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.

*****

Review by Jason Ritchie

Related>>Album review

Label website

***** Out of this world | **** Pretty damn fine |
*** OK, approach with caution unless you are a fan |
** Instant bargain bin fodder | * Ugly. Just ugly