Houses of the Holy
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| Houses of the Holy | ||
| ||
| Studio album by Led Zeppelin | ||
| Released | March 28, 1973 | |
| Recorded | January-August, 1972 at both Stargroves, England and Headley Grange, Hampshire, with Rolling Stones Mobile Studio; Island Studios, London. Mixed at Olympic Studios, London; Electric Lady Studios, New York | |
| Genre | Heavy Metal Folk Rock Hard Rock | |
| Length | 40:56 | |
| Label | Atlantic Records | |
| Producer(s) | Jimmy Page | |
| Professional reviews | ||
|---|---|---|
| Led Zeppelin chronology | ||
| Led Zeppelin IV (1971) | Houses of the Holy (1973) | Physical Graffiti (1975)
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- For the Led Zeppelin song of the same name, see Houses of the Holy (song).
Houses of the Holy is an album by English rock band Led Zeppelin released by Atlantic Records on March 28, 1973 (see 1973 in music). The album title is a dedication by the band to their fans who appeared at venues they dubbed "Houses of the Holy."
This album was a stylistic turning point in Led Zeppelin's career. Guitar riffs became heavier, losing some of their blues influences, and the lyrics turn towards mysticism to a greater degree. It was also an album featuring styles not seen on previous Led Zeppelin albums. For example, "D'yer Mak'er" is a reggae-based tune, "No Quarter" features some foreboding keyboard sounds, while "The Crunge" is a funk tribute to James Brown included at the end of side 1. The album's closing song "The Ocean" is also dedicated to the "sea" of fans who came in their masses to Led Zeppelin concerts.
The cover art for Houses of the Holy was inspired by the ending of Arthur C. Clarke's novel Childhood's End. It is a collage of several photographs taken at the Giant's Causeway, Northern Ireland, by Aubrey Powell of Hipgnosis. The photoshoot was a miserable affair over the course of every morning for a week. The desired sunrise never appeared due to constant rain and clouds and many of the models were never used. The results of the shoot were less than satisifactory, but some accidental tinting effects in post-production created an unexpectedly magical album cover. It was initially released with a paper collar wrapped around the cover, printed with the band and album name, that had to be broken or slid off to access the record. This hid the childrens' bottoms from general display, but still the album was either banned or unavailable in Spain and some parts of the Southern United States for several years. The cover was rated #6 on VH1's 50 Greatest Album Covers in 2003.
This was Led Zeppelin's last studio release on Atlantic Records, before they formed their own label, Swan Song Records, in 1974. It was also the only Led Zeppelin album that contained complete printed lyrics to each song.
In 2003, the album was ranked number 149 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
In 2004, the industrial metal group Ministry released an album called Houses of the Molé, a parody of the title of this album. The 1989 film Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure pays homage to the album, when, during the final scene, the protagonists are delivering a presentation about ancient Greece (having recently visited it), they describe what they saw as follows: "470 BC. A time when much of the world looked like the cover of the Led Zeppelin album Houses of the Holy".
"Houses of the Holy" is also the name of a song which was recorded during the sessions for this album, but wasn't actually released until 1975. It appeared on the album Physical Graffiti.
Contents |
[edit] Track listing
- "The Song Remains the Same" (Page/Plant) – 5:30
- "The Rain Song" (Page/Plant) – 7:39
- "Over the Hills and Far Away" (Page/Plant) – 4:50
- "The Crunge" (Bonham/Jones/Page/Plant) – 3:17
- "Dancing Days" (Page/Plant) – 3:43
- "D'yer Mak'er" (Page/Plant/Jones/Bonham) – 4:23
- "No Quarter" (Page/Plant/Jones) – 7:00
- "The Ocean" (Page/Plant/Jones/Bonham) – 4:31
[edit] Credits
- Peter Grant - Executive producer
- Eddie Kramer - Engineer, mixing
- Keith Harwood - Mixing
- Andy Johns - Engineer, mixing (Track 7)
- Hipgnosis - Sleeve Art Direction
- Aubrey Powell - Cover Photography
[edit] Charts
Album - Billboard (North America)
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Pop Albums (Billboard 200) | 1 |
Singles - Billboard (North America)
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | "D'Yer Mak'er" | Pop Singles (Billboard Hot 100) | 20 |
| 1973 | "Over The Hills And Far Away" | Pop Singles (Billboard Hot 100) | 51 |
| 1973 | "Dancing Days" | Pop Singles (Billboard Hot 100) | 51 |
[edit] External links
- Houses of the Holy at MusicBrainz
- Led Zeppelin Houses of the Holy Lyrics
- Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin Houses of the Holy Cover Art
- Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin Houses of the Holy Cover Art - Aubrey Powell
| Led Zeppelin |
|---|
| Jimmy Page · Robert Plant · John Paul Jones · John Bonham |
| Discography - (Category) |
| Studio albums: Led Zeppelin · Led Zeppelin II · Led Zeppelin III · Image:Zoso.svg (Led Zeppelin IV) · Houses of the Holy · Physical Graffiti · Presence · In Through the Out Door Live albums: The Song Remains the Same · BBC Sessions · How the West Was Won |
| Films |
| The Song Remains the Same · Led Zeppelin DVD |
| Other |
| Peter Grant · Richard Cole · Swan Song Records · The Yardbirds · XYZ · The Firm · Page and Plant · Strange Sensation · Bootlegs ∙ Concerts ∙ Songs |
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