We are all familiar with the song "Rock You Like A Hurricane." We have seen and it on television commercials and heard it sung in karaoke bars; it is an immensely popular song. The song, written and performed by the German rock group The Scorpions, is by far their most popular tune. They have had many other great hits over the years: "Still Loving You", "Big City Nights", and "Wind of Change" to name a few. As the years carried on and the music world inevitably evolved into something new, the very 80s rock sound of the Scorpions left them as a relic or time capsule of a music scene that was no more. However, they still created music, often tried to appeal to the times and with some success, but also some tremendous failures (i.e. 1999's disastrous album Eye II Eye). I commend the Scorpions for their attempts, and they seemed to have something of a resurgence in 2004 with the album Unbreakable, as critics praised the band's return to form. Well, in 2007, with Humanity, continued on the right path and the Scorpions are better than ever before.

            In Humanity, the arena-rock group sounds more focused and concise than they have on any other album. A majority of that focus is owed to the album's producer and contributing song-writer Desmond Child. It is a concept album, and on the surface it seems that the title track is the only one that follows a concept, but throughout the album there are layers of the underlying theme. According to the album's liner notes:

"Humanity - Hour I, [is] based on an original concept by Sir Desmond Child and futurist Liam Carl predicts a world torn apart by a civil war between humans and robots. This apocalyptic nightmare serves as a warning shot to all mankind...our only hope of survival is to reclaim our humanity."

That is a very ambitious theme to explore considering the Scorpions' previous material dealt with love, sex, and rock ‘n roll. However, I always felt that the Scorpions had an affinity to do something a bit more mature, and it was certainly showcased in previous work, but here, it is done with total conviction. This is a terrific album. It boasts some truly memorable tracks that blend the arena-rock styles they are known for with the ballads that they equally known for, with a twist of modern sound. I think listeners will be surprisingly impressed by this CD.

I had hoped that perhaps with such a compelling and even topical concept, and a catchy and inventive title track, that the Scorpions might recapture some of the same success they did back in the 1980s, but I suppose only time will tell.

I definitely recommend this album. Humanity - Hour I, is the Scorpions finest hour.

TRACK HIGHLIGHTS:

"Humanity"

"The Cross"

"Love Is War"

"Your Last Song"

"321"

"The Game of Life"

-Kurt L.

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