Houston
III

III means five when it comes to Houston, following II and Relaunch II comes the album III – an album with a pretty neat artwork. Although it kind of looks like a fairly typical AOR album and that wouldn’t be unexpected considering what they have done in the past. The previous album Relaunch II was quite an entertaining album with good songs and some unexpected covers, this however is more like II or their debut abum – it doesn’t really offer anything unexpected.

Anyone knowing their previous albums will be able to imagine how this album sounds. It is AOR of the typical variety, with good production and a catchy soundscape. The vocalist is decent and the album doesn’t play an overly long time and that is a good thing, as it isn’t an album with much in terms of originality or fresh ideas. It is a little bit like some paint-by-numbers formatted AOR with a selection of songs that is rather commonplace when it comes to albums of this genre. I kind of wonder if there are preformatted albums to buy for the aspiring AOR-bands out there, how else would they all sound so alike?

I think that this is a pretty good album overall; it has good sound and nice melodies. It is a likeable album and I think it will go down well with those who have liked what Houston has done before and with those who like the typical music of the AOR genre. It starts well with the highlight track of the album Cold as Ice that is a very good track to start off with. That track is then followed by nine more tracks that are quite standard for the AOR genre so it is an album that is easy to take to and easy to like and it will most likely receive some praise from press and such. But it is also a fairly forgettable album in all its goodness, an album that doesn’t leave much of a lasting impression in the end.

III is an album that will probably keep their current fans happy but that is less likely to win them too many new fens. I think that it is hard to come up with too many things to write about this album because though it is good, it isn’t really interesting. We have heard it all before and this album offers nothing that is better or worse than most of what is being released in this genre on an almost daily basis. It is good for the moment but it isn’t particularly exciting in the grander scheme of things.

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