THE SOUNDTRACK FROM THE FILM - THE SONG REMAINS THE SAME

Back in the '80s, we were inseparable. I was 17 when we met, just trying to survive high school. He was two years older and in college pursuing physics. We had the most intense friendship, the kind where young men bond and surf the wave between adolescence and adulthood. We did it all: learned how to party, chase girls, build hot rods. We started a band. We spent many summer nights on the roof of his parents' house smoking and discussing weighty topics. We trusted each other with our fears. We became experts at the art of keeping 'adult considerations' at bay as long as possible. If maturity was sunlight, we were vampires. If you've read about Anthony Kiedis and Flea back in their youth, you'll have the picture, although we didn't achieve their level of mastery at music, partying, or girls. While our shared love of hard rock and metal was fierce, our mutual old faves were likely Heart and Zeppelin. The Song Remains the Same was my holy grail for certain, both the album and movie. It was the 1970s in one perfect symbolic artifact, and we were two young men who lamented missing that boat. We were trapped in the middle 1980s, hating that culture and wishing we were at Madison Square in '73 instead. (I'm more appreciative of the '80s music scene now, having far more expertise, but at the time and at that tender age, we were two proud, purist '70s freaks, two "throwbacks" as his sister called us.) More on us later.

Song Remains is Zeppelin's finest hour(s) captured, their live peak despite what they've said about being tired that night or what the blowhard critics think of it. Nonsense. The '73 tour was the band in perfect possession of their full rock powers. They had acquired and mastered the experience from the earlier tours, yet they had not lost an ounce of their edge to the factors that would begin to dog them with each tour thereafter. I can watch them in '75, '77, and '79 and see the slippage immediately in all of them except perhaps Jonesy. Age, substance use, vocal damage. Different factors affected the other three. Not horribly, necessarily. They could often do just fine on later tours, but it's still noticeable to my keen Zep eye. My only point is that '73 was the perfect crystalized moment where they could...do...no...wrong. Even the mistakes and missteps that did occur felt acceptable here, more charming than cringe. My favorite stuff here is the Houses of the Holy material which was the new stuff at the time. It's fresh and powerful, but most especially "SRTS/Rain Song, and Over the Hills and Far Away," all of which are have so much extra spark running through them as compared to the album versions.

Quite simply, these powerhouse live selections have become definitive versions of some of their best material, fleshed out and expanded with glorious interplay and personal prowess. I have nothing against the studio versions of these songs which are masterful in their own way, but these live versions are so on fire: there are songs within songs hatched of improvisation, much cool embellishment, and just sheer bravado on high. For me it is Jimmy I most connect with, the sheer beauty in his playing, especially the added luster and emotion of "Rain Song," the "golden" Les Paul hue to his sound, and the complete confidence he had on the harder rocking tracks. His playing is full of adrenalin and sensuality, masculine and feminine, the "light and dark" that he has often asserted were so important to the Zep canon. I understand the criticism some have of Page as "stumblefingers," and he is guilty of it sometimes, but he so transcends it. His runs, bends, his feel for the emotion, his service to the songs are ample reason so many consider him among the best. Pagey was certainly our hero for this album alone, and we tried to play like him in our band. My friend got way closer than I ever did. He could play anybody.

Our legendary friendship lasted into our early 20s before we took different paths and never reconnected, leaving all of that fire where it burned hottest, in our past. It was a beautiful thing that had to be short-lived because it was so fiercely a youth thing. I've been pretty cavalier about the lifestyle we used to lead, that partying is no big deal, that it never hurt us. But I can see now how it did take down some pretty cool people I've known, far too prematurely. Today I would tell young people to avoid abusing themselves and embrace healthier fun. But my dear friend who left us at age 57 was unrepentant to the end. He told me back in our youth, "There's an old saying that 'youth is wasted on the young.' They're never gonna be able to say that about me." And he was right. He hit the ground at 90 mph and never did slow down.

I loved him. Still do. After he died, they gave me his guitar which, as you can imagine, is an unreal emotional experience for me to play now. I strap it on only occasionally, and I swear I'm able to play better on his axe than I can on my own. I think that's his doing, and I can see him smile at the trick. The Song Remains the Same (along with Bebe Le Strange and Little Queen in particular) remains the soundtrack to every crazy night in our beloved suburban past, our youth pressed to a slab of vinyl. It remains a masterpiece to me. Similar to Yessongs and The Grateful Dead Movie, The Song Remains the Same is simply an absolute gift to fans, complete live shows captured in their prime so that people who were too young may experience them. It's a shame that the Floyd didn't have the foresight to do something this bold on the Dark Side or Wish tours. I don't really have the time of day for criticism of these documents as I feel privileged that they took the time to do them for us younger kids who couldn't be there in person. Cheers, mate. We'll jam again one day.

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