Houses of the Holy (song)

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For the Led Zeppelin album of the same name, see Houses of the Holy.

"Houses of the Holy"

Song by Led Zeppelin
from the album 'Physical Graffiti'
Released	February 24, 1975
Recorded	1972
Genre	Hard rock
Length	4:01
Label	Atlantic Records
Writer(s)	Page/Plant
Producer(s)	Jimmy Page
'Physical Graffiti' track listing
"In My Time of Dying" (3)	"Houses of the Holy" (4)	"Trampled Under Foot" (5)

"Houses of the Holy" is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin from their 1975 album Physical Graffiti. The track is a mid-tempo rock song, heavy on bass and featuring a distinctive Jimmy Page guitar riff. In order to create the layered guitar introduction and fade-out, Page used a Delta T digital delay unit. The squeak of John Bonham's drum pedal can be heard about three minutes in.

Lyrically, the song is an ode to Led Zeppelin concerts, with the "Houses of the Holy" referring to the arenas and auditoriums in which the band performed. Despite this, the song was never played live.

Although the name of the song is "Houses of the Holy", the track does not appear on the earlier-released album Houses of the Holy. It was originally set to be the title track of that album but was removed when the band decided it didn't fit. The song did not require any further re-mixing for its inclusion on Physical Graffiti, having already been fully mixed by audio engineer Eddie Kramer at the Electric Lady sessions in June 1972.

[edit] Sources

Led Zeppelin: Dazed and Confused: The Stories Behind Every Song, by Chris Welch, ISBN 978-1-56025-818-6
The Complete Guide to the Music of Led Zeppelin, by Dave Lewis, ISBN 978-0-7119-3528-0