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Humanity - Hour 1
Scorpions
Sony / BMG Import, 2007
http://www.the-scorpions.com/
REVIEW BY: Ben McVicker
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 07/23/2007
The turn of the century was a rugged period for fans of the Scorpions. Between 1999 and 2001, the band released a disastrous foray into techno (
Eye To Eye) and made belated ventures into orchestral and unplugged rock (
Moment of Glory, Acoustica). It was not until the release of 2004’s
Unbreakable that common sense prevailed in the band.
Uli Jon Roth loyalists might disagree, but Unbreakable was a skillful recap of the Scorpions’ career: an album that married the Scorpions’ penchant for heavy riffs, fist-pumping choruses and melodic hooks with a modern rock sound. Three years later, the band has returned with Humanity - Hour 1.
Humanity is chock full of catchy, radio-friendly rock songs, but the whole album has an air of redundancy to it. It is for the most part an enjoyable, inoffensive listen that takes no chances and is musically in line with the band’s usual fare. However, one can’t help but shake the sense that there is something hollow about it.
The album begins on solid footing with a heavy number, “Hour I,” co-written by guitarist John 5 (ex-Marylin Manson). The bleak lyrics of "Human nature is the reason for our downfall / Our religions are our prison that's the fatal flaw" set a dark, political tone for things, which makes one think the rest of the album will comment on the current state of things.
Well, I was wrong. The bulk of Humanity is composed of watered-down soft rock numbers, none of which reference the pessimistic opening (and closing) themes of human nature and the troubled future of mankind. It’s a tad bizarre. Usually when a band has the pretension to release a concept album entitled Humanity - Hour I, they’ll at least have the decency to offer listeners some consistency as far as the music or lyrical themes go. Not the Scorpions.
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