Georg, Bill, Tom, and Gustav
Tokio Hotel is a rock band from Magdeburg, Germany. They are made up of identical twins Bill (vocalist) and Tom (guitarist) Kaulitz, drummer Gustav Schäfer and bassist Georg Listing. Although first formed in 2001 under the name Devilish, they received international mainstream success in 2007 after the release of their second German album Zimmer 483 and their first English album Scream.
The band is most popular with young girls and middle-aged women
due to their catchy sound and, er, unique visual appearance. That was, of course, until the the Internet got a hold of them. Or a hold of Bill, at least.
Tokio Hotel provides examples of the following tropes:
- Celebrity Is Overrated: A lot of Bill's lyrics are about how being famous made him feel alienated from the world, especially in the song "Humanoid".
- Cover Version: The band covered "Instant Karma" by John Lennon.
- Downer Ending: The German version of their music video "Spring Nicht/Don't Jump" ends with Bill letting himself fall backwards off a tall building.
- Dude Looks Like a Lady: Bill Kaulitz is a guy who has feminine features and wears guyliners. Encyclopedia Dramatica has a page on Bill that refers to him entirely as a hot woman. (Later he sported a mustache and a beard◊, as well as muscular hairy arms◊.
- George Lucas Altered Version: The video for "Scream" to the video for "Schrei". It features most of the same party clips, with the band scenes being re-shot by the now noticably older band members.
- Guyliner: Bill is a guy who wears dark and dramatic lines.
- Intercourse with You: The song "Reden", which in English means "to talk". The actual song is definitely not about talking, but about having sex.
- Market-Based Title: The band's English debut album Scream was retitled as Room 483 in their native Germany to emphasise the continuity with their previous German album Zimmer 483.
- New Sound Album:
- Humanoid, turning the band's genre from rock to electro-like music. Definitely a change, but since live instruments are still used, their sound is still recognizable.
- Kings of Suburbia completely changed the band's sound from electro-rock to synth-pop/electro, and very little live instruments are used. "Humanoid" was the stepping stone to the sound overhaul.
