HERMAN ZE GERMAN

With all due respect to Herman Rarebell for his prodigious drumming/songwriting contributions to so many classic SCORPIONS' songs, "Take it as it Comes" from his HERMAN ZE GERMAN project is a painfully generic and frequently awful hard rock/lite-metal album destined for eternal bargain bin status. I'd even take Geezer Butler's last GZR release over this one.

Can one find a side that is "up" on the new long player? That depends on your definition of "up," but if been-there-done-that, uninspiring rock tunes like the pedestrian title track — one of three with Rarebell's irksome lead vocals – is your cup of tea, then go ahead and proclaim it upped. Yes, it is tolerable and probably even appealing to a certain demographic (I won't say what one, but they wore a lot of iron-on hot rods on their shirts in the 80s),as is the case with the straight up rock — by way of 21st Century KROKUS — of "Don't Lose Your Trust" and the sole tune with a decent hook, "Backattack". When you've got songs like the moody, edgy 'n modern (if it were 1995) rock of "Freak Show" (think of a DEF LEPPARD "C" side) and an absolutely horrendous power balled (even by power ballad standards) called "Your Love is Hurting", you just can't get on with the rest of your life fast enough. As it that weren't bad enough, "Your Love is Hurting" is revised in radio-edit, bonus track form to close the album. That's not a bonus; it's a one-day suspension without pay.

The remaining tracks are just as spotty and then only in a liver spots kind of way. The cover of "Wipe Out" exists and that's about it; "Drum Dance" is kind of groovy/funky and almost OK; an attempt to be JOHN HIATT on "I'm Back" is almost intriguing; and the rendition of "Rock You Like a Hurricane" with its atrocious Rarebell spoken verses is a cardinal fucking sin. Oh yeah, Rarebell's squeeze Claudia Raab plays saxophone on a slew of tracks and in some cases it actually helps. Minds with larger openings might argue for a score increase. I'm not counter-arguing; I'm just saying that "Take it as it Comes" is not something I want to recall when the subject of Herman Rarebell is broached. Save your money; don't take it as it comes. Just leave it alone.