Scorpions reviewed
Scorpions
Humanity Hour 1
(New Door/UMe)
Sensing they perhaps missed a chance when they failed to retire after “Winds Of Change,” Germany’s undying Scorpions try yet again to go out on a high note with Humanity Hour 1..
During the 16-year interim, Scorpions didn’t know what to do. Oblivious to grunge rock, they approached an increasingly indifferent mainstream with either neo-industrial metal, erring on the side of ballads, overdoing the rock stomp, recording with an orchestra, and going acoustic. So for their 21st album Hanover’s eldest try a concept album and look to former hitmaker Desmond Child for assistance.
Ironically, the most negligible aspects of Humanity are the concept — humans competing post-apocalyptically with robots — and Child. The most noticeable thing is how un-self-conscious the Scorps are of their sound, which allows the occasional fluffy ballad (“Love Will Keep Us Alive”) to mingle comfortably with the nu-metal bent of rockers like “We Will Rise Again” and “You’re Lovin’ Me To Death.” Childs does them no favors by invoking his work with Meatloaf on “The Future Never Dies” while the chromatic riffing of the laughable “321” drags them out of their comfort zone. A perfunctory Billy Corgan vocal on “The Cross” and a surfeit of ballads dries Humanity out by the end.
Despite its flaws, the album does provide evidence Scorpions are back. Klaus Meine’s ageless voice meets the songs’ needs in all its multi-tracked glory, and if they were looking for a “Winds Of Change” epilogue, first-single “Humanity” might be it — in Europe. All that’s left now is the walking away.
— Steve Forstneger
