This month, Led Zeppelin continued its archival campaign by releasing deluxe reissues of Led Zeppelin IV and Houses of the Holy. In a new interview with SiriusXM, guitarist Jimmy Page, who spearheaded the reissues, was asked the reason why Houses of the Holy was not called Led Zeppelin V.
“It goes I, II and III, as you say, but then IV, there’s still four symbols, so it still goes in digits [like IIII], you see,” Page said. “But [the fifth album] wasn’t going to be Led Zeppelin Victory Sign [V]. So Houses of the Holy.”
Fans have long theorized over the album title, speculating that it related to occultist Aleister Crowley (a favorite of Page’s) or the album’s inherent sonic expansion away from the formula used in I–IV. Rather, Page continued, “It’s about all of us being houses of the Holy Spirit, in a sense.”
(Read: The Top 6 Led Zeppelin Bootlegs)
In the same interview, Page discussed his first guitar, how John Paul Jones was actually responsible for the riff to “Black Dog”, his side gig as Internet troll, and his upcoming “guitar-centric” solo album, among other things. Check out the interview here.
Below, revisit Houses of the Holy in full.
