July 31, 2023:
The record at high school parties was Houses of the Holy.
The song was "No Quarter". So cool, said many of the kids. Gnarly, agreed the rest.
I had mixed feelings. The guitar orchestrations are lovely. The musicianship is phenomenal as always. But there's a highschoolishness to it, a thematic immaturity in its adolescent fantasy world of vikings and swords, the Dungeons & Dragons of rock 'n' roll. On the whole I would rather have played Dungeons & Dragons.
The most striking thing about it, and I feel this way still today, is the way it sounds like the cover. To me it sounds burnt orange. Always has.