House Of Shakira - III | ||
Tracks:
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Album Cover: ![[Image]](../../Images/hos32.jpg)
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Label: MTM Music Producer: House Of Shakira Year: 2000 Total Playing Time: 57:10 m:s Review date: 12/07/2000 |
| Web site: www.mtm-music.com , www.house-of-shakira.nu
Email: | ||
| Rating: 76 % | ||
| Verdict: Not an immediate proposition and at the moment it is only the more immediate AOR tracks that have caught my attention. | ||
| House of Shakira's debut album received a great deal of critical acclaim, mainly due to their blending African tribal influences into their music. After reading all the reviews I was really looking forward to hearing the album. Whenever I did get to hear it, yes there was definite potential there, especially where the African influence showed through, but elsewhere didn't seem anything other than standard hard rock. Their second album didn't fair quite so well at the hands of critics. No prizes for guessing that "III" is their third album.
Another of HOS's notable moments was a performance of a Journey song ("Separate Ways" ?) at one of the Gods concerts. Journey are certainly an influence, but the band combines this with a few heavier elements to create a HOS sound that doesn't sound too derivative. Pellucid Part I is the expected tribal start to the album. The hard edged rocker, "Alien", is a poor start to the album which features a tired sounding "We'd like to welcome you" opening line. "Wings" incorporates a definite Led Zep influence and the song gets better as it progresses. It takes the Van Halen-ish "In Your Head" to bring a sense of melody and a decent chorus to the listener. Now I'm paying attention. "Nearly Orgasmic" goes for a more mellow approach and is impressive. The Zeppelin influence is very much to the fore again on "Black And Blue Skies" which is musically good, but is let down by a lackluster chorus. "Splitting Hairs" is a very mellow ballad that takes me by surprise almost every time I hear it, especially after the previous rocker. This is a simple acoustic guitar driven ballad. "Miracle" is another mid-tempo rocker that always has me thinking about why don't I like this album more. "Rainbows And Butterflies" helps provide the answer. Although it is reasonably good tune, for me it is lacking some vital ingredient to make it really click. "Time That Passed" is another big power ballad. For "Unspoken" it is back to melodic hard rock that is helped by a big hook laden chorus. "I Am" is a dark moody mid-tempo affair and typical of what I remember the debut album to be like. I've got the feeling it is one of those tracks that will improve with more listens. "Unforgiven" is uptempo semi-acoustic AOR that is one of the album's stronger tracks. Pellucid Part II is more dark moody rock. The Tribal/African gimmicks have gone, allowing the band to concentrate on writing a more consistent set of songs. When they are good, they're very impressive (Miracle, Unforgiven), at other times they totally fail to impress me. The good tracks just about out weight the average ones. One thing I should say is that this album is not an immediate proposition and at the moment it is only the more immediate AOR moments that have caught my attention. | ||
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