Based on their early albums, anything Tokio Hotel didn’t know about making crunchy Alternative Rock would fit comfortably in a pinky thimble with room for Donald Trump’s liberal views on Mexican immigrants. Tokio Hotel’s first three releases crackle with the kind of careening Guitar Rock that has become the stock in trade of young American bands from large urban areas, hardscrabble cities and the country’s heartland. And that’s interesting, because Tokio Hotel is as German as Volkswagen and Beck’s beer (the one actually made in Germany and not St. Louis).
Even more amazingly, Tokio Hotel’s history dates back a decade and a half, to when the twin Kaulitz brothers were 10 years old. Vocalist Bill and guitarist Tom performed for two years before connecting with bassist Georg Listing and drummer Gustav Schäfer to form Devilish in 2001. The Kaulitzes were 12, while Schäfer and Listing were 13 and 14, respectively. The quartet recorded a demo, played relentlessly throughout Europe and eventually scored a deal, first with Sony and then, as Tokio Hotel, with Universal, which released the newly christened band’s official debut, 2005’s Schrei. The album went to No. 1 in Germany, as did 2007’s sophomore album, Zimmer 483. Scream, also released that year, was the band’s debut English-language album and featured re-recorded/translated versions of songs from Schrei and Zimmer 483.
Scream broke Tokio Hotel to the international market, but also marked a chaotic period for the band. Bill Kaulitz got a throat infection and a cyst that required surgery, and stalking incidents in 2008 and 2009 escalated to the point that the brothers relocated to Los Angeles in 2010. By then, the band had released Humanoid, which featured a more Techno approach, but continued its streak of No.-1-homeland hits.
After Humanoid, Tokio Hotel retreated from road and studio for nearly five years, returning last fall with Kings of Suburbia, an unabashed Pop/Rock album that became one of the band’s most polarizing works. In the final rinse, Tokio Hotel has likely substituted the loss of old followers on Kings of Suburbia with an exponential rise in new fans, but the band members would be the first to tell you, it’s all music to them. Achtung, babies.