Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5489 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-05-26
• Rating: Exempt
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Formats: Box set, Black & White, Colour, Dolby, DVD-Video, PAL
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Arabic, Portuguese, Russian, Hebrew
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 320 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Legendary and long sought-after, this live Led Zeppelin collection is nothing less than the rock music equivalent of the Holy Grail. Quite simply, this is what all the fuss was about.

Given that they were the biggest band in the world, Zeppelin were notoriously camera-shy in their heyday. Their official filmic legacy until now has been just the fascinating but flawed The Song Remains the Same. While this new set presents some previously unseen footage from the same 1973 Madison Square Garden gigs, its real wonders lie in the earlier (1970) Royal Albert Hall footage and the later Earls Court (1975) and Knebworth (1979) concerts. Everything here looks and sounds new-minted, thanks to painstaking restoration and remastering of both audio and visual sources, a Herculean labour of love on the part of co-producer Dick Carruthers working hand-in-glove with Jimmy Page.

Trawling through thousands of yards of previously unseen film and unheard tape recordings--some with missing visuals, some with missing audio--Page and Carruthers have chosen only the best possible footage available. They were also at pains to make the segments segue seamlessly so that the viewer is treated to what feels like a continuous concert--just sample the transition from a grainy Super 8 "Immigrant Song" (Sydney, 1972) to "Black Dog" at MSG.

Highlights? It's not hyperbole to say that every powerhouse minute of this collection (some 230 minutes of concert footage plus another hour and a half of extra DVD material) is a rare musical and visual treat. But hearing Page's violin bow work on "Dazed and Confused" in DTS or Dolby 5.1 is an experience not soon forgotten.

On the DVD: Led Zeppelin two-disc set presents all the footage in pristine 4:3 picture ratio (the Madison Square Garden footage is letterboxed) with Dolby 5.1, DTS or PCM Stereo sound options. Note that the audio is uncompressed for maximum ear-shattering enjoyment. The menu screens do not pop up beforehand, but have to be selected. It's well worth doing so. Enjoy the music first, then discover that even the menus have been painstakingly designed to provide still more unseen footage and unheard recordings (some screens don't cycle round, but present another song in its entirety). Extras include rare TV appearances, interviews and bootleg footage. --Mark Walker

DVD Description

Disc 1:
The Royal Albert Hall, 1970:
We're Gonna Groove
I Can't Quit You Baby
Dazed and Confused
White Summer
What Is and What Should Never Be
How Many More Times
Moby Dick
Whole Lotta Love
Communication Breakdown
C'Mon Everybody
Something Else
Bring it on Home

Disc 2:
Immigrant Song (1972)
Madison Square Garden, 1973:
Black Dog
Misty Mountain Hop
Since I've Been Loving You
The Ocean
Earls Court, 1975:
Going to California
That's the Way
Bron Y Aur Stomp
In My Time of Dying
Trampled Underfoot
Stairway to Heaven
Knebworth, 1979:
Rock `n' Roll
Nobody's Fault But Mine
Sick Again
Achilles Last Stand
In the Evening
Kashmir
Whole Lotta Love

Synopsis
Three of their best-ever performances - Royal Albert Hall 1970, Earls Court 1975, Knebworth 1979 plus Madison Square Gardens 1973 - plus other highlights including rare television appearances, interviews, behind-the scenes clips and 'bootleg' footage.

Customer Reviews

Everything a Led Zeppelin fan could ask for.
Im a huge fan of Rock music ranging from Led Zep to The Who to Cream but watching this Led Zep dvd just sends chills up my spine, the DVD kicks off with probally the best peformance on the dvd with Led Zep playing at the Albert Hall, Jimmy Page is at his best, he shows why he's one of the greatest guitarists of all time, Plant is also great but he changes lyrics all most constanly on 'whole lotta love' and 'dazed and confused'.
John paul Jones is there providing the rhythm to a tee along with the star of the show John Bonham who shines throughout for his power and rhythm. His solo on moby dick is great but long and at times tedious. The second disc is great but not as good as the first. Page and Plant shine throughout but the rhythm section Jones and Bonham seem to be rather stiff to compared to the rest and Bonham's performances change from Legendary to just great. But apart from that the DVD is essential to anyone who calls them self a Led Zeppelin fan but it may be a little bit to in your face for someone just coming to grips with there music.

Sell your soul to the devil.
There are fewer more iconic bands than 'Led Zeppelin'. 300 million albums in ten years, they must have been doing something right. As famous for their off-stage antics as for their performances, this compilation contains footage from 4 of their most famous shows.

Albert Hall 1970 sees the Zeppelin still finding their feet yet putting on one hell of a show. And it's a joy to see 'Bonzo' blast out his iconic drum solo 'Moby Dick' for 10 minutes non-stop.

Disc 2 has the bulk of 3 different shows spread across the disc. Madison Square Garden, Earls Court '75 and Knebworth, at a time when 'Led Zeppelin' were without question, the biggest band in the world. Knebworth being particularly good and the last time the world would see 'Led Zeppelin' (well with Bonham at least).

There's loads of extras, and the picture quality is fabulous. But the real draw is obviously the four hours of non-stop Zeppelin. So climb the 'Stairway To Heaven' today. You know you want to.

Generously overwhelming
I found this for £11 at Zaavi a few weeks ago, and bought it for - what I guess you could call - old times' sake, having been a big fan of the band in my youth (which included seeing them at Earls Court in 1975). It is, by any standards, a generous collection. Clocking in at over five hours, you get the impression that it's been packed to the rafters with all the material that could be found and restored. The four big shows (Albert Hall, Madison Square Garden, Earls Court, Knebworth) are all impressive, but I found the extras just as appealing.

Chief among these is a dynamic, intimate performance of "Communication Breakdown" on Danish TV with the band on a tiny stage and the audience sitting at their feet (the contrast with the big shows is remarkable). As the camera zooms in on Page going into the solo, you realise all over again that, when you strip away the studio overdubbery and the lasers, pomp and enormous scale of their later performances, they could really, really *play*. In spite of that, and their total dominance of the musical scene (an interview in which they're compared to the Beatles is also included), they weren't always well-received initially; the other version of "Communication Breakdown" in here comes from a hilarious performance on French TV. For some reason, most of the shots are taken from behind the band, so you can see the stony, unmoved expressions on the faces of the audience (consisting - it seems - of middle-aged couples, small children and - I'm sure my eyes weren't deceiving me - a Salvation Army brass band) as the band cavort on stage. It provides a refreshing change from the adulation portrayed in their later shows and it's generous of them to include it here (actually, they said that it shows rather neatly why they refused to do any more TV shows after this point).

Lovingly assembled, finely detailed and generously overwhelming, this collection is completely essential for any fan of this band, though it has to be said that even the most rabid enthusiast would be going cross-eyed if they sat through the whole thing in one go.