In the House of the Holy: Led Zeppelin and the Power of Rock Music

Desmond Maley is the music librarian at the J.W. Tate Library,
Huntington College, Laurentian University, and editor of the CAML
Review.

One of the difficulties of writing about rock is that it is bedeviled by
its own set of clichés and hype. Thankfully, this book does not succumb
to that tradition. Rather, it is a critical analysis by a competent,
well-qualified scholar. Susan Fast, director of the graduate program in
music criticism at McMaster University, tells us she was a fan of Led
Zeppelin in her teenage years. Her latter-day rediscovery of the
ensemble impelled her to write this admirable inquiry.

Led Zeppelin was the ultimate hard-rock band of the 1970s. At the time
I made a point of never listening to it, in part because I disliked the
sound of electric guitar, but also because I was engaged in my own form
of adolescent revolt against rock itself. However, Fast has convinced me
I was indeed missing something. I listened to some of the band’s
albums while reading this book and was astounded at their versatility
and originality.

Fast dissects the dynamics of the relationship between vocalist Robert
Plant and guitarist Jimmy Page, delves into the musical nuances of a
number of Zeppelin tunes, and explores the band’s “borrowings”
from musical traditions (notably the blues), as well as its
sophisticated use of riffs. She also offers her insights on the band’s
mythic aspect and why it has inspired such a cultlike following.

Particularly rewarding is Fast’s deconstruction of the “cock
rock” stereotype, which has influenced much scholarly discourse on the
subject. Drawing on an ethnographic survey of fans as well as her own
personal experience, she demonstrates that Led Zeppelin’s music
resonates powerfully with women as well as men.

In all, Fast’s multidimensional approach is a model of what rock
scholarship should be. Musical examples, a bibliography, drawings, and
black-and-white reproductions of photographs of the band members in
performance complete the presentation.