Tokio Hotel (Totally not Japanese)

[Joviwan]

So has anyone heard of this group? Their basically a punky-emo teenaged (well, just graduated from teenangerhood) band out of Germany, and have seemingly grown major fame in the German and European music scene. I'm sick to fucking death of them because my mother has become a ravenous fangirl, and I wish they'd do something horribly embarassing and forever lose popularity, but my opinions might be a little skewed.

Anyway, their record company is slowly trying to insinuate them into America (teaching them English, even!). I was wondering if any of the denizens of this vibrantly varied board has heard of them, and if they wanted to share their thoughts on the group.

[Shinova]

I thought they were Japanese until I read your post.

[Joviwan]

That tends to happen a lot, actually, though my opinion is that no self respecting Japanese would spell the name of their own damn country wrong. Granted, that's hypocritical of me, because I thought they were Japanese when I first heard of them, too.

EDIT: Changed title to reflect lack of Japaneses.

[Drewcifer]

Wikipedia says that Tokio is the German spelling of Tokyo.

Anyhow, I hadn't heard of them before this thread and went to YouTube to check them out. Forgettable and innocuous German emo-pop is my first impression. The singer has that androgyny thing going on, which seems to be a trend again lately.
...
OK, after three songs, my first impression still stands.

As a sidebar, for being such a guttural language German can sound very pleasing when sung.

[salm]

Heh, Tokio Hotel. It´s spelled correctly since it´s a German title.

However, this band was cast together a couple of years ago by someone with a god sense for making money.
They´re really popular among teen aged girls and to a less degree with the moms of said teen aged girls.
Recently i noticed another, very similar band that has been playing on MTV which follow the exact same concept, and are apparently cast and managed by the same producers.
The music is emo pop with melodies that are easy to remember.

Personally i don´t like this type of music but they don´t appear to be one hit wonders and surely are a cash generator for Vivendi Universal.

[General Zod]

That tends to happen a lot, actually, though my opinion is that no self respecting Japanese would spell the name of their own damn country wrong. Granted, that's hypocritical of me, because I thought they were Japanese when I first heard of them, too.

EDIT: Changed title to reflect lack of Japaneses.

Nitpick: Tokyo is a city, not a country.

[Spanky The Dolphin]

"Tokio" was also a common romanization of the city's name in the West before the Hepburn system came into wider, standardized usage.

[Siege]

As far as emo-pop record industry cash-in projects go, I find Tokio Hotel easier on the ears than many predecessors and contemporaries, but a full album (instead of the occasional over-played radio single) is still not something I'd willingly subject myself to.

[Dooey Jo]

So has anyone heard of this group?

Let me put it this way: If you've used Swedish public transportation, you've heard of Tokio Hotel, whether you realise it or not. If you've seen a picture of a bunch of emo-looking guys and are absolutely sure the guy in the middle is actually a girl, chances are pretty good you've seen Tokio Hotel. Seriously, did that guy jump right out of a manga?

As for their music, it sucks. It's better than those Panic at the Disco and My Chemical Romance types, but that doesn't really say much.

Also, no, I don't willingly keep track of the emo music scene, this is wholly the fault of all those damned teenagers on the bus that blast this stuff through their headphones, loud enough for me to hear it five seats away...

[Teebs]

I spent some of my time teaching Italian kids during the Summer and they were obsessed with this group. In arty activities it was always the tokio hotel symbol/name they drew. I'm with everyone else on the quality of the music, it sucks.

[Joviwan]

Oh good, everyone agrees with me!

I've heard of their popularity in sweden, and scratched my head. I honestly have no idea why they are so popular, other than maybe targeted marketing and the obscene purveyance of the internet fan sites.

Nitpick: Tokyo is a city, not a country.

I am so embarrassed.