Review from noted Led Zeppelin author, Robert Godwin:

Led Zeppelin - DVD

After two or three decades of waiting we finally get to see (and hear)
Zeppelin on TV. Comparing this new package to the movie The Song Remains
the Same is a pointless exercise. One was born out of the mid 70's and
certainly made its mark using the latest four channel stereo technology.
If you were lucky you might have hiked across country to see it at one
of the few theatres adequately equipped to screen it with the full
soundtrack. This latest double DVD set has the full weight of the latest
in 21st century audio and digital video enhancements. If you happen to
have the opportunity to view it on a Hi-Def big screen with the full
spectrum of Dolby 5.1 or DTS audio you can almost convince yourself that
you are at the show.

Oddly the one thing which is missing is the audience perspective. The
three main events, Royal Albert Hall, Earl's Court and Knebworth are all
filmed up-close and personal. Page and Carruthers have done a hell of a
job to compensate for the lack of long range cameras at Knebworth by
using a selection of bootleg footage and surprisingly it works well and
gives the viewer a taste of what it was like to be in the huge audience
(whoever filmed it must have been right next to me because my footage
looks very similar!) Royal Albert Hall and Earl's Court lack this
possibility undoubtedly due to the tendency at the time to virtually
strip-search the audiences at indoor shows in England.

If you are seeing this footage for the first time it is worth explaining
why there are no long-range camera shots. Royal Albert Hall was filmed
for a TV documentary, while Earl's Court and Knebworth were only shot
for the benefit of the audiences at the shows with the images being
projected above the band.

I can remember being totally astounded when the video screen burst into
life at Earl's Court. You have to realise this was 1975 and we had never
seen anything like it, frankly we didn't even know that such a thing
existed. Big screen TVs were more than a decade away. Hell I'd only seen
my first color TV six years before. What was even more amazing was that
the image was live and in perfect synchronisation with the band on stage
below. Now today this may seem to be no big deal, but believe me it was
unprecedented back then. The TV cameras used were simply enormous. The
cameraman was literally seated in the camera assembly and the whole
thing was mounted on rails which tracked back and forth in front of the
stage.

Thankfully someone had the presence of mind to actually save the camera
tapes, allowing a decent video mix to be assembled, and here we are
enjoying them nearly thirty years later.

Knebworth was more of the same. Even though I'd seen the screen at
Earl's Court the band outdid themselves with an even bigger screen which
was simply overwhelming. The audience, which was seemingly a mile deep,
were able to enjoy the band even from the back of that windy field.

What can you say about the performances? Well Royal Albert Hall has been
doing the rounds as a poor audio bootleg and an equally poor video
bootleg for years. It was clearly the first major event in the band's
British performing career and was attended by Lennon, Clapton and Jeff
Beck, so the pressure was on to outdo themselves. Less than three weeks
later Melody Maker announced that the Royal Albert Hall film had been
sold to American television...hmmm....sort of like the announcement in
early July 1972 that a new double live album had just been finished on
the west coast of the United States...talk about tormenting your fans...

The picture has been cleaned and polished to perfection but it is still
not that well filmed. The band, however are in fine form and confidently
plunder the better part of their first two albums. The surround sound
mix is astounding and worth every penny. What is perhaps notable is the
total absence of special effects and lighting. It is just four guys
having a hell of a time with a few thousand friends who seem content to
pound on the stage at their feet. Page is fluid, Jones and Bonham are so
tightly locked in a groove they seem like one two-headed organism and
Plant is out front cutting diamonds. One thing I had hoped for was the
inclusion of  "Since I've Been Loving You " which was mentioned in
Melody Maker the following week. I've never confirmed if they did indeed
preview material from the forthcoming third album but it seems odd that
the song was mentioned in that review of the gig. Perhaps the film crew
were forbidden from filming the unreleased material.

For the connected Zeppelin fan it's a bit difficult to get enthusiastic
about the Royal Albert Hall footage but the audio is the key. The
reviews mention how bad the sound was on the night so it's probably safe
to say that with this video release we are hearing it better than the
people did at the show. It sounds so good it is frankly amazing. It just
shows you that you don't need a 48 track digital studio and an army of
engineers.

For me it is the 1975 material that is the real gem in this package. By
the time Zep reached Earl's Court they had successfully plundered and
pillaged their way across America promoting the new double album
Physical Graffiti. Although there was no lack of enthusiasm on stage for
the old material it was the astonishing performances of Trampled
Underfoot, Kashmir, Sick Again and In My Time of Dying which were the
tour's highlights. Two of these songs are featured on the DVD set and
show the band at their absolute peak. They look a little determined on
this footage and perhaps not as relaxed as they were on the US leg of
the tour but that was to be expected since they were facing the usual
phalanx of hostile Fleet Street geeks.

During the first couple of years the media had compared them to the Jeff
Beck Group or Cream, then there was indignation from the rock
establishment because of the comparisons being drawn between Zeppelin
and the Beatles, notably in the level of their success, (this is even
included on the New York interview segment of the DVD). This was
followed by the inevitable comparisons to the Stones which even galled
the band who were clearly more popular and totally unlike the Stones in
every way possible. Finally we got Physical Graffiti and the subsequent
1975 tour and after that even the most dull-witted music critic was
compelled to see that Zeppelin were a phenomenon that brooked no
comparisons. They were without a doubt the most exciting and talented
rock and roll band in the world and nothing could withstand the
onslaught. Even so it seems inconceivable that my teenage kids and their
friends are more excited about this new release than I was. They are
simply awestruck by the power, charisma and skill of the band and left
wondering why there is nothing like it in their experience today.

The one complaint I have about the Earl's Court segment is eelfish
indulgence -- I want to see the rest. Knowing full well what had to be
done to make this DVD set work, I say lock Jimmy back in the studio and
don't let him out until he fixes the rest!

The footage from Knebworth turned out to be quite a surprise. Once again
chunks of this had been doing the rounds on bootleg and I remember the
sound being really good at the show, then again I was ten feet from the
mixing desk so that should be no surprise. However it sure didn't sound
this good in that field. Page has worked his old wizardry and made the
band sound simply fantastic on this section of the set. Intelligent
mixing and a dynamic selection of camera angles really pays off. At the
show the screen was so big it revealed every emotion. You could see that
the band were nervous about the response awaiting them. The
punk-oriented media had spent the previous couple of weeks doing their
usual thing, dismissing Zep as dinosaurs while extolling the virtues of
the latest utterly talentless crew of drug-stupored lunatics from some
Milwall pub. There were enough of us in that field, however, to silence
the pierced-nose crew once and for all. We were treated to a couple of
songs from the forthcoming "In Through the Out Door" and even though
there were a couple of rusty moments the magic was intact. No one was
more surprised than the band at the sheer size of the audience. Some
estimate that there were as many as 240,000 people at that first show.
All I know is that when I stood up I couldn't see the back of the
audience, it seemed to tail off over the horizon. It took over 45
minutes to walk from the centre of the crowd to the edge (where the
portacabins were located). People had been arriving since the previous
Wednesday and had turned thousands of acres into a camp ground. Not one
person I asked was there to see any of the support bands, this was Zep's
night and they paid back our loyalty by playing their collective asses
off for over three and a half hours.

The bonus material on the DVDs are just that - a bonus. The highlight is
probably the killer version of The Ocean from the 1973 tour outtakes
although I have a special fondness for the Communication Breakdown promo
for personal reasons.

When it comes right down to it, I bought this for Earl's Court, I wish
there had been more but maybe I'll live to see the rest come out. One
thing is for sure I am singularly grateful that I was born in the era
when Led Zeppelin existed. I feel sorry for my kids that they weren't.
They have to live with the same regret that I have when I consider how I
missed attending a Beatles concert. But then they do have this DVD and
although it lacks the sheer electricity of being at the event it sounds
better than it ever did at the show and thanks to surround sound it even
has the damned echo coming off the back wall!

Buy it, you won't be disappointed.

Rob Godwin

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posted via FBO-Mailing List 5.June 2003 THX to Buckeye