H-Blockx
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}}
{{Short description|German rock band}}
{{Infobox musical artist
|name = H-Blockx
|image = H-Blockx beim Open Flair 2015 (01 by Maria Horbach).jpg
|caption = H-Blockx performing in 2015
|landscape = yes
|origin = Münster, Germany
|genre = {{flatlist|
- Alternative rock
- alternative metal
- {{nowrap|nu metal}}
- rap metal
}}
|years_active = 1991–present (hiatus)
|label = BMG
Sing Sing
BMG Berlin Musik GmbH
Supersonic
X-Cell
|website = {{url|h-blockx.net}}
|current_members = Henning Wehland
Stephan "Gudze" Hinz
Tim Tenambergen
Steffen Wilmking
|past_members = Dave Gappa
Fabio Trentini
Johann-Christop "Mason" Maass
Marco Minnemann
Martin "Dog" Kessler
}}
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.
History
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.{{cite book|last=Atwood|first=Brett|title=November Awards Abound: Billboard Vid, MTV Europe|publisher=Billboard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rA4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA102|access-date=19 October 2011|date=28 October 1995}} 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.{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/world-wrestling-federation-the-music-vol-4-mw0000671633 |title=World Wrestling Federation: The Music, Vol. 4 – Various Artists |last=Erlewine |first=Stephen Thomas |publisher=AllMusic |archive-url=https://archive.today/20180205113015/https://www.allmusic.com/album/world-wrestling-federation-the-music-vol-4-mw0000671633 |archive-date=5 February 2018 |url-status=live |access-date=5 February 2018 }} 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.{{cite web |url=http://news.softpedia.com/news/Rock-Band-Comes-to-Europe-With-New-Songs-81123.shtml |title=Rock Band Comes to Europe With New Songs |last=Dumitrescu |first=Andrei |date=18 March 2008 |work=Softpedia |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130203125117/http://news.softpedia.com/news/Rock-Band-Comes-to-Europe-With-New-Songs-81123.shtml |archive-date=3 February 2013 |url-status=live |access-date=28 September 2008 }} 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, 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,https://www.youtube.com/shorts/zP05madbmJ0. Retrieved on 31 October 2024. 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.
Band members
= Current members =
- Henning Wehland – vocals (1990–present)
- Tim "Humpe" Tenambergen – guitar (1990–present)
- Stephan "Gudze" Hinz – bass (1990–2003, 2007–present)
- Steffen Wilmking – drums (1999–2001, 2003–present)
= Past members =
- Johann Christoph "Mason" Maass – drums (1990–1998)
- Dave Gappa – vocals (1992–2001, 2003–2005)
- Marco Minnemann – drums (1998–1999)
- Martin "Dog" Kessler – drums (2001–2003)
- Fabio Trentini – bass (2003–2007)
= Timeline =
ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:25
PlotArea = left:170 bottom:60 top:10 right:10
Alignbars = justify
DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy
Period = from:01/01/1990 till:01/01/2016
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy
Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:1
ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1990
ScaleMinor = increment:2 start:1991
Colors =
id:vocals value:red legend:Vocals
id:guitar value:green legend:Guitar
id:bass value:blue legend:Bass
id:drums value:orange legend:Drums
id:lines value:black legend:Studio_albums
id:bars value:gray(0.95)
BackgroundColors = bars:bars
LineData =
at:01/01/1994 color:lines layer:back
at:01/01/1996 color:lines layer:back
at:01/01/1998 color:lines layer:back
at:01/01/1999 color:lines layer:back
at:01/01/2002 color:lines layer:back
at:01/01/2004 color:lines layer:back
at:01/01/2007 color:lines layer:back
at:01/01/2012 color:lines layer:back
BarData =
bar:Wehland text:Henning Wehland
bar:Gappa text:Dave Gappa
bar:Humpe text:Tim "Tinte" Humpe
bar:Hinz text:Stephan "Gudze" Hinz
bar:Trentini text:Fabio Trentini
bar:Maass text:Johann-Christoph "Mason" Maass
bar:Minnemann text:Marco Minnemann
bar:Wilmking text:Steffen Wilmking
bar:Kessler text:Martin "Dog" Kessler
PlotData=
width:10 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4)
bar:Wehland from:start till:end color:vocals
bar:Gappa from:01/01/1992 till:01/01/2001 color:vocals
bar:Gappa from:01/01/2003 till:01/01/2005 color:vocals
bar:Humpe from:start till:end color:guitar
bar:Hinz from:start till:01/01/2003 color:bass
bar:Hinz from:01/01/2007 till:end color:bass
bar:Trentini from:01/01/2003 till:01/01/2007 color:bass
bar:Maass from:start till:01/01/1998 color:drums
bar:Minnemann from:01/01/1998 till:01/01/1999 color:drums
bar:Wilmking from:01/01/1999 till:01/01/2001 color:drums
bar:Wilmking from:01/01/2003 till:end color:drums
bar:Kessler from:01/01/2001 till:01/01/2003 color:drums
Discography
= Studio albums =
| class="wikitable" | ||||
| Year | Title | GER | AUT | SWI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Time to Move | align="center" | 14 | align="center" | 11 | align="center" | 8 |
| 1996 | Discover My Soul | align="center" | 7 | align="center" | 5 | align="center" | 15 |
| 1998 | Fly Eyes | align="center" | 19 | align="center" | 20 | align="center" | 44 |
| 2002 | Get in the Ring | align="center" | 14 | align="center" | 21 | align="center" | 45 |
| 2004 | No Excuses | align="center" | 14 | align="center" | 23 | align="center" | 53 |
| 2007 | Open Letter to a Friend | align="center" | 14 | align="center" | 43 | align="center" | 51 |
| 2012 | HBLX | align="center" | 31 | align="center" | 66 | align="center" | 85 |
= Compilation albums =
| class="wikitable" | ||
| Year | Title | GER |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Bang Boom Bang | align="center" | 30 |
| 2004 | More Than a Decade | align="center" | 66 |
= Guest appearances =
- 2001 – Brennstoff by Das Department (V2 Records, "Tinitus")
= Compilation appearances =
- 1994 – White Magic – Soundtrack (BMG Ariola München GmbH, "Move")
- 1995 – Always Music '95 (BMG Ariola Special Projects, "Move (The Radio)")
- 1995 – De Afrekening Volume 9 (Columbia Records, "Move")
- 1995 – Internationale Hits 95 (Ariola Records, "Risin' High")
- 1995 – Just the Best Vol. 4 (Polystar Records, "Risin' High (Video Cut)")
- 1995 – Just the Best Vol. 6 cassette (Polystar Records, "Little Girl (Video Version)")
- 1995 – Just the Best Vol. 6 CD (Polystar Records, "Little Girl (Video Version)")
- 1995 – Popcorn – Hyper Dance Power (Ariola, BMG Ariola Media GmbH, "Risin' High")
- 1995 – Rockgarden Vol. 3 (EVA Belgium, "Risin' High")
- 1995 – Rockgarden Volume 3 (EVA Records, "Risin' High")
- 1995 – Stop Chirac (RCA Records, "Revolution")
- 1995 – Top of the Pops 1 (Columbia Records, "Move")
- 1995 – Wild CD 02 (Wild Magazine, "Move")
- 1995 – Crossing All Over! - Vol. 3 (GUN Records, BMG, "Revolution")
- 1996 – Fresh (Sonet, PolyGram Finland Oy, "Little Girl")
- 1996 – Jam – Vol. 3 (BMG Ariola Hamburg GmbH, "How Do You Feel?")
- 1996 – Quote 97 – Niemals Einer Meinung (Eastwest Records, "Little Girl")
- 1996 – Zoo Magazine CD Sampler 04 (Zoo Magazine (DK), "How Do You Feel?")
- 1997 – Bravo Super Show 1997 – Volume 4 (BMG Ariola Media GmbH, "Step Back")
- 1997 – Radio FM4 Soundselection (BMG Ariola Austria GmbH, "Step Back (Loop Version)")
- 1997 – Vivamania Volume 1 (Sony Music Entertainment (Germany), "Move")
- 1999 – Crossing All Over! - The Classix(Supersonic Records, BMG, "Risin' High")
- 1999 – Pop 2000–50 Jahre Popmusik Und Jugendkultur In Deutschland (Grönland Records,"Risin' High)
- 1999 – WWF the Music Vol.4 – Oh Hell Yeah (Stone Cold Steve Austin)
- 2000 – Bravo Hits 29 (Warner Special Marketing GmbH, Bertelsmann Club, "Ring of Fire")
- 2000 – Lords of the Boards 2000 (Modul Records, "Time Of My Life")
- 2000 – The Dome Vol. 14 (BMG Ariola, "Ring Of Fire")
- 2000 – Viva Hits 9 (Polystar Records, "Ring Of Fire (Video Version)")
- 2001 – Monsterhits (EMM (EMI Music Media), "Ring Of Fire (Video Version)")
- 2002 – Chart Boxx – Second Highlights (Top 13 Music-Club, "The Power (Single Version)")
- 2002 – Fetenhits – New Rock Party (Polystar Records, "The Power")
- 2002 – Pepsi Chart Album (Oy EMI Finland Ab, BMG Finland, Universal Music (Finland), "The Power")
- 2002 – Rock Zone Special (BMG Russia, "How Do You Feel?")
- 2004 – Off Road Tracks Vol. 80 (Metal Hammer (Germany), "Where's The Message?")
- 2006 – American Chopper (EMI Electrola, "Leave Me Alone")
- 2007 – Dynamit Vol. 57 (RockHard Records, "I Don't Want You To Like Me")
= Singles =
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" |
| rowspan="2"| Year
! rowspan="2"| Single ! colspan="4"| Peak chart positions ! rowspan="2"| Album |
|---|
| width="40"|GER {{cite web |url=http://www.musicline.de/de/chartverfolgung_summary/artist/H-BLOCKX/single |title=H-Blockx |work=musicline.de |access-date=5 February 2018 }}{{cite web |url=http://www.musicline.de/de/chartverfolgung_summary/artist/H-BLOCKX+FEAT.TURBO+B./single |title=H-Blockx Feat.Turbo B. |work=musicline.de |access-date=5 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180205185006/http://www.musicline.de/de/chartverfolgung_summary/artist/H-BLOCKX+FEAT.TURBO+B./single |archive-date=5 February 2018 |url-status=dead }} !width="40"|AUS !width="40"|AUT !width="40"|SWI |
| 1993
| align="left"|Risin' High | 34 | — | — | — | align="left" rowspan="3"| Time to Move |
| rowspan="2"| 1994
|align="left"|Move | 34 | — | — | — |
| align="left"|Little Girl
| — | — | — | — |
| rowspan="2"| 1996
|align="left"|How Do You Feel | — | — | — | 28 | align="left" rowspan="2"| Discover My Soul |
| align="left"|Step Back
| — | — | — | — |
| rowspan="2"| 1998
|align="left"|Fly | — | — | — | — | align="left" rowspan="2"| Fly Eyes |
| align="left"|Take Me Home
| — | — | — | — |
| 2000
|align="left"|Ring of Fire | 13 | — | 10 | 42 | align="left" rowspan="3"| Get in the Ring |
| 2001
|align="left"|C'MON | 83 | — | — | — |
| 2002
|align="left"|The Power | 48 | 34 | 51 | — |
| rowspan="2"| 2004
|align="left"|Leave Me Alone | 55 | — | 59 | — | align="left" rowspan="2"| No Excuses |
| align="left"|Celebrate Youth
| 42 | — | — | — |
| 2007
|align="left"|Countdown to Insanity | 35 | — | 51 | — |align="left"|Open Letter to a Friend |
| align="center" colspan="7"| "—" denotes the single did not chart or was not released in that country |
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{commonscat}}
- [http://www.h-blockx.net/ Official website]
- [http://www.myspace.com/hblockx H-Blockx] at MySpace
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20081210094408/http://video.metalz.info/tag/h-blockx/ H-Blockx videography]
{{Authority control}}
Category:1991 establishments in Germany
Category:German alternative rock groups
Category:German nu metal musical groups
Category:MTV Europe Music Award winners
Category:Musical groups established in 1991