Was Houses of the Holy a step down in quality after 4?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Morfmusic, Nov 8, 2018.

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  1. Parachute Woman

    Parachute Woman Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    I prefer Houses of the Holy to II and IV. And I like every song on it.

    Physical Graffiti
    III
    Houses of the Holy
    Presence
    I
    IV
    II
    In Through the Out Door
     
    Chrome_Head likes this.
  2. Marvin

    Marvin Senior Member

    Probably. Though it might just be that I played IV so much I got burned out on Led Zeppelin.

    Same thing happened for me regarding the Who, going from Who's Next to Quadrophenia.
     
    wwright likes this.
  3. Chrome_Head

    Chrome_Head Planetary Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA.
    I'd throw Presence in there too--it wasn't a giant leap forward artistically, but a very, very solid album with songs that I'm not sick of because they haven't been played to death like the others.

    "For Your Life" and "Candy Store Rock" are under-the-radar gems, and "Achilles.." & "Nobody's Fault.." stand with the best of their well-known radio hits.
     
  4. Hatfield74

    Hatfield74 Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Liverpool
    Houses is the better record. The sleeve is better too. The songs radiate a strange and oblique aura. Think Wicker Man as opposed to IV which was The Hobbit.
     
  5. Deek57

    Deek57 Forum Resident

    Absolutely not, a step up in my book, quite a bit better in fact, every track a 10/10. After the first album Houses comes in as my second favourite, the Fourth album comes in as fith fave, III album as fourth fave II being my third fave. Then comes PG, Presence, Coda and last of all ITTOD.
    So
    1/ First album
    2/ Fifth album
    3/ Second album
    4/ Third album
    5/Fourth album
    then the rest....
     
  6. Christian Hill

    Christian Hill It's all in the mind

    Location:
    Boston
    Yes. I, of course, could have done better. ;)
     
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  7. Efus

    Efus Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    I dont think it is, its just less of a step forward than IV.

    IV seems like a culmination of what they had put together on the first 3 albums.

    Houses, imo, is the beginning of the 2nd phase of LZ career.
    A band confident in its abilities, and still looking forward to keep it fresh and interesting by incorporating different styles.
     
    If I Can Dream_23 likes this.
  8. John Harchar

    John Harchar Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Jersey
    To me they're sort of co-albums: 8 songs on each, no name at all on the cover, songs that go all over the map. Maybe the only tweak I'd make is swapping the Crunge for the title track. But they stand solidly next to each other and build on one another.
     
    If I Can Dream_23 likes this.
  9. Paulette

    Paulette Forum Resident

    Me, me, me!!!!

    And The Crunge is my favorite on that album. I love how it's silly. Not so darned serious, especially with the watery sounding one. Me no likey.
     
  10. Combination

    Combination Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Orleans
    You get two steps, since it's a double album. :p
     
  11. Cheepnik

    Cheepnik Overfed long-haired leaping gnome

    The most cohesive, creative album of their first five.
     
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  12. pig bodine

    pig bodine God’s Consolation Prize

    Location:
    Syracuse, NY USA
    No, I think II is overrated and sounds like it was written on tour, which it was. I don’t like the sped up vocals on TSRTS, though I like the slowed down ones on No Quarter, which is my favorite song of theirs — their Planet Caravan, and I’ve made peace with D’Yer Maker and the Crunge. It and Presence are the only two I’m not sick of and still listen to.
     
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  13. mbleicher1

    mbleicher1 Tube Amp Curmudgeon

    Location:
    Washington, D.C.
    Better as an album. Four Sticks and Misty Mountain Hop are pretty tuneless, and if you're not into Tolkein, Battle of Evermore isn't the best thing ever (although Sandy Denny is great on it). Houses of the Holy feels more "of a piece", like a suite, whereas IV is a collection of songs, some much better than others.
     
    setlistthief likes this.
  14. rocknsoul74

    rocknsoul74 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston
    Physical Graffiti is the decline, not Houses. Grafitti is too long with too many ok tracks, and after that they start having some personal problems. Their peak was Houses. It's my favorite Zep album. The only track I don't care for is Dancing Days. Almost a perfect album.
     
    Last edited: Nov 8, 2018
    Llyrren likes this.
  15. Greenalishi

    Greenalishi Birds Aren’t Real

    Location:
    San Francisco
    Incredible creative feat. Both so good. Houses has some of the best stuff they did. No Quarter! Best solo he ever put down.
     
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  16. Reever

    Reever Forum Resident

    Good lord, no. It may have seemed that way at the time, but since I’ve stopped trying to grab ass during the last song at the high school dance? Houses of the Holy seems, at worst, an equal to its predecessor. Depending on my mood? The better effort.
     
  17. PacificOceanBlue

    PacificOceanBlue Senior Member

    Location:
    The Southwest
    Overall, yes, because of the vocals and a couple of lightweight tracks (e.g. "Dyer Maker" and "The Crunge"). Yet, the album presented a band expanding its sound with songs such as "The Song Remains The Same," "The Rain Song," and "No Quarter." "LZ IV" was a stronger album of material, but "HOTH" contained some dynamic, somewhat progressive material that the former album did not contain.
     
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  18. zen

    zen Senior Member

    Exactly. Led Zeppelin were influenced by the progressive rock movement as well.
     
  19. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    I like Houses of the Holy, but they spoiled the album by messing with the vocals. If they had kept things a little more solid from that perspective, I may well like it as much as IV ... I love all Zep's albums, but Personally very few bands have ever made an album as solid as IV. The only real complaint anyone could have about IV would be overplaying, but it got overplayed because it was so damn good
     
    Vinyl_Blues likes this.
  20. jon9091

    jon9091 Master Of Reality

    Location:
    Midwest
    Was Houses of the Holy a step down in quality after 4?

    Not at all. Nor do I consider III a step down after the second album. I believe it’s precisely that the band refused to fall into the trap of making the same album over and over, and that they continually progressed their sound, that they towered of most of their peers back in the day, and their iconic status remains today.
     
    mark winstanley, moops, sami and 2 others like this.
  21. jwoverho

    jwoverho Licensed Drug Dealer

    Location:
    Mobile, AL USA
    Its major flaws are the manipulated vocals and odd production. Everything has a detached quality as if all the components were piled on top of each other but it all doesn’t mesh, and I mean from a sound perspective, not necessarily the performances. The material is strong and it does advance many of the band’s earlier approaches, but it just sounds off to me for some reason.
     
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  22. HardTimesRoughLines

    HardTimesRoughLines She learned me life is sweet and God is good

    Location:
    Oslo, Norway
    The short answer is 'no'. The longer, far more complex one is still 'no'.

    Best regards,

    HTRL
     
  23. Pierino

    Pierino Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canonsburg
    It seemed so at the time, yes, but after 45 years it appears to have gained substantially, maybe pulling even.
     
  24. TheDailyBuzzherd

    TheDailyBuzzherd Forum Resident

    Location:
    Northeast USA
    HUGE step down. But they were also experimenting,
    therefore it's a favorite for many.

    But to me, the crux of Zep was its high-energy debut ...
    that I suppose peaked at #4.
     
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  25. uzn007

    uzn007 Pack Rat

    Location:
    Raleigh, N.C.
    HOTH was my favorite Led Zeppelin album for a long time... they only one I ever bought for myself, for example, until very recently.

    However, I've been listening to more Zeppelin than usual lately and I find my opinion of it slipping slightly. Maybe it's just overfamiliarity, but I do find (as others have noted) that "The Crunge" and "D'yer Mak'er" are fairly fillerish, whereas there aren't any songs on IV that I'd consider "filler". So in that sense, it ranks below the earlier album.

    But on the other hand, "The Song Remains the Same" and "The Ocean" are still my two favorite Zeppelin songs of all time, so in that sense, it ranks above the earlier album.

    So... little of both?
     
    Pete Puma likes this.
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