It’s been a while since I dropped by a local video store. To my surprise, they already had a copy of the new version of Led Zeppelin’s The Song Remains The Same. A moment’s hesitation – the DVD version of this 70′s movie was among the first batch of DVDs I’ve ever bought. Do I double-dip??? Heck – the new version has 5.1 Surround – and DTS! Heheh… must buy. No contest.
Flashback to the 70s – I must have been 14 or 15 and my friends and I had been getting our education in Rock 101. Of course, the movie was a must for us because it starred, after all, the band behind Stairway to Heaven – that song whose opening riff you must know if you had to make a claim that you knew something about guitars. The movie was also a first of sorts for us – we’ve seen concerts on TV – but never in a movie house. Wow. Led Zep was it. I can still remember all the jeproks ‘wowing’ in unison like characters in a Cheech and Chong sketch as the fantasy-version Jimmy wields his sword and fills the screen with color. After that movie, all I wanted in life was to be Jimmy Page. But Dennis was the better guitar player than I was – so I had to settle for being the backup Jimmy Page. And while Gil didn’t have Robert Plant’s range, he did have the curly hair. I think for the next few weeks after watching the movie, we commandeered a room in Gil’s house and pretended we were Led Zep. Sigh. I wish recording video then was as easy as it is now.
Thirty years have passed, but after watching the new remastered DVD, I know I still want to be Jimmy Page. Hahaha. Damn he’s good. And with DTS, the illusion that it’s real and happening becomes complete. Well, I guess if I see it on a 42-inch screen, it will be nearly complete. The only real ‘bummer’ for me is knowing that John Bonhan is gone. But I think his son, Jason, has stepped into his dad’s shoes very well. I’m not sure – but I have a hunch that he’s that kid twirling the drumsticks in John’s sequence. Aside from the astoundingly clean video and audio, the DVD add-ons are also ‘essentials’ for anyone who has been (or is) a fan of the band.
I understand a US is in the works – I wonder if there’s any chance they’ll come here if they do a world tour?
Yes Juds, I can’t deny it. Even at 44, I’m still a Led Zep fanboy.
Time to look for the remastered CD….
Rock on, Kuya Cho!!