On disc: Scorpions

 
 Tokyo Tapes
 
- Umberto Mino -
 
 


 
 Lovedrive
 
- Umberto Mino -
 
 


 
 Animal Magnetism
 
- Umberto Mino -
 
 


 
 Blackout
 
- Umberto Mino -
 
 


 
 Love At First Sting
 
- Umberto Mino -
 
 


 
 World Wide Live
 
- Claudia Ehrhardt -
 
 


 
 Crazy World
 
- Claudia Ehrhardt -
 
 


 
 Face The Heat
 
- Claudia Ehrhardt -
 
 


 
 Eye II Eye
 
- Claudia Ehrhardt -
 
 


 
 Acoustica
 
- Claudia Ehrhardt -
 
 


 
 Moment Of Glory
 
- Claudia Ehrhardt -
 
  


 
 Humanity - Hour 1
 
- Claudia Ehrhardt -
 
 


 
 Humanity - Hour 1
 
- Victor Kzyto -
 
 


 
 Sting In The Tail
 
- Claudia Ehrhardt -
 
 

Sting In The Tail

(Sony Music - 2010)



 
 

 

When German hard rockers Scorpions announced that the new album will be their last, that they call it quits after 45 years, it was a surprise. They always loved to play live and so they will hit the road after the release od Sting In The Tail. After many successful years the late 90's releases disappointed the fans, but albums like Unbreakable and Humanity - Hour 1 indicated that they are back full force. And now Sting In The Tail shall mark be their final release. Again they got a helping hand with the songwriting from e.g Eric Bazilian and the producers Mikael 'Nord' Anderson and Martin Hansen.

Singer Klaus Meine and guitarists Rudolf Schenker and Matthias Jabs offer a mix of Blackout and Humanity - Hour 1. Songs like Sting In The Tail and Slave Me show them strong and make one wonder why they will knock off. At The Good Die Young the guitar reminds me a bit of Holiday / When The Smoke Is Going Down... But when Klaus Meine joins in the song gets a different direction. At this one they welcomed ex-Nightwish singer Tarja Turunen who joins Meine for the chorus. The fast No Limit shows that they can still rock! It seems that someone unleased the Scorpions... With Lorelei they offer a ballad, but it can't keep up with ballads like Wind Of Change, You & I or Still Loving You. With Sly they later on offer another ballad and again it reminds me of some old tune, but well they cite themselves. Turn You On is aggressive, raw - and catchy. A pity that we won't get more songs like this in future... I noticed that the weakest songs - at least for me - are the ones which were co-written by Thomander / Wikström...

Even if Scorpions always been honest to their fans, I hope that this time they will proof themselves wrong and come back. Even if this isn't one of their top albums, it's a very good one.

 
 










Claudia Ehrhardt


  
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Humanity - Hour 1

(BMG - 2007)



 
 

 

Oh my God!! Are this the real Scorpions? Yes!! And they kick ass again!! After the good album Unbreakable, they return with one of the best albums ever from the great German band. The opener Hour 1 hits your head off with a power that Scorpions forget at all in the 90's. And then The Game Of Life keeps your head on a constant banging and your fist on the air!! Yes, and that's not all!! We Were Born To Fly let you on the same way to let you in the powerful ballad The Future Never Lies, to rise again in a crushing rocker You're Lovin Me To Death and next is 321 heavier then I heard Scorpions ever. Oh my, I even forget, this is the first conceptual album from the band and they realize it without sacrifice the bands essence. Love Will Keep Us Alive is a ballad that remind me of the early 80’s sound. We Will Rise Again and Your Last Song continues the great return of the German kings, Love Is War is a relaxing song and you're gonna need it after all the surprises of this album. The Cross a song featuring Billy Corgan (Meine's voice is way better then Corgan's) arise the power again and the great finale Humanity with a great orchestration finish the history leaving you with a very good taste of what real rock have to be - and how it has to be played... A must have for real rock fans!
 
 










Victor Kzyto


  
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Humanity - Hour 1

(BMG - 2007)



 
 

 

The new album of the hard rock legend from Hanover starts with some introducing words by a kind of robot...Then they start of quite heavy. The song Hour 1 sounds very modern with aggressive riffing and an interesting drum pattern. Klaus Meine's vocals are partly more aggressive, too. And with the opening track it becomes obvious that they can still rock. The production of James Michael and co-producer Desmond Child is heavy, powerful and modern. Btw, Mr. Childs also wrote some tracks with Scorpions for Humanity Hour 1 - and he wrote more then 100 tracks which entered the charts for artists like Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, Kiss, Cher, Dream Theater, Kelly Clarkson and LeeAnn Rimes.

On their 21st album the Scorpions sound fresh and with this conceptual album tried something new, even if the concept isn't too obvious...  All songs deal with humanity in different way... Deal with the dark sides of human beings. Unfortunately there are no lyrics in the booklet and so the concept isn't easy to catch.

With songs like We Were Born To Fly and The Game Of Life they recorded mid-tempo rockers with a great hook, but with The Future Never Dies they present a powerful, balladesque tune which had some Queen-ish elements. Not really a power ballad, but with the strings added and a memorable chorus this one has the potential to become a radio hit... And will live make fans fire up their lighters. With You're Loving Me To Death is heavy and based on staccato riffings, but the bridge leads into a catchy chorus. Nice guitar solo, too. With Love Will Keep Us Alive they recorded a touching ballad which isn't cheesy, it's just an emotional song. This one would probably be even stronger as an acoustic version... Anyway, great tune. But unfortunately til the end the quality level is going down a bit, even if other bands would be happy with these tracks, but if you recorded several all-time classics the expectations are pretty high.

It seems that this is the album which should have been the follow-up of Crazy Life. There are rockers and ballads. They are heavy again and it's just fun to listen to this album. Well, still not as strong as some of their 80's releases, but perhaps this will become another Scorpions classic one day... This shows the Scorpions are still alive and kicking!
 
 










Claudia Ehrhardt


  
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Moment Of Glory (DVD)

Live With The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

(Eagle Rock Entertainment - 2004)



 
 

 

Expo 2000 should be held in Hannover and so it was no surprise that the organization asked Rudolf Schenker and his Scorpions to play some special show there. The Scorpions were founded back in 1964 in Hannover and were the first German rock band with international success. It took years of planning, a lot of re-arranging and rehearsing until The Sorpions and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra entered the stage in Hannover June 22nd 2000. A sold out show. Parts of the show been shown on TV around the world. But all this and even more you can read in the small booklet.

A special experience for the 3 Scorpions and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. They presented not just the biggest hits of The Scorpions, they played some new tracks including the official Expo hymn called Moment Of Glory by The Scorpions. Singer Klaus Meine got joined on Jennifer Warren's Here In My Heart by the American singer Lyn Liechty. And Big City Nights became special through Genesis singer Ray Wilson.

The Scorpions made it big not just with their ballads, but most know them for their ballads. And so the symphonic version of their songs - see list below - were not just for rock fans. Guitarists Rudolf Schenker and Matthias Jabs on acoustic guitars with the huge orchestra behind them. They are not the first band playing / recording with an orchestra, but for this special event it fit. Many music fans around the world show scenes from this show and will he happy to get the chance to see the whole show.

With almost 2 hrs. it shows the whole concert and an 10+ min. documentary. The documentary gave an impression about the whole project including interviews with Klaus Meine, the guitarists, singer Lyn Liechty and conductor Christian Kolonovits. To show the difference to The Scorpions show they show clips of some open-air performances. A bit more about the bands history would have been nice...  

This DVD is code-free, has 16:9 picture formate and Dolby Digital 5.1. Subtitles are available in German, English, French, Spanish and Italian.



Set list:

Hurrican 2000

Moment Of Glory

You And I

We Don't Own The World

Here In My Heart

We'll Burn The Sky

Big City Nights

Deadly Sting Suit

- (1. Crossfire, 2. He's A Woman, She's A Man, 3. Dynamite)

Wind Of Change

Still Loving You

Moment Of Glory (encore)

 
 






Claudia Ehrhardt


  
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Acoustica

(EastWest Records - 2001)



 
 

 

The German quintet (Klaus Meine, Rudolf Schenker, Matthias Jabs, Ralf Rieckermann and James Kottak on drums) opens with the old track The Zoo the acoustic journey through their musical life. Perhaps not the track which you might expect them to start with, but it shows that they can rock, even if they play acoustic. They stick to that era and offer Always Somewhere which sound great in this acoustic version. It's more emotional, but in my opinion they shouldn't use the female backing choir! The track Life Is Too Short has a cello in the beginning, it seems... From the additional information I can tell that were joined by Christian Kolonovits (keyboards & piano), Johann Daansen (guitar), Mario Argandona (percussion), Ariane Arcu (cello). At all, this track has not the class of the old ones and even the reaction of the audience seems a little colder... With Holiday they are back to the old days and the fans cheer loudly! Starting slowly the band explodes with the chorus and really rocks, just to slow down again. Great arrangement! Again I think that the female choir isn't fitting... In general it seems that the people preferred the older songs of the Hannover-based rockers, even if You And I from Pure Instinct did well. A surprise was maybe that the band of singer Klaus Meine and guitarist Rudolph Schenker covered Dust In The Wind from Kansas, but it fits into the set list and they present it in a rocking version. Highlights are for sure Still Loving You, Wind Of Change and Hurricane 2001.

The album as well as the DVD / live video were recorded in February 2001 in Lisbon, Portugal at Convento Do Beato.
 
 










Claudia Ehrhardt


  
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Eye II Eye

(EastWest - 1999)



 
 

 

The German quintet release a new album just before the end of the millennium which is called Eye II Eye. These days there are only 3 members of the early days still in the band and so on the cover you can see them - Matthias Jabs, Rudolf Schenker and Klaus Meine.

The album starts with unusual sounds and beats, a heavy rocker where Klaus Meine sings very soft like on a ballad... Mysterious is the title of this one. An opener which makes the listener curious to hear more. The next track is To Be No 1 and starts with electronic sounds and a partly distorted voice which in my opinion don't fit to them, even if it has typical elements. It's obvious that the guys try to go different ways. At least the ballads which made them famous are still the same! More or less...

Listen to Obsession and you will see, even in the ballad they tried to include more modern sounds, but this time they have a decent mixture. On the slow tune 10 Light Years Away they stick to their guns which they should have done a little more. With Du bist so schmutzig the Germans recorded a song which has partly German lyrics, a rocker which sounds interesting when you listen to it first, but soon loose the magic.

An experiment which in my eyes failed. Form the mid-tempo tracks Aleyah is most interesting, perhaps through some oriental elements... On A Moment In A Million Years Klaus Meine is just accompanied by a piano and this is the highlight of the album!

The album offers slow tunes, mid-tempo ones and ballads as usual, but they can't keep the standard the Hannover-based band achieved with previous releases.

To mention that the album is produced very well and that there's nothing to complain about sound-wise is unnecessary, coz that's how we know them....

Give it a try and make up you mind! Personally I'm a little disappointed, but perhaps they'll get back to their roots next time...
 
 










Claudia Ehrhardt


  
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Face The Heat

(Mercury Records - 1993)



 
 

 

The album starts with Alien Nation, heavy rocker which is also the first single and video clip of Face The Heat. In 1993 the quintet is still alive and kicking, but can they release another high class album? The opening track is a catchy tune, the band of Rudolf Schenker tried to bring the Scorpions sound into the 90's and added a modern touch. On tracks like No Pain No Gain the Germans combine their musical trademarks with more modern sounds which not always works out. But there are also songs like Someone To Touch which has a little bit of the charm of their early 80's releases, even if this sounds up-to-date and has a big, catchy chorus. Unholy Alliance is a heavy, grooving rocker, but lacks this special something. A kind of heavy boogie rock song they have with Taxman Woman, a different shade of the Scorpions sound. The first ballad on the album is called Under The Same Sun, a song which could have been on previous releases. They always been best when they slowed down and that's what millions of fans of the hard rockers want to hear! So they have more ballads. Unusual is the track Woman, really interesting. Finishing with Lonely Nights which starts with acoustic guitars, in my opinion the best ballad on this album.

As bonus tracks you might find Destin' and Daddy's Girl. With Destin' they have another acoustic one and I can't understand why this one is just a bonus track! A few lines are sung in French and give the songs a special feeling. Also Daddy's Girl is acoustic, but lacks the magic. Finally I can say that this is a decent album, but not as homogenous as e.g. Crazy World or Blackout.

Recording facilities are more high tech these days and so the millionsellers use the best they can get. They again hired a famous producer, a big name - Bruce Fairbain, but the band was involved as well. But that's no guarantee... Good songs can stand the test of time even with a so-so production, the best production can't change the songs for the better...
 
 










Claudia Ehrhardt


  
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Crazy World

(Mercury Records - 1991)



 
 

 

For quite a few years the Hannover-based quintet is most popular hard rock / metal band known from Germany and they are back with Crazy World. The 11 tracks were recorded at Goodnight L.A. Studios in Los Angeles and the Wisseloord Studios (Holland) and produced / mixed by Keith Olsen and the band. So there is nothing to complain about sound-wise. The band of Rudolf Schenker starts with a nasty rocker called Tease Me, Please Me. The five-piece offer the usual mixture of rockers, mid-tempo tunes (e.g. Don't Believe Her) and ballads (e.g. To Be With You In Heaven). The songs are written by the band members who got a helping hand by Jim Vallance!

And Mr. Vallance wrote quite a few hits... The outstanding ballad Winds Of Change is written by singer Klaus Meine and starts with a whistled part, then the band joins in slowly and smooth. This will be a hit! But also the heavy rockers like Hit Between The Eyes has the potential to become a hit... At least another killer ballad called Send Me An Angel.

The Scorpions again deliver a high class album. Not really new what the boys deliver, but well done!
 
 










Claudia Ehrhardt


  
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World Wide Live

(Breeze Music - 1985)



 
 

 

The Hannover-based quintet released in 1985 a double vinyl album called World Wide Live. Now it's got re-released on CD and it's obvious that due to the running time of an CD there must be parts missing. I don't think that it's necessary to talk about the music, coz every rock and metal fan will know these songs! So, I will just tell about the differences. But first the basics! The Scorpions recorded this live album during their Love At First Sting tour in January / February 1985. To get enough good material they recorded 3 shows in the USA (L.A., San Diego and Costa Mesa) and 2 European shows (Paris & Cologne). But the different recordings been kinda melt into one. There is no kinda sound gap between the single recordings / songs. The production was in the hands of long-time producer and living legend Dieter Dierks, so sound-wise they had the highest standard for 1985.

It's not their first live album and so they concentrated on the last 4 studio albums which are Love Drive, Animal Magnetism, Blackout and Love At First Sting. The live album document the live performance of the 'classic' Scorpions line-up which is singer Klaus Meine (on Coast To Coast also rhythm guitar), guitarists Rudolf Schenker and Matthias Jabs, bassist Francis Buchholz and drummer Hermann Rarebell. If you saw them live with this line-up, perhaps on that tour, this album will revive your memories.

World Wide Live was an up-to-date live album when it was released first in 1985 and even years later it still has the magic. Even if the following tracks are just on the vinyl version and not on the CD: Another Piece Of Meat, Can't Get Enough (Part 1 & 2) and Six String Sting. And to complete this, here is the track list: Countdown, Coming Home, Blackout, Bad Boys Running Wild, Loving You Sunday Morning, Make It Real, Big City Nights, Coast To Coast, Holiday, Still Loving You, Rock You Like A Hurricane, Can't Live Without You, The Zoo, No One Like You and Dynamite.

And when I'm looking back, I still miss some tunes.... But you never get them all!
 
 










Claudia Ehrhardt


  
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Love At First Sting

(EMI - 1982)



 
 

 

Now we're at the end of this  retrospective - and with their blockbuster record Love At First Sting, a masterpiece of rock music. I think that everybody knows this record and if you don't know all the record's songs, most of you know Still Lovin' You or Rock You Like A Hurricane. These two songs are only the climax of this record, because every song on this record will be remembered by everyone!!! There were many rumors about who played on this record, I mean about the bass guitar parts and drums, because it seems that Jimmy Bain and Bobby Rondinelli played on this record. Personally I don't care, I love the songs on this record - Coming Home, Bad Boys Running Wild, Big City Nights, I'm Leaving You, Crossfire and the rest built one of most beautiful Scorpions' episode of their history. In fact after Love At First Sting Scorpions are falling in the descending spiral. None of their records reach this big success with the exception of their song Winds Of Change.

Anyway, there's not a lot of words to write about this record, coz this is a must-have!!!!

 
 










Umberto Mino


  
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Blackout

(EMI - 1982)



 
 

 

Back to 1981, when singer Klaus Meine must visit a surgeon to check his throat and his entire career was in danger..... And in 1982 Scorpions did a real masterpiece, a big seller, a blockbuster!!! Two sides of the coin, but anyway, I don't want to annoy you guys with words to celebrate this album, because if you don't have this in your personal discography you are not a rocker / metalhead or simply a music lover!!!!!!

Blackout is simply the demonstration of how powerful the Scorpions were in those years. They took off their '70's legacy from their sound and put themselves into the Van Halen / Judas Priest / Dokken (Don was guest on this album to help Klaus after his surgery) sound and the result is just fabulous!!!!

After 30 years we can listen to the title track, Dynamite or No One Like You in their live set or in your car or at home and say: "F**k yeah!! This is what I need"!!!!

No more to say about that album, this is buy-or-die album!!!! And in case you don't have it, what you're waiting for???? Get out and buy it!!!!

After this blockbuster album, the Scorpions did a long worldwide tour, they also played at a famous US Festival in 1983. I know that now you're asking me why, but that festival was what made heavy metal successful in USA. The start of Quiet Riot, Mötley Crüe and other band entering the charts. Scorpions reach the Billboard top ten with this album!!!!

 
 










Umberto Mino


  
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Animal Magnetism

(Harvest - 1980)



 
 

 

Another jump into the past, this time we go back to 1980. After the positive reviews of Lovedrive and a sold out world tour, Scorpions came back with Animal Magnetism. At that time the album wasn't good enough for the press, especially after a masterpiece like Lovedrive, but this was a big selling album - especially in the USA.

Anyway, let's come back and talk about the album.... This isn't as brilliant as Lovedrive, and for that reason this was considered only a 'good' album in Scorpions discography. In this specific album we find in the track list two absolute classic songs like The Zoo and Make It Real (these songs are still in their live set!), and very brilliant episodes like Don't Make No Promises and Hey you (bonus track of the 2001 re-issue). But it's a fact that on this alum we can hear a lot of 'twilight' episodes like the title track or Falling In Love, songs that seems to explode our speakers, but at the end leave a bitter taste in our mouths and in my opinion Lady Starlight isn't another Holiday......

Guys don't worry, next chapter will be better and you know why!!!!!

 
 










Umberto Mino


  
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Lovedrive

(Polydor - 1979)



 
 

 

Let's jump back together to the year 1979 and see what happened that year. Scorpions were abandoned by their lead guitarist Uli Jon Roth and they choose Mathias Jabs as new guitarist. But meanwhile guitar wonder Michael Schenker was fired by UFO.... So this masterpiece of hard rock / heavy metal Lovedrive has both guitarists on its tracks and at the end Mathias Jabs had his place in the band after Michael's collapse during the first show of the Lovedrive tour. Anyway....let's talk about this record and how important it was, is and will be in music history. New guitarist Matthias Jabs had marked new 'metallic' sound in the band and after the first track Lovin' You Sunday Morning we can hear Another Piece Of Meat, a perfect example of this new sound. At that time this album was done by the band like their masterpiece - and they hit the bulls eye!!!!

I believe that all (and I mean ALL) of you guys know songs like Holiday, Can't Get Enough and the instrumental Coast To Coast. After more than 30 years Lovedrive is still brilliant!!!! A real gem!!!

If you have the time and possibility, guys, just look back at the past and a new horizon will be opening up for you!!!!

 
 










Umberto Mino


  
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Tokyo Tapes

(RCA Records - 1978)



 
 

 

This classic live album of the '70s is absolutely a gem!!! We always think about Judas Priest's Unleashed In The East or UFO's Strangers In The Night as milestones, but I want to include also this one for two simple reasons:



1) the high quality of music inside these tracks.

2) this album is the end of the Uli Jon Roth era.



This the right moment to get out of your houses, buy this CD or double vinyl (even better!) to re-discover or discover how great were the Scorpions in the mid-70's, especially in their live set. They built their career with great albums like In Trance or Virgin Killer and great live performances worldwide. This live album is a great picture of that period, songs that we can call 'classic songs' or better great songs like In Trance , We'll Burn The Sky and the timeless He's A Woman, She's A Man, and Pictured Life and Speedy's Coming .... oh my God, I'm telling you the whole album track list!!!!!

For me it is a great honor to write these words about a band that I loved so much when I was young, an album that marks my life.... It's great to re-discover emotions like these!!!

Thanx again to Ice Vajal for that!!

 
 










Umberto Mino


  
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