Pick four songs from any band and you can tell a lot about their sound. This summer, I’m featuring #RockBlocks, four picks from bands across various genres. They might be wildly different from each other, but what binds them together is the fact that they’re all a part of my life soundtrack.
Back in high school, a friend of mine and fellow track runner introduced me to Houses of the Holy. He told me it was better than all the other Zeppelin albums. Better than II, IV and Physical Graffiti. I approached the album with some trepidation. The album cover made me feel like if I gave in to it, I would perhaps be swayed into some kind of evil cult. But there’s nothing evil about Houses of the Holy. It really is one of the band’s strongest albums, and “Dancing Days” created a bright, euphoric middle for the album.
Houses of the Holy was bookended by two tour de forces: “The Song Remains the Same” and “The Ocean”. But right smack in the middle, “Dancing Days” — together with “D’yer Mak’er” — formed a bit of an odd anomaly. As the lesser known song of the duo, “Dancing Days” is that underappreciated, feel-good rocker where Zeppelin entered a rare moment of nostalgia, both thematically and musically. It proved that no matter what genre the band explored, Page’s muscular riffs would always find a way to drive the song forward.
“Crazy ways are evident by the way you wearin' your clothes. Sippin' booze is precedent as the evening starts to glow.”