The thrillingly outsized soundtrack of Song Remains the Same by Led Zeppelin did not suffer from the film’s momentum-stealing dream sequences, but the album still faced its own issues. Specifically, the puzzling exclusion of some key tracks from the movie and the lingering feeling that Led Zeppelin had not fully realized the moment.
Ironically, The Song Remains the Same was recorded over three nights in July 1973 at Madison Square Garden as Led Zeppelin was peaking commercially. Over time, it has become a representational touchstone for an era of rock excess unseen before or since – a testament to sheer spectacle. However, these New York City shows marked the end of a lengthy tour, and the group appeared worse for wear at times.
Consequently, Jimmy Page always viewed the project as more average than career-defining. “Well, it’s not a terribly good night and it’s not terribly bad,” he told Creem in 1977. “Certainly not a magic one, but not … tragic.”
How Tragedy Impacted Led Zeppelin’s ‘Song Remains the Same’
Unfortunately, by the time The Song Remains the Same hit store shelves three years later on Oct. 22, 1976, events had turned tragic. In 1975, Robert Plant’s car plunged off a cliff on the Greek island of Rhodes, leaving both him and his wife seriously injured.
For about a year and a half, it was uncertain whether Plant would ever walk again – forcing him to do session work for their next studio effort while in a wheelchair. Led Zeppelin’s time off the road would extend to nearly two years.
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In the meantime, they released The Song Remains the Same to fill the void – even though only seven months had passed since 1976’s Presence. The film became a box-office success, reportedly grossing around $10 million in 1977, and its best-selling soundtrack stood as Led Zeppelin’s sole live document for years.
Critics were not always kind – including members of the band themselves. “It was not a great film,” Page admitted in 1976, “but there’s no point in making excuses. It’s just a reasonably honest statement of where we were at that particular time.”
Plant went even further, calling The Song Remains the Same “a load of bollocks.” The reasons for this critique were numerous.
Why Jimmy Page Criticized ‘Song Remains the Same’
Setting aside the movie’s puzzling non-musical interludes, Led Zeppelin faced accusations of yielding to bloated ego. “Dazed and Confused” stretched to half an hour in length, while four other tracks exceeded ten minutes. “On ‘Song Remains the Same,'” Page once told Cameron Crowe, “you can hear the urgency and not much else.”
He later pointed to a pre-show backstage robbery as one significant distraction. Others criticized the post-production editing process for both the film and album. After all, the original soundtrack included “Celebration Day,” but not “Black Dog” – while in the film, it was the opposite. “Since I’ve Been Loving You” and “Bron-Yr-Aur” were also omitted from the vinyl edition while other tracks featured different takes.
Watch Led Zeppelin Perform ‘No Quarter’
Fast forward to 2007 when an expanded reissue – enhanced with new liner notes by Crowe – added back six songs. By then, however, it seemed that public perception of this as a failed project was firmly established. Certainly, Page spent years reflecting on it. After all, but for an extended touring hiatus, things might have unfolded differently for Led Zeppelin.
He has mentioned feeling boxed in by looming deadlines, limitations of creating a companion film, and product demands. As early as the late ’70s, Page had plans to produce a more linear concert recording – though that did not materialize until 2003’s How the West Was Won.
The Lasting Legacy of ‘Song Remains the Same’
Still, there is no denying the eye-popping grandeur of The Song Remains the Same at its bow-fiddling best as Led Zeppelin took their music to its absolute zenith. For all its flaws, there may be no better document of the larger-than-life arena-rock era. They discovered new depths in moments like “No Quarter,” too.
The soundtrack from Song Remains the Same topped the U.K. charts while becoming a four-times-platinum No. 2 hit in the U.S. Yet Page still wonders what might have been.
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“It was a shame,” Page told Trouser Press. “After Robert’s accident, we were forced to tie it all up. We’d done work with it already and it had to come out. It was recorded over three nights but, in fact, most of the music for the footage came from the first night. It was the best vocal performance … but they just didn’t have complete footage.”
This left the band to “come up with fantasy sequences to fill it up,” Page added. “Had we been a band that performed consistently every night, it would have been very easy for them to connect one night’s performance with another. As far as live albums go, most groups will record over half a dozen nights and take the best from that – but since it was visual, we couldn’t do that.”
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Gallery Credit: Nick DeRiso
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