'Led Zeppelin: The Song Remains the Same ' - High-Def Digest Review

[Attebery]

Peter's review of the much-delayed 'Led Zeppelin: The Song Remains the Same' has been posted. He says the dramatic interludes are dreadful, but the musical performances rock. This is a solid Blu-ray release, with well-mastered video and audio and a few vintage extras. This is a must for Led Zeppelin disciples, and worth a rental for those music fans unafraid of dramatic cheese.

Full review here:
http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/1023...nsthesame.html

[ToddS]

I happen to LOVE the dramatic interludes of this film and completely disagree with his opinion on the film itself.

I do however agree with his PQ/AQ scores which is all I usualy read from these reviews anyway. For anyone familar with this movie/concert, this is the best it has ever sounded and well worth getting if you are a fan of this film.

[Warin]

I think Plant says best when he says "If we are going to be self-indulgent we might as well try to expand our indulgence a little" in the BBC interview on the extras. I took this to mean: After a great number of drinks and some good pharmacology, the fantasy bits are what we came up with". I also cannot locate the interview with Cameron Crowe, and instead have a TV report from Tampa. Whats up? Different extras for Canada? Or did I end up with some rogue copy of the previously delayed brd?

[PeterB]

Heya --

There are actually two versions of 'Song Remains the Same' (not that warner wants anyone to know).

The original features the Cameron Crowe interview, which had to be dumped due to rights issues. That's the version that hit some retailers late last year, despite a last-minute Warner recall.

On the new version, the video, audio and remaining supplements are identical.

The main page link should go to the review of the new disc, sans Crowe's interview. I did take a look at the recalled version, but its listing is in the database only (it shouldn't display on the site) as it never officially hit stores.

Again, the video and audio, etc., are the same encodes, and quite frankly the Crowe interview is nothing fantastic. Still, those who have the original recalled version, it is now a collector's item...

BTW, I updated the editor's note to make it more clear...

[atoms]

Reading this review makes me want a bluray of the reunion concert even more.

[dvdfan]

What's the story on a re-release on Blu Ray ?

In fact, why was it withdrawn anyway ?

[Legobricke]

The UK version of the HD-DVD which Amazon UK still has in stock contains the Crowe interviews.

Lego

[AznNintendoFan1]

Jimmy Page is a Guitar God, PERIOD! He's up there with Steve Vai and Eddie Van Halen and Joe Satriani and Slash. He earns more points because he's an original shredder of the electric guitar. I'm definitely gonna buy this beautiful concert on blu ray but it's not showing up on the best buy website yet.

[ToddS]

Originally Posted by AznNintendoFan1

Jimmy Page is a Guitar God, PERIOD! He's up there with Steve Vai and Eddie Van Halen and Joe Satriani and Slash. He earns more points because he's an original shredder of the electric guitar. I'm definitely gonna buy this beautiful concert on blu ray but it's not showing up on the best buy website yet.

Agreed. The man is mind blowing!

[RLT]

Originally Posted by AznNintendoFan1

Jimmy Page is a Guitar God, PERIOD! He's up there with Steve Vai and Eddie Van Halen and Joe Satriani and Slash. He earns more points because he's an original shredder of the electric guitar. I'm definitely gonna buy this beautiful concert on blu ray but it's not showing up on the best buy website yet.

Yes I didn't realise how much effort Pagey put into his craft until I seen him up close on stage, all that concentration & sweat in HD !

Long time fan since Bath Festival of Blues days

[Telstar]

Since it has now been confirmed that the official Song Remains the Same BD does NOT contain the Cameron Crowe interview that appeared on the handful of initial, not-officially-released BDs, will those first BDs become ridiculously expensive ebay-able items in the near future? (I'm particularly curious because I have a sealed copy of one of the original BDs.)

[Ruined]

I am quite PO'd that the remastered Blu-ray STILL has the audio dropouts on the TrueHD track. I have confirmed this on a Panasonic BD30 bitstreamed to the Integra DTC-9.8 as well as HDD's test of the Samsung mentioned in the review. It also happens on the PS3, but only if you have your TrueHD set to PCM and not bitstream. Basically, the "core" DD track of the TrueHD track is fine, but the actual lossless track has the dropouts.

Even more frustrating, the HD DVD's TrueHD soundtrack is perfectly fine (I had both and tested both). So its not the source or a player bug, its a screwed up encoding on the Blu-ray. I hope that the review is updated to reflect that this is a flaw in the TrueHD track and not a player bug, I can only guess Mr. Bracke had his PS3 set to only send the core track via bitstream instead of decoding the TrueHD track.

[PeterB]

Hey Ruined --

Thanks for the info. I do have my PS3 set to PCM, hence I didn't have a problem with the TrueHD track versus my Samsung.

Going to add an updated note to the review, much appreciated.

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by PeterB

Hey Ruined --

Thanks for the info. I do have my PS3 set to PCM, hence I didn't have a problem with the TrueHD track versus my Samsung.

Going to add an updated note to the review, much appreciated.

Okay, just to let you know my exact testing from the original release which I owned in both formats:

Timecode is 1:40:45 where the dropouts occur.

Blu-ray: Panasonic BD30 bitstreaming lossless TrueHD track -> Integra DTC-9.8 decoding = *DROPOUTS*

Blu-ray: Panasonic BD30 bitstreaming lossy DD track -> Integra DTC-9.8 decoding = No dropouts

HD DVD: Toshiba HD-A35 bitstreaming lossless TrueHD track -> Integra DTC-9.8 decoding = No dropouts

The lossless soundtrack is intact on the HD DVD, so we know this is a botched encoding job on the Blu-ray's TrueHD track and not a master problem. It also has been confirmed on multiple Blu-ray players, so that is a sign it is again an encoding error and not just a glitch. Finally, its also worth noting that I have the latest DSP firmware for my DTC-9.8 so it is not an Onkyo issue. Is there a number we can call at Warner to ask if the problem can be fixed?

[sonyfanboy]

"theres an HD-DVD fanboy whos sure
that HD-DVD will fail
and hes buying a blu ray plaaayerrr
when he gets there he knows
If the stores are all closed
with a word he can get a blu! ray!
Ooh, ooh, and hes buying a blu ray player!"