Houston Houston
by Joe Mis
Staff Writer
Take one part Journey, one part Chicago and one part Asia and mix them together, and allow the band to write only songs about relationships and you’ll get something that sounds like Houston. Hailing from the Deep South of… Sweden (!), Houston is definitely NOT a Texas roadhouse band, but a duo perpetually stuck in the hair metal days of the 1980s.
Brought together by a number of Swedish rock promoters and DJs, the duo of Hampus “Hank” Erix and Freddie Allen were tasked with creating an AOR, Adult-Oriented Rock album to ride along side of the stream of pop and death metal that seems to flow so readily from Sweden. Unashamedly rolling together influences of Foreigner, Survivor, Journey, and just about any pop-rock from the 1980s, Houston manages to capture the spirit of the era on their self-titled debut.
Erix and Allen are definitely talented musicians. The both can sing, working well as a team throughout the album and delivering some excellent harmony vocals. They have mastered the art of writing keyboard saturated songs with simple hooks, easy to listen to choruses and great harmony vocals. The album as a whole has the feeling of an early ’80s release and fans of the decade will be instantly at home.
Therein lies the problem with this release. Rather than being modernized ’80’s rock, this really sounds like it IS ’80’s rock. Houston has recorded an album that could have easily been released as is in the early 1980s – there is no attempt to update or evolve the sound or content, and by today’s standards the lyrics are incredibly cheesy and insubstantial. While each and every track is an excellent piece of music by itself, the band’s continuous reliance on the traditional ’80’s sound will have many modern listeners looking for a way out after the third or fourth track.
“Pride”opens the album with some smooth guitars and kicky keyboards, and is filled with lush vocals and a fairly fluid rhythm line. “Truth Slips” starts with a great rock guitar riff but the keyboards quickly take over and it falls back into the pop-metal formula with a huge well done chorus. The keyboard-driven rock continues with the finely performed “Hold On,” although the lyrics are a bit trite and the bass line nothing but a simple pop line. “I’m Alive” will be a great dance club hit with a big Queen style vocal opening and very “electronic” sounding drums. “One Chance” is totally Journey-esque keyboard-driven track that would have been a massive radio hit 25 years ago.
“Give Me Back My Heart” is musically the strongest track on the CD, featuring a kicky guitar line, a bouncy rhythm line and fabulous vocals – all delivered with spirit and enthusiasm. “Misery” opens with a great rock heavy riff, an almost Deep Purple groove – but then it quickly falls back into the pop-metal formula. Fortunately it has the most solid guitar work on the disc. “She’s A Mystery” is probably the heaviest track on the album, but the somewhat hackneyed lyrics keep it from being a winner. “Now” is easily the best song on the album and displays the full talent of the band. This song has great, but not overpowering, keyboards and a catchy rhythm line – and for the one and only time on the album it sounds like Houston is actually a modern band. This would be a modern commercial rock hit. “1000 Songs” falls straight back 30 years…
All in all, there is really nothing compelling about this release unless you are a HUGE ’80’s pop-metal-rock fan. The boys in Houston are without a doubt very fine musicians, but they need to evolve with the times. They should have focused on writing modern rock and performing it with an old school sound, rather than trying to be a 1980s pop band. The constant upbeat keyboard rhythms wear thin do little to differentiate one track from the next, and after a while make listening to the album all the way through a tedious affair.
Despite well done individual songs, Houston is too formulaic to be interesting from start to finish. Houston needs to break out of the ’80s and mix it up stylistically in order to be considered anything other than a “revival” or gimmick band no matter how talented…
Genre: Pop Metal
Band:
Hampus “Hank” Erix & Freddie Allen (all vocals and instruments)
Guest musicians – Tommy Denander (Street Talk, House Of Lords), Mats Olausson (Yngwie Malmsteen, Ark, Kamelot), Thomas Vikström (Candlemass, Stormwind)
Track Listing:
1. Pride
2. Truth Slips
3. Hold On
4. I’m Alive
5. One Chance
6. Give Me Back My Heart
7. Misery
8. She’s A Mystery
9. Now
10. 1000 Songs
Label: Sound Pollution
Website: http://www.myspace.com/houstontheband
Hardrock Haven rating: 6/10