The song remains the same

mart

I bought the DVD of this ages ago and finally sat down last night and watched the whole thing, including all the "arty" interludes with Percy sword-fighting and Page rock-climbing and so on. And I even sat through 10 minutes of drum solo. 10 minutes of my life I'll never get back.

Do I get some sort of medal for this?

DulcetJones

I never understood that movie either.  When it first hit the theaters about 10 of my buddies and I went to see it, half of us didn't like it and half loved it, I was in the former group.  It was mainly non-guitarists that liked it, the Robert Plant hero worshippers.  I still like them as a band and feel they put out some of the best rock music of the day in the 70's but this movie seemed kind of pointless to me.

mart

Yes, the clips of them on stage are great (apart from Moby Dick). And I liked seeing the backstage stuff - gives a good sense of the band and Peter Grant - or at least it paints a vivid picture of how they wanted to see themselves.

RocknRollDave

"DVD" is the definitive Zep, um, DVD. Song Remains....is rubbish.

mart

RocknRollDave said:

"DVD" is the definitive Zep, um, DVD. Song Remains....is rubbish.

Yep, agreed. Lesson learnt.

mudslide73

Back in the day (pre DVD 2003) it's all we had - I've watched it 50+ times no exaggeration. I'm not keen on the newer version because they've changed the audio to match the visuals and vice versa.

not_the_dj

DulcetJones said:

s but this movie seemed kind of pointless to me.

Pointless? It was the only official footage of Zep live available for many many years!

Basher

It's of it's time.

It's hard for anyone born post-VHS to put yourself back then. The almost total lack of coverage in the media of bands like Zep, Purple, Tull etc. (despite them being almost minor world economies in their own right) was something the modern mindset can probably not properly comprehend.

The idea of "wasting" a film shoot on something as trivial as just filming a band in concert would be an odd idea to most 1970s film-makers. I suppose the sheer expense of such things back then meant it had to be made "special" (i.e. intercut with loads of fantasy nonsense). It's the same thought process that considered a film of people having spectacularly athletic sex could be improved by adding a conspicuous hammond and wah-wah guitar soundtrack.

Fretwired

Basher said:

It's of it's time.

^^

This.

Remember it was shown in cinemas - the producers thought that nobody would sit through a film of a band playing. And they didn't have the technology we have today with the multiple camera angles and close ups.

Unfortunately the live bits weren't Zep at their best ... the BBC releases and How the west was won are better live albums.

xSkarloey

TSRTS is still worth while for this moment. "...an extra  nickel to be drained...with the fucking Stars and Stripes behind you..."

Pure poetry.

mart

Basher said:

It's hard for anyone born post-VHS to put yourself back then. ...

Fretwired said:

...

Remember it was shown in cinemas ...

You're both right, and I think your points combine to explain things very well. 

There was no VHS back then, so a film was for showing in cinemas. And back then they didn't think many cinema goers would sit through just a concert movie.

But to be fair, even now I don't think a concert movie would be financially viable if it were just shown in cinemas. The video/DVD market has tapped into a whole different pool.

richardhomer

I've never seen it - but having listened to the album - I think I'd like the bits of the film where they're not playing the best....

mart

Well, PM me your address and I'll happily send you the DVD for free. I won't be watching it again!

richardhomer

mart;1043708" said:

Well, PM me your address and I'll happily send you the DVD for free. I won't be watching it again!

Very kind - but I'll pass on this occasion

mart

Darn it. It's a really great DVD. The best I've ever watched

(... apart from all the others)

monofin

mart;1043708" said:

Well, PM me your address and I'll happily send you the DVD for free. I won't be watching it again!

Id buy it if want rid

richardhomer

monofin;1043852" said:

[quote="mart;1043708"]Well, PM me your address and I'll happily send you the DVD for free. I won't be watching it again!

Id buy it if want rid[/quote]

That's tantamount to self-harming....

ICBM

I've never seen the film, but for a couple of years at the start of my rock music listening the album was my only Zep record, so I listened to it a lot and got familiar enough with the live versions that for a while they sounded more 'right' to me than the studio ones after I then got the original albums. I'm not sure I don't still prefer some of them. (Though not Moby Dick.)

Skipped

I have seen a little bit of everything captured on film. I just haven't stuck it out to the end.

Except for the Danish tv show in 1969 which is mind blowing IMO. At that moment they are one of the tightest bands I have ever seen.

RocknRollDave

Song Remains..was a bit of an ego piece that came round and bit them on the arse, artistically. The cameras didn't capture entire songs, they discovered upon viewing the film back, so they had to recreate the live show on a film soundstage....add to which you have the risible non-music scenes and the overall finished article is something of a duffer. The twin disc DVD set from 2003 is everything Song Remains should have been, namely a great document of a fascinating band, captured where it matters - actually on stage in concert. Mind, if you REALLY want to see a dodgy Zep film, watch Celebration Day....

octatonic

I always found it slightly ironic that they never played it the same way twice.