I’m not sure how the Mr. Blotto fans get the word around, but they sure know how to dominate some Cover Wars and they are the winner of last week’s Pinball Wizard edition.

After ten weeks of writing Cover Wars, I think it is time for a change in format. Previously, we’ve been putting up multiple versions of the same song for comparison. What I’m going to do for the next ten weeks is pick an album and select different artists for each track. This week’s selection will be Led Zeppelin’s 5th album, Houses of The Holy.

You will need to register/login to Imeem to hear these tracks in their entirety:

The Song Remains The Same (Umphrey’s McGee): Since UM first performed this in 2002, it has been a staple in their extensive cover repertoire. Check out the whole show on The Archive.

READ ON for more on this week’s contestants…

The Rain Song (Mr. Blotto): Well Mr. Blotto seems to be running shit lately here on Cover Wars, so I thought about not including them. But then I listened to this and they do a damn good job (The synth strings are so tasteful) and the alternatives I listened to were pretty bad, so I’m including it. If you like this, it comes from an entire Led Zeppelin set they did that you can, of course, check out on The Archive

Fun fact from a Guitar Player interview,

“Is there any truth to the rumor that George Harrison inspired the Zeppelin anthem ["Stairway to Heaven"]? Page scratches his head and laughs in sudden recognition: ‘You’ve got the right story, but the wrong song! George was talking to Bonzo one evening and said, “The problem with you guys is that you never do ballads.” I said, “I’ll give him a ballad,” and I wrote “Rain Song”, which appears on Houses of the Holy. I fact, you’ll notice I even quote “Something” in the song’s first two chords.

Over The Hills and Far Away (Bustle In Your Hedgerow): Bustle also appeared in the GTBT Cover Wars and once again delivers a great performance this time around. This is a great recording by taper John Wilson as I listened to 2 other recordings of other Bustle shows before this one, they were both matrixes, and this audience tape is to me a superior listen. Check out the whole show on The Archive

The Crunge (Joshua Redman): I’ve gotten some feedback that I should only include live versions and not studio tracks. Well, 95% of what I include is live versions, but sometimes the cover I want to include comes off a studio disc – so suck it. In case you didn’t know: The Crunge is a tribute to James Brown. Check out Momentum, the album this comes off of. Bonus Cover Wars cross-pollination: Check out some of the work Joshua Redman has done with UM.

Dancing Days (The Big Wu): This semi-retired jamband from Minnesota delivers a good though somewhat sloppy cover here, but hey Jimmy Page was pretty sloptastic himself. Check out the whole show on The Archive

D’yer Mak’er (311): Both the audio and video are from 3-11 Day (March 11th, 2004) in New Orleans. 311 throws in a little bit of one of their originals Amber at the end of the track. This show, with its massive setlist, is available on The Archive as a Pre-FM SBD as well as for sale on DVD.

No Quarter (Brothers Past): Tom Hamilton has got a good voice for this one and my kudos to the keyboard work – very impressive. Sometimes I scratch my head at the covers some bands select (Like The Disco Biscuits performing D’yer Mak’er for example), but this here is a prime example of good song selection. Check out the whole show on The Archive

The Ocean (Soulive w/Karl Denson): I was not expecting vocals as I queued this up for my first listen, in fact I had something real witty to say about how often instrumental versions of songs with lyrics always end up in Cover Wars, oh well. I was expecting a funky jazz/soul rendition but this is Soulive laying down the Rock & Roll and Eric Krasno (Guitar) delivers. I guess Karl Denson didn’t bring his horn on stage, but instead chose lead vocal duties. Check out the whole show on The Archive

And there you have it! Please cast your vote, and if you’ve gotten any thoughts on this new Cover Wars format, I’d love to hear from you in the Comments section.

Additionally, there’s a couple Houses of The Holy tracks on the 1995 Zeppelin tribute album Encomium.

They’re not available in the voting, but if I’ve got you in the mood and you’re dying for a few more tracks check out, Sheryl Crow’s D’yer Mak’er

and Dancing Days performed by Stone Temple Pilots: