[NET/MA/Avril 2010] (MSN Malaysia) Humanoid: Pourquoi on aime.

Eyeliner-heavy German rock band Tokio Hotel unleashed to the world their second English album, ‘Humanoid’. And boy, they are the best thing to come out from Germany since David Hasselhoff.

In a nutshell: A German emo rock band that, strangely, named themselves after a city in Japan. The awesome foursome, fronted by Gatsby-model-looking Bill Kaulitz, has been pumping out their own brand of pop rock tunes since 2001. They finally crossed over to the U.S. market with their 2007 English language debut ‘Scream’. We won’t blame you if you have not heard of them before, but mark our words: they’ll soon invade the world – something a certain moustached individual whose name rhymes with Hustler failed to do.

Why we like it: Doing what any other emo rock bands out there had problems doing (cough, Fall Out Boy, cough), Tokio Hotel had no problems experimenting with punk rock (“Humanoid”), glam pop (“Automatic”, “World Behind My Wall”) and electric tracks (“Dogs Unleashed”) in one album. And it works; it gels together really well, creating a very unique sound and style for Tokio Hotel. And the tracks are further heightened by Bill Kaulitz’s soaring vocals; we would say his voice is the distinctive element of the band’s brand of music. Take “The Pain of Love” for example: Bill’s voice is simply engaging, and you can literally taste the anguish in his voice. Strangely, he sounds exactly like another modern glam-rock icon: Adam Lambert!

Why we don’t: ‘Humanoid’ is not everybody’s tasse tee (cup of tea in German, by the way): the album is clearly darker than their debut English album. Word of caution: suicidal and overly-depressed teens should stay away from this album.

Verdict: Overall, ‘Humanoid’ is a pretty good album. If you like My Chemical Romance, Mr. Glambert, BMWs and Volkswagens, this is one album you should get.

4 stars