HERMAN RAREBELL & FRIENDS – What About Love?

The ‘80s was a glorious decade filled with wonderful music from artists such as Van Halen, Heart, Def Leppard, AC/DC, Foreigner, Bon Jovi, and the list goes onward continuously. What better way to honor that decade than with a covers album? Former Scorpions drummer Herman Rarebell did just that, with a little help from his friends, of course. Get it, Herman Rarebell & Friends? Currently living in a highly political world that seems to be getting further and further away from love, Rarebell wanted to spread some joy with 12 classic hits that are filled with nothing but love, courage, and optimism. The album title, fittingly enough, is What About Love? (2025). The intentions were good, but was the execution worth it?

Look, it’s not totally out of left field to do a covers album. Lots of bands have done them. The problem with covers albums, however, is it’s hard to top the originals because they’re great for a reason. It’s cute to cover a song once in a while on a studio album, but to do a full album filled with covers? That’s a risky move because if the covers aren’t better or as good as the originals, the album would go down the drain for all of eternity. As for the songs, Rarebell was not kidding when he said it was a greatest hits package of the ‘80s. In other words, everyone has heard these songs a million times throughout the years, so is it really necessary to hear them again?

A Risk That Was Doomed to Fail

The opening track, “In the Air Tonight” by Phil Collins, is one of the most well-known songs in music history and it’s one of Collins’ most popular songs. The percussion instrumentation is cool, but even with the modern production, Rarebell and friends don’t do anything to make it stand out from the original. The same can be said for Whitesnake’s “Here I Go Again” and The Police’s “Every Breath You Take.” The instrumentation is nicely done, but they’re not that different from the original versions. However, vocalist Michael Voss gets props for attempting David Coverdale’s insane high register.

Probably the biggest crime of all is that Rarebell and friends took on vocalists who were too big for them. Take “I Want to Know What Love Is,” for example. Foreigner’s Lou Gramm was blessed with God-given vocals that could captivate an audience at the snap of his fingers. Voss does not have that and it doesn’t help that he’s twice the age Gramm was when he recorded it in 1983. “What About Love,” originally performed by Ann Wilson from Heart, is a song that needs a lot of attitude and balls because that’s the feeling people got every time Wilson opened her mouth. The revamped modern version doesn’t have that; it’s too happy and bright. Plus, it’s not right to replace a lion with two little mice on vocals. Let’s not even get into “Love Is a Battlefield” because Pat Benetar has way more balls than vocalist Van de Forst.

The one major highlight on the album is the cover of Guns N’ Roses’ “Sweet Child o’ Mine” because Rarebell and friends turned it into a tasteful acoustic number. In other words, they actually made the song different from the original version. “Rock You Like a Hurricane” is overplayed to death, but it’s such a fun song and the cover version will have listeners banging their heads, when in the right mood. While Robert Palmer wasn’t the biggest name in the music industry, it’s cool that Rarebell and friends chose to cover “Addicted to Love” as a heartfelt tribute to the soulful singer, who passed away in 2003.

Tracklist Concerns

Before wrapping up, let’s talk more about the tracklist because it’s a bit questionable. First of all, “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” shouldn’t even be on Rarebell’s covers album because it originally came out in 1975 and was performed by a British rock band known as the Arrows. Joan Jett covered it in the early ‘80s with her band, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, hence why it’s included on the album. Also, why are there two Scorpions songs and two Heart songs? How is that fair for the other artists included on the album? If Rarebell stuck with the “one song by each artist” rule, he should’ve kept Heart’s “These Dreams” and tossed aside “What About Love” for the reasons mentioned above. While the cover version of “These Dreams” isn’t mind blowing, it’s a beautiful version of a beautifully written song. The cover of Scorpions’ “Passion Rules the Game” is cute, but again, not enough balls as the original version. That’s a strange thing to say since Rarebell played on the original version.

Final Assessment

In closing, it really depends on how many times listeners have heard the songs mentioned above. If they’re not sick of the songs mentioned above, they will enjoy Herman Rarebell & Friends’ What About Love? album. If there are listeners out there that have never heard the songs mentioned above, they will enjoy the What About Love? album. Again, the intentions were good and the world does need more love, but to relive the ‘80s, just pull out the original versions!

Album Tracklist

1. In the Air Tonight (Phil Collins cover)
2. I Want to Know What Love Is (Foreigner cover)
3. Love Is a Battlefield (Pat Benatar cover)
4. What About Love (Heart cover)
5. Every Breath You Take (The Police cover)
6. Sweet Child o’ Mine (Guns N’ Roses cover)
7. Here I Go Again (Whitesnake cover)
8. Addicted to Love (Robert Palmer cover)
9. Passion Rules the Game (Scorpions cover)
10. Rock You Like a Hurricane (Scorpions cover)
11. These Dreams (Heart cover)
12. I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll (Arrows / Joan Jett and the Blackhearts cover)

Lineup

Herman Rarebell – drums

Herman’s Friends

Michael Voss – lead vocals and guitars
Van de Forst – lead vocals, acoustic guitars, and keyboards
Dann Huff – lead guitars
Howard Leese – lead guitars
Bob Daisley – bass guitar
Neil Carter – keyboards
Jim Vallance keyboards
Eva von der Forst – backing vocals
Lexus de la Foret – backing vocals