Houston

Relaunch

Written by: PP on 12/04/2012 16:18:37

Oh, the memories of playing Guitar Hero are flooding back to me as I'm listening to "Relaunch" by Swedish 70s / classic rock revivalists Houston. It's a covers album that takes you all the way to the expansion era of hard rock (today: classic rock), back to bands like Boston, Journey, Blue Öyster Cult, Foreigner, etc, with larger-than-life synths supporting pop choruses and mammoth sized, timeless riffs.

Among the nine artists covered on "Relaunch" are Dakota, Michael Bolton and Touch, featuring a couple of guest appearances of the original band members who wrote the songs, as well as some newer names who Houston felt like fit with their songs of choice. The covers are mostly faithful renditions of the originals, and according to the band's own words, a way of paying tribute to their heroes. That's all good and dandy, but you can't help but escape the thought that this particular sound belongs to an era long passed and since then made irrelevant. While we all enjoy the classics - especially the mega hits by the bands mentioned in this review - any new band attempting to recreate the same sound in 2012 will inevitably come across as sounding dated and irrelevant in today's musical spectrum.

That's why a covers album for Houston is probably a good idea, because original songs in this vein just won't spark an interest anymore. That's also why "Relaunch" sounds pretty good, after all these are songs that have stood the test of time already. But it doesn't answer the question why we should buy "Relaunch" instead of the originals, which are still well-stocked by any modern record store (not to even speak of online stores). For that reason alone, it's impossible to rate "Relaunch" higher than this.

Download: Runaway, Don't You Know What Love Is
For the fans of: Journey, Boston, Foreigner, 70s hard rock, classic rock
Listen: Myspace

Release date 14.11.2011
Spinefarm Records

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