HOUSES OF THE HOLY

Led Zeppelin

Prog Related

3.95 | 977 ratings

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Finnforest
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator

Not exactly a consensus building effort, eh mates?

Houses was always an album near and dear to my heart. While containing some of the band's very finest moments it is an effort plagued by the usual inconsistencies found on most Zeppelin albums.

We start very strong with SRTS showing Page's ever increasing talents not only in playing but in the producer's chair, intuitively layering guitars to create such a great overall sound. It's a song that like most Zeppelin songs will grow into something much more special live on stage, when the grooves are electrified by Bonham and Jones in action. Next is the stunningly beautiful Rain Song, a piece that is not only among my favorite LZ tracks but with a melody as memorable and haunting (in a good way) as anything I've ever heard. It's a song that in the live setting transforms to a poignancy few bands will ever achieve. The same can be said for No Quarter with its earthy and powerful mystery, good here but mindblowing on stage. Over The Hills shows off some catchy songwriting, and again just listen to the nice arrangements of the various instruments. That's the great half. The other four songs were a bit dodgy, not awful, but certainly not in the same league with the good stuff. The Crunge is a bit of funky humor. Dancing Days and The Ocean are rather average straight-up rockers. And Dyer Maker is a cute reggae flavored pop-number that was a big radio hit but made every Zep fan I know roll their eyes a bit.

Young Zep newbies must know that Houses is a recommended album for the first three songs and No Quarter. Although if you already have live versions of the good songs on other CDs you could really afford to put your dollars elsewhere. These studio versions pale in comparison. 3 � stars.

Finnforest | 3/5 | 2007-10-14

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