HOUSTON – III [bonus track] (2017)

Here’s one of these releases I am waiting for so long, simply because it’s one of those pure AOR dose I need so much. Sweden’s HOUSTON are back with their third album, cleverly titled “III“.
HOUSTON tick all the right AOR boxes, but for some reason they have yet to be fully embraced by a sceptical melodic rock community. Maybe the problem is that they (well, he to be precise, the band being a vehicle for singer Hank Erix) are too knowing.
Their approach to the genre is reverential, almost professorial, which is mistaken by some as being AOR-by-numbers. Wrong.

A case in point is III’s opening track, ‘Cold As Ice’. It borrows its title from a FOREIGNER song and opens with the archetypal lyric ‘My eyes were aching / My hands were shaking / My mind was breaking’. Top marks straightaway.
Are Houston scrupulously following a blueprint, or do they simply know their AOR onions?
No folks, HOUSTON is true homage to classic AOR, and this the ’80s purely done 2017.

Needless to say, “III” is another platter of HOUSTON AOR / melodic rock magic. Essentially, they’ve become masters of the genre in a short seven years, even if the formula is something that sways between familiar and redundant.
But that’s to say, HOUSTON spins all the proper elements of the genre: great song melodies, hooks in catchy choruses, smooth vocal harmonies, spry harmonic riffs, bristling and vibrant guitar solos, and a smooth groove from the rhythm section.

All these things are then wrapped in lovely radio-friendly AOR accessibility. Like the previous album, which featured guitar guru Tommy Denander, the best part of this “III” and every song may be the killer guitar solos.
Ultimately, the Houston sound is both familiar and comfortable, like your favorite wine with a warm blanket on a winter night.

Some songs come with sharper riffs and a more direct melodic rock approach like ‘Everlasting’, ‘Cold As Ice’, and ‘Road To Ruin’. For a contrast of AOR charm, there’s ‘Dangerous Love’.
Lighter piano begins the song ‘To Be You’, suggesting a ballad, but the song enlarges with thicker, denser, parts, gently tempered by synths.
A true ballad comes with ‘Lights Out’, which is driven mostly by a melodic piano line, with vocals above, then wrapped in synth orchestration.

The purest AOR album of the year? For this AOR sucker, probably yes.
One thing for sure is that HOUSTON has recorded another classy AOR disc in the best tradition of the genre embodied with their own touch, taste and talent, not just exercising a revival.
“III” is First Class wimp rock, and yes, to this reviewer, a must have.

01 – Cold As Ice
02 – Everlasting
03 – Dangerous Love
04 – Lights Out
05 – Amazing
06 – To Be You
07 – Glass Houses
08 – Twelve-Step
09 – Road To Ruin
10 – Interstate Life
BONUS TRACK:
11 – Amazing (Midnight Motel Retrowave Remix)

Hank Erix – Lead vocals
Soufian Ma’Aoui – Bass
Calle Hammar – Guitars / Backing vocals
Victor Lundberg – Keyboards / Backing vocals
Oscar Lundström – Drums

Pre Order:
www.amazon.de/3-Houston/dp/B076DQZ57K
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