CD Review : Devilish
Don't you love the Cyber Age?Almost nobody has the first CD released by the band when they were still called "Devilish", before they signed with
Yet half of the fans have been able to hear its songs. Including me.
Track list
1. It's so hard to live
2. Lebe die Sekunde
3. Nichts wird besser
4. I needn't you
5. Nothing's like before
6. Schwerelos
7. Schönes Mädchen aus dem All
The band themselves joke that it's crap and they could turn a lot of fans away if they re-issued it. It's not that bad... Okay, it's not exactly good either.
But it's good to be able to listen to it, because it gives a good support to the claim that they were making music on their own, and that not all of their current set list is done by their producers.
The "Devilish" CD was definitely not teleguided / done by grown-ups, because :
1) some melodies are so weird, unnatural and not-marketable that no professional producer could have come up with it - Schwerelos, notably
2) only a 12-yrs old boy can come up with lyrics speaking of galaxies and planets. Or write one called "It's so hard to live" that isn't meant to be a parody (actually, ignore that. There are probably grown-up bands who do sing titles that lame without having the excuse of being 12)
3) 3 songs are in an English so broken that there's even a grammar mistake in the title : "I needn't you". (Dudes, I luff this fandom. It cracks me up constantly)
Arrm.
It features an early version of "Leb die Sekunde" that sounds nothing like the one released on "Schrei".
Also, their pictures on the CD show that they are the same people as they are now. Bill changed of haircut and make-up style a few times since then, but he already wore eyeliner then (oh dear), already had awful distinctive fashion taste, Tom already was a dreadlock boy, and the other two were... regular kids, whatever.
And their English hasn't gotten any better.
Just kidding, it did get better. I think. Possibly.
Track commentary
1. It's so hard to live
I have troubles to comment this album, though, as I didn't put my hands on the lyrics or their translation, so I'm left with only the music and Bill's vocals. And generic comments like it's odd that Bill's voice comes out as more raw and rough here. Maybe because he was trying to sound all serious and badass, while when he recorded Schrei he fully embraced being a pre-teen singer? Go figure.2. Lebe die Sekunde
This is the root of what would become one of Tokio Hotel's hits, "Leb' die Sekunde"... except it sounds nothing like it. Instead of the rushed, urgent tune of their later version, it's quite soft and more spoken than sung. Very odd.3. Nichts wird besser ("Nothing gets / will get better")
... And so, I need to brush up my German. More. Mind you, by now I manage to catch some of what Bill says in between songs. Not something I would have been able to do before I started listening to TH.4. I needn't you
Baby!Bill singing a bitter break-up song to a girl who left him on his own in broken English, that's über-cute...5. Nothing's like before
6. Schwerelos
First time I heard that one, I sat gazing at my computer screen with a ?_? look on my face. By now I got used to it, but yeah... it sounds a bit weird. Which, in the long run, makes it more enduring.7. Schönes Mädchen aus dem All
See, I'm not a specialist, but apparently this is an example that back in the Devilish day, they were more punk than now. Oddly. Too bad they seem to be slightly ashamed of that time of their career.Yeah, it was raw. But there's good in raw.
