When a CD arrived in my mailbox by an artist named Herman Ze German, I got really excited. “What a spectacular band name,” I thought to myself. “This is probably going to suck so bad that it is going to be awesome.” After throwing Ze German’s album Take It As It Comes in the stereo, it turned out that it wasn’t all that terrible.
When I took a closer look at the album art, I realized that Herman Ze German is not just any aging rocker. He is Herman Rarebell, the former drummer of legendary hard rock band, The Scorpions.
Rarebell’s record has that German rock sound. It is very melodic, uses saxophones, and a variety of different sounds. Herman Ze German trades off lead vocal duty with Bon Scott sound-alike Stefan Erz, which provides a nice contrast between the album’s content.
The album loses points when it offers a spoken word cover of “Rock You Like A Hurricane.” There’s just no reason for it. Save it for the live gigs at the local pub. I also found the “Wipe Out” cover that follows to be extremely hokey.
There is a mildly tasty ballad called “Your Love Is Hurting.” But like the other tracks on the album, it is over produced. Some tracks end too soon, others go on for a little too long.
The vocals on “Heya heya” had me laughing hysterically on first (and second) listen. I recommend checking this one out on your own.
Take It As It Comes is not the worst album I have heard this year, but still comes in below average. The Scorpions farewell record Sting in the Tail is far better. Why did Ze German quit that band again?
Track Listing:
- “Take It As It Comes”
- “Don’t Lose Your Trust”
- “Rough Job”
- “Let me Rock You”
- “Your Love Is Hurting”
- “Freak Show”
- “Heya Heya”
- “Backattack”
- “Rock You Like A Hurricane”
- “Wipe Out”
- “Drum Dance”
- “I’m Back”
- “Your Love Is Hurting (Radio Version)”