![Led Zeppelin by p a h](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Led_Zeppelin_by_p_a_h.jpg)
''Celebration Day'' is a
concert film
A concert film, or concert movie, is a film that showcases a live performance from the perspective of a concert goer, the subject of which is an extended live performance or concert by either a musician or a stand-up comedian.
Early history
The ...
and live album by the English rock band
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...
, recorded at the
Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert
The Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert was a benefit concert held in memory of music executive Ahmet Ertegün at the O2 Arena in London on 10 December 2007. The headline act was the English rock band Led Zeppelin, who performed their first full ...
on 10 December 2007, in
The O Arena, London. The film was given a
limited theatrical release
__FORCETOC__
Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few theaters across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...
starting on 17 October 2012, and was released on several home audio and video formats on 19 November 2012. The performance, the film, and album releases have been widely praised.
Recording and promotion
In 2007, a
benefit concert
A benefit concert or charity concert is a type of musical benefit performance (e.g., concert, show, or gala) featuring musicians, comedians, or other performers that is held for a charitable purpose, often directed at a specific and immediate hu ...
to commemorate the life of music executive
Ahmet Ertegun was staged with a reunited Led Zeppelin as the main act. They played many of their most famous songs to an enthusiastic crowd and coordinated a professional recording of the show
with 16 cameras,
with the prospect of a home video release. Rumours immediately circulated that the recording would become available, but the following year, band member
Jimmy Page said that release wasn't certain and that it required
mixing and would be a "massive job to embark on."
Bassist
John Paul Jones
John Paul Jones (born John Paul; July 6, 1747 July 18, 1792) was a Scottish-American naval captain who was the United States' first well-known naval commander in the American Revolutionary War. He made many friends among U.S political elites ( ...
agreed that he would like to see it released commercially, but that there was no timeline.
Even through 2010, Page was uncertain of the status of the album.
On 9September 2012, the band updated its Facebook page, which led to widespread speculation that the release was finally ready.
Details leaked over the following days, with theatre web sites announcing airings of the film slated for the following month.
On 13September, the band revealed that the film would hit theatres on 17October, with premieres in Berlin, London, Los Angeles, New York City, and Tokyo
and that the home video was scheduled for 19 November.
The surviving members of the band appeared at a press event on 21September to promote the release.
They debuted the film at London's famed
Hammersmith Apollo on October 12 (of 2012) and answered questions afterward; when queried about more reunion performances, the trio were coy.
Like the 2007 greatest hits album ''
Mothership
A mother ship, mothership or mother-ship is a large vehicle that leads, serves, or carries other smaller vehicles. A mother ship may be a maritime ship, aircraft, or spacecraft.
Examples include bombers converted to carry experimental airc ...
'', the cover and promotional art were designed by
Shepard Fairey
Frank Shepard Fairey (born February 15, 1970) is an American contemporary artist, activist and founder of OBEY Clothing who emerged from the skateboarding scene. In 1989 he designed the "Andre the Giant Has a Posse" (...OBEY...) sticker campai ...
.
Alan Moulder
Alan Moulder (born 11 June 1959) is an English record producer, mixing engineer, and audio engineer.
Early life
Moulder was born on 11 June 1959 in Boston, Lincolnshire. He was educated at Boston Grammar School. He had an interest in music fro ...
worked with Jimmy Page on mixing the album but used only a minimal amount of overdubs and corrections, as both the performance itself and the recording were of high quality.
Release and reception
The album was released in a standard edition consisting of one DVD or
Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...
bundled with two soundtrack CDs. A triple
vinyl LP
The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; and ...
was initially announced to be released on 10December 2012 but distribution started in the middle of February 2013. The deluxe edition includes bonus video from the Shepperton rehearsals and news footage from the BBC. Additionally, there is an audio-only Blu-ray with
DTS-HD MA 24-bit/48 kHz sound and no video.
Concert
The concert performance was well received. ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' published that the show "prove
that they can still perform to the level that originally earned them their legendary reputation."
Writing for ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'',
Sasha Frere-Jones
Alexander Roger Wallace "Sasha" Frere-Jones (né Jones; born 1967) is an American writer, music critic, and musician. He has written for ''Pretty Decorating'', '' ego trip'', ''Hit It And Quit It'', ''Mean'', '' Slant'', ''The New York Post'', '' ...
opined, "the failed gigs of the nineteen-eighties and nineties have been supplanted by a triumph, and the band should be pleased to have done Ertegun proud with such a spirited performance."
Film
The film has also received acclaim from critics. Marc Lee of ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was f ...
'' gave it five out of five stars and concluded that "''Celebration Day'' is a celebration of rock 'n' roll at its most moving, magical and magnificent."
The initial screening opened to over 1,500 screens in 40 countries and grossed over
USD$
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
2 million,
leading to further showings worldwide.
In 2013, it won a Classic Rock Roll of Honours Award for Film of the Year.
Album
The album has received generally positive reviews from critics; it holds an 85% normalized score from review aggregator
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, indicating "universal acclaim".
In terms of sales, it debuted on the
''Billboard'' 200 at No. 9.
According to the
International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), ''Celebration Day'' was the 13th-best-selling album globally of 2012 with sales of 1.8 million copies.
The album won the
Grammy Award for Best Rock Album at the
56th Annual Grammy Awards
The 56th Annual Grammy Awards presentation was held on January 26, 2014, at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The show was broadcast on CBS at 8 p.m. ET/PT and was hosted for the third time by LL Cool J. The show was moved to January to avoid comp ...
, and the rendition of "Kashmir" featured on the album was nominated for the award for
Best Rock Performance.
Track listing
All songs administered by WB Music Corp. (
ASCAP)
Video bonus features
*Shepperton rehearsals
*
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
– drums, percussion; backing vocals on "Good Times Bad Times" and "Misty Mountain Hop"
*