09. Led Zeppelin Houses of the Holy 1973 (Atlantic)
Hard Rock
Close the door and put out the light.
Overview
Led Zeppelin up until now have twice topped my yearly lists and on the other two occasions have finished second (once to themselves) and so a lowly ninth spot, might well seem extremely low for a band of this calibre! Of course this is still a very good album, but certainly not as blistering as their previous releases were! Another point of real note, is that this is the first Led Zeppelin album to actually have a proper named title, rather than just being called Led Zeppelin V, so the band were breaking with tradition here as well. In fact the album would see the band breaking with tradition in numerous aspects. The title of the album is actually dedicated to all their fans, who would see the band in concert venues and these venues would be referred to as ‘The Houses of the Holy’ so the title was dedicated in respect of this. Much like their main rivals Black Sabbath for global domination, the straight-forward production techniques of their earlier work, had long given way to the sophisticated and multi-layering techniques that were available at the time and so
Houses of the Holy, would prove to be one of those real studio albums rather than a raw band input that had characterized the band, it would therefore be their most accomplished studio effort. Furthermore, this would be the first Led Zeppelin album to be completely composed of original material and the old blues covers were now a thing of the past. The album’s production techniques, would see Jimmy Page’s guitar riffs become more multi-layered and his heavy blues riffs were diminishing album by album. In many ways Led Zeppelin appeared like a new band on this album and after the mammoth success of
Led Zeppelin IV, it appeared they could do no wrong. This album would see the band tackle untested musical genres such as funk and reggae, and give us their most eclectic release since
Led Zeppelin III. In fact the eclectic style of
Led Zeppelin III had just revolved around having the novel idea of two different types of music on each side of that album, whereas
Houses of the Holy was truly eclectic song for song. Finally, a number of songs that were recorded in the album sessions here, would be held over to appear on future Led Zeppelin releases.
Robert Plant-Vocals
Jimmy Page- Guitar
John Paul Jones- Bass/Keyboards
John Bonham- Drums
Production- Jimmy Page
Album
The Song Remains the Same- A rampaging opener with its multi-layered sound, before it gives way to the subdued vocal approach of Robert Plant on the song. This may rank as one of the band’s more complex efforts and is often regarded as one of the truly classic Led Zeppelin songs.
The Rain Song- A song of aching and gentle melody, and it demonstrates a real beauty.
Over the Hills and Far Away- Starts off with a gentle acoustic intro, before evolving into a metal sounding session, an accomplished effort.
The Crunge- Almost sounds like a homage to James Brown with its heavy funky feel.
Dancing Days- A real strutter of a song with some real attitude and a cocky feel, it’s highlighted by its distinctive pick-me-up section in the middle of the song, and quickly moves into the vocals of Robert Plant, it’s one of the best songs on the album.
D’Yer Mak’er- Basically a laid-back and easy listening reggae infused number.
No Quarter- Starts off with an almost legendary haunting intro and later merges into a hard rock section, before taking us on an almost mystical journey and a great vocal performance again and some great work by John Paul Jones on the song.
The Ocean- The album closer hits more traditional territory for the band and features some heavy drumming by John Bonham. The song is a reference to the huge amount of fans that saw the band at their concerts.
Verdict
I’ve often heard how some of Led Zeppelin’s weaker efforts, were often regarded as being better than the best efforts of many other bands and with this in mind,
Houses of the Holy cannot be seen as a weak album, but it’s certainly a lesser effort than their previous four albums. So how does the album actually fair overall? The first thing that always hits me about this album, wasn’t how eclectic it was, but how it presented the listener to a certain lazy, laid back and at times a sloppy approach to the songs featured on the album! Whether this was truly intentional or just a result of the recordings, this is something to debate! Also I felt that the band were tackling musical genres they were far from adequate at doing, such as “The Crunge” which despite having a throbbing vibe, does come off as a half-baked funky effort and the lazy sounding “D’Yer Mak’er” was not a great choice and just sounds like a sloppy rock/reggae effort. Also “The Rain Song” just seems to ramble on for far too long, but that’s not to say that some of these choices don’t have a certain Led Zeppelin magic attached to them! I can also critique Robert Plant here as well, as a vocalist and a frontman he has always been one of the very best, but his vocals have always been very suspect once taken out of his ‘bluesy wail comfort zone’ he usually got away with them on the band’s folky meanderings (but then again does folk really require singers with a great voice!) and to a certain degree, he does get away with his style on this album. At times though, his vocals seem far more exposed than ever before and can be really found wanting on some of the compositions, such as on “The Crunge” and “D’Yer Mak’er” where his voice fails to ignite these two songs which they desperately need and on the album closer “The Ocean” his voice despite being on familiar territory does wander quite a bit for an album closer. But the albums negative aspects can also be heavily balanced by the positives, which includes the progressive leanings of the epic “The Song Remains the Same” so often regarded as one of the band’s most vital songs, with its multi-layered approach and subtle Robert Plant ramblings, in fact the song was originally planned as an instrumental. Then there is the superb “Dancing Days” always a favourite of mine from the album and has some real attitude, but it’s the haunting progressive mystique that dominates “No Quarter” that is the true album’s true saviour, as the song gels the gentle haunting melody of the intro with its later hard rock section and then swings through these styles for the rest of the song, a true delight of a song and the album closer “The Ocean” adds some real power to the album as well. Overall the album runs for 40.58 minutes and for an album of such diversity, the whole thing comes off as being short and sweet in general, despite the failings I’ve listed above and also the fact that the album doesn’t always get its experimental point across!