{"id":31775,"date":"2013-09-05T21:01:40","date_gmt":"2013-09-06T02:01:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=31775"},"modified":"2014-02-08T08:37:54","modified_gmt":"2014-02-08T13:37:54","slug":"house-of-shakira-pay-to-play-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2013\/house-of-shakira-pay-to-play-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"House of Shakira | Pay to Play<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Jenn Carbaugh<\/span>
\n– Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"HouseSwedish rockers, House of Shakira will release their album Pay to Play<\/em> on Sept. 23 on CD. On Oct. 7 the album will be available through digital outlets. This is the second album with lead singer Andreas Novak. It is supposed to be their best album by far, and it certainly does not disappoint. <\/p>\n

The band chose MelodicRock Records because they wanted to be a priority. This album is sure to bring the deserved attention for the band as well as the label. House of Shakira is not new by any means. With 22 years of history, the band has released six studio albums. They are thought of as one of Sweden\u2019s best known musicians. <\/p>\n

The trends have rock have been a rough journey for many artists who have been around as long as House of Shakira, but they have survived. The album begins with the title track, \u201cPay to Play,\u201d which sets the tone. It is energetic but still classic. The sound of a bottle popping and the background noise of the restaurant set the mood for what this album wants to do. The band belts out that they are still here and they aren\u2019t leaving rock and roll. <\/p>\n

There is a call to action feeling of each track. Most of the songs are upbeat and fun, and that makes you want to bang your head and tap your foot. \u201cDraw the Line\u201d has very good riffs and such an anthem-like sound with the combination of the members singing the lyrics. \u201cDog Eat Dog\u201d is another amazing track that makes you instantly want to sing along. The riff catches your attention, and then, the song continues to build to keep your appeal. The \u201chey, hey, hey, hey\u201d within the lyrics keep the buoyant sound alive by making you want to thrust a fist into the air as you sing along. <\/p>\n

\u201cTalk of the Town\u201d starts out with a higher pitch of voices singing, and there is an initial riff that gets more and more intense as the song plays on. The voices lose the higher pitch and the attitude of the song sets in. It continues to give the album the attraction that has been expected by this expert band. <\/p>\n

Overall, each song does the album justice. There is not a song that doesn\u2019t disappoint the classic rock roots or the new sounds you hear today. There is something enjoyable on this album for everyone. The sound is right, the instruments provide the right amount of balance, and the lyrics are amusing and fit well in combination. This is definitely a recommended album. <\/p>\n

Genre: Melodic Hard Rock<\/p>\n

Band:
\nAndreas Novak \u2013 vocals
\nMats Hallstensson \u2013 guitar, vocals
\nAnders Lundstrom \u2013 guitar
\nBasse Blyberg \u2013 bass, vocals
\nMartin Larsson \u2013 drums <\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n01.\tPay to Play
\n02.\tBending the Law
\n03.\tAll You Want
\n04.\tWhen The Cats Away
\n05.\tDopamine Junkie
\n06.\tDraw The Line
\n07.\tDog Eat Dog
\n08.\tGive Me More
\n09.\tTried and True
\n10.\tTalk Of The Town
\n11.\tTwo Things
\n12.\tSame Old Story<\/p>\n

Label: MelodicRock Records<\/p>\n

Website: http:\/\/www.houseofshakira.com\/<\/a> <\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 8\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Jenn Carbaugh – Columnist — Swedish rockers, House of Shakira will release their album Pay to Play on Sept. 23 on CD. On Oct. 7 the album will be available through digital outlets. This […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":31776,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8704],"tags":[3966,2847,1643],"class_list":{"0":"post-31775","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2013","8":"tag-house-of-shakira","9":"tag-melodic-hard-rock","10":"tag-melodicrock-records"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31775"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31775\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}