HOUSES OF THE HOLY

So, I'm pretty much safe in saying that most everyone here has probably heard this album and most everyone is quite familiar with the songs on it. I find it interesting that the ratings are all over the board on it, but I also find that the albums by Led Zeppelin that have more variety on them are the ones that I like the best. This is one of them, and I don't feel bad for giving it a five star rating. I call it essential even if I find it has one of their worst songs on it (The Crunge), at least I have come to appreciate it more than I used to, but I still find it rather obnoxious. Other than that, I find it quite the perfect album and put it up there with my other LZ favorites: "III" and "Physical Graffiti". The reason why is I find that it shows the band branching out from their usual rock/blues style and exploring new sounds, while not exactly abandoning their roots completely. That exploration is what progressive rock is all about. These new exploratory styles present in the music of this album is mostly due to the fact that they had two home studios to work from which allowed the members to better develop their music.

Starting with "The Song Remains the Same", the guitar is suddenly more "jangly" and brighter than what we are used to hearing from the band, and quite frankly, I hear a lot of what inspires the sound of several bands that were to become famous in the next 5-10 years that were waiting for their turn. This upbeat and non-melodic guitar comes in several times with its quick riff and is interspersed with a more slow, bluesy vocal melody, the meter and tempo changing throughout the track. The opening riff was originally supposed to be an instrumental overture for "The Rain Song", but Plant wrote some lyrics and they ended up expanding it to a full-fledged song. "The Rain Song" is probably one of LZ's best ballads and at over 7 minutes in length, the mellotron gives the song an expansive and epic feel in which it never gets boring, but it beautiful and dynamic all the way through. The song itself was inspired to prove a point to George Harrison who wondered if LZ ever wrote any ballads. LZ always felt these first two songs belonged together probably stemming from the fact that the first was supposed to be an overture for the second. I just know its one of my favorite songs by the band because of its detail in the guitar, the piano, the mellotron, everything is just perfect here.

The next track is just as perfect in my opinion, a shorter track with acoustic and electric sections that melds together so well, the excellent "Over the Hills and Far Away" which more closely resembles some of their older tracks, but which is still more reflective of their later albums nonetheless. So, up to this point, we have 3 excellent songs in a row. This is followed for a (thankfully) shorter track that was actually more of a joke song than anything else, poking a little fun at James Brown. In actuality, it is a bit complex in that it is supposed to be a funky sounding song, but the beat is intentionally off quite a bit to make it difficult to dance to. It is built off of a jam session from the band. Knowing that it is mostly a satirical song tends to explain it's nature a bit, but it still doesn't take away the fact that the vocals are some of Plant's worst. But I do like the instrumentals in it. This is the weakest point of the album in my opinion, but I still esteem this album enough to consider it essential anyway.

"Dancing Days" is one of LZ's most accessible tracks, but I still love it. It's placement on the album is perfect and helps to bring the listener back out into the sunshine. Also, since it follows one of their worst songs, it helps to elevate the entire album. It's inspired from a song the band heard in Bombay, so it fits in a bit with the psychedelic styles of the day, but does so in such a way that attracts the masses. "D'yer Mak'er" then sees the band take a stab at reggae while mixing in Plant's doo-wop style of singing. This is one that I used to hate, but over the last several years, have come to appreciate it much more. Most everyone is familiar with this track, so there isn't much point going into much more detail than that.

Next, the band takes us back to the more mysterious sounds of their previous years, but retaining their more developed styles at the same time. The combination of these two things are what makes "No Quarter" one of their best tracks and also one of their biggest fan favorites. The original form of this track was meant for inclusion on their "IV (Runes)" album, which accounts partly for it's slight return to original form. It also became a track that was improvised upon in many of the band's concerts as a showcase for John Paul Jones and his mastery at keys. It varies between quiet ambience and heavy, dark metal throughout allowing for a masterful study in dynamics. The band members state that this track is very important in their development and influenced their future ideas of just what rock music could accomplish The album ends with "The Ocean" which is symbolic of LZ's waves and waves of fans. The track utilizes two alternating meters which not only make it a more complex sound, but emulates the movement of waves in the ocean quite effectively, even up to the feeling of the crashing of the waves against the shore in Page's guitar stylings at the end of each phrase. This one is an underrated masterpiece.

While a few bits and pieces of the tracks from this album come from earlier sessions, jams and concerts, the fact that the band was now able to develop their music more extensively really make these tracks work together so well. There were, at the same time, some tracks also come from these sessions that weren't used until later. The funky sounding title track "Houses of the Holy" was going to be on this album, but was saved for their next album "Physical Graffiti" along with "The Rover" and "Black Country Woman". Another track "Walter's Walk" was released on their final album, which was really a compilation of unused material; "Coda".

So, for me, this album has always been one of my favorites, and still remains so because of the band's willingness to explore and expand their sound. Their music here is so much better developed than ever, not to say that their previous albums weren't good, because they were excellent, but this one was that one step better in my opinion. The music is not the standard fare, but show the band could take on other styles and do them so convincingly, plus the fact that it shows the band integrating other instruments very effectively into their established sound and style. Yes it's considered prog-related, but it is also a masterpiece.