Fourteen songs from Led Zeppelin's three nights at Madison Square Garden in July 1973 have been remixed and remastered in 2007 for release this November on new DVD and CD sets.
"We have revisited The Song Remains The Same and can now offer the complete set as played at Madison Square Garden," Page said in a statement issued on July 27, 2007, the 34th anniversary of the first of those New York concerts. "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."
The reissued packaging of The Song Remains the Same, set for release on Nov. 20 from Warner Home Video, is to include liner notes from Cameron Crowe, whose film Almost Famous closely resembled his own journey to near-stardom when he traveled with Led Zeppelin and struggled to land an interview with Page.
The limitations of the LP format in 1976 prevented the double-album soundtrack from containing all 14 songs. In fact, six were missing from it: "Black Dog," "Over The Hills And Far Away," "Misty Mountain Hop," "Since I've Been Loving You," "The Ocean" and "Heartbreaker." These tunes will be included on the CD soundtrack for the first time this year.
"This differs substantially from the original soundtrack released in 1976," said Page, "and highlights the technical prowess of Kevin Shirley, who worked with us on How the West Was Won." That album, capturing live performances from two dates in June 1972, was released in May 2003 alongside the visually spectacular career-spanning live set simply called Led Zeppelin DVD.
As with that release, the new "The Song Remains the Same" DVD will benefit from 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound. One deluxe edition will be in high-definition DVD. Another edition will be in the Blu-ray format. All will contain complete versions of songs featured only partially in the film's original theatrical release, as well as clips from television interviews and a radio show involving Crowe.
November will also see a repackaging of Led Zeppelin's greatest hits with newly prepared liner notes by Rolling Stone's David Fricke in the two-disc Mothership. This new collection is to be released Nov. 13 from Atlantic Records and Rhino Entertainment.