Scorpions

Wow. Interesting stuff.
Michael has always been...off, with addiction and stability issues. It could be that, or he could be correct in his bitterness.
I mean, he's not wrong that he is the artist and Rudy the businessman, but that is sad to read.
Hope they can patch things up.
 
I'm gonna see Scorpions live in December, so gonna go through all their albums and post my reviews. Well, my first-listen reviews, considering I haven't heard much more than their greatest hits. If anyone wants to join, that'd be cool :D

1972 - Lonesome Crow

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This is Michael Schenker's only full album with Scorpions; he left after this one to join UFO. Only current members to play on this album are Rudolf Schenker and Klaus Meine. It's a very different album compared to their more commercial stuff later. Instrumental parts are lengthy and there are no big choruses, plus the bass is very prominent.

  1. I'm Goin' Mad - Weird proggy song with interesting guitar work and unrecognizable vocals from Klaus Meine.
  2. It All Depends - Another weird song with not a lot of singing, it's mostly just guitar solos.
  3. Leave Me - This one actually has some catchy vocal parts. I didn't know Meine could sing that high, he was probably really young here.
  4. In Search Of The Peace Of Mind - This song is doomy...? At least the ending is. Well, as doomy as it can get for an album released in 1972. Some pretty dramatic vocals.
  5. Inheritance - Another weird proggy song with riffing reminiscent of Heritage... And I just figured out what this album reminds me of. Weird that Opeth didn't release a song called Lonesome Crow yet :D
  6. Action - Probably the most upbeat song on the album, but of course, nothing even remotely close to their glory days.
  7. Lonesome Crow - This song is 13 minutes long... Majority of it is either soloing or some whining/screaming by Meine, and it's the worst song on the album. Totally forgettable.
Overall: Weird album. Apart from track #4, I doubt I'll return to it a lot. Still, an interesting listen just so that you can compare it to their later stuff.
Best song(s): In Search Of The Peace Of Mind.
 
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Pretty much agree with you on Lonesome Crow, although you were nicer to it than I would be. There's a huge krautrock influence, but it's nowhere near as good as most other krautrock from the time. You bring up the Heritage comparison, but frankly Mikael has much better taste than that. :p

Action is definitely the best song.

Early Scorpions does get better from what I remember, but I have a hard time hearing how they stood out from all the other German bands going around at the time. Maybe the labels were just taking a chance on anyone at that point. They're all good players, Klaus has a unique voice, but the songs are just so noodly. Almost everything eventually dissolves into a guitar solo and the guitar solos aren't very good. Clearly they morphed into something really special, but you couldn't tell based on this.
 
1974 - Fly To The Rainbow

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Only Klaus Meine and Rudolf Schenker remained from the debut album's lineup, so for this album Scorpions basically merged with a band called "Dawn Road" which featured Uli Jon Roth, Francis Buchholz and Jürgen Rosenthal.

  1. Speedy's Coming - This song is way catchier than anything from the debut album. Klaus' pronounciation & accent are a bit weird, and honestly... the song is catchy but kinda annoying at the same time.
  2. They Need A Million - This song is very cool musically but Rudolf fucking slaughters it with his shitty vocals... What the fuck were they thinking? I hope this experiment doesn't repeat after this album.
  3. Drifting Sun - Shit vocals again. Uli and Rudolf should not sing. Song is therefore totally forgettable.
  4. Fly People Fly - OK ballad with silly lyrics.
  5. This Is My Song - Another OK song that is sadly very repetitive. Drumming is cool on this album. Kinda weird that this drummer didn't record anything after the 70's; this is his only Scorpions album btw.
  6. Far Away - Forgettable song pretty much, apart from the chorus maybe.
  7. Fly To The Rainbow - Much better title-track-epic than the one from the last album. Very cool ending.
Overall: Better album than the debut, but they still didn't know what they wanted to be genre-wise.
Best song(s): Fly To The Rainbow.
 
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I absolutely adore the band to the extent I have I think all of their vast collection of studio B-sides, but I still don't think any songs from the first two albums not named Inheritance or Speedy's Coming are worth returning to.
 
Fly To the Rainbow is lightyears ahead of the debut. As far as I'm concerned, this is truly the first Scorpions album. It's still miles away from Lovedrive but you can at least hear where they're headed. Klaus has already improved a ton, although for some reason they let other people sing on the album. Probably never going to go back to this, but it's at least OK which is more than I can say about Lonesome Crow.
 
I actually don't think I've listened to any of the first two albums more than once. But then again, I've never heard any of the albums past Amusement (bar what was on the radio) and my favourites are still Trance, Killer, Taken and Magnetism. I might re-listen to the first two, though, just for the occasion.
 
1975 - In Trance

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This album represented a musical departure for Scorpions. Long songs and experimentation from the first 2 albums are gone and they are replaced with a hard rock sound similar to their glory days. The only lineup change was that the drummer Jürgen Rosenthal was replaced with Rudy Lenners.

  1. Dark Lady - The vocals are bad (Uli Jon Roth singing again <_<) and honestly the song is too. Nothing memorable here.
  2. In Trance - Best song in the discography so far. It's catchy, the vocals are good and the ending is pretty epic.
  3. Life's Like A River - This one's not so good, the vocals/accent are all over the place.
  4. Top Of The Bill - Eh, again not a good song, way too slow and plodding, although the ending melody is OK.
  5. Living & Dying - I like the main riff a lot. Cool song.
  6. Robot Man - Urgh. This is fucking horrible. Cheesy as fuck and with stupid Muppet drumming to go with it.
  7. Evening Wind - Generic ballad with a cool ending.
  8. Sun In My Hand - Someone other than Klaus on vocals = bad song.
  9. Longing For Fire - Short & forgettable song.
  10. Night Lights - OK instrumental.

Overall: Better album than the first two but still not catchy or memorable enough.
Best song(s): In Trance.
 
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Night Prowler said:
1975 - In Trance

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This album represented a musical departure for Scorpions. Long songs and experimentation from the first 2 albums are gone and they are replaced with a hard rock sound similar to their glory days. The only lineup change was that the drummer Jürgen Rosenthal was replaced with Rudy Lenners.

  1. Dark Lady - The vocals are bad (Uli Jon Roth singing again <_<) and honestly the song is too. Nothing memorable here.
  2. In Trance - Best song in the discography so far. It's catchy, the vocals are good and the ending is pretty epic.
  3. Life's Like A River - This one's not so good, the vocals/accent are all over the place.
  4. Top Of The Bill - Eh, again not a good song, way too slow and plodding, although the ending melody is OK.
  5. Living & Dying - I like the main riff a lot. Cool song.
  6. Robot Man - Urgh. This is fucking horrible. Cheesy as fuck and with stupid Muppet drumming to go with it.
  7. Evening Wind - Generic ballad with a cool ending.
  8. Sun In My Hand - Someone other than Klaus on vocals = bad song.
  9. Longing For Fire - Short & forgettable song.
  10. Night Lights - OK instrumental.

Overall: Better album than the first two but still not catchy or memorable enough.
Best song: In Trance.
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I still agree this album is not close to their best but individually I disagree with you on a few of these - namely I think Life's Like A River and Top of the Bill are good songs, and I actually really like Robot Man.
 
I don't know if I'd call it an improvement over the previous album, they're both pretty close. It starts off very strong (I disagree that Dark Lady and Life's Like a River are bad) but then starts to get pretty boring. Like the previous album you really start to hear hints of greatness though. It is almost sounding like Scorpions.
 
They are released on Friday, but I'm part of the O2 Priority masterrace. There's also a Ticketmaster presale starting at 10AM tomorrow.
 
So far the only song I've been replaying from the first 3 albums is In Trance.

1976 - Virgin Killer

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Scorpions retained the same lineup from the previous album for the first time, continued their musical change into heavier and more commercial territories and made a really stupid cover featuring underaged naked girl, so I'm posting an alternate cover of the album.

  1. Pictured Life - Über catchy song only hampered by some questionable vocals.
  2. Catch Your Train - This is one of those annoyingly catchy songs. Don't like the lyrics or the vocals.
  3. In Your Park - Cool harmonies near the end, but an otherwise bland ballad.
  4. Backstage Queen - Too silly, don't like it.
  5. Virgin Killer - Cool music, shit vocals.
  6. Hell-Cat - Shit music, super shitty vocals.
  7. Crying Days - OK song, probably 2nd best so far, but really nothing special.
  8. Polar Nights - OK music but horrific vocals.
  9. Yellow Raven - Some darker riffs here, but bland otherwise.
Overall: Bad album. Worse than the previous one. Total step back.
Best song(s): Pictured Life.
 
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Night Prowler said:
So far the only song I've been replaying from the first 3 albums is In Trance.

1976 - Virgin Killer

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Scorpions retained the same lineup from the previous album for the first time, continued their musical change into heavier and more commercial territories and made a really stupid cover featuring underaged naked girl, so I'm posting an alternate cover of the album.

  1. Pictured Life - Über catchy song only hampered by some questionable vocals.
  2. Catch Your Train - This is one of those annoyingly catchy songs. Don't like the lyrics or the vocals.
  3. In Your Park - Cool harmonies near the end, but an otherwise bland ballad.
  4. Backstage Queen - Too silly, don't like it.
  5. Virgin Killer - Cool music, shit vocals.
  6. Hell-Cat - Shit music, super shitty vocals.
  7. Crying Days - OK song, probably 2nd best so far, but really nothing special.
  8. Polar Nights - OK music but horrific vocals.
  9. Yellow Raven - Some darker riffs here, but bland otherwise.
Overall: Bad album. Worse than the previous one. Total step back.
Best song: Pictured Life.
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A lot of people hold this up as a legitimate masterpiece, but honestly I agree. Probably not as harsh on tracks 2 or 3 as you, but in general the album isn't fantastic, and the less said about the cover art the better.

Look on the bright side though - you've got one of their best coming up next!
 
DJMayes said:
A lot of people hold this up as a legitimate masterpiece, but honestly I agree. Probably not as harsh on tracks 2 or 3 as you, but in general the album isn't fantastic, and the less said about the cover art the better.

Look on the bright side though - you've got one of their best coming up next!
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I would not say it's a masterpiece, but I think this album is a bit better than these reviews indicate. Though we can all agree that Hell-Cat is unquestionably a steaming turd of a song.
:cheers:

The Scorps of this era were good for a couple excellent songs per album and quite a bit of filler (or worse). Not sure if comps are going to be covered in this thread, but I play my Best of Scorpions album (which covers the Uli era and does not contain any of the later big commercial hits) a lot more than any individual Uli-era album.
 
In general I do not think it has to be a bad thing per se if a band hasn't followed one particular course (yet). It can be interesting, charming even, to hear different experiments, depending on how it's done of course. If the songs and performances are shit, then it doesn't matter which style it is of course. The same the other way around: if they are great, then they should be valued for how much they are liked, without (too much) focus on deviating style.
 
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