Review index

George Thatcher at Heart Of The Rock Magazine wrote:
HOUSE OF SHAKIRA - LINT (1997, BLUESTONE RECORDS)
Interesting name for a band, especially one that comes from Sweden. These boys started life off as the promising outfit The Station. If any of you had heard their earlier demos from the early nineties, you would have been impressed with them. For instance, songs like 'American Dreamer' and 'Susan' were great tracks in the Journey mould. Well, a few lineup changes, including a name change sees the band reposition themselves some years later as House Of Shakira. One of those changes included singer Andreas Eklund. From North Africa to the southern tip, you can hear little snippets of the African influence. Intermingled among a set of melodic rock tunes you ask 'how is this possible?'. Well, take a listen. It works out great. From the opening vocal strands of 'Morning Over Morocco' to the tribal chants happening throughout 'Elephant Gun', it's clever, and adds that little bit of uniqueness. One of the many highlights includes another The Station track, this one being 'Love Was Good'. Add to that tracks like 'Who's Lying Now', 'Canned Laughter' or the awesome choruses on 'Remember'.
The band have reamined stable and intact over the years, with subsequent releases including 'On The Verge' and more recently on the MTM label 'III'. Just recently they released a 'Live' album on their own HOS music label, and backed it up with an appearance at the 2001 Gods Of AOR event in Manchester.
A band well worth checking out.

Michel Verhaeghe editor of Rock Report magazine (Belgium) wrote:
Well well well, finally we'll have the long awaited release of House Of Shakira's debut album "Lint". In case you shouldn't know by now, House Of Shakira is a five-piece from Stockholm, Sweden, although the band started out way back in '89 as The Station. There's quite some history regarding this band, 'coz they were once signed to Planet Records in Sweden. But after this small independent label went bankrupt, they had to start all over again. So they signed a publishing deal with Stickan Andersson (Abba) and suddenly things started to look their way. Ronny Lahti was going to produce the album while there was some major interest from both Warner Music and Polygram. And despite being nominated as 'best unsigned band of '96' by Frontiers Magazine (UK), nothing happened yet again. 'Till now and we might thank God for that 'coz "Lint" will certainly blow you away!! The main interesting aspect about their sound, is that HOS combines traditional melodic rock with African and Oriental influences ("Morning Over Morocco"). The lads even throw in in some African lyrics here and there ("Method Of Madness", "Elephant Gun" & "Canned Laughter"), but don't worry 'coz it sure sounds damn good!! No wonder they have been compared as being 'Journey goes African'! This might not really come as a total surprise, if you know that Mikael Eriksson grew up in Zaire. Eriksson used to sing in HOS and also wrote all the lyrics for this album but he left the band to concentrate himself on a solo career. Mikael, who still can be heard as backing vocalist, was replaced by Andreas Eklund who also joined the Radioactive-project, featuring Swedish guitar ace Tommy Denander). Andreas Eklund does a fine job on "Lint", which is completely filled with winners. Yep that's right, 'coz there are absolutely no weak songs to be heard here. "Lint" is just an outstanding listening sensation. So make sure you'll get yourself a copy 'coz House Of Shakira are one of the most promising newcomer bands of the last few years. BUY! BUY! BUY!
Michel Verhaeghe http://www.ping.be/Rock_Report/

Janne Stark editor of Hard-Roxx magazine (UK) wrote:
Finally, after all this time Sweden's premiere AOR-band have released their album. I have and love the unreleased Planet Record-album and my expectations were of course quite high when "Lint" was now to be unearthed. After a short and strange Arabian chant the outstanding "Morning Over Morocco" broke loose. New singer Andreas Eklund shoulders Mikael Eriksson's old burden with great pride. He actually sounds very much like Mikael, but with a bit more balls (sorry ladies). The Journey-similarities are still there and the first thing that comes to mind is - this type of intelligent AOR is oh so rare today. The title track is yet another killer-track, like the previous built on an unorthodox rhythm-pattern, that brings early Journey, Boston or even Styx to mind. The songs are no predictable verse, chorus, verse, chorus, solo, triple chorus, end songs, but thought through tunes with nice varied rhythms and well-arranged harmony vocals. "Method Of Madness" brings on House Of Shakira's well-known African-sounding choir parts. "No 8" is a great, soft ballad with nice vocal arrangements. "Who's Lying Now" is the proof that this band can transform a song that could have been a patchy AOR-whimper, into a great melodic up-tempo track. Next up is one of my old House Of Shakira fav-tunes, "Elephant Gun". This one shows the band in their heavier mode, but heavy without loosing their outstanding melodic touch. This song also features the African chanting of Bangala, with ex-singer Mikael Eriksson. "Love Was Good" sounds very close to what Journey did on "Evolution", powerful and big AOR of world class. "The Story's The Same" is another great ballad, with a slightly bluesy Strat-guitar sound and an occasional waltz-rhythm. "Canned Laughter" is yet another high class AOR-ster in the same vein as "Morning Over Morocco" and "Method Of Madness". "Remember" is a up-tempo poppy tune, a almost in the vein of today's Joey Tempest, but with the typical House Of Shakira-feel to it. The album ends with the totally outstanding acoustic ballad "Everything's Fine", that features the cello-playing of former Yngwie bass-player Svante Henrysson. His cello-performance in combination with the mood and melodies of this song almost brings tears to your eyes. It's one of those songs that automatically makes you close your eyes and just float away. I hereby appoint "Lint" THE AOR-album of '97 (so far, at least) and therefor give it one of my very rare 10's. Don't miss it for the world!
10 out of 10
Janne Stark Mail: stark@algonet.se

Mark Foster editor of The Rock Magazine (UK) wrote:
(Number one selection of 1997)
One of the brightest hopes in melodic rock have finally emerged with their long awaited debut album. Many of you will be familiar with these talented Swedes from two Frontiers promo CDs, but for those who missed out I can tell you that House Of Shakira were fronted by Swedish/Zairean vocalist Mikael Eriksson whose musical heritage and spiritual vision added a unique dimension to their song writing and overall sound. Sadly Eriksson is no longer with the band (off to pursue a solo career) but his genius remains all over these songs even though the band have bulked them up with maximum guitars as evidenced by the thunderous opener "Morning Over Morocco". Replacement vocalist Andreas Eklund suits the heavier style perfectly and his powerful performance gives the songs an added and sense of urgency that was untapped in their previous (demo) incarnation. Arabic melodies and African chants and rhythms aside, what also sets House Of Shakira apart from the also-rans is their joyous harmony work which can take a relatively ordinary song like the Journey-esque "Our Love Was Good" and make words like breathtaking and celebration spring to mind. Nowhere is there a better example of this than on the title-track (an ode to belly button fluff apparently) which starts like something that Trevor Rabin would have written for Yes before the backing vocals hit a sweet spot on the chorus that lifts the song and opens it up like a flower responding to the sunlight. Another track which benefits in a similar way is the relatively straightforward "Who's Lying Now" the most obvious choice for single and the most likely to yank the chains of all you AOR freaks out there. "Method Of Madness" and "Number Eight" were both featured on the Frontiers samplers. The former is now a breathless dash, losing some of it's potency as a result, while the latter is one of the two songs featured here that would have benefited from Eriksson's relatively fragile delivery. The other being "Remember" which is the extremely laid back penultimate track. In fact "Lint" closes on a pretty downbeat beat with this being followed by "Everything's Fine", resplendent with mournful cello that works perfectly even if it does serve to contradict the "everything work out in the end" message behind the song. We seriously doubt that you will hear a stronger collection of songs in 1997.

Scott Bazzett at RATHOLE wrote:
House of Shakira... A Swedish band, with a Japanese sounding name, doing an album called Lint, with an African theme, and none of them are famous. So, you pass on it, right? Maybe, but you'd be missing out one terrific band. Pulse Records struck gold again with this one... From out of nowhere, (well, from out of Sweden) these five guys appeared and gave melodic rock a serious kick in the ass. If you're into great singing and fantastic harmonized back-up vocals, then I have got the band for you. I spent a long time trying to figure out who these guys reminded me of, and I gotta tell you, I still can't put my finger on it. I've played this disc an easy fifty times, and I hear different elements and influences every time. They remind me a little of TNT, but the singer actually sounds a little more like Ted Poley of Danger Danger and Bone Machine. There is a real emphasis on background vocals though, that none of those bands really had, and in that regard, they're more like Damn Yankees or a heavier Journey. There is still another element though, and that's the one I'm missing. If any of you get this disc and can figure out what it is, let me know. Whatever it is, I like it. I like this disc a lot. If I didn't, I wouldn't have listened to it over fifty times. Some sort of strange Moroccan chant begins the disc. You get about 20 seconds into track one and begin to think you've made a terrible mistake, but then the double bass thunders in, the guitar rips into the opening riff and the singer introduces himself in a nice high pitch that's been absent from our music for far too long. Meet House of Shakira. This is Morning Over Morocco, the first song on the disc and my favorite. In my opinion, when you're a new band trying to get noticed, that's the only way to do it. If you don't get their attention right away, then you're probably not going to get it at all, and if this song doesn't get your attention, then nothing will. The title track, Lint, is second. It's got kind of an ethnic groove to it, but it's done in a way that doesn't lose any of their own sound. They do it with rhythms and melodies instead of relying on some sort of exotic instrument to change the sound. This one also has great background vocals. Song three is Method of Madness. It's got a strange chorus, but it sounds great. They're actually singing, "High, high, high, high" in a three part harmony while the lead singer sings "Hayi Lomfana sondile blamna." I have no idea what that means, but it sounds really cool. This is a song that you will always find yourself singing after listening to this disc. It's catchy as hell. Song four is called No:8. It's a beautiful ballad, but I won't pretend I know what it's about. All the lyrics are printed in the booklet, but I still don't know half the time what the song is actually about. All the words are printed over faded back images of Africa - Architecture, landscapes, tribes, animals and artifacts. I'm assuming there is some deep meaning behind all of this, but I just haven't really sat down and tried to figure it out yet. That's pretty bad, I know. Especially since I'm reviewing it now, but quite frankly, I couldn't wait. I like this disc so much, I just wanted to share it with you. Besides, for me to recommend a disc without knowing the lyrics, let alone liking them is a pretty big endorsement from me. Back to the disc... Song five is called Who's Lying Now. Another great song with great back up vocals and a really catchy chorus. Song six is the only one I didn't care for. It's called Elephant Gun. (No, it's not the David Lee Roth song) It starts out really cool. It's got a really cool bass line and guitar riff and I like the verses and the pre-chorus a lot, but the chorus bothers me. It sounds wrong somehow... If I could expand on that I would, but it just sounds foreign and out of place and I don't like it and I can't really elaborate on it. And, If you don't like the chorus then it's hard to like the song, so I usually just skip that one. Song seven, Love was Good, puts me right back into things though. More good singing and back-up over a good melody... The usual for this band. Track eight, The Story's the Same is another great ballad with strange lyrics. The music is great and the singing is great, and I catch myself singing along and I just have no idea what I'm singing about. It sounds damn good though! Track nine is a really up-beat song called Canned Laughter. I'm running out of ways to say that these are good songs, can you tell? It's good. Song ten is called Remember. This one has a little bit of Dream Theater in the music. They bring in a piano and some keyboards... It's kind of a mid tempo song that sort of turns into a ballad at the end. Once again, it's a great song. Everything's Fine is the last song. It's a fantastic ballad. The guitar sounds like a Mr. Big song. Not specifically, but that style. A cello comes in half way through, but aside from that it's just the singer and the guitar, and those ever-present great back-up vocals. It's really beautiful. That's it. Aside from the chorus of Elephant Gun and the constant feeling that I don't actually know what these songs are about, I have no negative comments about this disc. The production is clean, the guitar sound is good, the singing is great, and the songs are really well written - musically at least. The lyrics might be great too, I don't know. Maybe it tells some big deep story about the liberation of South Africa or something. There are occasional musical references through chanting and tribal music, and a few songs that have a line or two of singing in another language, and a lot of pictures of Africa… I don't know. If you figure it out let me know, but if you don't, I don't care because this guy would sound good no matter what he was singing. This is not a super heavy disc, but it's definitely heavy enough. If you like any of the bands I mentioned in my comparisons, then you will probably love this disc. They are impressive as Hell, and just the kind of new band that our music needs.
On a scale of 1 to 10, House of Shakira's Lint gets a 9.

SOTREW wrote:
First of all, let me get all the negative things out of the way. Ummm... Oh! That's right! There aren't any! Back in 1989, Diving For Pearls released their self-titled CD. It wasn't much of a commercial success, but it became an instant AOR classic. Added to the fact that it is so rare, it's impossible to get anyone to part with their copy. Don't let history repeat itself! Get "Lint" now before it's too late!! This CD is the best disc I've heard so far in the 90's (except for Diving For Pearls). It's a disc that defines AOR. Again, I beg you to buy this. Your ears will love you for it! It's eleven songs of great hooks, intense melody, expertly written lyrics and musicianship you just don't find anymore, or at least in 90% of the music released today. "Lint" has held the #1 spot on SOTRW's top ten for the past two months (May, June 1998). Being a band from Sweden, they had the good luck of being sheltered from the crap that dominates the USA and Canada, and it shows in the band's music. Not one grunge or alternative riff can be found on the CD. One thing, although, was a bit out of place. There were some lyrics in an African language ("Elephant Gun") and some Arabic chanting ("Morning Over Morocco"). Sure I couldn't understand a word, (hell - I'm still trying to understand Norwegian!) but it added depth to the songs the lyrics were used in. BOTTOM LINE: I can honestly say that House Of Shakira is the best band - musically & lyrical - to come out of the 90's. Pulse Records were right on the mark by signing these guys. Buy it, love it, beg for more. I am!

David White from WHITE HOUSE wrote:
Grade/ rating A...
I had a feeling this would be a great CD when I heard HOS was touring with Royal Hunt this past year, I couldn't imagine Royal Hunt leader Andre Anderson taking anything other than top quality on the road with him. Then I heard someone say Lint is "Journey with African influences" and I had to get it. Well this is a great album, and the "Journey..." comparison is fairly good. Musically, this is great AOR. Sometimes they remind me of Journey, and the singer often reminds me of Tommy Shaw of STYX. Great, interesting melodies that will stick with you for a while. But that's not the whole story with HOS, the African influences really add something here. On some songs, there are some occasional African chants; on others there are lyrics like you usually don't hear. An example of this is "Elephant Gun" which is about Elephants being killed in Africa. AOR lovers need this album badly, especially for the huge AOR tracks like "Method of madness" and "Who's lying now".

Dedicated Rocker Productions wrote:
With a band name like, House Of Shakira, one would not expect to take this band serious. But once you hit play and are drawn in by the musically Moroccan influenced intro of the opening track, "Morning Over Morocco", there is no point of return. 'Lint', is the smashing debut release by up and coming AOR rockers, House Of Shakira. At time the band will remind you of such European bands like Fair Warning with a dash of Europe for good measure. Displaying a great set of vocal chords is vocalist, Andreas Eklund, who's voice fits in so well with the overall sound of the band. Providing Eklund with a strong foundation is the twin guitar attack of Mats Hallstensson and Anders Lundstrom, who work together like hand and glove. The chemistry between Hallstensoon and Lundstrom shine on tracks like, "Method Of Madness" and the groove laden rocker, "Elephant Gun". As in most cases, when it comes to European bands, House Of Shakira serve up a dose of melodic power ballads that are right on target. With songs like the Journeyish,"Who's Lying Now" and the emotional filled number, "The Story's The Same". House Of Shakira, is without a doubt, one of the best AOR rock bands I've listened to that have come out in the last few years. 'Lint', is one CD that will be getting some serious playtime on my CD player. So for those who have passed up this CD because of the band's name (I know there are alot of you out there) give House Of Shakira a second chance and find out what you've been missing out on. Fans of AOR Hard Rock music will enjoy this CD immensely.
84/100 Good

OUAS wrote:
House Of Shakira "Lint" 1997 Pulse Records (47:01)
(1) Morning Over Morocco (2) Lint (3) Method Of Madness (4) No: 8 (5) Who's Lying Now (6) Elephant Gun (7) Love Was Good (8) The Story's The Same (9) Canned Laughter (10) Remember (11) Everything's Fine
Grade/rating: A ... I won't dwell on this release too much, as David White covered it last issue -- and I agree with him wholeheartedly. House Of Shakira are excellent, and quite unique and refreshing. Bringing some mildly worldly sounds to AOR/hardrock. Andreas Eklund's vocals are top-notch for this genre and the melodies are quite addictive from rocker to ballad. Fans of Giant and the Storm need to pick up this release, now. Available at Wildside Imports.

AOR Heaven wrote:
Wow, this really hits you like a brick wall!
The first thing I can think of when hearing the hard rocking fist in the air melodic bliss of Morning Over Morocco, is why haven't I heard this album earlier! And why wasn't I told that House Of Shakira are a powerful blend of a solo Tommy Shaw, Night Ranger and a little Journey. Vocalist Andreas Eklund is a great Tommy Shaw like singer, with as good a set of lungs. The second track Lint temporarily stops me going completely off, with it's more laid back rock feel. But from that song we go straight into Method Of Madness, which by the time it's finished, with it's catchy and original harmony vocals, and big sing a long finish, it will be embedded in your mind forever. Damn this is good! The first ballad up is No.8 , which continues the awesome harmony vocals, and mixes Tommy Shaw/Styx with a little of The Storm and the Journey connection. This album was rated one of the best albums of last year in Frontiers/The Rock magazine. I am not going to waste my time wishing I had discovered this earlier, just take my advice and don't leave it any longer yourself. From that we move straight into another huge melodic feast of harmonies, choruses and Journey comparisons with Who's Lying Now. Just imagine Journey's Who's Crying Now on speed! Elephant Gun is a little more laid back, and once again brings out Tommy Shaw comparisons. Great melodies! Love Was Good is a mid paced groover of a track which leads into The Story's The Same, a softer ballad, that could have come off any Tommy Shaw solo record, with the harmonies of the Shaw/Blades album. Canned Laughter is another mid paced rock tune, but not quite as catchy as the first half of the record.Remember is an acoustic driven pop rocker, with a little organ thrown in for good measure. The chorus is again very catchy, with nice harmonies, and a very smooth delivery. The album is rounded out with Everything's Fine, which is a harmony ballad sung with only the backing of an acoustic guitar, and an inspired Cello solo. The best songs are probably the first 6 of the album, but the difference between the first half and second is negligible, showing how strong this album is. A great record. Go get it!
Total Score 92%

Open Up And Say Magazine wrote:
House Of Shaikra bursts onto the scene with a great AOR disc. They play mostly up–tempo songs with great melody, reminiscent of bands like Journey and Styx. The unique aspect of House Of Shakira is that they mix in African influences. These are heard on the track "Elephant Gun" more than any other tracks. Much like Angra's Brazilian influences, the African influences here supplement the music rather than dominating it. Every track on this disc is either good or very good, with the best being "Method Of Madness" and "Who's Lying Now." The playing and singing on this disc, while not overly challenging, is very good. This debut disc is truly a breath of melodic fresh air for those who long for the days when melody and good songwriting dominated the airwaves.
by David White, Senior staff writer

Andrew at www.melodicrock.com wrote:
Wow, this really hits you like a brick wall! The first thing I can think of when hearing the hard rocking fist in the air melodic bliss of Morning Over Morocco, is why haven't I heard this album earlier! And why wasn't I told that House Of Shikara are a powerful blend of a solo Tommy Shaw, Night Ranger and a little Journey. Vocalist Andreas Eklund is a great Tommy Shaw like singer, with as good a set of lungs. The second track Lint temporarily stops me going completely off, with it's more laid back rock feel. But from that song we go straight into Method Of Madness, which by the time it's finished, with it's catchy and original harmony vocals, and big sing a long finish, it will be embedded in your mind forever. Damn this is good! The first ballad up is No.8 , which continues the awesome harmony vocals, and mixes Tommy Shaw/Styx with a little of The Storm and the Journey connection. This album was rated one of the best albums of last year in Frontiers/The Rock magazine. I am not going to waste my time wishing I had discovered this earlier, just take my advice and don't leave it any longer yourself. From that we move straight into another huge melodic feast of harmonies, choruses and Journey comparisons with Who's Lying Now. Just imagine Journey's Who's Crying Now on speed! Elephant Gun is a little more laid back, and once again brings out Tommy Shaw comparisons. Great melodies! Love Was Good is a mid paced groover of a track which leads into The Story's The Same, a softer ballad, that could have come off any Tommy Shaw solo record, with the harmonies of the Shaw/Blades album. Canned Laughter is another mid paced rock tune, but not quite as catchy as the first half of the record. Remember is an acoustic driven pop rocker, with a little organ thrown in for good measure. The chorus is again very catchy, with nice harmonies, and a very smooth delivery. The album is rounded out with Everything's Fine, which is a harmony ballad sung with only the backing of an acoustic guitar, and an inspired Cello solo. The best songs are probably the first 6 of the album, but the difference between the first half and second is negligible, showing how strong this album is. A great record. Go get it!
Rating 92%