Led Zeppelin
Houses of the Holy
Houses of the Holy: the Led Zeppelin album Rolling Stone called 'Limp Blimp'
Released on 28 March 1973 by Atlantic Records. Gordon Fletcher's hostile Rolling Stone review of 7 June 1973, chart evidence from the US, UK and Germany, and the album's later classic status on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums list.
The verdict at the time
Gordon Fletcher dismissed Houses of the Holy as 'one of the dullest and most confusing albums I have heard this year', criticising 'pointless humor', 'ridiculous backup cooings' and an overbearing 'killer' coda; he concluded that Led Zeppelin 'will remain Limp Blimp' until the band returned to blues-rock.
Chart peaks
European positions are listed by country. Later chart entries are labelled separately.
Sources & context
Fletcher's review appeared in Rolling Stone on 7 June 1973, barely two months after release. He dismissed Houses of the Holy as one of the dullest and most confusing albums of the year and wrote that Led Zeppelin would 'remain Limp Blimp' until it returned to blues-rock. The turnaround is documented by the album's place at number 278 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2020 list; previously number 148).
