Led Zeppelin Houses of the Holy released

Houses of the Holy Led Zeppelin

Released: March 28, 1973 Peak: 12 US, 12 UK, 14 CN, 13 AU Sales (in millions): 11.0 US, 0.3 UK, 19.1 world (includes US and UK) Genre: classic rock/metal

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. The Song Remains the Same [5:30] (6 CL) The Rain Song [7:39] (6 CL) Over the Hills and Far Away [4:50] (6/9/73, 51 US, 28 CB, 31 HR, 1 CL, 63 CN) The Crunge (Bonham/Jones/Page/Plant) [3:17] (18 CL) Dancing Days [3:43] (9 CL) D’Yer Mak’er (Bonham/Jones/Page/Plant) [4:22] (10/13/73, 20 US, 16 CB, 15 HR, 15 RR, 1 CL, 24 CN) No Quarter (Jones/Page/Plant) [7:00] (12 CL) The Ocean (Bonham/Jones/Page/Plant) [4:31] (2 CL) Songs written by Plage/Plant unless noted otherwise. Total Running Time: 40:57 The Players: Robert Plant (vocals) Jimmy Page (guitar) John Paul Jones (bass, keyboards) John Bonham (drums)

Rating: 4.259 out of 5.00 (average of 25 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “Houses of the Holy follows the same basic pattern as Led Zeppelin IV, but the approach is looser and more relaxed. Jimmy Page’s riffs rely on ringing, folky hooks as much as they do on thundering blues-rock, giving the album a lighter, more open atmosphere.” AMG Such songs “suggest that the band was searching for material, they actually contribute to the musical diversity of the album.” AMG “The pseudo-reggae of D’Yer Mak’er” AMG grew out of Bonham’s efforts to combine reggae with doo-wop of the 1950s. WK Jones didn’t think the song was well thought out, but Plant thought it should be a single. Plant’s wishes were veoted in the UK, but the song became a top-20 hit in the U.S. WK “The affectionate James Brown send-up The Crunge” AMG was written by Bonham when he decided to create a funk beat. Plant then improvised lyrics in James Brown’s style. Plant specifically parodied Brown’s “Take It to the Bridge” vocal style toward the end of the song. WK “The Rain Song is one of Zep’s finest moments, featuring a soaring string arrangement and a gentle, aching melody.” AMG Page composed the entire arrangement and vocal melody which Page composed at his home studio. He was inspired by George Harrison’s complaint that Led Zeppelin never did any ballads. WK “The Ocean is just as good, starting with a heavy, funky guitar groove before slamming into an a cappella section and ending with a swinging, doo wop-flavored rave-up.” AMG The song was attempted for the band’s fourth album, but abandoned. It became a band favorite, played at every show from 1973 to 1979. WK Lyrically, it is about Led Zeppelin’s fans and their devotion. WK “The rampaging opening number, The Song Remains the Same” AMG was intially an instrumental written by Page known as “The Overture.” Once Plant added lyrics, it became “The Campaign.” WK “The rest of Houses of the Holy is fairly straightforward, ranging from the foreboding No Quarter” AMG “The strutting hard rock of Dancing Days” AMG shows a general optimistic attitude toward life. WK “The epic folk/metal fusion Over the Hills and Far Away” AMG was written in two different parts. The first was a quiet, acoustic piece and was followed by a more energetic, electric piece. WK “Throughout the record, the band’s playing is excellent, making the eclecticism of Page and Robert Plant’s songwriting sound coherent and natural.” AMG Notes: A 2014 reissue addes a second disc with alternate mixes of the album’s songs.

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Led Zeppelin AMG All Music Guide review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine WK Wikipedia Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/21/2008; last updated 9/5/2021.

Pink Floyd's “Brain Damage/Eclipse” released on Dark Side of the Moon

Brain Damage/Eclipse Pink Floyd

Writer(s): Roger Waters (see lyrics here) Released: March 1, 1973 (album cuts) First Charted: -- Peak: 1 CL, 3 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 6.8 video, 98.37 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon is considered one of the most important albums of all time. The group’s eighth studio album is one of the top 5 best-selling albums ever and has spent more time on the Billboard album chart (18+ years) than any album in history. Dave’s Music Database ranks it #2 all time, only behind the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s. The album’s two closing songs, “Brain Damage” and “Eclipse,” were never released as singles but have received significant airplay on album rock stations, paired together as one track. They come closest to being the album’s “title cut” in that “Brain Damage” was nearly titled “The Dark Side of the Moon” and, at one time, the album was tentatively going to be called Eclipse: A Piece for Assorted Lunatics. SP The British blues rock band Medicine Head released an album in 1972 called Dark Side of the Moon so Pink Floyd considered the new title. However, when Medicine Head’s album went nowhere, Pink Floyd went back to the original title. SP In the case of “Brain Damage,” the band’s bassist and songwriter Roger Waters hated that Pink Floyd’s band was considered “space rock.” He said their music “was never about anything but inner space” SP and that “Brain Damage” was “more about a metaphorical line between sanity and insanity than an actual celestial body.” SP The song opens with the lyric “the lunatic is on the grass” and “manic ramblings in the background.” CA The line is clearly inspired by the group’s founding guitarist and songwriter Syd Barrett, “rock’s most celebrated acid casualty.” SM After the group’s first album, David Gilmour joined the group to supplement Barrett as he was slipping further away due to mental problems exasperated by drug use. Barrett was featured in a limited capacity on the group’s second album before Gilmour became his permanent replacement. The “superb ‘Eclipse” CA “sounds like the end of a film, the end of an opera or stage show. It fades out to mirror the sound of a heart beat, the same kind of sound that opened the album.” AD Hence, Pink Floyd conclude their “dark symphony…it's clear that the entire world has gone mad and there may be no hope for anyone.” RV Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Pink Floyd CA ClassicAlbums.co.uk AD Adrian Denning SM Stuart Maconie, BBC2’s “Critical List” RV The Review “100 Greatest Albums of All Time” by Clarke Speicher (October – November 2001; Vol. 128: numbers 12-23). SP Spin.com (3/24/2023). “Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon: Track By Track” by Al Shipley Related Links: First posted 3/30/2023.