Led Zeppelin 1973 Houses Of The Holy
#beautifulcovers
When, on March 28, 1973, Led Zeppelin fans rushed into stores to buy the band's latest work, Houses of the Holy, they could only stand in awe and amazement at the cover — mystical, enigmatic, yet visually intuitive at the same time. But one couldn't expect anything less. It was designed by one of the most famous studios of all time, Hipgnosis.
When Led Zeppelin contacted the studio's partners, Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey Powell (who was responsible for the cover, since Thorgerson was fired after a disagreement with the band), a creative process began that led to the development of one of the most famous album covers ever.
The initial ideas were actually three:
- sculpting the ZoSo symbol on the Nazca lines, the Peruvian plateau famous for its “drawings” in the desert;
- immortalizing an electromagnetic tennis court with a racket;
- drawing inspiration from the science fiction novel Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke, in which children emerge from the earth, heading toward space, enveloped in a shining light.
The latter idea appealed to the group, but to realize it, they needed children. Powell, who took charge of the operations, found a family with two young siblings (Stefan and Samantha Gates).
The album was set to be released in early 1973, so the process needed to be expedited. Led Zeppelin therefore gave the Hipgnosis studio a free hand and, importantly, established an unlimited budget.
However, the tight timelines forced Powell to change locations: from Peru to Ireland. The result remained astonishing. The chosen site had nothing to envy from the Peruvian landscape. The photo shoot took place at the Giant’s Causeway, a breathtaking formation of more than 40,000 basalt columns!
Legend has it that this path, located in County Antrim, was created by a giant named Finn McCool, who had to travel to Scotland to fight against his rival, the other giant Benandonner. In Scotland, there is a similar formation: Fingal’s Cave. For those who don’t believe in myths and legends, the explanation is a powerful volcanic explosion from tens of millions of years ago.
The photo shoot lasted ten days, with the weather not being very favorable for the photographer. The rain was incessant, so they decided to shoot in black and white. Later, color would be added. Today, the cover depicts the children painted in colors different from those initially imagined due to an error by the graphic designer, who accidentally spilled magenta color over their images, but this nonetheless found approval from the band.
What we see on the cover are thirty overlapping shots that create a single image of the
#beautifulcovers
When, on March 28, 1973, Led Zeppelin fans rushed into stores to buy the band's latest work, Houses of the Holy, they could only stand in awe and amazement at the cover — mystical, enigmatic, yet visually intuitive at the same time. But one couldn't expect anything less. It was designed by one of the most famous studios of all time, Hipgnosis.
When Led Zeppelin contacted the studio's partners, Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey Powell (who was responsible for the cover, since Thorgerson was fired after a disagreement with the band), a creative process began that led to the development of one of the most famous album covers ever.
The initial ideas were actually three:
- sculpting the ZoSo symbol on the Nazca lines, the Peruvian plateau famous for its “drawings” in the desert;
- immortalizing an electromagnetic tennis court with a racket;
- drawing inspiration from the science fiction novel Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke, in which children emerge from the earth, heading toward space, enveloped in a shining light.
The latter idea appealed to the group, but to realize it, they needed children. Powell, who took charge of the operations, found a family with two young siblings (Stefan and Samantha Gates).
The album was set to be released in early 1973, so the process needed to be expedited. Led Zeppelin therefore gave the Hipgnosis studio a free hand and, importantly, established an unlimited budget.
However, the tight timelines forced Powell to change locations: from Peru to Ireland. The result remained astonishing. The chosen site had nothing to envy from the Peruvian landscape. The photo shoot took place at the Giant’s Causeway, a breathtaking formation of more than 40,000 basalt columns!
Legend has it that this path, located in County Antrim, was created by a giant named Finn McCool, who had to travel to Scotland to fight against his rival, the other giant Benandonner. In Scotland, there is a similar formation: Fingal’s Cave. For those who don’t believe in myths and legends, the explanation is a powerful volcanic explosion from tens of millions of years ago.
The photo shoot lasted ten days, with the weather not being very favorable for the photographer. The rain was incessant, so they decided to shoot in black and white. Later, color would be added. Today, the cover depicts the children painted in colors different from those initially imagined due to an error by the graphic designer, who accidentally spilled magenta color over their images, but this nonetheless found approval from the band.
What we see on the cover are thirty overlapping shots that create a single image of the
withor
4 jan
DeRank ™: 40,32
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