The Song Remains the Same (1976)

Directors:

Peter Clifton
Joe Massot

Release Date:

20 October 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | Music

Tagline:

In Concert And Beyond

Plot:

A Led Zeppelin concert filmed in Madison Square Garden, New York.

Plot Keywords:

Band | Concert | Theft | Psychedelic | Microphone

Cast

John Bonham	...	Himself - Drummer (as Led Zeppelin)
John Paul Jones	...	Himself - Bassist & Keyboardist (as Led Zeppelin)
Jimmy Page	...	Himself - Guitarist (as Led Zeppelin)
Robert Plant	...	Himself - Lead Singer (as Led Zeppelin)
Peter Grant	...	Himself - Band Manager
Richard Cole	...	Himself
Derek Skilton	...	Himself
Colin Rigdon	...	Himself

Also Known As:

Led Zeppelin: The Song Remains the Same (UK)

Runtime:

137 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor) | Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (magnetic prints) | Dolby (optical prints)

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Australia:M (DVD rating) | Australia:PG | Netherlands:AL (DVD rating) | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:PG | Finland:K-8 (cut) | Finland:K-12

Filming Locations:

Felt Forum, Madison Square Garden - 4 Pennsylvania Plaza, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Swan Song

Trivia:

When the band convened in 1974 to view an early rough cut of the film, the band were less than pleased. John Bonham laughed out loud at Jimmy Page's pretentious fantasy sequence, and the rest of the band expressed their disapproval of the concert footage to Joe Massot. He was soon removed from the project. His famous parting comment was "They even thought it's my fault that Robert Plant has a huge cock."

Goofs:

Continuity: Throughout the movie, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones have different outfits on. However, this is because the movie was filmed when the band played Madison Square Garden 3 nights in a row in 1973, and both Jimmy and John Paul didn't want to wear the same outfits. Small portions of songs were also filmed in 1974 at Shepperton Studios because of missing pieces of songs.

Quotes:

Himself - Lead Singer: [prior to singing "Stairway to Heaven"] I think this is a song of hope.

Movie Connections:

References The Stepford Wives (1975)

Soundtrack:

Moby Dick

Pardon me, my brain seems to have leaked out through my ears....

there's no blaming the filmmaker for the unmitigated disaster that is this film, it is all clearly the band's idea; they just seem to have forgotten what an idea is.

To be sure, the sole survivor of this mess (and I include the audience at the concert this records) is Robert Plant; given the chance he reveals himself the definitive white tenor/falsetto blues singer, in complete control of his vocal range, and able to sing blues lyrics like poetry. This doesn't make him any less annoying, he just has a good voice. (Another reviewer complained he was off key; actually, Page is off key and Plant tries to get him back on.) If only he had a real blues band behind him, and didn't have to whine silly lyrics about heaven, hell and fairies.

on the other hand there is the John Paul Jones masturbation number, "No Quarter", which supplied the raw material for the brilliant parody "This Is Spinal Tap".

Alright, so the devil is walking with the dead: big deal. And it's all a Victorian masque after all - what disappointment! This film put an end to the concert film, and marked the beginning of the end of Led Zepplin and of the first wave of British Heavy Metal. It's easy to see why - every self-indulgent excess is worn on the sleeve of Jimmy Page, who seems to know how to play three notes very rapidly and repeated seemingly forever. Hurrah. No wonder metal heads began singing the praise of Tony Iommi so glowingly after this.

No, really, if you want innovation, you listen to Greg Ginn; if you want to know where "No Quarter" ought to go, listen to Black Flag's "My War" LP; that doesn't even bother raising the question whether there is any quarter to be given, it just lashes out, cutting through all the pretentious psychedelic muck that informs this impossibly silly music video.

This film pretty much put an end to one of the strangest phenomenons in music history: "British Rock and Roll"; white blues played by pill heads wanting to be Percy Shelly - HELP! There's only one thing a real rocker can say after surviving this expensive, over indulgent, over-rated piece of mud: THANK GOD FOR THE SEX PISTOLS!