New Music Reviews - Home of DJ Willis

“Now the youthful foursome, led by the wildly androgynous 18-year-old Bill Kaulitz, takes on America with “Scream,” which features English versions of material from their two studio albums, “Schrei” and “Zimmer 483.” Tokio Hotel’s forte are über-anthemic power ballads, delivered in a Teutonic accent with heartbreaking sincerity (”Rescue Me,” “Sacred”). Kaulitz’s gender-bending vocals make “On the Edge” sound like Nena covering Nirvana, and the soaring slow dance “By Your Side,” from the movie “Prom Night,” couldn’t be more arena-ready. Emo kids will flock to German class when they hear the original version of “Monsoon,” the band’s biggest hit, which closes this strangely fascinating Euro-glam effort. —Sven Philipp”