I'll confess - I have a soft spot for aging Rock and Metal bands. Despite the belief such elder statesmen are washed-up, their later albums often contain hidden gems for those who bother to look. IRON MAIDEN's recent efforts have taken the band to epic and atmospheric heights they only dreamed of before. DEEP PURPLE's "Bananas" and "Rapture Of The Deep" stand up perfectly well against moldy goldies like "Machine Head" and "In Rock", and Ian Gillan's voice somehow got even better with age (his range is a bit narrower, but his voice has so much more character now.) As for EUROPE, I'll take the KING'S X meets U2 sound of "Secret Society" over the sugary, synth-laden AOR on "The Final Countdown" any day.

Granted, not every act aged so gracefully. Too many bands sound like they're just going through the motions, growing fat off royalties, greatest hits, and the occasional reunion tour. Yet sometimes, even when you're convinced a band's glory days are behind them, they can still surprise you.

Case in point: SCORPIONS. Between experimenting with "Acoustica", the Berlin Philharmonic on "Moment Of Glory", and the embarrassing Electronica on "Eye II Eye", it's easy to forget they were once a Heavy Metal band. "Unbreakable" provided a nice return to form and placated fans yearning for new material, yet for many, it still lacked that proverbial "sting". But even if you weren't ready to count them out yet, you'd never guess that three years later they would deliver one of the best albums of their career. Enter "Humanity - Hour 1", an album centered on an almost RUSH-esque concept - a futuristic look at the gradual extinction of the human race by it's own hand.

The full weight of the band's 38 years can be felt on this record, and in a very good way. This is not an album the SCORPIONS of twenty years ago would have written. Only "3-2-1" deviates from the mature tone into "Hurricane"-style Party Metal, and even then, judging by the doomsday countdown in the middle, it could be your last chance to get rocked. Alternately cynical and optimistic, heavy and melodic, classic and modern, it's everything fans have been waiting for. Credit where credit is due, the band has a host of collaborators on this album, most notably producer/songwriter Desmond Child. Given both Child's and the SCORPS' reputations for creating well-crafted melodic hooks, it's a wonder they never teamed up earlier.

In truth, it's difficult to pick any highlights. "Humanity - Hour 1" is one of those rare albums where nearly every track seems to nail it. Take the twin title tracks - "Hour 1" nearly calls to mind "Black Album"-era METALLICA, while "Humanity" starts off sounding like a heart-wrenching SCORPIONS ballad, before becoming one of the most epic tracks the band has created. "The Game Of Life", "We Were Born To Fly", and "We Will Rise" are excellent modernized versions of the classic SCORPIONS sound. "The Cross" sounds like a lost track from a Bruce Dickinson album, and features oddly appropriate guest vocals from SMASHING PUMPKINS' Billy Corgan. (The guest appearance is not so out of place once you realize Corgan's delivery owes almost as much to Klaus Meine as, say, Axle Rose and Kurt Cobain.)

Among the rockers, only "Loving Me To Death" feels somewhat standard. The ballads are also somewhat disappointing by SCORPIONS standards. While "The Future Never Dies" and "Your Last Song" occasionally tug the heartstrings, and "Love Will Keep Us Alive" provides a nod to the band's "Acoustica" days, none of them really live up to classics like "Still Loving You" or "Send Me an Angel." On a weaker album, however, even these tracks would be choice cuts.

In recent interviews, Klaus Meine has floated around the idea that "Humanity - Hour 1" could be the band's swan song. As sad as the thought is, the band will be hard pressed to find a sweeter note to go out on. This is 2007's best-kept secret, and the band's finest hour.