Hear an Unreleased Early Mix of Led Zeppelin’s ‘Houses of the Holy’
Next month, Led Zeppelin will reissue their sixth album, the 1975 double LP Physical Graffiti, with a disc’s worth of unreleased versions of the record’s songs. Among these is a rough mix of the funky hard-rock radio staple “Houses of the Holy.”
Slightly shorter than the version that appeared on the original album, the rough mix places guitarist and producer Jimmy Page‘s iconic riff in the right speaker and reduces some of the high end. The bass is more prominent, John Bonham’s percussion sounds looser in the verses and the overdubbed stabbing guitar line toward the end of the song is more prominent. On top of that, Robert Plant’s harmonies on the line “Let the music be your master” are even more present.
“‘Houses of the Holy’ is unlike anything that anyone was doing,” guitarist and producer Jimmy Page tells Rolling Stone. “It’s just something that’s totally of its own. I think the lyrics are brilliant on it.”
The rest of the reissue includes rough mixes of “Trampled Under Foot” (titled “Brandy & Coke”) and “In My Time of Dying,” an early version of “Sick Again,” a Sunset Sound mix of “Boogie With Stu” and a rough orchestra mix of “Kashmir” that’s titled “Driving Through Kashmir.” It also contains what the band has billed as a “strikingly different” take on “In the Light.”
As with last year’s reissues, the new edition of Physical Graffiti, which Page personally remastered, will be available in a variety of formats, including standard CD, vinyl and digital releases. A super deluxe version will contain CDs, vinyl and links to high-def audio, as well as a hard-bound, 96-page book containing rare and previously uncirculated photos and memorabilia.
The reissue will arrive on February 24th and is available for preorder on LedZeppelin.com.