ALBUM REVIEW: Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy

    Led Zeppelin has a strong case for being the biggest group in the world by 1972 - off the back of four eponymous albums from 1969 to 1971, Zeppelin had asserted themselves as one of the obvious horsemen blazing the trails of rock, riding on with the likes of David Bowie and Yes through the early 1970s. After that initial run from their self-titled debut to their untitled fourth album (or Led Zeppelin IV if you're not a stickler for the details), it seemed that Zeppelin could do no wrong musically. Their records were beloved, their sales were great, and the shows were must-see events. Perhaps they went into '72 and '73 more confident; perhaps they wanted to mix up their formula more; perhaps they thought they were "too serious" or something like that. Any of these perspectives helps to explain their fifth album, Houses of the Holy, an album that followed a then unprecedented two year gap in releases from the band - keep in mind, this was the same group that released two albums in the year of their debut. Two years gone, Zeppelin is looser, more experimental, and often times more light in mood than on any of the albums that preceded it. With that being said, there is of course the fact that Houses of the Holy also shows Zeppelin at their most inconsistent since Led Zeppelin II, and plenty of rockers and interesting experiments are balanced out by moments that crash out just as hard as the moments that stick the landing.

     Before we completely derail into criticizing the many aspects of this album that are to be criticized, it should be worth noting that, yes, Led Zeppelin does deliver many fantastic moments on their fifth album; moments that are rightfully hailed as some of their strongest. One of the most immediate examples of this is the epic "Over the Hills and Far Away", carrying on the already established love of fantasy in the group with its allusions of traveling open roads and Tolkien-influenced title. A hill is no stairway, but the song still has epic rises and falls all the same, and standing as the central moment of the first half gives it prime billing for the album. Similarly, "The Song Remains the Same" serves as the album's epic opening, beginning things with the fantastic vocal work of Robert Plant and the prolific guitar playing of Jimmy Paige, things that had become standards for Led Zeppelin by this point - what was far less standard for the group was the ballad. That brings us to the largely acoustic and slower "Rain Song" that immediately follows, an uncharacteristically gentle, slightly introspective song from Zeppelin that is more built off the orchestral wall around it than it is any driving drum work or blazing guitar. It gives an opportunity for Plant's vocals, and the slightly schmaltzy lyrics, to be the main focus, and it's a fascinating change of pace. "The Ocean", the album's roaring closer, is your standard Zeppelin showcase for Bonham's ability, complete with strange time signature and one of Plant's most technically difficult vocal performances. It helps the album end with momentum, as does the preceding, assuredly epic "No Quarter", which may stand as the album's greatest testament for its experimentation and progressive leanings - the star here is John Paul Jones, whose foreboding synth work gives the song its heart and lungs, allowing it to cast large gusts upon the listener, only emphasized more by Paige's matching guitar work. It is undoubtedly the album's high mark of quality.

    Now, with all the good out of the way, it's time for the other side of the quarter - the album suffers a major dip in quality in the middle. Between the lively "Over the Hills and Far Away" and the epic "No Quarter", we are unfortunately given three numbers (out of eight on the album) that fall flat and continue to stumble all the way throughout the end of Side A through half of Side B. "D'yer Ma'ker" is not necessarily the worst of these offenders, but its success is something that continues to baffle me. Zeppelin doing reggae is not something I want to hear, and I for the life of me can't help but find the chorus' repetition and vocals more annoying than catchy. "Dancing Days" is the one I've grown the softest on, but it's still mostly a strange, almost acute rock number that doesn't have enough balls for its own good - this is the band that made "Rock and Roll" two years prior. This album's title track, which eventually found itself on Physical Graffiti, was apparently deemed worse than this. How they came to this conclusion, I can't say. I also can't tell you how they thought "The Rover" could be cut in favor of "The Crunge", which may very well be one of the worst things Zeppelin has laid down up to this point, saved only by a slightly humorous ending about "that confounding bridge". The synth work is silly, the melody is not there, the instrumental is more baffling than anything, and the fact that it was deemed suitable enough for the album is what surprises me more than anything - on any other Zeppelin album, this would rightfully be left on the cutting room floor.

    I hesitate to use the word "overrated" or "underrated" when writing, because ultimately stuff like that is not an objective art - I still hesitate to use the word in this case, but I find it less hard to do so. Houses of the Holy is often ranked within the group's top four albums, and it still finds itself popping up on various "best of all-time" album lists. In spite of that, I find that its shortcomings are much more noticeable in comparison to its preceding albums, all of which have lower low points, and usually have high points that match or even surpass the greatest moments on this record - I'd take "You Shook Me" or "Gallows Pole" or "Black Dog" over many of the songs on Houses of the Holy any day of the week. Don't mistake my criticism for Houses as me thinking it is a bad record, or that Zeppelin "lost their way" or something - it's still, ultimately, a good record, and the release of Physical Graffiti two years later proves they still had some coal in their engine. Still, I can't help but find this album to have more holes in it than any previous release from them, and in some ways it may signal the beginning of the end of the rock gods. Impiety? Perhaps, but when has that stopped anybody?

RATING: ✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯

Listen to Houses of the Holy.