Celebration Day

I tried playing the Amazon's MP3 files of this album but found they were of not great quality. Likely best to just get the Audio Only Blu-Ray of this album. (I'm not sure if the video version includes a Uncompressed PCM 5.1 stream.)Although this is an audio only Blu-Ray, it does export a black and white video title page with the title of each song, per HDMI spec. Personally, I just want the audio and I find the audio file provided is one big blob with no separate tracks. Guessing any software playing the stream will use stream seeks to find the tracks. (And seems to be evident by the slow response when using Windows software players.)An interesting note, I usually tend to avoid LIVE albums as the audience screaming tends to overwhelm the music. Not so with this mix and seems they tended to keep the audience to minimal levels and only heard during the beginning and ends of the tracks. But within the Amazon MP3's, all I heard was audience and bass which was very unlike the quality of the Blu-Ray Audio version.MULTIPLE STREAMS PROVIDED:Thanks to FFMPEG/FFPLAY, here's a quick listing of streams:Stream #0:0[0x1011]: Video: h264 (High) (HDMV / 0x564D4448), yuv420p, 1920x1080 [SAR 1:1 DAR 16:9], 29.97 fps, 29.97 tbr, 90k tbn, 59.94 tbcStream #0:1[0x1100]: Audio: pcm_bluray (HDMV / 0x564D4448), 48000 Hz, stereo, s32, 2304 kb/sStream #0:2[0x1101]: Audio: pcm_bluray (HDMV / 0x564D4448), 48000 Hz, 5.1(side), s32, 6912 kb/sStream #0:3[0x1102]: Audio: dts (DTS-HD MA) ([134][0][0][0] / 0x0086), 48000 Hz, 5.1(side), s16, 1536 kb/sSurprisingly, it looks like Stream #0:2 is the best quality containing 24/32 bit versus DTS at only 16 bit? Albeit, the streams do vary slightly in quality from track to track. So far, my favorite is Stream #2 providing Uncompressed PCM 5.1 sound, exhibiting the best quality. However, I use Linux and seemingly Linux is not able to play through DTS-HD Master streams through to a receiver, and only use pass-through DTS. As such, I'm biased towards PCM and PCM-5.1 streams. (Seems Cyberlink PowerDVD might be remixing or changing the stream header in high-definition or bit-stream mode, but the stream still seems to have identical rates when playing on Linux.)The DTS stream is a bit more dynamic or contains more coherent drum beats (or the attack wave of each drum beat creates more of a pop sound) when compared to the other PCM streams. PCM streams sound somewhat flattened. I guess that's why they call it DTS Coherent Acoustics. The DTS stream is also of slightly lesser quality as previously mentioned, but the DTS encoding makes up for this and any quality difference is almost inaudible. (I think it's been stated, consumers will notice very little difference, unless they're amplifying and playing the music within a large area?)When playing back the Uncompressed PCM 5.1 stream, ensure you're playing through a connection capable of handling the bandwidth such as HDMI. (S/PDIF will downmix to two channels, or software may compress the stream to a compressed Dolby/DTS if you're lucky.) It's difficult to tell if my receiver is playing all six channels over HDMI or only playing two channels, while mirroring the others using it's high quality decoder chip.I should also make mention, after relaxing after dealing with all this encryption stuff for the past weeks, I finally sat back and listened to both PCM5.1 and DTS streams. The PCM streams seem to be slightly overloaded with loudness (AKA Loudness Wars Wikipedia), so I opened the PCM-5.1 stream within Audacity and lessened the gain to -6dB (or -3dB to -6dB) on channels 1-2 or the main two channels. (The two channels were significantly louder than the other 4 channels.) After doing so, I noticed the music sounded much more like music, similar to the older style Led Zeppelin recordings. Further reducing the gain again only on these two channels resulted in a retro 1980's style Robert Plant vocal solo, similar to his riffs within the Nirvana and Tall Cool One albums. (See my note made on 2013.11.03. Seems my Yamaha RX-V375 defaults to PEQ Mixer after using YPAO. Switching off the mixer and ensuring no other Enhanced modes are used, the center channel now definitely seems louder requiring no volume level changes to the channels.)ENCRYPTION:Unfortunately, using Linux MPlayer with AACS to play this Blu-Ray is impossible as MPlayer complains vigorously about encryption errors. I had to again use the expensive $50 Linux version of makemkv program to copy to local hard drive; wasting space, time and energy. I am not a fan of forcing honest people who pay for their products to have to struggle to use encryption and preventing them from enjoying their products. Shrugs. I did notice once I decrypted the streams onto another Blu-Ray for using within Linux, the Blu-Ray would play just fine within the Windows proprietary Blu-Ray Movie player. Plus one here, for not screwing the honest consumer over. ;-) ... Movies tend not to play properly within the proprietary Windows player after copied, giving some FBI warning. Guess it's probably wise to expect blacklisting or problems traveling to other countries criminalizing consumers for playing purchased commercial Blu-Ray media within Linux?FINAL NOTES:You mileage may very with this review, as it's written according to only what I hear. For those seeking higher quality than CD Audio, or higher resolutions than 24 bit 48000 Hz, these are above the range of human hearing. If you have problems with playing Blu-Ray media like I do, might be best to stick with CD or DVD media.2013.06.10 - After several weeks, I've finally learned how to extract the audio files for my enjoyment and have written a Gentoo Wiki "FFmpeg - Extract Blu-Ray Audio" for others. Another headache with the Blu-ray audio, is making sure the software playing device is playing at the highest audio quality possible rather than down mixing. Best method so far, buy a audio receiver capable of playing 24 Bit PCM WAV files via USB storage devices. Very little degradation versus HDMI and S/PDIF! Also, apparently the Yamaha RX-V375 will only play 16 Bit PCM Microsoft WAV files and not 24 Bit PCM WAV files! Will require a Yamaha >= RX-V475 receiver for 24 bit playback via USB?2013.06.11 - Added notes about loudness on channels one and two. Cited DTS as being more coherent on drum beat attacks, and DTS Coherent Acoustics. Minor grammar corrections. I'm really glad I purchased the high-resolution. As they say, avoid the eye-candy and go for meat.2013.11.03 - Just found my RX-V375 defaults to PEQ Equalizer when using YPAO to setup the speakers. Using PEQ remixes the audio and apparently lowers the volume of some of the channels of PCM 5.1 streams. Setting the Equalizer to OFF, and ensure any Enhance modes are switched off, seems to play the audio a little louder within the center channel now.

PLEASE NOTE that this is a review of "Celebration Day (Blu-ray Audio)," which features only audio and screen menus. There are many packagings of this title available -- almost to the point of absurdity, but hey, it's Led Zeppelin, right? At any rate, the version/disc I'm reviewing here is designed to be played only in Blu-ray players.Honestly, I wanted to hear the music before I committed to buying some version of the video that was shot at the O2 Arena that great night when the mighty Zep took finally took the stage again -- December 10, 2007. And now, after hearing the music, I'm not even sure I NEED any of the video. That's one point I want to emphasize here: No matter what version you buy, don't just get sucked into the visuals. Led Zeppelin was and is a band to be heard.Let's do the nerdy sound quality thing first. Blu-ray Audio, like DVD Audio and SACD, is capable of delivering multichannel sound, so if you have a system with multiple speakers fed by separate channels, you can hear performances in, say, 5.1 channels. The "5" are these speakers: left front, center, left right, surround right, sourround left. The "1" in 5.1 is your subwoofer. Basically, 5.1 or more channels take you beyond the old 2-channel stereo mix, putting you in the middle of the performance. Sometimes this works well, and sometimes not; it depends on many things including the quality of the source material and the skill of the engineers and mixers who re-mix the stuff for 5.1. For two good examples, pick up Pink Floyd's SACD version of "Dark Side of the Moon," and if you can find it because it's out of print, Roxy Music's SACD of "Avalon."So does "Celebration Day" work in 5.1 sound? Yes, phenomenally well, and the reason is that everyone involved in this effort apparently refused to get fancy and cute with it. You won't hear any instruments mixed prominently in the back channels here, although I've certainly heard that used to good effect on some mixes. You won't catch the engineer panning the sound this way and that. No, the reason for the 5.1 here is to re-create the feeling of being in that arena that night. So the band is basically up front, and the back channels are capturing the booming reverb of the O2. You know from the opening song that this is a concert recording. But the effect is kept in check, too; it's got JUST the right amount of thundering ambiance to enhance to performance of the group.There were a couple occasions during quiet songs, and between songs, where I could hear people murmuring or chattering a bit, as if they were standing a few feet to my left or right or behind. Trust me: It's kept to a minimum and it's not intrusive at all. Besides, if that kind of thing bothers you, why would you go to a rock concert anyway?Now to Led Zeppelin's performance: Of course it's impossible to make a perfect comparison to previous Zep shows, mostly because Zeppelin drummer John Bonham died in 1980. Here the drum chair is filled by none other than his son, Jason Bonham, who already has had quite a long career in his own right; his exploits include leading his own namesake band ("Bonham") in the 1980s and 1990s and starring as drummer "A.C." in the 2001 movie "Rock Star."I've always been a fan of his playing but confess that Jason at times has impressed me as being even more of a basher than this father. John Bonham's drumming was hugely powerful, but he also was capable of surprising restraint; he knew when to let up a little and let a song breathe. Well, perhaps Jason just needed seasoning. His playing on "Celebration Day" is nothing less than thrilling from start to finish. He especially seems to be enjoying the slower, burning blues numbers such as "Since I've Been Loving You" and "In My Time of Dying." And the way he interacts with guitarist Jimmy Page on "Dazed and Confused" does remind one of the near-telepathy Page and the elder Bonham used to conjure up on that song.Speaking of Page, before this recording, he hadn't sounded this good and this together in years, having floundered around with various musical projects that didn't seem to add up to much. Perhaps of all the members of the band, he was most attached to it, and left most lost when John Bonham died. Who knows? But on this night, the magic is back under his fingertips. I even ACTIVELY LISTENED to "Stairway to Heaven," which never was my favorite Zeppelin song, and which was played to death by 1970s FM radio programmers. His intro here is especially gentle; you can HEAR him savoring these notes, calling up their power even after having played this so many times in his life."There's a spirit I get when I look to the west," Plant sings as Page starts digging deeper into "Stairway," and it's a line directed not at six-guns and Stetsons but to Arthurian legend, or at least to "The Lord of the Rings." Plant, too, sounds thoroughly and completely in the moment, glad and happy to be revisiting a proud past.But the man who pushes "Celebration Day" from four-star rating to full five is bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones. His showcase back in the days was always "No Quarter," an eerie song whose misty, moonless-night atmosphere was due largely to Jones' haunting electric piano intro. That's an instrument that fell out of favor even in rock circles a long time ago, partly because it eventually became possible to reproduce the sound of an acoustic concert grand. Jones, though, wisely sticks to the relic here, and hearing it again is stepping into an aural time machine. Welcome back to 1973, ladies and gentlemen! Jones also shines on "Trampled Under Foot" and "Kashmir."Couple of final thoughts: First, you couldn't ask for a better set list; every single Zeppelin studio album is represented by at least one song here, with the exception of "In Through the Out Door" and the compilation/leftovers album "Coda," issued after John Bonham died. In fact, just listing the songs, they ring out, like anthems of time:"Ramble On" ... "Black Dog" ... "Dazed and Confused" ... "Whole Lotta Love" ... "Rock and Roll."This really is a fine, joyous album, truly living up to its title. Audiophiles will appreciate the incredible quality of the Blu-ray mix. And for those who want to hear how Zeppelin sounded live back in the 1960s-1980, I highly recommend "How the West Was Won." There's also the DVD that's just titled "Led Zeppelin." And while some defend it, I've always advised avoiding the live album "The Song Remains the Same," which presents one of their weaker, more self-indulgent performances.Led Zeppelin remains not only a cultural force, which is what people wrongly tend to focus on, but also one of the best bands to come out of the 1960s and find its full expression and potential in the 1970s. In short, this music stands up, decade after decade. Listen ... :)