Solid, as always
"Houses of the Holy" continues in that trend with a rock-solid track list that includes hits like "Over the Hills and Far Away" but also some of the lesser-heard songs like "D'yer Mak'er" that aren't as famous but are no less listenable. One would be hard-pressed to argue that Led Zeppelin ever released a "bad" album. This CD is a good pickup for the casual fan, as it has some of the big hits not found on their first greatest hits album "Early Days. ".
The Houses of the Holy album today
In short, Houses of the Holy is neither the band's best nor worst album, but fans will find all of these songs to be essential to a complete understanding of Led Zeppelin. There is no doubt that Houses of the Holy lacked the impact of Led Zeppelin IV; there is also no doubt that Zeppelin fans loved this album as they loved all of the band's work.
However, there is a certain flatness about the studio versions of many of the songs on "Houses of the Holy" when one compares them to available live versions. For example, both "The Song Remains the Same" and "The Rain Song" are much more bombastic and powerful on the "The Song Remains the Same" live album than they are here. The same can be said for the brilliant extended version of "No Quarter" on "The Song Remains the Same" in comparison to the one here. The version of "Over the Hills" on "How The West Was Won" rocks much harder than this one. Finally, "The Crunge" sounds much better played live as a change of pace as part of the extended "Dazed and Confused" on HTWWW than it does here, with Jones's showy and utterly superfluous synth part and Plant's silly lyrics appended.
That leaves "Dancing Days", "D'yer Mak'er", and "The Ocean" to recommend "Houses of the Holy" as a studio album. These are each brilliant songs, with "Dancing Days" among the most affecting and enduring in the Zep catalogue (I love the synth part on the last verse in the "Houses of the Holy" version), "D'yer Mak'er" a hard-rocking reggae track which was foolishly dismissed by critics at the time for not being "authentic" but which in retrospect showed reggae's crossover potential, and "The Ocean" featuring one of the most distinctive guitar riffs in rock history.
A personal Favorite
I absolutely love this album. OK this is more like 1 of the greatest hits cd's but it was compiled at once. Most of the tunes you will know if your a zepp fan at all. But if you were already a zepp fan you wouldn't be reading this review because you would already own this cd.
A slight intermission
Oh don't worry about it straying too far from the main theam of Led Zepplin. I find this Zep album to be a slight detour from the previous four albums. It dose keep close to the path although songs like Dyer Maker and The Crung may have you scratching your head. Why Robert Plant decided to write a ragae love soug,I just can't for the life of me figure out where his brain want. The album makes up for it's mushiness in songs like The Ocean(definaly a good sign of things to come in future albums) Probibly my most favorite song on the album aside from The Song Remains the Same is Dancing Days. This little gem has a pecular quality about it that can somehow get into your dreams despite it's weak theam. Generally I find Houses of the Holley to be nice little rest stop between albums.
My favorite Led Zeppelin album
In fact, their distinctive treatment of the blues makes the music on Houses of the Holy sound otherworldly and somehow ancient (like a lot of progressive rock) - this is certainly one of my favorite Led Zeppelin albums. There is a link between this English "heavy metal" group and the English progressive rock groups; as such, some progressive flourishes turn up here and there on this 1973 release.
The music on the Houses of the Holy presents a perfect balance of the thunderous hard rock aspects and the quieter, more contemplative moments (and there are a lot on this album). Pieces like The Rain Song with the soft mellotron pads, and the brooding, John Paul Jones led and synthesized bass - heavy No Quarter are both very pleasant. In addition, the acoustic textures on Over the Hills and Far Away also added a nice touch, along with unique interpretations of funk (The Crunge) and reggae (D Yer Mak er). I also really enjoyed John Bonham's thunderous drumming, brilliant guitar playing by Jimmy Page, and of course Robert Plants electrifying vocal style. All together, these elements made for a very exciting listening experience.
My decision to buy this remastered mini-LP version of the album was borne out of nostalgia alone. In this respect, I was not disappointed - the CD features good sound quality and is enclosed in a mini-LP jacket that is a fine replica of my old LP. Just a lot smaller.
Highly recommended along with the 1969 debut, Led Zeppelin III and Physical Graffiti. .
You can see a complete list of all Led Zeppelin discography, or go back to the Led Zeppelin tabs
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