NINETEEN SEVENTY-THREE was quite an eventful year. Then–Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned over charges of tax evasion as the Watergate scandal raged, the Miami Dolphins finished with a yet-to-be-repeated perfect NFL season, and director Martin Scorsese premiered his seminal film, Mean Streets. Yet, even with these and many other newsworthy events swirling through the U.S. that year, the music world had its share of noteworthy releases. They include such albums as Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, Queen’s self-titled debut, Stevie Wonder’s Innervisions, and the album we’re celebrating in this issue and lesson, Led Zeppelin’s Houses of the Holy.
Arriving on the heels of that group’s massively successful 1971 release, the album that featured “Stairway to Heaven”), was something of a departure, as the band’s previous albums were darker and more bluesy. In fact, it’s the only record in the Zeppelin catalog that does not include a blues-based song. So let’s mark this 50th anniversary with a tour of sorts, wending our way through the album’s tracks in order, as we
