1st album, fifth in the
discography of Led Zeppelin, to bring a real title, after the
previous were named for their publication order; also presents totally
original material, no versions, with more "hard Rock" and less
"blues"; brand a change in recording techniques, as has been done up
to now. It began in December 1971, a couple of weeks after the publication of
"Led Zeppelin IV".
Great part of the recordings were made in the spring of 1972 in Stargroves,
a manor house of the county of Hampshire, residence of Mick Jagger during the
first years seventy; thanks to the "mobile recording control"
contained inside a truck, known as "Rolling Stones Mobile Studio",
rented by other bands such as: Fleetwood Mac, Status Quo, Deep Purple or Ten Years
After. "Olympic Studios" in London, were also used in
several sessions in May 1972 and the "Electric Lady" too, of the
unforgettable Jimi Hendrix, during the American tour that year.
Although the original disc was a commercial success, because contains
mythical themes of the band : "The song remains the same"; "Over
the hills and far away"; "No Quarter" or "The Rain
Song", others did not receive very good criticism, being considered quite
"mediocre" :“The Crunge” o “D´Yer Mak´er”; It has always been said
that if these songs had been replaced by example: "Houses of the
Holy" or "The Rover" (acustic version), this Lp would have
climbed even more positions in the list of successes. Others like
"Walter's walk", it was not even considered except for the residual
"Coda".
The reconstruction that I bring you is made, from the original concept that
Jimmy Page had in the beginning, before Robert Plant changed it towards a less
conceptual and more commercial album, which did not mean that it was better.
Side A, starts with
"The Overture", also known as "The song remains the same",
in its later version with vocal accompaniment, here it appears as it should
open the album, as an instrumental piece of guitar virtuosity Jimmy Page that
ended up giving rise to an alternative mix of "The Rain Song";
followed by "Over the hills and far away" and "The Ocean",
also under a different mix to the original. Bit.ly/private only. A conceptual side whose titles were
perfectly linked to each other, like a "suite". However the other
side, and although in general the album is focused on more banal and less
mystical issues, the B-side deals more deeply with impossible, difficult,
traumatic relationships with explicit requests for sex and dark messages
contained in "No Quarter". A reconstruction, besides, made using
information from the existing acetates, the setlist of the concerts; taking
care as always the minutes of each side and taking into account the
meaning of the lyrics of the songs too.
Side A: (22:44)
1.The Overture.(5:29)
2.The Rain Song.(7:44). (Alt.mix)
3.Over The Hills And Far Away.(4:51)
4. The Ocean.(4:39).(Alt.mix)
Side B: (19:05)
5. Dancing Days.(3:41) (Alt.mix)
6.Houses Of The Holy.(3:51) (Alt.mix)
7.No Quarter.(7:02)
8.Black Country Woman.(4:24)
The cover inspired by the end of the novel: "Childhood's End" by
Arthur C. Clarke; It was the result of a collage of several photographs taken
at Giant's Causeway, Northern Ireland, by Aubrey Powell, of Hipgnosis.
Here is one of the first unreleased ideas with two children, Stefan and
Samantha Gates brothers, climbing naked this polymorphic rocky plateau; on
the opposite side, which would give the back cover, appears Robert Plant and an
indeterminate female model; but Atlantic Records dismissed it.
After having ruled out another
one, that of the tennis racket, we opted for multiple collage with eleven
children, although there were two, the gates brothers photographed in different
positions. With the work done and approved, there was a printing error and it came out
under reddish colors that gave the cover a more interesting aspect, since the
result until that moment did not finish either to please.
To avoid that this
cover was censored, it is authorized to place the title of the disc and the
name of the group in a white band of paper that ingeniously hid some ass. Although its launch was scheduled for January 1973, did not see the light
until March 28, for the problems with the cover. When it finally came out, many
of the songs were already known, because they had been played in concert,
almost a year before. I hope you like this
new revision of the album "Houses of the Holy".-