Scorpions "Best" 1999(comp) 1972-1999(rec)***

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

Scorpions ‎– Hot & Slow (Best Masters Of The 70´s) orig.1974-1976, comp.1998***

I recently bought this scratched-up CD from a discogs dealer for 50 cents, together with some other stuff. He asked me if I noticed that he rated it "condition:poor" to which I replied "It's a CD, it'll either play perfectly or skip. It's worth the gamble". Well...it plays perfectly on my blu-ray at home but a few songs skip when played in my car stereo. I kinda wish it was the other way round, it's that kind of record. I went to highscool during the 80's, and Scorpions were probably the most popular rock band of the time; you could bang your head along to the likes of "Rock You Like A Hurricane" or make out with your girl listening to "Still Loving You" - what more can you ask? Nevertheless, I wasn't a huge fan. To this day they remain one of the few famous bands I haven't seen live despite having many opportunities to do so. I do have a live DVD and a few of their albums, from 1979's Lovedrive and afterwards. This compilation provided a cheap way to close a gap in my collection, as it includes the bulk of the 3 albums they made between 1974-1976. It contains a few classics, as well as some relatively unknown deep album cuts. Let's take them chronologically: 1974 saw the release of Fly To The Rainbow, The Scorpions' second LP after Lonesome Crow. Boy-wonder Michael Schenker had just left for UFO and was replaced by another hot-shot guitarist, Uli Jon Roth. His guitarwork and vocal (non-) skills are up front on "Drifting Sun" a Hendrix pastiche that sounds nothing like the Scorpions I knew from the 80's. 2nd guitarist Rudolph Schenker takes over lead vocals on "They Need A Million" consisting of an acoustic intro and prog/hard rock body. "Fly To The Rainbow" is another (excellent) proggy piece with a nice baroque intro and intricate solos, but at 10 minutes it overstays its welcome, especially during the slow interlude. Two other songs included here do sound like The Scorpions, the proto-metal dynamite "Speedy´s Coming" and mid-tempo "Far Away", both thankfully sung by Klaus Meine. The title song from 1975's In Trance needs, I hope, no introduction as it is one of the classics of its era, from the emotive intro to its epic chorus. "Robot Man" is another metallic (literally!) rocker while "Dark Lady", sung by Uli Jon Roth, sounds like a cross between Hawkwind (vocals) and Hendrix (guitar). "Top Of The Bill' and "Longing For Fire" are typical Scorpions rockers while "Evening Wind" sports some blues guitar for a change. 1976's Virgin Killer is the last album represented here. I'll spare you the talk about the album cover controversy and go straight to the music, which is by now recognizably The Scorpions. The K.Meine/R.Schenker songwriting team has hit its stride, offering the anthemic "Pictured Life" and "Catch Your Train" as well as (their future specialty) power ballads "In Your Park" and "Crying Days". Roth adds the screaming metal of "Virgin Killer" and a different kind of ballad, the quiet and introspective "Yellow Raven" - not to mention some dazzling solos. It is a pity he left the band just before they hit the big time - or maybe not. Imagine if he'd insisted on doing more singing on their records. Not his strong suit. But you can hear some of his best guitar moments on this compilation: 17 early Scorpions songs in a single budget CD, not a bad deal!

***** for Speedy´s Coming, In Trance

**** for Fly To The Rainbow, Pictured Life, In Your Park, Yellow Raven

*** for Drifting Sun, They Need A Million, Far Away, Dark Lady, Robot Man, Top Of The Bill, Longing For Fire, Evening Wind, Virgin Killer, Catch Your Train, Crying Days

UFO "The Chrysalis Years: 1973–1979" 2011(comp)****

I must admit I really am a sucker for reissues and repackages of classic (and beloved) records. When I saw "UFO The Chrysalis Years: 1973–1979" on sale for €9,99 I bought it although I knew I had some of the records included in this compilation on CD. How many? I didn't count them at the time, but it turns out I had 5 out of 6, all except "Obsession" which is the weakest of the bunch, although by no means bad. On the bright side the box set also contains some unreleased material, including a whole live show from 1974. I will present individual albums apart later, and only focus on the box set package and bonus tracks here. First of all, the package is a simple 5-disc plastic box with the tracks presented in chronological order. This results in two albums (Force It and Lights Out) being split over two discs, which kind of disrupts the flow. Another minus is that the booklet is rather poor. Based on previous experience I would have expected some reproduction of the original artwork, inner sleeves and all, plus a history of the band and of the recording process of the individual albums. Instead you just get an interview with singer Phil Mogg, a few photos and recording credits. Furthermore it's not as exhaustive as it could have been since some bonus tracks that appeared in the remastered editions of these 6 albums are missing.  I call that a wasted opportunity. At least the sound is remastered and crystal clear, plus even at its regular price (£11.64 on amazon.co.uk, around €15) it is still a great bargain if you don't already own the albums like I did. Before we start getting through the bonus tracks, let us get some perspective: The story begins in 1973. UFO had been around for a few years and had released a couple of studio and one live album in heavy prog style with limited success in the UK and US, although they were well received in Germany and Japan. They were in the process of seeking a more straight rock/commercial sound, replacing guitarist Mick Bolton initially with Larry Wallis (future Pink Fairies/Motorhead) and later with Bernie Marsden (future Whitesnake) but nothing worked out until, by accident, Marsden lost the plane to Germany. To keep their trip from being a complete disaster UFO borrowed the guitarist from the support group, a local band called Scorpions. The 18-year old Michael Schenker turned out to be the missing piece of the puzzle so UFO promptly offered him the position of lead guitarist, despite the fact that he didn't speak a single word of English. His fast and flamboyant style must have been a strong influence on later guitar heroes like Randy Roads and Eddie Van Halen. Together with Phil Mogg's earthy vocals and big catchy choruses, they defined the sound of the new UFO and ushered a very successful era for them - though whether they really did him a favour by taking him on is debatable, as his old band went on to become one of the biggest rock acts in the planet. In any case this compilation chronicles the first seven years of Schenker's involvement with the band, starting with their first single "Give Her the Gun/Sweet Little Thing". The A-side is a chugging boogie and B-side a nice rocker. The new guy's arrival is already evident, both in the masterful guitar work and co-write credit on "...Gun". He'd go on to co-write 10 of Phenomenon's 12 tracks, quite an achievement for a new member still in his teens. The single edit of that album's "Doctor Doctor" included here is just that: the LP track is shortened by simply fading out. You're left wanting for more, and thankfully the following track delivers: A full 7-minute rendition of dynamite hard rocker "Rock Bottom" recorded at the BBC studios, followed by emotive ballad "Time on My Hands" and another version of "Give Her the Gun" from the same sessions. A third version of that tune appears on disc 2, recorded at the Electric Ballroom in Atlanta during the band's first American tour.

(Presumably) the whole show is included, with the band firing on all cylinders. The setlist is based on their then current album "Phenomenon" and it's a very tight performance, songs generally sticking close to the studio arrangements with explosive guitar solos regularly upping the energy level. The hard rockers are interspersed with heavy blues ("Built for Comfort"), a ballad ("Space Child") and a cover of John Lennon's "Cold Turkey". Mogg's vocals are a bit too macho for this particular song, but anyway it's mostly used a showcase for Schenker's guitar virtuosity. The concert closes with the spacey "Prince Kujuku", a song of the previous line-up that they positively improved on. The recording quality is very good considering it wasn't meant to be released. The audience is barely heard, which kind of detracts from the live feeling, but otherwise it'd make for a great live album by itself. Disc 3 contains the single edits of  the excellent string-laden ballad "Try Me" and catchy Status Quo-like rocker "Only You Can Rock Me", as well as a '78 radio session recorded for John Peel: "Too Hot to Handle", "Lights Out" and "Try Me" from the Lights Out album are played very well but they are a bit too faithful to the studio renditions to be of real interest. Disc 5 contains their seminal live album "Strangers in the Night". One of hard rock's most iconic live albums (alongside Deep Purple's "Made In Japan" and Thin Lizzy's "Live and Dangerous"), it's augmented here by an edited live "Doctor Doctor" and its B-side, the metallic "On With The Action". Strangers... was UFO's biggest success, but by the time it hit the stores the often unreliable Schenker was gone and the band fell into a steady decline. He'd form his own band, rejoin The Scorpions for an album and take part in a couple of UFO reunions, but neither he nor UFO would ever match the commercial and artistic success of the 6 albums included here. We'll present them one by one sometime in this blog, though I find myself in a dilemma about keeping the individual CD's or selling them/giving them away. I know I'm keeping "Force It" because of its historic "naughty" album cover - actually all the original albums' covers are of interest as they were designed by Hipgnosis, better known from their work with Pink Floyd and one of the best designers in the business.

***** for Doctor Doctor (single edit), Rock Bottom (Bob Harris session), Doctor Doctor (Live single)

**** for Give Her the Gun, Time on My Hands (Bob Harris session), Doctor Doctor (Live), Built for Comfort (Live), Space Child (Live), Rock Bottom (Live), On with the Action (Live single)

*** for Sweet Little Thing, Give Her the Gun (Bob Harris session), Oh My (Live), Give Her the Gun (Live), Cold Turkey (Live), Prince Kujuku (Live)