Led Zeppelin - "Houses of the Holy" (1973) - Atlantic Records
Holy shit kids! Summer is here and you know what that means!?!?! Let's crack some beers, conjure up some demons and listen to Led Zeppelin's Houses of the Holy.
Is there any better way to kick off a long, hot summer than with Led Zep's fifth album? If there is, we'd like to know!
There's a ton of references to summer, and weather in general, on this album. Its like an ode to meteorology! Like Robert Plant croons in "The Rain Song": "It is the summer of my smiles / flee from me Keepers of the Gloom..." Ummm... our thoughts exactly!
With the galloping, epic opening number-- "The Song Remains the Same"-- we're off to a great start! One of the band's best tunes! It sets the table for what we're in store for: some "California sunlight" & "Sweet Calcutta rain."
Next we're going to chill out a little bit with the aforementioned, acousticy "Rain Song" and the quiet-loud-quiet of "Over the Hills and Far Away". Side one closes with the synthy funk of "The Crunge" (hey, they can't all be classics!)
Side Two is home to the upbeat "Dancing Days" and the reggae-influenced, "D'yer Mak'er"-- two FM radio staples. Then there's the weirdly atmospheric "No Quarter". With mystical lyrics about "The winds of Thor" and "Dogs of Doom", the song could be the soundtrack for Game of Thrones.
The album concludes with rollicking "The Ocean"-- a song dedicated to Led Zep's growing legion of fans-- features a great riff, some bruising drums and a doo-wop inspired coda!
Fun Fact: The iconic & controversial album cover for Houses of the Holy-- portraying pink-hued, naked blond children climbing some sort of apocalyptic landscape was inspired by the mutant children appearing at the end of Arthur C. Clarke's science fiction novel, Childhood's End (1953).
The song remains the same, indeed!
RATING: 4.5 Jokes about Jamaica out of 5
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