TOKIO HOTEL - Humanoid
TOKIO HOTEL - Humanoid
Written by Sarah Mudgway   
Wednesday, 06 January 2010 21:15
Tokio Hotel - Humanoid If someone were to ask me what Germany was famous for, I would struggle to list much beyond a certain World War... and beer. Musically, German artists (particularly those outside of the dance music realm), seem to struggle to break past their own borders - let alone grab the attention of the musically bombarded MTV audience.

And then TOKIO HOTEL came along - a band which style themselves like a glam-rock music video gone crazy, fronted by a somewhat androgynous vocalist with a passion for hair product... who has on more than one occasion, been mistaken for a girl.

Oh, did I forget to mention that they also have taken Germany and the world by storm?
The quartet began in 2001, and since then has sold over 5 million albums in Germany alone, with four number one singles to boot. In 2008 - after releasing two German albums and one English – the band became the first German band to win an American MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist, and later that year taking out four awards at the Latin VMA's, including the highly coveted Song of the Year.

'HUMANOID' is the bands second English studio album (also being released in German) - and continues in a similar vein as their earlier releases - electro-rock with some catchy melodies and a dash of pop, to appeal to the mainstream masses. However, this time Tokio Hotel has branched out a little, with some futuristic-esque synths and echo work. While at first it is catchy, by the halfway point it feels a little over-done, and by the end of the twelve track album, the lack of originality prevents any track from really standing out.

First single ‘Automatic’ is one of the rock-ier songs on the album, along with title track ‘Humanoid’ which both are vaguely reminiscent of a more experimental AFI (Jade Puget from AFI remixed one of their earlier tracks for a U.S. single release). Later tracks ‘Dogs Unleashed’ and ‘Human Connect To Human’ both contain a strong synth leaning, which results in them having a distinctly 80's feel, while ‘Forever Now’ is a softer ballad.

As would be expected for a band writing lyrics in a language which isn’t their native tongue, the lyrics of ‘Humanoid’ are not the most complex. That being said, the emotions of teenage angst, love, lust and heartbreak are universal - and therefore don’t need the lyrical depth which other bands offer.

‘Humanoid’ isn’t a bad album; however it also isn’t a memorable album. In a world where music is increasingly available and accessible, creating something memorable is 100% necessary to remain on that all important iPod 'now playing' playlist. Unfortunately, ‘Humanoid’ may just find itself on a slippery slope to one-hit-wonder land...
 

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