Led Zeppelin - Houses Of The Holy (Vinyl)

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Houses of the Holy is the fifth studio album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin. It was released on 28 March 1973 by Atlantic Records.

The album benefited from two band members installing studios at home, which allowed them to develop more sophisticated songs and arrangements and expand their musical style. Several songs subsequently became fixtures in the group's live set, including "The Song Remains the Same", "The Rain Song" and "No Quarter". Other material recorded at the sessions, including the title track, was shelved and released on the later albums Physical Graffiti and Coda. All instruments and vocals were provided by the band members Robert Plant (vocals), Jimmy Page (guitar), John Paul Jones (bass, keyboards), and John Bonham (drums). The album was produced by Page and mixed by Eddie Kramer.

The cover was the first for the band to be designed by Hipgnosis and was based on a photograph taken at Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland.

The album was a stylistic turning point for the band. The composition and production laid foundations for subsequent releases. According to the band's biographer Dave Lewis, "while the barnstorming effect of the early era was now levelling off, and though devoid of the electricity of Zeppelin I and II, the sheer diversity of the third album, and lacking the classic status of the fourth, Houses of the Holy nevertheless found its rightful niche." The album largely abandoned their previous music's weighty, dark blues rock distortion in favor of a clean, expansive rock sound—as evinced by Page's sharper, brighter guitar tone. It was also likely the most eclectic musically of their albums, in the opinion of Consequence of Sound writer Kristofer Lenz, who observed swing rhythms on "Dancing Days", and experiments with reggae and psychedelic music on "D'Yer Mak'er" and "No Quarter", respectively. Pete Prown and HP Newquist have called it "a diverse collection of rockers, ballads, reggae, funk, and fifties-style rock 'n' roll".

 


A suitable description of this album is almost beyond the capability of mere words. One of the myriad things that makes Zeppelin so great is that the subject matter of their songs is generally about as far from the mundane as is empirically possible, and Led Zeppelin has the ability to completely capture your imagination in a way that few other bands are capable of. Houses Of The Holy is Led Zeppelin's greatest manifestation of that ability. The album starts with The Song Remains The Same, which takes You on a journey across the globe, in space and time, but all in your head, and seen/heard through the medium of John Bonham's crushing Drums, Jimmy Page's soaring Guitars, and Robert Plant's sirenesque Vocals. No Quarter drags you, willingly or unwillingly, along with some brutal viking death squad on an unholy mission through the fog enshrouded mystic ancient night to an unspecified but terrible destiny. Dancing Days leaves you in awe of it's magisterial mystique. Over The Hills And Far Away may be the most perfect example of what a Zep song should be. And just when You think it's all over, The Ocean simply bludgeons You into utter submission with it's entire hallelujah-chorus exploding Krakatoa of Guitar riffs cascading upwards to infinity. Many people consider Zoso to be Led Zeppelin's masterpiece. I say Houses Of The Holy is the one, Zep's monument to the ages.

By; DarthKarl.



1. "The Song Remains the Same" - 5:32
2. "The Rain Song" - 7:39
3. "Over the Hills and Far Away" - 4:50
4. "The Crunge" - 3:17


Side two
1. "Dancing Days" - 3:43
2. "D'yer Mak'er" - 4:23
3. "No Quarter" - 7:00
4. "The Ocean" - 4:31
Total length: 40:57





180 gram vinyl housed in a gatefold jacket and issued in a white poly lined inner sleeve. The gatefold jacket is sealed with a white bellyband including the following printed text:
Front : Led Zeppelin Houses Of The Holy
Back : [Atlantic logo] 8122796573
Includes an 11" x 11" thick velum style paper insert with lyrics and band line-up.

Runouts are entirely etched, and where Optimal Media GmbH's faintly inscribed geometric marks appear, these are mirrored:
Variant 2: Side A '51▽', side B '1 11 -'
Variant 3: Side A '3=1', side B '4V1'
Variant 4: Side A '3+X', side B '4 T T'
Variant 5: Side A '2VT', side B '41–'
Due to the nature of the hand etching, it can sometimes appear that there is a space between the letters and numbers of the Optimal Media GmbH identifiers. However, as per the Optimal Media GmbH label page, their runout scheme "is in fact always without spaces."

[Sticker:]
The classic album on 180g vinyl
Remastered & produced by Jimmy Page

[Insert:]
Recorded at Rolling Stones Mobile Studio at Stargroves (Hampshire), Island Studio (London), Olympic Studios (London)
℗ & © 1973 Atlantic Recording Corporation, a Warner Music Group Company. [...]
All lyrics administered by WB Music Corp. (ASCAP)
Made in the EU. 8122796573

[Labels:]
℗ & © 1973 Atlantic Recording Corporation. Manufactured in Germany.