Scorpions
Humanity - Hour I

"Ballad group us? We absolutely reject this label. We haven't actually done that many ballads... and I don’t think people identify us this way" (Klaus Meine)

But did Meine really believe this when he responded this way to some journalists who asked him how he felt about being considered a member of a group that produced only ballads?

Listening to the band's albums from the 90s, one can easily answer the question; the sounds have changed from "Crazy World" (excluded) onwards, the tones become harder, slow pieces are almost completely absent, and the ideas seem to be missing. Perhaps the Scorpions took the "accusation" of being labeled as a ballad group seriously. In fact, during the 80s, the German band had produced quite a few ballads. The anti-ballad response (shown in "Face The Heat") was not appreciated by everyone; perhaps even the Scorpions themselves did not feel comfortable playing a genre too hard for them. The band then returned to melodic and commercial tracks with albums such as "Pure Instinct" and "Eye 2 Eye," in which they experimented with sounds ranging from metal to melodic pop, which soon (and rightly) ended up in oblivion, except for some fortunate tracks. It seemed like the twilight for the gritty Germans, who for two decades energized us and moved us with sweet and tear-jerking pieces. It would also be understandable that after all these years, the ideas had run out, heading towards the now familiar path of various Best Of and live albums, as many of the Scorpions' peer bands regularly do.

But in 2004 with "Unbreakable," there was a mild attempt by the band to get back in the game, giving us a good album, but above all wanting to communicate that they still wanted to rock and (at least try to) return to old levels. The (semi)definitive confirmation comes with this "Humanity - Hour 1," which opens with some powerful riffs, giving us an idea of what the song is made of. The impact with these sounds isn't the best, but with the melodic chorus, everything becomes clearer. Meine sings as if he were a youngster, the years don't seem to have passed for him, nor for the other band members who seem to have a lot of fun. The following track is "The Game Of Life," and it is simply splendid, engaging, and melodic, in short, a typical Scorpions song, which could easily belong to the albums of the '80s. For me, it's the best track of the album. Other beautiful '80s-style guitar riffs open "We Were Born To Fly," alternating calm parts with an engaging chorus that, however, feels somewhat familiar. A romantic interlude almost obligatory now (there are people who only know the ballads of the Scorpions) with "The Future Never Dies," nice but not too much. Skipping "You're Lovin' Me To Death" (in my opinion an unworthy track), it proceeds with rock at full volume with the nice "321," to play full blast on the stereo to disturb all the neighbors. Then remember to turn down the stereo because there's another romantic ballad that calms the album's pace just as it was taking off, but it's still an adequate track. What follows is a semi-ballad: "We Will Rise Again," melodic in its singing but musically tough, a hybrid that doesn't fully convince. Apart from "Your Last Song," the CD picks up towards the end and closes in a more than worthy manner with "Love Is War," "The Cross," and "Humanity," reviving the band's rocking spirit which had been somewhat neglected on the album.

At first listen, it may leave us puzzled, but over time, we'll appreciate it more and more. Perhaps it lacks impactful tracks that will remain in history; we miss the "Rock You Like An Hurricane" of the album, but it doesn't matter. What's important is that these sixty-year-olds still want to rock and have fun like kids. The Scorpions have put themselves back in the game and have anticipated all the greats of rock, releasing this album in 2007, and you can say that they are among these greats too, but there was no need for confirmation. This "Humanity Hour One" is the classic example of the harmony between modern sounds and '70s-'80s guitar riffs; not everyone has managed to create this type of mix, but they are the Scorpions, and being German, they won't give up easily.

And while these rock grandpas are playing, we wait eagerly for the second chapter.