Scorpions were probably the most popular rock band in Greece in the 80's, when I was a teenager. According to setlist.fm they've played no less than 26 concerts in Greece, which must be a record for a foreign band. Yet I never saw them play when I was living there - maybe because by the time I was old enough and could afford going to gigs, I had moved on to more alternative bands. I finally got to see them in Belgium, during the last festival season before the pandemic hit. To be honest, I never was a huge fan; I was only there to tick off a box, and I found their performance rather underwhelming - especially the long instrumental interludes, though it's possible that singer Klaus Meine was just having voice problems on that particular day. In their time, though, they were a great band. They made 4 nearly perfect albums between 1979-1984, which I have. Next to these, I bought a few cheap compilations rounding up tracks from the period before and after. Among these are Hot & Slow (focusing on their 70's beginnings, and presented here), and Scorpions Best which mostly focuses on their 80's and 90's period. There are no repetitions between the two comps. I'll present this one chronologically, starting with their debut Lonesome Crow from way back in 1972. "I'm Going Mad" from that album is buried near the middle of this compilation, and sounds completely out of place. It's a piece of experimental psychedelia featuring groovy drums, spoken word, chanted backing vocals, and fantastic Hendrix-like guitar by 16 year-old prodigy Michael Schenker, who left soon afterwards to join U.F.O. The compilation then skips their next 3 LPs to land in 1978 and the last albums featuring Schenker's replacement Uli Jon Roth. He's featured on the metallic "He's A Woman - She's A Man" from Taken By Force and a live version of "In Trance" from Tokyo Tapes.
The next album Lovedrive (1979) ushers in the golden age of the band, with Mathias Jabs on guitar (as well as a short-lived return by Michael Schenker). 4 songs from the album are included: rocker "Loving You Sunday Morning", the quasi-reggae "Is There Anybody There?" and, Scorpions' specialty, two power ballads: "Always Somewhere" and "Holiday". Those two were very popular at parties in the 80's. After a certain point, they'd play "blues" (as we called all slower songs), and you could ask your favorite girl to slow dance with you. I learned not to do that with "Holiday" because, 3 minutes in, there's a faster rock part that makes for some awkward dancing. "Always Somewhere", on the other hand, bears a strong resemblance to Skynyrd's "Simple Man", a fact my girlfriend spotted immediately when she listened to the latter song. From their next album Animal Magnetism
(1980) we only get one track, the pleasant rocker "Make It Real", while the superior Blackout (1982) is represented by "No One Like You", a commercial pop metal song with alternate fast and slow bits, a memorable riff and catchy chorus. 1984's Love At First Sting is arguably the band's pinnacle, featuring Scorpions' most rousing rocker ("Rock You Like A Hurricane") and most emotive ballad ("Still Loving You"). This period of the band was immortalized in World Wide Live (1985) showcasing the band in its peak. An energetic performance on "Another Piece Of Meat" is included here, but the song itself isn't among their best. After this string of great albums, I remember being disappointed by Savage Amusement (1988) but the two songs here ("Rhythm Of Love", "Passion Rules The Game") sound good to my ears now, even if the production is too polished.
Crazy World (1990) would prove their most successful album thanks to the two gorgeous ballads featured here "Send Me An Angel" and, especially, the zeitgeist-grabbing "Wind Of Change", introduced with an iconic whistling and celebrating the fall of "communist" dictatorships in Eastern Europe. The compiler ignores their next two albums (1993's Face The Heat and 1996's Pure Instinct), much as the general public did. Which leaves the obligatory "previously unreleased" exclusive new song - in this case the pretty meh "Love Is Blind". This CD functions well as an introduction to the group, as it's pretty representative and features many of their hits. I can nevertheless think of some pretty big omissions, so it's by no means the definitive Scorpions collection.
***** for Rock You Like A Hurricane, Wind Of Change, Holiday, Still Loving You
**** for Is There Anybody There?, No One Like You, In Trance (Live), Always Somewhere, Send Me An Angel
*** for Loving You Sunday Morning, Rhythm Of Love, Passion Rules The Game, I'm Going Mad, He's A Woman - She's A Man, Make It Real
** for Another Piece Of Meat (Live), Love Is Blind
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