Houses Of The Holy
In March 1973, one of the greatest rock albums of all time was released: Led Zeppelin�s Houses Of The Holy. Intriguing and inventive, no two songs on this album are quite alike. This is some of Zeppelin�s most original work ever.
Houses Of The Holy opens with �The Song Remains The Same.� I remember putting on that record, hearing the first few guitar chords flow and jumping up and down in my shoes with excitement. �The Song Remains The Same� is a fast-moving number, with fiery guitar overdubs and high-voltage drumming. Guitarist Jimmy Page had originally intended the number to be instrumental, before lead vocalist Robert Plant � in a frenzy of inspiration � scribbled down some lyrics expressing his vision of a common denominator for all people and things. As it turned out, the lyrics and the music fit perfectly together.
The second number, �The Rain Song,� is a dreamy, romantic rapture; and a big change from the hard blues Zeppelin is known for playing. In �The Rain Song,� bassist John Paul Jones created a lavish string arrangement on his Mellotron. Legend has it that former Beatles guitarist George Harrison inspired this song; he asked Zeppelin drummer John Bonham, �How come you guys don�t write any ballads?� Here is indeed a ballad, and a touchingly beautiful one at that.
�Over The Hills And Far Away� succeeds �The Rain Song.� This song is yet another more ballad-like song of Zeppelin�s. It starts out with sweet acoustic guitar playing, then launches into a bouncy groove, with electric guitar overdubbed on the acoustic.
John Bonham opens �The Crunge,� with a drum beat (after Jimmy Page and engineer George Chkianz ask him, �Ready to rock?� in the background). John Paul Jones follows up with a funky bass line; Page starts his guitar playing; Robert Plant begins singing with a strong, sexy voice; and the song takes off into a James Brown-like groove.
�Dancing Days� is one of the heaviest songs on the album; but it is not as blues as the typical Zeppelin material. My father even said it was somewhat avant-garde.
Bonham had the original idea for the song, �D�yer Mak�er,� incorporating a doo-wop sound into it. It is not pronounced �Dyer Maker,� instead it is pronounced, �Ja Maica (Jamaica).� True to its title, this song has a strong Jamaican reggae influence. My father calls it, �The Jamaica Song,� and not just because of how the title is pronounced.
�No Quarter� is a dark, watery number. As Zeppelin tour manager Richard Cole said, �"No Quarter" showed their flair for the mysterious and dramatic.� �No Quarter� features John Paul Jones on Mellotron again (and piano); and Bonham�s drumming�particularly on the symbols�creates a picture of snow falling on a cold dark winter night. As Robert Plant sings, �Snow falls hard, and don�t you know? The winds of Thor are blooming cold.�
The album�s closing number, �The Ocean,� is another one of the album�s most hard, grinding songs. If one listens carefully enough, at the beginning Bonham can be heard chanting, �We�ve done four already but now we�re steady and so they went, one, two, three, four.� Page�s guitar blasts into the song, with Bonham drumming and Jones playing all the while, before Plant begins to sing. It is said that this song was written about the ocean of fans cheering at Zeppelin�s concerts, and as Plant sings, �Singing to an ocean, I can hear the ocean�s roar/play for free, play for me, play the whole night long.� Bonham received credit as a primary writer on the tune.
Although the album was recorded in 1972, its release was delayed for a long time, due to problems with the cover artwork, usually because of untrue, overly bright colours. Page was worried that the colours would make the album look like a cosmetics advertisement in a fashion magazine. The album cover portrays young blonde naked children (who look uncannily like Robert Plant�s children) climbing up rocky hills against an orange sky. The inside image shows one of the naked children lifting up another high into the air. The two children are located on a huge dark greenish-red hill, in front of a castle, against a sky fading out from deep blue into yellow.
This album was called Houses Of The Holy in reference to the spiritual aura that the band embellished as hovering over their concert performances. Ironically, the album�s title song (�Houses Of The Holy�) was not recorded until their next album, Physical Graffitti (released in 1975).
Houses Of The Holy is a perfect depiction of Zeppelin heading into new directions. The material is very original and the songs vary. Yet, they don�t neglect their blues and R&B roots�and in some ways, Zeppelin�s song still remains the same.