House of X is a new UK rock
project with ex. members of UFO, Wild
Horses and Lionheart. I didn't recognize
these gentlemen by their names when I
read the info about House of X, but they
seem to handle their instruments like
pro's. Danny Peyronel on vocals was the
former keyboard player and background
singer on UFO's album from 1976 'No
Heavy Petting'. Clive Edwards, Laurence
Archer and Rocky Newton (ex-Michael
Schenker Group) on bass began playing in
the band X-UFO, alongside Danny Peyronel
and this is the final result. New band
name, but the same line-up.
Anyhow, these rock veterans
open with an old fashion hard rock tune;
'Do Me Wrong' is heavy as a steel anvil - for lovers of slow, steamy hard rock with
hoarse vocals. They follow it up with a
quicker track in 'No More Tequila' and
this is a given song on the hard
alcohol-consuming men-feasts after
midnight. They mix the genres quite a lot
in the tracklist and 'Long Arm of the
Law' is more of a classic rock song with
catchy guitar riffs and great drum work.
I like the guitar solo in the middle of
this song, which is one of the better
tracks on 'House of X' actually. The pace
goes down in 'No Way Home' with many
UK-blues feelings. In 'The Road Less
Troubled' the guitar work is most
to be remembered. 'Martian Landscape' is a
ballad, which leaves me un-touched. But
in the next tune, 'Rage' my legs
begin to twitch again. This is song is
100% instrumental and is one of my favourite tracks with shining guitars. I
love the blues-turn at the end of the
song. Magnificent!
The next slow song is much stronger than
the previous ballad. 'Alive' is a killer track!
'Busted' sounds like a song Kiss could have
written. House of X surprises me with a
melodic song 'Second Son'. Big vocals
and glittering guitars blended in an
rhythmic rock/AOR tune. The album close
with two classy rock songs, 'House Of
Lies' and 'Millions'. Not a masterpiece
or so, but a strong album for the fans
of old school of UK based hard rock. A
timeless hard rock disc, which will be
played for years to come.
Line up:
Danny Peyronel – Lead Vocals (ex UFO)
Laurence Archer – Guitar, Backing Vocals
(Grand Slam, Phil Lynott)
Clive Edwards – Drums (Wild Horses)
Rocky Newton – Bass, Backing Vocals
(Lionheart, ex MSG)
