Friday, July 27, 2007

Good News for Led Zep Fans

If I were granted two wishes, my first would be that I could be just like Jesus. The second would be that I could look and sing like Robert Plant circa 1971, which would allow me to wail like a banshee, grow my hair long and curly (enough of this pathetic furze), and walk around with the top three buttons of my shirt unbuttoned and not incur startled looks and chortles.

For others like me, there is good news.

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MOTHERSHIP

Comprehensive Two-CD Led Zeppelin Collection FeaturesTwenty-Four Remastered Studio Tracks; The Very Best of Led Zeppelin Available In Multiple Configurations

Remixed And Remastered Deluxe Reissue of The Song Remains The Same
Soundtrack Includes Previously Unreleased Tracks

The Song Remains The Same Landmark Concert DVD In Limited Edition,HD-DVD And Blu-Ray Disc From Warner Home Video

Available November 13 and November 20

(Los Angeles, July 27, 2007) -- After nearly forty years, Led Zeppelincontinues to inspire generations with their groundbreaking blues-infused,guitar-driven rock 'n' roll. Arguably the biggest rock band in the worldthroughout their 12-year reign, they remain one of the most influential andinnovative groups in music history. With over 200 million albums soldworldwide, their catalog is one of the most enduring bodies of musicalcomposition to come out of the 20th century.

Available November 13, Atlantic Records/Rhino Entertainment will honor theRock & Rock Hall of Famers with the release of Mothership, a 24-track,two-CD comprehensive collection that spans their illustrious career. Alleight of the band's classic studio albums are represented here, with thetracks being personally selected by Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, and John PaulJones. Mothership includes landmark songs such as "Whole Lotta Love,""Immigrant Song," "Kashmir," "Rock And Roll," "Dazed And Confused," and"Stairway To Heaven." The set will also include new liner notes by famedrock writer David Fricke.

Available at all physical retail outlets and www.ledzeppelin.com,Mothership collectible packages will be available in multipleconfigurations:

+ Standard Package -- 2-CD set ($19.98 SRP)
+ Deluxe Edition -- 2-CD/ 1-DVD featuring the premiere-version (90minutes) of live performance footage culled from the Led Zeppelin DVD($24.98 SRP)
+ Collector's Edition -- 2-CD/1-DVD ultra-deluxe, collectible limitededition ($TBA)
+ Vinyl Edition -- 4 LPs, high-end, audiophile quality vinyl withcollectible memorabilia ($74.98 SRP)

Originally released in 1976, The Song Remains The Same soundtrack album ofthe concert film features songs from the band's three-night stint atMadison Square Garden in July 1973. On November 20, The Song Remains TheSame soundtrack gets the deluxe reissue treatment, with the band membersoverseeing the remixing and remastering of the original release. The newversion of the soundtrack includes six songs that were not on the originalrelease -- "Black Dog," "Over The Hills And Far Away," "Misty MountainHop," "Since I've Been Loving You," "The Ocean," and "Heartbreaker," plusnew liner notes by Academy Award-winning director Cameron Crowe (AlmostFamous).

Slated for a simultaneous release, Warner Home Video debuts brand-new DVDeditions of The Song Remains The Same, now for the first time with all 14songs from the original concert. The DVD features newly remixed andremastered sound, 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound, and boasts more than 40minutes of added bonus material*, including never-before-released performance footage of "Over The Hills And Far Away" and "Celebration Day";plus performances of "Misty Mountain Hop" and "The Ocean"; a rare 1976 BBC interview with Robert Plant and Peter Grant; vintage TV footage from theDrake Hotel robbery during the New York concert stand; and a Cameron Croweradio show.

The discs will be available as follows:

+ Deluxe Edition DVD -- ($19.97 SRP*)
+ Deluxe Edition HD DVD and Blu-ray -- ($28.99 SRP each*)
+ Limited Collector's Edition -- 2-disc set includes collectible vintage T-shirt with original album artwork design, soundtrack CD, lobby cards,reproductions of original premiere invites, tour schedule, and more ($TBA*)

"We have revisited The Song Remains The Same," says Jimmy Page, "and can now offer the complete set as played at Madison Square Garden. This differs substantially from the original soundtrack released in 1976, and highlights the technical prowess of Kevin Shirley, who worked with us on How The West Was Won. When it comes to The Song Remains The Same, the expansion of the DVD and soundtrack are as good as it gets on the Led Zeppelin wish list."
For additional information regarding Mothership or The Song Remains The Same soundtrack, please contact Lellie Capwell in Rhino Entertainment'sMedia Relations Department at 818-238-6246 or Lellie.Capwell@rhino.com.

For additional information regarding Led Zeppelin: The Song Remains TheSame DVD, please contact Ronnee Sass in Warner Home Video's Media RelationsDepartment at 818-977-6439 or Karen Penhale or Suzie Cornell at CarlSamrock Public Relations at 818-260-0777 or karenpenhale@cs-pr.com orscornell@cs-pr.com.

MOTHERSHIP Track Listing:

Disc One
1. Good Times Bad Times
2. Communication Breakdown
3. Dazed And Confused
4. Babe I'm Gonna Leave You
5. Whole Lotta Love
6. Ramble On
7. Heartbreaker
8. Immigrant Song
9. Since I've Been Loving You
10. Rock And Roll
11. Black Dog
12. When The Levee Breaks
13. Stairway To Heaven

Disc Two

1. Song Remains The Same
2. Over The Hills And Far Away
3. D'Yer Maker
4. No Quarter
5. Trampled Under Foot
6. Houses Of The Holy
7. Kashmir
8. Nobody's Fault But Mine
9. Achilles Last Stand
10. In The Evening
11. All My Love

THE SONG REMAINS THE SAME Track Listing

Disc One

1. Rock And Roll
2. Celebration Day
3. Black Dog*
4. Over The Hills*
5. Misty Mountain Hop*
6. Since I've Been Loving You*
7. No Quarter
8. The Song Remains The Same
9. Rain Song
10. The Ocean*

Disc Two

1. Dazed And Confused
2. Stairway To Heaven
3. Moby Dick
4. Heartbreaker*
5. Whole Lotta Love

* Not on original soundtrack release

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I haven't heard the previously unreleased material, and, in general, more Zeppelin is almost always a good thing. But it should be noted that of the three officially released live albums, The Song Remains the Same is by far the worst. I look forward to hearing the new material, but I doubt that it can fully redeem what was an uninspired effort.

In contrast, The BBC Sessions has some great live material, and a couple songs that are available in no other place. And the quite belated How the West Was Won, from 2003, is finally the live album set that Zep fans have clamored after for decades. It's one of the best live albums I've ever heard, and it's what should have been released instead of The Song Remains the Same way back in 1976.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

sweet...classic-rock overindulgent wank festival :)

mg said...

yes!

i love me some zep!

rock on!

Andy Whitman said...

I love people who take potshots anonymously, and then put a smiley after the potshot. Classic insecure hipper-than-thou crank. :)

Someone Said said...

Zeppekin are awesome. My brother was at one of the shows at MSG when Song Remains the Same was filmed. How the West was Won is so superior to it.

mg said...

andy, thanks for the recc on "how the west was won". i'm listening to it now and thoroughly enjoying it.

did you ever see them live?

amazing band.