Houses Of The Holy - LED ZEPPELIN***

The Song Remains The Same/The Rain Song/Over The Hills & Far Away/The Crunge/Dancing Days/D'yer Maker/No Quarter/The Ocean

After four barnstorming albums from heavy rock giants Led Zeppelin, Houses Of The Holy came as something of a disappointment. The problem is that there are too many musical duds here. (US:1 UK:1)

“This album was so puzzling to me when it came out. The first four Zeppelin albums were so intense and compelling. This one sounded so weak and lifeless, as if they were no longer trying.”

“Led Zeppelin produced four truly great albums. What followed can only be described as inconsistent and sketchy. Some of the tracks on Houses Of The Holy are truly horrible, and the remainder are merely adequate. I would suggest Led Zeppelin's later work is for completists only, and is certainly in no way essential.”

“This album nailed absolutely everything: the songwriting is some of the most creative and interesting stuff they ever recorded, and represents the perfect middle ground between their early raw rock 'n' roll sound and the more intricate productions of their later career.”

“Houses Of The Holy takes a step further away from Led Zeppelin's bluesy beginnings and further into more ambitious explorations of different possible musical directions. A bit more awkward than its predecessor, there are a few misfires here - The Crunge is flat-out obnoxious, and D'yer Maker and Dancing Days are both pretty cheesy and forgettable. However there are also some truly brilliant moments containing some of Led Zeppelin's best and most creative music.”

“And so we depart from the fabulous first four Led Zeppelin albums, and embark upon their experimental phase, in which they decided that playing straightforward hard rock simply wasn't enough any more.”

“This one might be the most inconsistent Led Zeppelin release I have heard. On one side you have some great tracks where they are able to mix folk and hard rock riffs, have great guitar work in them and even cool piano solos. Then you have some of the worst songs this band has produced such as The Crunge and D’yer Maker just a goofy reggae. Overall a pretty mediocre release, in which you will get the urge to skip the whole lame mid section.”