The Song Remains the Same

This could trouble even the devout in the Led Zeppelin coven. Essentially a chord by chord documentation of their '73 Madison Square concert, the heavy metal onslaught is intercut with lavish psychedelic effects, New York by night, seedy backstage wrangles, and five fantasy sequences. Here the band and manager Peter Grant indulge in some awesomely heavy-handed wish fulfilment. It ranges from the laboured (Grant as overblown Chicago gangster) to the dire (vocalist Robert Plant interprets his Viking saga like a TV ad for hairspray) and neurotic (guitarist Jimmy Page supernaturally experiences the seven ages of man). It's gruellingly long, the four-track stereo relentless, and the music a mechanical recreation of Zeppelin standards (eg. 'Whole Lotta Love', 'Stairway to Heaven).