Glorious follow-up

Houses of the Holy. Five Stars.

I rank this CD right behind III as my favorite Zeppelin album. It's not as eclectic as the former, but on the other hand... It's a very fun record, lighthearted and with a sense of humour. I don't tend to associate Led Zeppelin with that quality, but it's on hand here.

The opener (The Song Remains the Same) is very immediate and infectious. It rocks with glee. These are the experts, after all... It slows down for a set of verses done in a higher register than Plant usually goes for. You might find it eerie and offputting, but he uses it all through the record, so you'd best get used to it. Meantime... this rocks.

The Rain Song is a bit overambitious, but it has a certain mellow appeal. Heck, it's even romantic. Slow moving, heavily draped with keyboards, very long and winding. It's really a nice interlude, though these two long songs ensure that the CD gets off to a slower start than the previous ones do.

Everything is fixed with Over the Hills and Far Away. It has a folky, appealing intro, before launching into an equally appealing, jaunty rock song. It's fun and has a keyboard solo placed on the end, which is an interesting addition.

The Crunge is an abrasive "song." It's more along the lines of a stand-up comedy act. The lyric is completely ridiculous, made even more so by Plant's ludicrous delivery and the brash, in-your-face instrumentation. It's not really a song, so over-listening to the record will make this one wear thin faster than the others.

Dancing Days returns to the usual Led Zep territory. It does nothing new, but it's cool. Great riff, classic rock attitude is presented, really short and packing a punch. Easiest song on here to like.

D'yer Make'er is weird, but very pleasing nonetheless. It has a sense of... drama, for lack of a better word. It's my current favorite song off Houses of the Holy. It's so well structured, and the music is so sunny, despite the sad lyric; which also contains an upbeat quality in its odd delivery.

No Quarter is the one that doesn't fit. It's a very dark mood piece, and reminds me of When the Levee Breaks, as it has the same majestic quality. It's a quieter track though, stately and dignified. The strange thing is that it doesn't sound that out of place, despite the fact that it should.

The Ocean is the closer. It's a rocker, obviously, but surprisingly layered. Just when you have it pinned, it cartwheels into some sort of pastiche of cheezy pop backing vocals. There's no reason for it, but it's nice.

Houses of the Holy proves that, as of '73, Zeppelin weren't boxing themselves in and repeating the megahit formula. It sounds like a creative, good times record. I don't know if that's true behind the scenes, but I'm too afraid to look, for fear the band will pull a Deep Purple on me. :)

Makes me curious about Physical Grafitti though. I haven't heard it in years...