Customer Reviews

Humanity Hour 1

5 star:		(89)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Well its definately the release of the year in this household. What a sublime set of intelligent well constructed classic rock tracks this release has. I can't stop playing it. And fear not the name Desmond Child either, because to these ears he has pushed the Scorps to their best effort in a long long time if not of all time.

"Hour 1" kicks off proceedings with military precission, a tytanic build up to a rip-snorter of a chorus that won't leave your head any time soon. A loose concept runs through this disc and this song is the scene-setter, warning us if we don't change our ways we will loose our humanity, 'try to stay down, you better run for cover underground' the final consequence when machines finally rule the world. Building off the pace set by the premier song we have the first of many highlights in "The Game Of Life". A subtle builder leading to another winning chorus, the passion in the vocals and guitar work is heart stopping. I love it. Just when you can't believe the song can get better it has a fantastic bridge and classy guitar solo to help your jaw drop further.

"We Were Born to Fly" launches off some aggressive (relatively speaking) guitar work to an atmospheric vocal. It contains a sublime couplet 'take another breath, just close your eyes let nature do the rest' and is another five star plus moment. Simple piano work leads us into "The Future Never Dies" before exploding soncially as it climbs the keys with lush orchestration abound. Beautiful lyrically and musically. It reminds me a little of Queen at their most glorious and most pompous, and I hear a little of "Winds Of Change" an ecclectic mix but a very succesful one. The gentle piano work returns to close us out in the coda.

"Your Loving Me to Death" and "321" are the most typical Scorpion numbers offered here but that is not a bad thing good solid rock songs. I feel the first is the better of the two. "Love Will Keep Us Alive" is the ultimate track on offer on this release and I swear that I will never tire of this great song. An acoustic and strings blend ballad, with sublime electric guitar work. I think this has to be my personal highlight amongst many shining stars. It is so perfect it nearly brings a tear to the eye everytime I hear it. The hard rock brigade may not be so forgiving of this but I can't help liking what I like.

"We Will Rise Again" builds off another wall of guitars and breaks through to another hum-dinger (is that a German word?) It hold court to a brilliant chorus and fine vintage vocals. It just gets stronger the further down the track listing you go. "Your Last Song" is textured melodic rock of the highest quality, lyrically either a romance ending or saying goodbye to the world.

"Love is War" is the winner of the best chorus award of the decade, "The Cross" winner of the most unexpected but successful collaboration nomination with Billy Corgan. I feel this one points a finger at the contradictions of religion and is perhaps the deepest offering lyrically, certainly another favourite moment. Closer "Humanity" returns us to familiar Scorpions territory and the military drums heard in Hour 1 are back. A strong closer with frenetic violins bringing things to a fantastic climax.

Phew if it sounds like I am gushing, then you would be right. Don't let trends dictate what you will listen too, this is a winner, a thorough bred amongst a field of contenders from the 70's and 80's who are quite happy to release second rate 'best ofs' and in the process not be creative anymore. Support the brave and buy a classic.

I had no idea Scorpions had a new album. One day, listening to the radio I heard "Humanity" and that was it, I was hooked.
The rest of the songs are just as good, the whole album is emotionally charged and full of energy.
I ended up buying three copies, one for myself and the other two as presents.
I love the way the CD starts, the way it ends and everything in between.
If you ever liked Scorpions, you will like this album.

After the last CD by the scorps "Unbreakable" i was somewhat skeptical about the hype that surrounded this CD, such as this being the best since the mid-80s. But I have to agree for once withthe hype! This is an amazing collection of intelligent, at times aggressive music. The Scorpions prove once and for all that they can hold thier own riff wise with the likes of Rob Zombie and the like (Hour 1, 321) Its nice to see that some of the great masters of metal music are still willing to get up off thier butts and show the young punks how its done! Bands like Heaven and Hell, Judas Priest, and now the Scorpions. I'm not going to bore you with blow by blow discriptions, just go out buy the damn CD and let it blow you thru the wall!!!

It's true, rock fans - Scorpions have created THE rock album of the year and one of the best in their long history. From the opening riff of Hour 1, it's clear that Germany's greatest rock band has come to rock you like only they can. The group has teamed with songwriter/producer par excellence Desmond Child in a calculated effort to update their sound, while retaining all of the classic Scorpions sting. The record has a loose concept forewarning of a future where man will be pitted against intelligent robots of his own making. Granted, it's not a new theme by any stretch, but it's the songs that really matter and the band delivers in spades with several of the heaviest tracks they've ever recorded and some very fine ballads that stand up to anything in their catalog. This record also sees a marked increase in the amazing lead guitar work of Mathias Jabs, one of the great metal players of the last 20 (almost 30!) years. He shreds up a storm on tracks like "We Were Born To Fly" and the super-heavy "We Will Rise Again". Singer Klaus Meine has also delivered perhaps his most incredible performance to date. At 59, it's apparent that this vocalist of vocalists is still improving, making his well-documented vocal problems (nodes, total voice loss, two surgeries, therapy, etc.) of the early 80s a distant memory. While Meine can still wail with the best, he also employs the lower register of his range to great effect, as evident on "Love Is War". Throughout the disc, his harmonies are more spellbindingly gorgeous than ever, provoking chills on "The Future Never Dies" and "Love Will Keep Us Alive". The writing chores seem to have been split evenly between the three principals, Rudolf Schenker, Meine and Jabs with help from Child and the versatile Marti Frederiksen (who collaborated with particularly fine results with Jonny Lang on Lang's "Long Time Coming" disc from 2003). This is Jabs' largest contribution to the writing of a Scorpions record since he replaced the legendary Uli Roth in 1979. If you include the Limited Edition bonus track, "Cold", Jabs boasts 5 credits to Schenker and Meine's 4 each. The amazing thing is that every track is uniquely a Scorpions song in every way, with just the right balance of classic and modern. No doubt this CD will do well in Europe, where the band is still big, especially in Russia and surrounding countries, where they're the near-equivalent of The Beatles in their prime of popularity in the West. Album closer, "Humanity" has world-wide smash written all over it and it won't be surprising to see it repeat the global success of "Wind of Change" in 1990. This is a band who has found their stride yet again with a lyrically and musically mature record packed with all of the hallmarks that have made Scorpions one of the biggest selling rock acts in the world. If you like real guitar-driven rock music with substance and more hooks than a tackle shop, BUY THIS CD!!!

From the very first drum beat and guitar crunch on the first song Hour 1 to the very last vocal on the las song, Humanity, the Scorpions bring the house down with an incredible album.

This isn't just a good disc, it is a must. Many others have broken down the the concept of the album, so I'll just back up the consensus that this album is a must own for any rocker.

The production is crisp and clear and just superb. Guitar solos are sizzling and the flow of the album is great.

I honestly can't say enough good things about Humanity - Hour 1!

True to their name, the Scorpions never fail to amaze us with their unique blend of "heavy rock." The song writing ability of Meine/Schenker, five brilliant musicians and one of the very well-known producers combine to make Humanity Hour 1 a delightful listening experience. "Hour 1" begins with Kottak's drums (ala Megadeth's TRUST) before the rest of the band joins in. "Humanity" "Game of life" "We were born to fly" represent a good blend of melodies and powerful riffs...my favorite being "The Cross" cuz of its infectious rhythm and guitar work!

As Klaus Meine sang in Lovedrive "I'd like to show why scorpions got a sting..." they sure do! Happy listening folks :-)

This is an outstanding album from the Scorpions. How good is it to have a new set of brilliant songs from a band that has been around for a very long time that blows away the competition! This album has all the boxes ticked: great songs, great lyrics, great production, and great album flow. The teaming of the Scorpions with Desmond Child was always going to be an exciting prospect but they have really worked well together to make this excellent album a modern classic. I am definitely one very satisfied customer! I hope other bands try to use this project as an example of what is possible when care is taken with all aspects of an album.

I haven't had this much fun listening to a rock album in a LONG TIME. "Humanity Hour 1" ROCKS and is by far The Scorps best album EVER!!! Teaming up with song writer Desmond Child, who pushed the scorpions to greatness. My favorite Tracks are "Hour 1"- This song blew me away the first time I heard it!
"The game of live" a killer rock song with lyrics that will get stuck in your head for days. "the Cross" is another great rock track, featuring Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins. If Radio refuses to play any new tracks off this album than I have given up on radio, because this album is classic. If you are a scorpions fan, do not miss out on this album, IT IS AWESOME!

the best album by scorpions since "Love Drive "and "love at first sting "
this album is very well balanced, strong ballads like " your last song & love is war " and head banging tunes like "321" and "games of life " by the way, this one reminds me " rock you like a hurricane "
can't leave out the best ballad of the CD " Love will keep us alive " extremely melodic song with a perfect acustic guitar performance.

Every penny you pay for it is worthwhile, no doubt, five stars for this CD.

Easily the Scorpions best album since CRAZY WORLD, HUMANITY HOUR 1 is a triumph of soul-searching hard rock. A concept album loosely constructed around a vision of the future in which humans and androids battle for control of the Earth, HUMANITY HOUR 1 is a total departure from the band's most recent releases (EYE II EYE, UNBREAKABLE) and far more powerful because of it. As a concept album, the album doesn't necessarily tell a coherent story, and the individual songs generally don't rely on the concept for their artistic merit, but the thematic backdrop of man fighting for survival against his own creations does provide a strong focus for the Scorpions to delve into the human psyche and explore the mortal realm of love, desire, disillusionment, and the cost of survival in a world gone mad. I was a little dubious about the influence of Desmond Child on the album, but the band makes it work and the result is a cd no other heavy metal group in the world could've pulled off. As for the individual tracks themselves...

1. "Hour 1": A dark and stormy introduction to the chaos. 4 1/2 stars
2. "The Game of Life": Scorps have always been good at rockers designed to challenge and inspire their fans to rise to new heights, but this one's darker than most. 5 stars
3. "We Were Born to Fly": The power of love to take us out of even the darkest storm. 4 stars
4. "The Future Never Dies": For good or bad, there's always another day. 3 1/2 stars
5. "You're Lovin' Me to Death": More of a traditional rocker's love song. 3 stars
6. "321": This one's for the head-banger's out there...an underlying desperation makes this hard-rocker more than it seems...would probably play best in an arena where it could rock the house. 4 1/2 stars
7. "Love Will Keep Us Alive": Possibly the weakest song on the album, though still not bad. 3 Stars
8. "We Will Rise Again": An instant Scorpions classic. Captures the sturm & angst of souls caught up in forbidden love with power and operatic majesty. 5+ stars
9. "Your Last Song": Bittersweet ode to good love gone bad. 3 1/2 stars
10. "Love is War": A once star-crossed man learns the rules of love the hard way, and he'll never be the same. 4 stars
11. "The Cross": The Bible says we must all take up our cross, and for the betrayed young man in this song that cross is love itself. A song of righteous despair, and like "We Will Rise Again" one of the best Scropions have ever done. 5+ stars
12. "Humanity": The final coda to the cd's overall vision, at once an existential nightmare and a heartfelt plea for every man to stand up for the humanity in himself. 5 stars

Unfortunately, Scorpions have fallen so far out of the mainstream consciousness in American rock that it's unlikely HUMANITY HOUR 1 will be appreciated by any outside the band's loyal fanbase. Most of these tracks probably won't get much playing time in the States, though hopefully in Europe they'll get more exposure. The album is undeniably heavy on ballads--at which Scorpions have always excelled--and straightforward heavy metal rockers may not find what they're looking for here, except in "321" which is something of a throwback to "Rock You Like a Hurricane". But however many copies it sells, HUMANITY HOUR 1 is a hard rock masterpiece, and longtime Scorpions fans--members of that "Family of Spiders"--will embrace this album for the classic that it is. Highest Possible Recommendation.