THE SOUNDTRACK FROM THE FILM - THE SONG REMAINS THE SAME

For nearly three decades, this was the only official live document of one of the biggest bands of all time, the mighty Led Zeppelin. Sadly, it utterly fails to capture the essence of their much-vaunted live shows. Plant's vocals are strained throughout, while the poor sound quality makes for thin guitars. Still, the band does offer up some dazzling enlogated versions of their most-loved tunes.

"No Quarter" sounds even more ethereal live, which is shocking considering the audio quality. It also has a stunning guitar solo from Page. "Whole Lotta Love" and "Dazed and Confused" are pushed well past their original lengths, with Love lasting nearly 15 minutes and Dazed clocking in at 27 minutes. It'll have you wondering if you put in an Allman Brother's album by mistake. Indeed, the best parts of this album merely remind me of better parts on that blues jam band's At Fillmore East (one of the top five live albums ever). As talented as Led Zeppelin are, their improvs are sloppy, even by blues standards, which are meant to be loose. Some sections of Dazed and Confused make the Grateful Dead sound as technical as Dream Theater by comparison. "Moby Dick" is extremely lengthened, though it's not nearly as long (or as good) as the version found on How the West Was Won, the definitive Zep live album. "Stairway to Heaven" has a killer extended solo that doesn't drag on like "Whole Lotta Love."

This album has some truly stunning moments that are marred by poor audio. It also doesn't help that most of teh songs are mediocre at best. However, fans should pick this up for No Quarter, Stairway, and Dazed and Confused, which all sound marvelous. To hear Zeppelin in all their live glory, pick up How the West Was Won, which is another one of the top five live albums ever.

Grade: C-