Last Updated on 27 January 2026 by Massimo M.
Led Zeppelin’s fifth album, Houses of the holy, was released in March 1973.
The vinyl of Houses of the holy, released by the historic label Atlantic records with catalog number K50014 (K50014A) and produced by Jimmy Page, is definitely a very special record and is one of the most significant rock products released in that year.
In this vinyl the typical sounds of Led Zeppelin are always present but the gloom of certain atmospheres present in the previous records prevails, giving way to greater joy and the desire to experiment with new sounds. An example for all the splendid The song remain the same.
The change of course undertaken by the band was also due to the emergence of the talent of John Paul Jones, who in previous works had been decidedly overshadowed by the duo Plant / Page, who instead acquires a leading role in the composition of the album.
Curiously what was supposed to be the title track, Houses of the holy, was not included on the album but was later recorded in Physical Graffiti.
As often happens with records that mark a turning point in the career of an important band also for Houses of the holy, the critics and the public were divided, and are still divided, into those who considered it a minor work and those who defined it as a new band’s masterpiece.
In any case the album conquered the first position in the Billboard 200, where it remained for two weeks, and in the UK Albums Chart, in Australia for three weeks and in Canada, the third in Japan, France, Austria and Holland, the fourth in Norway , eighth in Germany and ninth in Spain.
Even the album cover is extremely particular indeed it is considered one of the most beautiful in the history of rock. This was created by the famous Hipgnosis studio, author of the cover of Pink Floyd’s Dark side of the moon and other beautiful covers, using photographic overlays created on an extremely suggestive site, the so-called giant’s causeway, then airbrushing it all over.
The image was inspired by reading a famous novel by A.C.Clarke, Childhood’s end.
Unlike other Zeppelin works, see for example the case of Zoso , for this disc there is only one element that helps distinguish the first pressing from the second. You have to look at the disc label to see that the first pressing has the copyright rules written entirely inside the orange part while in the following pressings this writing protrudes abundantly in green and is concluded with the logo W.
Track list
Side A
The Song Remains the Same (Jimmy Page, Robert Plant) – 5:30
The Rain Song (Jimmy Page, Robert Plant) – 7:38
Over the Hills and Far Away (Jimmy Page, Robert Plant) – 4:49
The Crunge (Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Bonham, John Paul Jones) – 3:17
Side B
Dancing Days (Jimmy Page, Robert Plant) – 3:43
D’yer Mak’er (Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Bonham, John Paul Jones) – 4:22
No Quarter (Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones) – 7:00
The Ocean (Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Bonham, John Paul Jones) – 4:31
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