Tuesday, July 22, 2014

HOUSTON / Relaunch II (2014)

The amazing band of HOUSTON is back with a new record that is entitled "Relaunch II". This is the follow-up to the band's "Relaunch" that was released in 2011 and featured the song ‘Runaway’ that was included in Danny MacAskills Imaginate video from Redbull. The video has an amazing 20 million views and counting.


"The band has gone through some changes, we have a new line-up and we want this album to show that we are still paying tribute to the music that inspired us to form the band that is Houston today and that we're experimenting a lot more than ever. We’ve got a brilliant new band both on record and live and we live in such an interesting musical time where we can experiment with different genres” says frontman Hank Erix about "Relaunch II" and personally I believe every word he is saying 'cause I simply love this band!

Last year, also, the band released the breathtaking "II" album and made happy every single fan of this genre. It was a quality and extremely melodic record with a touch of 80's AOR sound. Here, in "Relaunch II", we have a 10 track effort that includes 4 brand new tracks and 6 covers from artists such as John Farnham, John O’Banion, One Republic, Rick Springfield, Florida Georgia Line and Lady Gaga!!!!

Regarding of the covers here I have to say that I' m impressed by how good all of them sound; they achieve to sound close to the originals and Hank Erix really sings his heart out. Take for example "Do What You Want" from Lady Gaga. Here, Erix share some vocal duties with Lizette Von Panajott and the result is just awesome, close to the origin with more edge and Erix' smooth performances on front row. "Counting Stars" (One Republic) and "Cruise" (Florida Georgia Line) are both pure candy in my ears and I dare to say better than the originals! Now, let's take a look the 4 new tracks that feature here. "Don't Look Back" is a killer AOR tune! Darker with an explosive chorus line to die for, a brilliant harmony and some really cool guitar lines. Next, "Our Love" is a cool Journey-esque, keyboard-driven rocker while in "Downtown" we are dealing with another killer song from the new album; it has a hook and chorus line to sing-a-long for days! Love this one! The last new tune is titled "Standing On The Moon" and is another winner; this pop-rock cut grabbed my attention at once with its beautiful and innocence melody and made me push the repeat button several times.

Really thrilled here!! The good releases are coming one after another and HOUSTON with this new killer effort set the bar too high!! It really doesn't matter if we have here only four new tracks, no problem at all; this record is pure heaven and includes a bunch of some killer tracks that could easily be your soundtrack for this summer! Well done!
Heavy Paradise's Rating : 10/10

Track Listing
1. Justice For One (Originally by John Farnham)
2. Love Is Blind (Originally by John O’Banion)
3. Counting Stars * (Originally by One Republic)
4. Souls (Originally by Rick Springfield)
5. Don't Look Back (Brand new from Houston)
6. Cruise (Originally by Florida Georgia Line)
7. Do What You Want ** (Originally by Lady Gaga)
8. Our Love (Brand new from Houston)
9. Downtown (Brand new from Houston)
10. Standing On The Moon (Brand new from Houston)

* Duet with Victor Lundberg
** Duet with Lizette Von Panajott

Produced by Ricky Delin


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