HOUSES OF THE HOLY

Houses of the Holy was a landmark album for my brothers and I back in the mid-1970s as it was the first album that all four of us had universally high opinions of (though for often disparate reasons). Though I enjoyed music/songs from the band's previous four albums, Houses of the Holy felt different in that this was NEW music--the band was taking a big step out of/away from the blues, blues rock, and folk-rock songs that they were belting out before; with Houses of the Holy it felt as if the band had stepped into a new dimension--a new universe--that included many more effects, keyboards, and stylings that lent themselves more toward a pervasive feeling of psychedelia. Also, these two sides were album sides that we would play start to finish, over an over, without ever feeling the need or desire to skip over ANY of the songs. To this day, I cannot play one song without wanting to hear the song(s) before and/or after it. Though several songs have definitely grown in my esteem over the years, none have diminished in the charge of excitement and amazement that I felt in those teenage years. And now, 50 years later, I can still say that Houses of the Holy is by far my favorite album from the greatest rock 'n' roll band of all-time. There are very few albums from my youth that stand up so well--Days of Future Passed, Demons and Wizards, Remember the Future, Relayer, Trick of the Tale, Crime of the Century, Romantic Warrior, Hamburger Concerto, Imaginary Voyage, I Robot, and Aja are the others that immediately come to mind, but Houses of the Holy definitely belongs in this group.