•
Rating:
"This album will be something truly new. If you base yourself only on a single pattern, you do nothing but repeat yourself." This is how Page spoke in 1972, illustrating what would become the fifth album by Led Zeppelin, then probably the most famous band on the planet. The Led had indeed reached a point in their career where it was necessary to embark on new paths: the first four fantastic albums that had definitively enshrined them in myth belonged to a too recent past and no longer allowed them to resort to the same formulas used previously. Now a renewal, a change was needed, which would inevitably involve risks but were nonetheless necessary to take.
With these thoughts, the band returned to the studio in the early months of 1972 for the recording of "Houses Of The Holy", whose release scheduled for the end of the year was postponed to early 1973 due to issues that arose during the making of the cover. Indeed, right from the first track of the album, "The Song Remains The Same", you can feel that something has changed in Led's sound: no longer raw and dirty, but clean and crystalline. The song is sparkling, and Page initially wrote it as an instrumental; Plant would add the lyrics only at the last moment. "The Song Remains The Same" is built on an exceptional rhythmic fabric, which Page embellishes with continuous guitar overdubs, both 12 and 6-strings, giving brightness to the track. This is also thanks to a magnificent Jones in great shape, and a truly remarkable vocal performance by Plant. After this dazzling start, we arrive at the acoustic "The Rain Song", a masterpiece. The sweet melody paired with Jones' subtle mellotron and Plant's delicate singing is torn towards the end by a tempo shift that makes it a slightly more lively rock before returning it to its original form. We then arrive at "Over The Hills And Far Away", a track opened by Page's irresistible acoustic riff that then flows into the electric chorus. The song has a truly exceptional rhythm section, a testament to the solid rhythmic bond between Jones and Bonham, and is a cheerful and sunny track, which makes it even more enjoyable. After this brilliant episode, we reach "The Crunge", a fun track characterized by Page's funky riff, which continues to enter and exit from the rhythm played by Bonham, making the piece non-danceable. We proceed with the joyful "Dancing Days", which testifies to the band's particularly happy period. It is a track that once again finds its backbone in Page's guitar, but, despite everything, remains a minor episode in Led's discography. The playful atmosphere continues with the negligible "D'Yer Mak'er", a fun parody of reggae, whose title is a play on words between the resemblance of "Da ye make her" and "Jamaica". After this track comes the masterpiece of "Houses Of The Holy": "No Quarter". Here, Plant's filtered voice, Jones' keyboards, and Page's menacing riff give the piece tension, drama, mystery, and intensity, enveloping it in an unsettling fog. The dark and mysterious plot leads to the middle section of the track in a beautifully interpreted jazz solo by Page. The protagonist, as well as the main author of the piece, is however Jones with his keyboard. "No Quarter" indeed will become his showcase in live performances, just like "Dazed & Confused" was for Page and "Moby Dick" for Bonham. After this epic track, we return to a more upbeat conclusion with "The Ocean", a fine, decisive rock centered once again on Page's efficient riff, and the title is a metaphor for the ocean of heads of fans that the Led would find at their concerts.
The record was released on March 28, 1973, and it conquered the first position in both the US and UK charts, but was literally slammed by the critics, which deeply embittered the band, especially Page. "Houses Of The Holy" needs to be re-evaluated because it is truly a great album, but such re-evaluation has not yet fully occurred. It is the so-called transition album that sees the Led in search of something new: songs with more complex and less direct rhythmic structures, bright and clean sounds, less blues and hard-rock. "Houses Of The Holy" inaugurates the brightest period of the Led: that of their popularity, which in the following three years will reach the highest point, of artistic maturity and reflections on an uncertain future.
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
03 Over the Hills and Far Away (04:50)
Hey lady
You got the love I need
Maybe more than enough
Oh, darlin', darlin', darlin'
Walk a while with me
Ohh, you've got so much
So much
So much
Many have I loved
Many times been bitten
Many times I've gazed along the open road
Many times I've lied
And many times I've listened
Many times I've wondered how much there is to know
Many dreams come true
And some have silver linings
I live for my dream and a pocketful of gold
Mellow is the man
Who knows what he's been missing
Many many men can't see the open road
Many is a word that only leaves you guessing
Guessing 'bout a thing you really ought to know, ohh ohh ohh ohh
Really ought to know, ohh ohh
I really ought to know
04 The Crunge (03:17)
I wanna tell you 'bout my good thing
I ain't disclosing no names but
He sure is a good friend and
I ain't gonna tell you where he comes from but
If I tell you, you won't come again, oh, hey
I ain't gonna tell you nothing but I do will what I know, yeah
Now let me tell you 'bout my girl
I open up a newspaper and what do I see, ahh, ahh
See my girl, ahh, looking at me
Ooh, and when she walks, she walks
And lemme tell ya, when she talks, she talks
And when she looks me in my eye
She's my baby, Lord, I wanna make her mine, yeah
Ooh, tell me baby what you want me to do
And you want me to love you, love some other man ooh
Ain't gonna call me Mr. Pitiful, no
Ah, I don't need no respect from nobody, no, no
Ahh, no no
Ahh
I ain't gonna tell you nothing, I ain't gonna no more, no
She's my baby, let me tell you that I love her so and
And she's the woman I really wanna love and let me tell you more, ooh
She's my baby, lemme tell you she lives next door
She's the one a woman, the one a woman that I know
I ain't gonna, I ain't gonna, I ain't gonna tell
I ain't gonna tell you one thing that you really ought to know, ooh
She's my lover baby and I love her so and
She's the one that really makes me whirl and twirl and
She's the kind of lover that makes me me fill the whole world and
She's the one who really makes me jump and shout, ohh
She's the kind of girl, I know what it's all about
Take it on, take it, take it, take it
Ah, excuse me
Oh, will you excuse me
I'm just trying to find the bridge
Has anybody seen the bridge?
Please
Have you seen the bridge?
I ain't seen the bridge
Where's that confounded bridge?
07 No Quarter (07:00)
Close the door, put out the light
Know they won't be home tonight
The snow falls hard and don't you know
The winds of Thor are blowing cold
They're wearing steel that's bright and true
They carry news that must get through
They choose the path where no one goes
They hold no quarter
They hold no quarter
Walking side by side with death
The devil mocks their every step
The snow drives back the foot that's slow
The dogs of doom are howling more
They carry news that must get through
To build a dream for me and you
They choose the path that no one goes
They hold no quarter
They ask no quarter
They hold no quarter
They ask no quarter
They ask no quarter
They give no quarter
08 The Ocean (04:33)
"We've done four already but now we're steady, and then they went: one, two, three, four"
Singing in the sunshine, laughing in the rain
Hitting on the moonshine, rocking in the grain
Got no time to pack my bag, my foot's outside the door
I got a date, I can't be late, for the high hopes hailla ball
Singing to an ocean, I can hear the ocean's roar
Play for free and play for me and play a whole lot more, more
Singing about good things and the sun that lights the day
I used to sing on the mountains, has the ocean lost its way
La la la-la-la la-la la-la-la-la-la-la-la-lahh
La la la-la-la la-la la-la-la-la-la-la-la-lah
La la la-la-la la-la la-la-la-la-la-la-la-lahh
La la la-la-la la-la la-la-la-la-la-la-la-lah
Sitting round singing songs 'til the night turns into day
Used to sing on the mountains, but the mountains washed away
Now I'm singing all my songs to the girl who won my heart
She is only three years old and it's a real fine way to start
Loading comments slowly
Other reviews
By Antonino91
"Houses Of The Holy is none of that. It is more, much more, more. This album was underrated, and perhaps someone wanted it to be judged better."
"No Quarter, undoubtedly a milestone...Power and refined creativity characterize both 'No Quarter' and 'The Ocean.'"
By killrockstar76
"Houses of the Holy, for me, is certainly not a lesser album."
"No Quarter, a marvel that should instantly... drive you to recover it, buy it, steal it, listen to it!!!!"
By claudio carpentieri
The opening of the work is a complex activity of instrumental coordination with Page’s layered guitars and Bonham’s hard-hitting style taking center stage.
"No Quarter" offers seven minutes of immense auditory pleasure and showcases Page’s memorable finishing activity with a crystalline sound.
By Rax
The delusion of omnipotence and the desire for novelty result in the fourth-rate funk of "The Crunge" and the insipid reggae of "D’yer Maker."
"No Quarter" is saved, a delightful masterpiece of psychedelic blues, which in this genre even surpasses "Dazed and Confused."
