Houses of The Holy (1973)

Houses of the Holy is the fifth studio album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, released on 28 March 1973 in the United States and on 30 March 1973 in the United Kingdom by Atlantic Records. The album benefited from two band members installing studios at home, which allowed them to develop more sophisticated songs and arrangements and expand their musical style. Several songs subsequently became fixtures in the group's live set, including "The Song Remains the Same", "The Rain Song" and "No Quarter". Other material recorded at the sessions, including the title track, was shelved and released on the later albums Physical Graffiti (1975) and Coda (1982). All instruments and vocals were provided by the band members Robert Plant (vocals), Jimmy Page (guitar), John Paul Jones (bass, keyboards), and John Bonham (drums). The album was produced by Page and mixed by Eddie Kramer. The cover was the first for the band to be designed by Hipgnosis and was based on a photograph taken at Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland.

Although critical response was mixed, Houses of the Holy became a commercial success, later receiving a Diamond certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 1999 for at least 10 million copies sold in the US. In 2020, the album was ranked at number 278 on Rolling Stone's 2020 list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time".

Recording

By 1972, Led Zeppelin had achieved sustained commercial and critical success from both their studio albums and live shows. They were keen to record on location using the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio as it had been an enjoyable experience for their untitled fourth album, released the previous year. After touring Australia, in April 1972 the group decided to take the mobile studio to Mick Jagger's home, Stargroves, a manor house and country estate in Hampshire. Eddie Kramer returned as recording engineer.

Some songs from the album had initially been tried out in earlier sessions, such as "No Quarter", which was first attempted during a session at Headley Grange Estate, in East Hampshire. Both guitarist and producer Jimmy Page and bassist and keyboardist John Paul Jones had installed home studios, which allowed them to arrive at Stargroves with complete compositions and arrangements.

Page's home studio used some of the equipment from Pye Mobile Studios, which had been used to record the Who's 1970 live album Live at Leeds. Because of his home studio, he was able to present a complete arrangement of "The Rain Song", including non-standard guitar tunings and a variety of dynamics, and "Over the Hills and Far Away", featuring multiple guitar parts. Meanwhile, Jones had developed a new arrangement of "No Quarter". Once the group were settled in Stargroves, they composed the other songs through jam sessions together. Further recording took place at Olympic Studios in May, and during the band's 1972 North American tour additional recording sessions were conducted at Electric Lady Studios in New York. Some songs recorded during these various sessions did not make it onto Houses of the Holy, though several were released on later albums. A series of rock 'n' roll covers, including songs that appeared on Elvis Presley's Elvis' Golden Records, were recorded at Electric Lady Studios, which remain unreleased.