Led Zeppelin - DVD

Starring: Led Zeppelin

RS: 4of 4 Stars

The Holy Grail of heavy metal, this astounding two-DVD set features lengthy excerpts from four epochal concerts (plus ultra-rare TV clips and interview footage worth the price of admission alone) and spans the notoriously camera-shy band's entire career. The five hours and fourteen minutes of footage chronicles Zeppelin's evolution from white-hot power-bluesmen to galvanic Wagnerians. This is iconic rock music played by legendary musicians in peak form; the performances are simply revelatory. The sound is stellar and the unprecedented views into the foursome's virtuosic internal architecture show that Led Zeppelin were a supergroup that played like a band. And a radically rearranged "Whole Lotta Love" from 1979 proves they only got better with time. An unexpectedly life-affirming tour de force, this is one of the best rock documentaries ever made.

MICHAEL AZERRAD
(May 20, 2003)