HOUSES OF THE HOLY

LED ZEPPELIN IV generated of one the most famous & brilliant tours of a band in the 70´s (and maybe ever). The end of the tour culminated with the shows at the MADISON SQUARE GARDEN, 1972, which resulted in the well suceeded double live album in 76 (and the film, of course). At this moment the band was starting to present the new songs from HOUSES OF THE HOLY, which were very well received by media and fans. HOUSES were in a certain way a major breakdown. Far from the mystic elements deeply present in the first 4 albums, this time ZEPPELIN turned into a more comercial hard-rock vein. Comercial, altough not stupid or lame. Filled with some gorgeous hard-rock material ( THE SONG REMAINS THE SAME, DANCIN´ DAYS & THE OCEAN), all of them rich in quite inspired riffs, HOUSES presents a "funny" side of ZEPPELIN never seen until that moment. Using elements of the newborn modern reaggae (D´YER MAKER) or elements of funky-soul (THE CRUNGE), Page & co. could paint other faces in the LED ZEPPELIN catalogue of soul personalities. It´s worthwhile to remember that all songs carry a new element introduced by the band at that time: quite clearly in the inovative arrangements or in some new sonorities driven by studio or pedal effects. RAIN SONG is a marvelous and heavenly song, and another majestic LED ZEPPELIN ballad, lead by John Paul Jones on Mellotron and Piano. OVER THE HILLS... is a quasi-acoustic melody, that run into a delightful hard-rock, and NO QUARTER is a progressive masterpiece that shows all brilliantism of John Paul Jones as a major composer.

Altough too much diverse for a ZEPPELIN fan´s taste, and bringing the impression that the order of the songs seems not well choosen, HOUSES OF THE HOLY is a very, VERY well produced album to be rated as a four star. Majestic and, again, obligatory.