Review index

Kai at Melodic.net wrote:
It´s nice to see that the mighty fine debut from the open minded hardrocking band House of Shakira is finally re-released and remastered with 2 bonus tracks.
"Lint" from 1997 is without doubt their best album and even if their latest album "First class" (2004) got rave reviews all around - it is no way near as good as this exploring piece of work coz where else can you find African influences on AOR based hardrock album?
The 2 bonus tracks are ok,it´s cool how they have borrowed from the classic Sinatra tune "New York,New York" on the album´s last track "Heroes" but it still feels like a filler.
HIGHLIGHTS:Morning over Morroco,Elephant gun,Method of madness

Bassinside wrote:
These days the solution to having something different, something identifiable about an artist or band comes down to innovative combinations. Now is not the time for new ideas, things never before done. It is about finding your competitive edge in hybrids instead. House of Shakira does that in a way I am sure you have not heard yet. They achieve a hybrid that is not only inventive, but puts a new angle into todays music. It does in fact qualify as different. It is also another departure from the heavier neo-classical sounds Lion Records emphasizes.
An imaginative combination of African vocals and chanting combined with layered vocals à la Styx, Journey and even Boston. And this is from a Swedish band!. Not your usual fare and a pleasant surprise.
What is often ignored these days in fledgling bands (of whom HoS is not, having originated back in 1989!) is the incredible power and value of well presented harmonies in the vocals. HoS dives in headfirst when it comes to that however! I found myself just shaking my head in disbelief at the complexity and richness of these parts of the tunes alone. To add even further class however, the songs are powerful and impeccably arranged. This album picks you up and shakes from the first moment it has your attention till the last. The cool thing is this is a re-issue originally from 1997. In 2004 they released ’First Class’ and hopefully more great music and playing is on the way. 

Virtuosityone.com wrote:
A review that should have been posted earlier this year but got lost in the harddrive. Anyway, Swedish AOR rockers House Of Shakira follow up the strong First Class with a re-recorded version of one of their first albums - Lint. Much like First Class, Lint is home to extremely strong Scandie Melodic Hard Rock in the vein of Journey with the harder edges of Damned Nation or Treat. The band have a fine singer in Andreas Eklund who carries the classy melodies with ease, whilst the guitar work of Mats Hallstensson and Anders Lundstrum are a fine tag team.
Opener Morning Over Morocco sets the ball rolling with a stunning delivery with a great riff and superb vocal melodies. The new production is big full and very open sounding, this really allows the band subtleties to show through. No 8 has a more laidback vibe which works well, the subtle hammond organ work adds a nice edge to chord structure. Who's Lying Now is classic AOR in every respect and will go down a storm in the live arena.
The rest of the album pretty much follow suit with a similar style and equally high quality level. If you are partial to a slice of melodic/aor metal then Lint should be at the top of your new releases to buy list.
Rating: 90%

Guitar Techniques wrote:
The minaret call to prayers at the opening of Morning Over Morocco does nothing to prepare you for what's to come from this heavy rock band.
Jammed full of standard-lenght tracks with well-contructed, blocked harmonies, these songs are of very high standard.
Shades of Mr Mister is Journey meets Guns N' Roses, with loads of stunning guitar work.
Good lead guitar and vocal structure provides added quality and several tracks are indeed potential singles.
The production is bang up-to-date but the song quality alone is enough to keep you coming back for more.
Rating: 4/ 5 (Excellent)

Dave Palmer at Heavy Metal Resource wrote:
Some may wonder why we chose to talk about this album now and not back when it originally came out. Well, it has been reissued through the Lion Music label and has a couple of additional tracks. I actually had this album back when it was originally released and remembered liking it quite a bit. It has a very AOR oriented appeal and fans of that genre are probably already gonna be well aware of how good this album is. This review basically just reaffirms that as well as lets the fans who haven't heard this gem know about it. If I was to mention who this band reminds me of, I would definitely spit out Tall Stories. They have the same melodic sound, tones, and edge here and there. If you mention Tall Stories then you are definitely going to mention Journey as well or maybe Valentine. I think you get the general idea if you know any of those bands. House of Shakira doesn't miss a beat either with staying up with these bands in terms of quality. This stuff is very radio friendly although with the way radio is here in the States, you may not hear it as much here. The album starts off right with one of the best tracks 'Morning over Morocco' and really sets the tone. The music as it flows from track to track is extremely consistent. If I were to mention my personal favorite tracks, they would include the opener along with 'Method of Madness', 'Who's Lying Now', 'Elephant Gun', 'Love was Good' and 'Everything's Fine'. The bonus tracks are actually quite good. You get the two mentioned and are titled 'On the Green' and 'Heroes'. Along with the two bonus tracks, it is also very important to mention that the album was remastered as well. You may question why as the original had only been around for around seven years, but hey, I never argue, I love enhancements as long as they set out to do only that. If it turns to remixing, then I start to turn off. This album just gets a good sounding remaster.
Overall
Can't say enough good about this album in general. It's very high quality AOR oriented stuff. You get a remaster and two bonus tracks on it as well. It's a very nice package and is definitely worth anyone's while who may have missed this album. Another highly recommended title from the Resource!

Strutterzine wrote:
The Swedish band HOUSE OF SHAKIRA is one of the better melodic rockbands out there, and they have been releasing albums for over 10 years now, and the re-release of one of their earliest releases ‘Lint’ is definitely a welcome for people who are not familiar yet with this great band. A pity no bonustracks are included, but needless to say, this album should be in the collection of every melodic rockfan!
Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Riffz Rules wrote:
It´s nice to see that the mighty fine debut from the open minded hardrocking band House of Shakira is finally re-released and remastered with 2 bonus tracks. "Lint" from 1997 is without doubt their best album and even if their latest album "First class" (2004) got rave reviews all around - it is no way near as good as this exploring piece of work coz where else can you find African influences on AOR based hardrock album? The 2 bonus tracks are ok,it´s cool how they have borrowed from the classic Sinatra tune "New York,New York" on the album´s last track "Heroes" but it still feels like a filler. HIGHLIGHTS:Morning over Morroco,Elephant gun, Method of madness
Rating: 7/10

Prog-nose wrote:
House Of Shakira started out way back in 1989 as The Station. They got their first record deal in 1992, but the planned album got shelved when the company went broke. The band re-named themselves House Of Shakira -after an Arabian brothel- and since then have recorded a handful of highly regarded albums. The band recently signed to Lion Music, and after releasing their fourth album “First Class”, the Finnish record company now makes their debut album, “Lint” (1997), available again, adding two bonus tracks, but sadly omitting the Journey cover “Stone In Love”, which was on the original Japanese release.
Journey is also the name I’m thinking of most when listening to this album, with Tyketto as a close second. If you’re into this kind of bands, I’m sure you will love House Of Shakira. Vocals are always very important in this style, and the lead vocals here are outstanding (being somewhat reminiscent of Steve Perry and Styx’s Tommy Shaw), as are the harmonies. In this style of music, it is very difficult to come up with something original, but House Of Shakira still manages to do just that.
The song writing is very good, without any doubt, but what really makes this album stand out is the African theme running through it. Co-writer and ex-singer Mikael Eriksson lived in Africa for a number of years and that background is used effectively: the Arabian chant that introduces “Morning over Morocco”, the African lyrics and singing in some tracks, those delicate touches here and there,… Not that it is very prominent, but it does make for some very interesting parts and sounds and it works surprisingly well.
There’s lots of variation in the songs, from powerful rockers like “Elephant Gun” and Journey-like AOR tunes (“Love Was Good”, “Who’s Lying Now”) to excellent ballads (“Remember” is absolutely terrific). The unplugged “Everything’s Fine” reminds me of Extreme’s “More Than Words”, but stands out through the use of a cello, which again takes on that African flavour further on in the song.
As for the bonus tracks, “On The Green” is nothing special. The fantastic “Heroes”, on the other hand, features an interesting take on Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” and is definitely a worthy addition to the already excellent original album.
Rating: 9/10

Rockreviews.com wrote:
The history of Swedish House of Shakira dates back to 1991 when the band was formed. This is a review of their debut album 'Lint', which was originally released in 1997. Lint was quite highly acclaimed in various magazines and e-zines (nominated as best debut album etc.) After the original release, House of Shakira toured through Europe as the opening act for Royal Hunt. They've also toured together with Harem Scarem and Dare among others.
House of Shakira's music is a blend of melodic rock and hard rock. Although they have some clearly distinctive qualities in their music (that show the originality of this band), they also retain some familiarity to well-known rock/hard rock acts of the 80's. For example, there's quite a good amount of classic Def Leppard in their music (among many others). Lint is quite an enjoyable listening experience, since it occasionally surprises its listener with sections full of originality.
Production on this album is rather good. Mixing, for example, has been done quite well. Unfortunately, clipping and distortion occurred few times (especially on Who's Lying Now and Elephant Gun). However, this clipping/distortion occurs probably due to the quality of the original recordings (and thus isn't a remastering error).
I listened to House of Shakira for the first time ever last year (about seven months ago). That album (First Class) made quite an impression on me back then, and I'm still favourably impressed by the band. Lint is a good debut album, which should find its way to the record collections of melodic rock/AOR fans.
Rating: 8.5

Getreadytorock.com wrote:
HOUSE OF SHAKIRA 'Lint' LMC129 Lion Music (2005) www.lionmusic.com
The debut album by House of Shakira gets a welcome re-release by Lion Music and now with proper distribution more people will get to sample the delights of this band. House of Shakira have sadly always been hindered by record labels going bust and lack of product in shops. As for the album well lets just say any fan of melodic rock should have this little gem in their collection. What sets the band ahead of many others in this genre is their mixing of hard rock with Eastern and African music. It sounds like it wouldn't work but just to listen to opener 'Morning Over Morocco' that kicks in big time after a call to morning prayers! 'Method Of Madness' features chunky riffing and glorious harmony vocals come the chorus lien - a classic tune in anybody's book. Other highlights include 'Elephant Gun' and 'Canned Laughter'. The only song I am personally not overly keen on is 'Who's Lying Now' that sounds too much like Journey's 'Who's Crying Now' (one of the worst songs that excellent band ever recorded). There are two bonus tracks as well with this re-release - 'On The Green' is a satisfying mid-tempo number but 'Heroes' is pretty mediocre.
A wonderful album and well done to Lion Music for getting this back out. Hopefully they van now release the bands other two albums.
Rating: 5

Thedarkesthours.com wrote:
House of Shakira doesn't really need presentation. Those Swedish melodic rockers got a huge sucess in Europe with this release. Yes, this is the re-release of House of Shakira's debut album, with 2 bonus tracks. If you're a fan of Europeen melodic rock, Night Ranger, Journey and the likes, this must be a good choice! Good up-beat tempo, a lot of hooks, catchy chorus, a lot of vocal harmonies....rock anthems! This is the raise your fist in the air arena rock type of song. Most of melodic rock fans really fell in love with this album back in the days so I really suggest you should try it out. In my opinion, I think that this album as been a bit overrated. Not that it's bad, completly the opposite but the fact is that there's many amazing songs but in my opinion there's a couple of fillers. Songs that I'm skipping. Having said that, this is an album of melodies. A good way to rock!
Patrick
Rating 78%

Metal-invader.com wrote:
The first album from the Swedish melodic rockers, was more of a surprise as their potential was still unknown. It also is a surprise if you have only listen to their latest works, as it is still heavier (something like the US version of WHITESNAKE) than the melodic masterpiece they have offered with their last excellent album. Still, it is a good example of the melodic rock back at the late 90s, when the grunge and the nu metal were still rising high and the Swede guys were begging for some attention. A good example of a band that knows how to write good, catchy songs, with strong guitars and irresistible hook lines, at their first musical step. Now “Lint” comes with two extra songs as bonus, that gives to the album extra value for its money. Plus the mix of ethnic elements, African, Arabian music stuff shows these guys have the potential to break the barriers of the traditional melodic hard rock band.
Rating 3

Rockpages.gr wrote:
New album from a band that I think very high of, because of their undeniably quality of their compositions, but mainly due to their persistence to create a melodic hard rock sound in such an unwelcome era for this genre. “Lint” couldn’t be different and it is suggested unconditionally to all hard rock fans out there! For those who are not aware of House of Shakira, just think of an amalgam of Journey, Harem Scarem, Talisman and mostly Styx, as their singer has a very similar voice with Tommy Shaw and their music includes lots of pomp-rock elements. You can also check our previous review for House of Shakira last album (“First Class”). Those two releases don’t project major variations. The songs that stand out from the first listening session are “Method of Madness”, “Who’s lying now” and “Everything’s fine”, without the rest being leftovers or anything like that. Highlight: “Everything’s fine” reminds of Nelson of the After the Rain era.
Sakis Nikas