Herman Rarebell is back with another solo album, with a little help for some of his friends this time. HERMAN RAREBELL AND FRIENDS is not a vanity project by all means, it’s more like an extended jam and musicians having fun in the studio, playing songs from the vast catalogue of the legendary THE SCORPIONS drummer with several covers from the 80's. This is the collection that seems like a gift from Herman to himself after his decades-long defining career. ‘’What About Love’’ is a very positive-driven album. Covers ranging from GUNS N’ ROSES, THE POLICE, PAT BENATAR, PHIL COLLINS, FOREIGNER, JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS amongst countless others. In a world of constant fear, war and bad news everywhere, he decides to release all about all about love, a theme we may have forgotten after all we have all been through the last few years. I think it’s something we need in a sense but another cover albums, is it worth it? Let’s see…

If you do not know who Herman Rarebell is, well he was the drummer for THE SCORPIONS from 1977 to 1985 playing on the legendary albums like ‘’Blackout’’, ‘’Love at First Sting’’, ‘’Animal Magnetism’’. He was part of the driving force of the band for decades alongside the dual axemen attack of Matthias Jabs and Rudolf Schenker. He wrote many of their greatest hits, so his mark on the band was notwithstanding but it felt unnoticed since he left the band. Most of his solo stuff has been concentrated on his material with them, showing the world his underrated talent to the masses. Well, this time it’s a bit different, he decided to go off the beaten path and reimagine some of his songs from his back catalog. Thankfully it’s not a paint-by-numbers approach to making covers like so many artists and bands have done the last few years. I guess he wanted to stand out a bit and I enjoyed the reimagining of the songs but it felt a bit flat. You know maybe more songs from his previous band would have been better but he chose two songs that are near and dear to this heart and that’s fine. I honestly had to listen to the original version of ‘’Passion Rules the Game’’ because I hadn’t heard it in such a long time so the comparison would have gone the wayside. It’s the one that stands out because ‘’Rock You Like a Hurricane’’ is pretty straightforward when you think of it.

What can I say about the rest of the covers, the production is top-notch, it really is and the young talent he has given the chance to perform on this album have admirable presence. It feels like it lacks a bit of heart and passion, the songs are interchangeable at best and they are overly bad but not memorable. You listen to the song and you go on to the next song and so on and so forth. It feels like it drags longer than it should which is a shame. The singers are great but you don’t feel the urge to listen to the album another time, you put in a drawer never to be touched again. Undeniable talent mixed with great production but lacks that special something. It's not bad, it’s not great, it’s really in the middle. It feels more like a personal project than anything else, something that makes his happy as an artist, celebrating the past and bands that he has admired throughout his career.