H-Blockx (original) (raw)

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German rock band

H-Blockx
H-Blockx performing in 2015H-Blockx performing in 2015
Background information
Origin Münster, Germany
Genres Alternative rock alternative metal nu metal rap metal
Years active 1991–present (hiatus)
Labels BMGSing SingBMG Berlin Musik GmbHSupersonicX-Cell
Members Henning WehlandStephan "Gudze" HinzTim TenambergenSteffen Wilmking
Past members Dave GappaFabio TrentiniJohann-Christop "Mason" MaassMarco MinnemannMartin "Dog" Kessler
Website h-blockx.net

H-Blockx is a German rock band founded in Münster in 1991. After the success of their debut album in 1994, Time to Move, the band received a nomination for Best Breakthrough Artist at the 1995 MTV Europe Music Awards. In 1999, the World Wrestling Federation contacted them to record a song, "Oh Hell Yeah", for wrestler Stone Cold Steve Austin, and their song "Countdown to Insanity" appears in the European version of the 2007 music video game Rock Band. Between 1994 and 2012, H-Blockx released seven studio albums.

The band rose to fame with their successful debut album, Time to Move, released in 1994 on Sing Sing Records, and produced by Ralph Quick and Chris Wagner. The music videos for "Risin' High" and "Move" received considerable airplay on MTV. The band earned a nomination for "Best Breakthrough Artist" at the following MTV Europe Music Awards, however, the award went to Dog Eat Dog.[1] With the help of the singles "Risin' High", "Move", and "Little Girl", their debut spent 62 weeks in the German album chart, selling over 750,000 copies worldwide, and earning the band their first gold album. Their first major tour followed. In 1999, World Wrestling Federation contacted the band to record a song, "Oh Hell Yeah", for wrestler Stone Cold Steve Austin. Although it was never used as his theme song, it became synonymous with Austin and was released on WWF The Music, Vol. 4.[2] A reworked version of "Oh Hell Yeah" was featured on the 2002 WWE Anthology album The Attitude Era.

None of their following albums have been as successful as Time to Move was. However, with the release of Get in the Ring in 2002 on Supersonic Records in association with BMG they did have a minor hit with their cover of "The Power" featuring rapper Turbo B; Turbo B also performs the original version with Snap!

In 2004, the band's album No Excuses reached No. 14 on the German album charts. It was then supported by an extensive European tour. In early 2005 and 2006 in Malmö, Sweden, their 2007 album Open Letter To A Friend was recorded. They were accompanied by H-Blockx producer Andreas "Boogieman" Herbig who was with them in 1994 when Time To Move was completed. Their single "Countdown to Insanity" from the album is one of the playable tracks included on the European version of the game Rock Band, and is available to download with the US version.[3] Ending a five-year absence from the recording studio, the band released their album HBLX in May 2012.

In 2013, the band's song "Gazoline" was used for the trailer and soundtrack for the video game Sunset Overdrive, along with several other rock and metal songs.

After appearing only sporadically in preceding years years, the band played at some festivals between 2022 and 2024. In October 2024, they embarked on a headliner tour to celebrate the 30-year anniversary of their debut album Time to Move,[4] for which also former singer Dave Gappa joined to perform on a couple of songs. They played a new song called Fallout and hinted at more new music and a tour in 2025.

H-Blockx in a 2003 performance

Year Title GER AUT SWI
1994 Time to Move 14 11 8
1996 Discover My Soul 7 5 15
1998 Fly Eyes 19 20 44
2002 Get in the Ring 14 21 45
2004 No Excuses 14 23 53
2007 Open Letter to a Friend 14 43 51
2012 HBLX 31 66 85
Year Title GER
1999 Bang Boom Bang 30
2004 More Than a Decade 66

Compilation appearances

[edit]

Year Single Peak chart positions Album
GER[5][6] AUS[7] AUT[8] SWI[9]
1993 Risin' High 34 Time to Move
1994 Move 34
Little Girl
1996 How Do You Feel 28 Discover My Soul
Step Back
1998 Fly Fly Eyes
Take Me Home
2000 Ring of Fire(featuring Dr. Ring-Ding) 13 10 42 Get in the Ring
2001 C'MON(featuring B & K) 83
2002 The Power(featuring Turbo B) 48 34 51
2004 Leave Me Alone 55 59 No Excuses
Celebrate Youth 42
2007 Countdown to Insanity 35 51 Open Letter to a Friend
"—" denotes the single did not chart or was not released in that country
  1. ^ Atwood, Brett (28 October 1995). November Awards Abound: Billboard Vid, MTV Europe. Billboard. Retrieved 19 October 2011.
  2. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "World Wrestling Federation: The Music, Vol. 4 – Various Artists". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 5 February 2018. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
  3. ^ Dumitrescu, Andrei (18 March 2008). "Rock Band Comes to Europe With New Songs". Softpedia. Archived from the original on 3 February 2013. Retrieved 28 September 2008.
  4. ^ https://www.youtube.com/shorts/zP05madbmJ0. Retrieved on 31 October 2024.
  5. ^ "H-Blockx". musicline.de. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
  6. ^ "H-Blockx Feat.Turbo B." musicline.de. Archived from the original on 5 February 2018. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
  7. ^ "H-Blockx". australian-charts.com. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
  8. ^ "H-Blockx". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
  9. ^ "H-Blockx". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 5 February 2018.

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