HOUSES OF THE HOLY

After "Led Zeppelin IV" as the high point of their meteoric rise to the top of the rock scene, the English band left their comfort zone and opted to venture into new and challenging paths, the end result of which was "Houses of the Holy", their fifth album.

Distanced from the dense guitar riffs and thick instrumental walls of the previous album, Led Zeppelin presents a collage of styles from the very beginning of the album, with Jimmy Page's clean guitars close to progressive sonorities in the hyperactive "The Song Remains the Same", the acoustic folk overflown by the invaluable contribution of John Paul Jones' evocative mellotron in the beautiful ballad "Rain Song", and the Celtic reminiscences of JJR Tolkien's work in the boisterous "Over The Hills And Far Away", a piece sustained by Page's rhythmic acoustic riffs and John Bonham's mastery on percussion.

But the styles that are furthest away from the band's recognisable frontiers come with the American Funky of "The Crunge", a piece that doesn't quite manage to take off, the jubilant and persistent Groove of "Dancing Days", and the unsuspected "rock" reggae of "D'yer Ma'ker", in a clear demonstration of the exploratory concerns of Page and company.

The musical mosaic reserves for its final stretch the experimental progressive exercise that the vaporous and aquatic tension of "No Quarter" proposes with a stupendous work on Jones' atmospheric synthesizers, Robert Plant's voice loaded with effects and Page's saturated riffs in one of the best passages of the album, and "The Ocean", the track that comes closest to the band's hard rock roots.

"Houses of the Holy" is another of Led Zeppelin's great albums, and like "Led Zeppelin III", it has achieved widespread recognition over the years.

3.5/4 stars