Houses Of The Holy

Overshadowed by what came before and after it – IV and Physical Graffiti – Houses Of The Holy is Zeppelin’s unsung classic.

The album’s key tracks are on an epic scale: The Song Remains The Same is Zeppelin in full flight, No Quarter has a heavy atmosphere and a trance-like quality, The Rain Song has an exquisite sadness.

In stark contrast, there is a whiff of parody in the band’s experiments with funk on The Crunge, and reggae on D’yer Mak’er, the latter’s punning title lost on American fans.

With its high art and bad jokes, HOTH is a flawed masterpiece.