In the Houses of the Holy: Led Zeppelin and the Power of Rock Music

Rating:
Summary: a different approach
Review: First, to any stray Zep fans, this book is nothing like the books you're used to reading about the band. The book is written by an associate professor of music, in hideous modern academic jargon. You know, the blocky, obfuscating style the professors deploy to make their subjects or themselves seem more profound than they really are. Examining a Jimmy Page solo note-by-note is of extremely limited interest to anyone but graduate musicology students-and has high music culture declined so much that they now have to fill their syllabi with Zeppelin's catalog? Sure, I'd rather listen to "Gallows Pole" than some atonal serialist composer, but this book is laying it on way too thick. Tedious and unrewarding.

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating and insightful overview of a great band
Review: I'm afraid the previous (one-star) review of this book reminds me of some of the clueless press coverage that Led Zeppelin received from certain rock critics during their heyday. (My personal favorite: a 1977 concert review in Rolling Stone that called John Bonham and John Paul Jones "the clumsiest rhythm section in rock.") So here's my take on Susan Fast's "Houses of the Holy": it's a thrilling book, one that should be read not only by every Zeppelin fan, but by anyone interested in popular music. In fact, it's probably the most sustained musicological treatment of any rock artist -- certainly any "hard rock" artist -- ever published. You come away shaking your head at Fast's scholarly energy and her penchant for coming up with striking, original insights into both Zeppelin and the broader "power of rock music."

The book is divided into five chapters, each focused on a particular Zeppelin song, and exploring a different aspect of the band's persona and musical output: intertextuality (musical cross-referencing), myth, "foreign" musical influence, physicality (the music's "pre-linguistic" appeal to the body), and gender. The structure allows for a minutely-detailed breakdown of individual songs -- perhaps too detailed for some readers -- and wider comments about Led Zeppelin and the rock 'n' roll art form they did so much to define.

Is the book a tough read? It depends on your perspective. The run-throughs of particular songs and riffs are, as mentioned, very detailed. There are passages of technical musical criticism that are Greek to me -- but I enjoyed reading them anyway, just for the pleasure of seeing Zeppelin's music receive the sustained and expert attention it deserves. The academic prose? Well, I have to confess I'm a university teacher with a graduate degree in the social sciences -- but I have no time for postmodern jargon and academic windbaggery. Fast's approach steers well clear of these shoals. Her prose is fluid, full of passion for her subject, and chock-full of fascinating observations and interpretations. She refuses to separate the music from the physicality of performing it and the experience of receiving it, as listener or audience member. The result is a well-rounded, subversive synthesis that presents Led Zeppelin whole, and easily doubled my understanding and appreciation of the band.

In a very democratic move that enhances the book's accessibility, "In the Houses of the Holy" gives a fair amount of space to the comments of Led Zeppelin's fans, whom Fast surveyed over the Internet and through an ad in a Zeppelin fanzine. The personal testimonies of what the band has meant to its devotees are moving, and the comments about mythological, musical, and gender aspects of Zeppelin -- carefully sifted and organized by Fast -- illuminate the band's enduring appeal. Fast was also able to carry on an email correspondence with Zep bassist John Paul Jones, who offers his own thoughts and recollections about the band's creative process and diverse musical influences.

Want to try before you buy? Go to FindArticles.com, and search for "Led Zeppelin." Fast's 1999 article for American Music, "Rethinking Issues of Gender and Sexuality in Led Zeppelin: A Woman's View of Pleasure and Power in Hard Rock," will come up at the top of the list. The essay appears in reworked form in her book, forming the heart of Chapter 5. It will give you a good idea of her style and argument, and features a lot of fan commentary besides.

If one misses anything in the book, it's more attention to the contribution of Jones and especially John Bonham, whose heavy but limber drumming revolutionized rock percussion. (Fast acknowledges her emphasis on vocalist Robert Plant and guitarist Jimmy Page.) Readers interested in Bonham can consult Chris Welch and Geoff Nicholls' book, "John Bonham: A Thunder of Drums," available here on Amazon. It doesn't take a scholarly-musicological approach like Fast's; but in addition to tracing the outlines of Bonham's short and booze-soaked life, it offers intelligent and technically informed insights into Bonham's drumming, including a song-by-song breakdown of classic Zeppelin cuts in the final chapter. Great photos, too.

Rating:
Summary: Misses the point
Review: This is an unfortunate example of an academic trying very hard to understand with her mind what she obviously does not with her heart. To her credit, she tries very, very hard.

I can only imagine one of the band members endeavoring to read this intellectual over-analysis and gasping for breath in between bursts of laughter. It reads like a parody of itself, and it sure cracked me up.

Rating:
Summary: a different approach
Review: While I would certainly agree that you can overanalyze and lose touch with the emotional edge critical to LZ's appeal, I found Fast's academic approach refreshing. She brought up a number of aspects of the band's music and performance I'd never thought about before, e.g., the sexual interplay between Page and Plant. I also appreciated Jonesy's insights into the creative process, particularly the fact that the music always came first and then the lyrics. But I have to admit it would be interesting to hear from Page and Plant as well.

This is a good book for the thinking Led Zeppelin fan. And no, that's not an oxymoron. I think there are a number of us trying to understand why this band and its members continue to draw us in 20 years after their disbanding. This book is a step in that direction. But it won't titillate you with gossip about groupies and dionysian orgies. Look to Richard Coles for that.