In 2003, Jimmy Page finally coughed up the goods on the notorious band he led back in the 70s — Led Zeppelin. It was reported (or perhaps imagined) that Zep fans far and wide danced in the streets when the Led Zeppelin DVD and its saucy sibling CD How The West Was Won hit the shelves. The double DVD is, at around $20, a bargain no self-respecting music fan of any size, shape, or age can pass up. There’s enough footage here to put any and all Led Zeppelin video bootleg ventures out to pasture: almost an hour of a January 1970 Royal Albert Hall show; a glorious chunk of their May 1975 stand at London’s Earl’s Court; some beautifully restored scenery from one of the band’s final performances at the Knebworth Festival in August 1979; previously unreleased edits from Zeppelin’s superfluous cinematic opus The Song Remains The Same; and oodles of bonus clips from various television appearances, well-worn snippets and interviews (you actually get to see and hear John Bonham speak). The triple-CD package How The West Was Won is a nice companion piece — a combo platter of two June 1972 shows from the Los Angeles Forum and Long Beach Arena. Next to other bewildering Zeppelin live collections, this may well be the authoritative package Zep dweebs have been waiting for.
~ Shawn Perry
