Houston
II
Livewire/Cargo Records
2013
Houston delivered one of the most bespoken AOR debuts a few years ago and now, they are back, a little shy of three years later trying to repeat the mini triumph, that they achieved back then, by offering more of the same whimsical melodies and pompous arrangements that seemed to captivate the listeners’ imaginations and fancies. With a small line-up shuffle and T. Dennander at their side, they seem to be pretty much, to have all the “right ingredients” to make it right, again!
Going for an even wimpier sound than before (!) the album, begins with the spontaneous eruption of “Glory” a song so drenched in keys that one might get diabetes from the saccharine that’s dripping from the choruses and pre-choruses... hehe.
“I’m Coming Home” is airy and poppy, with all the marks of a fine power ballad making themselves apparent, since the very first verse. It must also be the 1000001st song with that title as well, geared, at German audiences…
“Return My Heart” is a lot more energetic, while remaining in the same “AOR/West” template, which means that it’s still very wimpy, poofy and soft sounding. It’s not the best song ever written, but there’s a decent hook, in the chorus that saves it from being an embarrassment.
“Talk to Me” is a very melodic and potentially addictive slow song, but on the other hand, it can also be a bit of a hit and miss I suppose and I felt like it was the first song that made me feel a bit “tired” as it was a little “too much” with its H&O mood, self-indulgence and sheer length making it a little tiresome.
“Back to the Summer of Love” is another slightly longer song, that takes a while to hit the chorus line, but thankfully when it does, it doesn’t disappoint with its breezy, summery mood being quite uplifting and carefree. Perfect.
“24 Hours” is following in the same suit, pretty much, just a slightly different, more dramatic mood, but it works quite well in the context and the sequence of the album.
“On the Radio” makes an entrance with a melancholic intro and then slowly begins to build up to – smartly release the tension on the chorus, with a very smart use of the internal song dynamics. Genius really. Cool song!
“Losing” is a bit of a story of unrequited love, a dramatic mid-tempo epic composition that would have otherwise passed quite un-noticed but is made to standout because of all the effort in the vocal department and the radical departure it has stylistically from the rest of the songs.
“Just Friends” starts with some pretty ToTo sounding keys, but then, it sort of steers in different directions, to come back in weird circles... can’t say it’s the best song on the album, but again as it’s different than the rest, it stands out... I feel it could have been a little better and then it could have been stellar, but I also feel it might have been written in a hurry too.
Finally there’s “Believe” a nice duet with a sweet voiced female singer that goes by the name of Minnah Karlsson, which is a sweet and cool way to close the album on a high note.
Overall, the second album, does not exceed, the first one, when it comes to comparisons, but manages to offer indeed more of the same syrupy flavored AOR, Radio friendly soft rock that some people seem to crave so much. And I suppose for those folks, all their Christmases, might have just arrived, in the form of “II”.
Going for an even wimpier sound than before (!) the album, begins with the spontaneous eruption of “Glory” a song so drenched in keys that one might get diabetes from the saccharine that’s dripping from the choruses and pre-choruses... hehe.
“I’m Coming Home” is airy and poppy, with all the marks of a fine power ballad making themselves apparent, since the very first verse. It must also be the 1000001st song with that title as well, geared, at German audiences…
“Return My Heart” is a lot more energetic, while remaining in the same “AOR/West” template, which means that it’s still very wimpy, poofy and soft sounding. It’s not the best song ever written, but there’s a decent hook, in the chorus that saves it from being an embarrassment.
“Talk to Me” is a very melodic and potentially addictive slow song, but on the other hand, it can also be a bit of a hit and miss I suppose and I felt like it was the first song that made me feel a bit “tired” as it was a little “too much” with its H&O mood, self-indulgence and sheer length making it a little tiresome.
“Back to the Summer of Love” is another slightly longer song, that takes a while to hit the chorus line, but thankfully when it does, it doesn’t disappoint with its breezy, summery mood being quite uplifting and carefree. Perfect.
“24 Hours” is following in the same suit, pretty much, just a slightly different, more dramatic mood, but it works quite well in the context and the sequence of the album.
“On the Radio” makes an entrance with a melancholic intro and then slowly begins to build up to – smartly release the tension on the chorus, with a very smart use of the internal song dynamics. Genius really. Cool song!
“Losing” is a bit of a story of unrequited love, a dramatic mid-tempo epic composition that would have otherwise passed quite un-noticed but is made to standout because of all the effort in the vocal department and the radical departure it has stylistically from the rest of the songs.
“Just Friends” starts with some pretty ToTo sounding keys, but then, it sort of steers in different directions, to come back in weird circles... can’t say it’s the best song on the album, but again as it’s different than the rest, it stands out... I feel it could have been a little better and then it could have been stellar, but I also feel it might have been written in a hurry too.
Finally there’s “Believe” a nice duet with a sweet voiced female singer that goes by the name of Minnah Karlsson, which is a sweet and cool way to close the album on a high note.
Overall, the second album, does not exceed, the first one, when it comes to comparisons, but manages to offer indeed more of the same syrupy flavored AOR, Radio friendly soft rock that some people seem to crave so much. And I suppose for those folks, all their Christmases, might have just arrived, in the form of “II”.