things soften tremendously in background detail and in distance shots, particular during the live performance sequences.
Although black levels are superb, looking inky yet maintaining an excellent level of shadow detail, white balance is a bit blown out in some scenes. The latter is particularly noticeable in some of the backstage segments where the lights can be seen to bloom ever so slightly. During the onstage and fantasy segments, flesh tones look natural, but during the backstage scenes there is a slight red push.
The Sound
For this release, English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and English Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 audio options are available. I listened to the lossless TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack for the purposes of this review and was truly impressed. WEA should use this concert film's Blu-ray soundtrack as their paragon for high definition releases.
Jimmy Page's guitar licks, rhythm and leads were clear and presented with a great amount of energy. John Bonham's drumming, helped by a healthy use of the LFE channel, came through with punch, preserving the classic "Bonzo" sound as was John Paul Jones' bass, particularly during songs such as "Whole Lotta Love," "Dazed and Confused," and "Since I've Been Loving You." Robert Plant's vocals were never lost in the mix and were always intelligible and upfront in the mix. Simply put, the classic Led Zeppelin live sound was well preserved in this lossless TrueHD 5.1 mix.
Mostly mixed from an audience perspective with the surround channels used for audience noise and ambience, there are the occasional discrete sound effects that are mixed into the rear channels. Instrument separation and placement is well done and equalization is easy on the ears, with mellow highs, a mostly natural sounding midrange and ample low frequencies.
Unfortunately, that's not the whole story. There is a defect on this release that Warner has failed to fix, despite this title having been delayed twice before being released. The TrueHD soundtrack suffers from an eight-second audio dropout right at the beginning of John Bonham's drum solo during the song "Moby Dick." The dropout does not appear on any of the other available audio options and it puts an unnecessary blemish on what is an otherwise superb lossless soundtrack. It's an inexcusable error given the amount of time the studio had to fix the problem and the audio rating has been adjusted accordingly.
The Extras
As has become customary for nearly every Blu-ray Disc release from Warner, all extras provided on this disc are only in 480i/p standard definition with Dolby Digital sound, so yet another opportunity to lift this title into the upper echelons of high definition releases has been lost. The bonus musical performances - just as good as any in the actual film - would have been superb had they been offered in 1080p high definition with lossless sound, but, alas, we are given only DVD-quality standard definition with Dolby Digital 5.1. As for the rest of the extras offered, there is nothing that should warrant more than one viewing, if that.
The extras include:
Final Thoughts
Undoubtedly one of the most revered bands in Rock history, Led Zeppelin is documented in The Song Remains the Same during their prime, at a time when Rock concerts and concert films alike were squarely focused on the music. This high definition Blu-ray Disc release, even with its flaws, has moved into the position of the definitive version of this historical concert film on any home medium. I recommend this title for any fan of great sound and music. However, I must implore Warner to fix the audio dropout that plagues the otherwise flawless TrueHD soundtrack.
Where to Buy:
Product Details
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| Video | |
| Audio | |
| Movie | |
| Extras |
