Kings of Suburbia: A Track-by-Track Analysis of Tokio Hotel's New Album

by Justine

FIVE YEARS! It's been FIVE YEARS! Tokio Hotel have sure taken their time in producing their latest album Kings of Suburbia but just one listen through the album will tell you why. The twins, Bill and Tom Kaulitz, relocated to LA not long after the release of their previous album, Humanoid. Contrary to what normal people may believe about LA, it seems the city provided them with a much more "live-able" lifestyle. In Germany it didn't seem like they had much chance to leave their homes or live like everyday people (I'm guessing that's what World Behind My Wall was about). The G's, Georg and Gustav, remained in Germany but the twins seem to have found a more comfortable and free lifestyle in the US. Undoubtedly, this fuelled a new kind of creativity of which the product is Kings of Suburbia. The boys have certainly shocked with their drastically different sound but once over the initial "what the hell?!" this album is actually quite good.

Feel It All

The song starts with a soft electric sound followed by a drum beat and a rather different sounding vocal from Bill. It's not nearly as auto-tuned as the other songs on this album and you can actually hear Bill's voice. It has a fairly simple structure with a very electric and "studio produced" feel rather than their trademark "live rock band" sound. While it's not exactly a stand out on the album, I find it easy to listen to and quite likeable. It's a good opening track as it's a subtle introduction to the new sound.

Stormy Weather

SO MUCH AUTO-TUNE! I sometimes wonder how on earth Bill is going to perform some of these songs live! Not that I don't doubt he can hit the high notes (he did manage to get that extremely high note in Love and Death on their Welcome to Humanoid City Tour after all). BUT, that being said, I actually really like this song. I like the low tones at the beginning of the song and the fact that the electric guitar actually plays a role in the song. The beat is great and it has a lot of power. It's one of my favourites on the album. My only criticism would be the lack of inventive lyrics in the chorus and the poor grammar (It is "a" stormy weather? Just no...). I can imagine them rocking out to this in concert - in fact I think it would be a great opening number for their tour (*hint hint*).

Tokio Hotel: Girl Got a Gun

by Justine

I had originally planned to write on a completely different subject this week, however, Tokio Hotel just happened to release their new video for second single Girl Got a Gun from their long awaited album (I'm talking 5 years here!) Kings of Suburbia.

The boys have announced that they will be releasing three singles before the whole album becomes available in early October. The first single released was the very un-Tokio Hotel song, Run Run Run. Now I admit, upon hearing the song for the first time, I wasn't quite sure. My favourite TH songs had always had more of a rock feel and I loved the messages in the lyrics. It took a while for the song to grow on me but eventually I was able to accept that a lot can change in five years. They grew up in that time so naturally the music should be different.

I know a fair bit of TH fans were disappointed upon hearing Run Run Run as Georg and Gustav (the G's) seem to have been excluded. The music video released shortly after only featured the twins; Tom on the piano with a cigarette close by, and Bill sitting on a speaker wearing insanely high heels and sporting a short, blonde look - significantly different from the mohawk and lion's mane us fans were used to. The video is completely in black and white with a play on light. Bill's voice sounds quite different although it's probably the result of some auto-tune. The lyrics however did seem to have some resonance with the past TH but it still took some getting used to.

Now, onto Girl Got a Gun. The single was released last week and I was thrilled to have it pop up on my phone that morning. I was a bit disappointed at the song length (2mins 46? Really?) but in any case, having earlier accepted that TH have changed, I took to this song more easily. It certainly didn't sound like anything that they'd done before but it was catchy - especially considering the chorus only consists of the words "Girl got a gun, girl got gun gun gun, girl got a gun, girl got a gun, bang bang" repeated over an over. It's like some strange tongue twister! The rhythm and beat are pretty good so no complaints there.

Naturally, having taken to the song, I simply could not wait until the release of the video! In my head I was picturing the production that was Automatic or Monsoon. I had been obsessively checking YouTube and their website until they finally announced that it would be release on the 23rd of September.

What. The. Hell. Did. I. Just. Watch.

Tokio Hotel TV: They're Baaaack!!

Hi there everyone,

So firstly, my apologies for failing to post last week. Life of a uni student I guess. In any case, I thought I'd do a bit of catching up by posting two reviews this week.

After five years of anxious waiting, catching snippets of them in collaborations, scanning their website for the mention of a new video or even just one of their "thank you for voting" videos, they are FINALLY back. I'm no hard core rock fan but Tokio Hotel has always had a special place with me. I love that their songs have substance and carry important meanings. Their earlier work (i.e. Scream) had excellent songs like Don't Jump (my personal favourite) which was anti-suicide, Forgotten Children about immigrant children that are neglected in the streets and Break Away about refusing to conform to the norms and being your own person.

 
In 2009 they reappeared on the scene with a new sound and new look (mostly Bill's hair really). Gone was the massive black and white lion's mane now replaced by black and white dreadlocks (what?) for their video Automatic. He'd changed it again by the time they did the video for their second single World Behind My Wall from the long awaited album Humanoid. Admittedly, I only became a fan in late 2009 when I first heard Automatic. I rushed to YouTube and found myself falling in love with their music. I didn't waste time buying Humanoid (in English and German) as well has Scream and some songs from Zimmer 483. I even made sure I got my copy of the Welcome to Humanoid City Tour DVD because sadly, they never seem to tour in NZ. Their performance in the 2009 EMA Awards had me hooked - all that fire and the double meaning to the song World Behind My Wall (I'm referring to the 20 year anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall). Beautiful.

And now, after a very long absence, Tokio Hotel have decided yet again to grace us fans with something new to feast on - a new season of Tokio Hotel TV! Veteran fans will remember the old series which followed the lives of band members Bill, Tom, Georg and Gustav as they trekked through America on their Scream tour. They boys have been hard at work creating a new album, getting a myriad of new tattoos and piercings and collaborating with fellow label mates, Far East Movement (If I Die Tomorrow is a pretty awesome song!). Of course Bill has been changing up his hair a ton and experimenting with some new clothes which I'm sure fans are going to LOVE.

The first episode of the new Tokio Hotel TV aired on Wednesday 6th August (which was Thursday at like 3am for us Kiwis) and boy was I excited! The boys were finally reunited in LA and work really seemed to underway for the new album. The twins seem to have had an even bigger role in the production of this album although it seems as though Tom's been doing most of the work. The G's, who remained in Germany despite the twins moving to the US, rejoined for the final touches to the album and of course the photo shoots!

They haven't given too many hints as to what the new album will sound like but I have been catching a few snippets of tracks here and there. So far so good! With any luck they'll release it soon and put us all out of our misery. And hopefully they'll go back to making a ton of music videos instead of just two. Come on Bill, I know you love getting all dressed up for them!

If you're a fan like me, do check out their YouTube channel for the new series which airs every Wednesday/Thursday (depending on where you live). If you're not, check them out anyway, they're pretty freaking awesome!

KEEP

8/10