Harem Scarem
Human Nature

The penultimate album by Harem Scarem, compared to Overload, takes two steps back and one step forward: two steps back because the band now seems to be playing without enthusiasm, lacking the spirit that was still there 4 years earlier with the immense Weight Of The World; one step forward because there was at least the intention to recapture the sophistication of their debut. But the album is too similar to the awful Higher and therefore doesn't deserve more than two stars.

Human Nature, released between 2006 and 2007, is characterized by a slight reclamation of the debut's sound, but I repeat, not with the same beauty, precisely because the band seems to be about to throw in the towel.

It starts with the unusual title track, "Human Nature", which, despite a good intro, gets a bit lost here and there. Much better with "Next Time Around", a decidedly successful song, with Lesperance finally coming to the fore and Hess very inspired. Also nice is "Caught Up In Your World", very melodic and characterized by very sunny harmonies. Then comes the not very successful "Reality" which sounds a bit forced and lacks the charisma necessary to captivate the listener. Very sweet, but with a vague sense of déjà vu, is the ballad "Hanging On" which already recalls other typical Scarem ballads. Decent "Don't Throw It Away", which starts off well, but has a terrible chorus that fades into anonymity. The album continues with "Give Love/Get Love", an attempt that only partially succeeds to imitate Queen; however, it's a pleasant song, slipping by like Vaseline. "21" is decidedly awful and directionless; the same can be said for "Starlight", which is a far too obvious filler, not to mention "Going Under" and "Tomorrow May Be Gone", which seem like discarded tracks from the worst Def Leppard. 

A good start doesn't end with a good finish, the album says nothing and by now Harem Scarem are at their wit's end: it breaks my heart to speak like this about a band that I liked and still like, but when an album fails, I have to slam it. Things will improve, but not by much, with the epitaph album, namely Hope from 2008, which will also be their swan song.