H-BLOCKX, who doesn't know this band? The band has created monuments with songs like “Risin´High“ or “Move“, which stand for the crossover that became known worldwide starting in 1993.
I was quite surprised to find out that the band is still around. “HBLX“ is the seventh studio album of the band.
I still have the crossover from the early days in my ears. And yes, I also thought the band was pretty good back then. “Risin´High“ was indeed a real hit. However, not much came from the band afterwards. At least not much that brought me and the band together.
So I was curious about what the band has to say in 2012.
The positive aspects of the album are certainly the clean, fitting, and very professional production. The perfect interplay of the band and the appropriate mixing should also not go unmentioned. All of this is what you would expect from the band.
They were never a subculture. They were a successful band. This was already evident in their productions back then and is still the case now.
Maybe it’s a mistake that I still associate H-BLOCKX with crossover and harder, rock sounds, but what is delivered here is only vaguely reminiscent of what one used to know from the band. The mosh parts in “In your Head“ or the tension-filled opener “Hi Hello“ connect somewhat to the earlier days. The rest of the album consists of radio-friendly pop rock with electronic elements.
It’s a similar sound that the Donots are currently successfully pursuing. It’s a sound that has arrived in the mainstream and fills large halls and open-air venues. However, it’s also a sound that doesn’t aspire to be anything more than mass-appealing.
Things get really bad with the song “I want my Disco“. Almost eurodance-like, a thumping electronic beat is blasted from the speakers, which does not fit a rock band at all. Acceptable as a hidden track or a B-side, this song does not belong on the album at all. It’s an embarrassment that probably only the band’s biggest fans will overlook. The pleasing, rocking “DOIOU“ doesn’t manage to excuse this either.
“HBLX“ is an album for the middle and upper-class kids of this world, who associate rock with festivals like Rock am Ring and have no idea beyond that. However, I would have preferred a bit more connection to the sound of the earlier days. Thus, this remains an album that will surely chart and be commercially successful, but in doing so, it also buries the crossover of the past. Perhaps H-BLOCKX should consider renaming themselves. The music of “HBLX“ has nothing to do with the sound of previous days and might even pass as an acceptable album without the history of H-BLOCKX. As it stands, however, it remains a single disappointment as a conclusion.
