{"id":24303,"date":"2015-06-22T23:56:47","date_gmt":"2015-06-23T04:56:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/?p=24303"},"modified":"2015-08-16T13:27:40","modified_gmt":"2015-08-16T18:27:40","slug":"scorpions-return-to-forever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/scorpions-return-to-forever\/","title":{"rendered":"Scorpions – Return to Forever"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"return<\/a><\/p>\n

Scorpions
\nReturn to Forever<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

FIRST, THE HISTORY<\/strong>
\nThe Scorpions are an old band. I mean, they are celebrating more than 50 years together as a unit. Very few bands share that distinction and this one certainly deserves its due. Unlike the Rolling Stones or The Who, this band rocks hard in an almost violent way that puts them on equal par with Led Zeppelin in terms of greatness and raw heavy metal power \u2013 and they\u2019re still making music and haven\u2019t lost a step live.<\/p>\n

This five-piece from Hanover, Germany, has been through two major phases where its DNA changed drastically. The first phase started with its second album (Fly to the Rainbow<\/em>) in 1974, with the addition of replacement guitarist Uli Jon Roth. His flair for the mighty tone and controlled feedback of Hendrix overshadowed the band in many ways, which was a good thing considering his talent. This was preceded by nine years of early gigging as a beat rock band and the 1972 release of Lonesome Crow<\/em>, which isn\u2019t that great (to put it kindly). And thank goodness that early incarnation with Rudolf Schenker and long-gone mates never recorded anything that stuck around, because it probably would not add any luster to the Scorpions shining catalog.<\/p>\n

I first discovered the Scorpions when a girl named Cathy Counts brought the Tokyo Tapes<\/em> double live record album into our woodshop class, which had a turntable that we could spin music on while we chiseled, sawed and shaped our wooden projects. She was a rebel, wore her shoulder-length hair with a rockin\u2019 tease and wasn\u2019t afraid to dress the part of girl rocker. She wasn\u2019t the leader of the pack, but she had rock and roll cred and true rebel attitude. Then I heard the music rising above the woodshop din and knew it was a good introduction to something new. I was immediately transfixed by the image on the front cover of a maniacal guitarist bent over backward with a black and white zebra striped shirt pitted against the all-black stage and dark lighting. This was aggressive, new music performed live that showed a nice 4-album catalog of material (Fly to the Rainbow<\/em>, Virgin Killer<\/em>, In Trance<\/em> and Taken By Force<\/em>). It had the high-energy edge of Van Halen and some uber-melodic vocals not heard anywhere else. It was bold, original and defiant in a palatable way.<\/p>\n

This was a discovery that I kept mining for years, picking up Virgin Killer<\/em>, then latching on to Lovedrive<\/em>. The departure of Uli Roth and the addition of Matthias Jabs marked a new era for the band. Incidentally,for that Lovedrive<\/em> album, Michael Schenker rejoined his brother Rudolph in the band that he left five year\u2019s previously for British touring mates UFO, who offered him the chance to jump ship and make some great music with another great hard rock band. In spite of the drastic changes, the Scorpions actually gained momentum during this transition and honed into the sound that would dominate both the Eastern and Western hemispheres just a few short years later.<\/p>\n

The guitar tones got brighter, the music got faster and the lyrics got sexier. They were hungry for what they wanted \u2013 worldwide domination \u2013 and they sounded the part \u2013 scrappy, fast and aggressive, yet with a melodic sensibility that would pull females into this male-dominated world of metal. They opened for Ted Nugent in the USA, who was no slouch on the live stage in 1979, and proved that it wouldn\u2019t be long before no one could follow their take-no-prisoners live assault.<\/p>\n

Many cite the Blackout<\/em> album of 1982 as some sort of benchmark release and, while I like the song \u201cNo One Like You\u201d quite a bit, that album is just filled with, shall we say, \u201cfiller\u201d material. I mean, songs like \u201cChina White,\u201d \u201cDynamite,\u201d \u201cArizona\u201d and even the title track make me look back and yawn at best or throw up a little bit in my mouth at least. No, the band\u2019s benchmark moment for me is 1980\u2019s Animal Magnetism<\/em>. Matthias Jabs seemingly found his guitar tone and never looked back. The dude doesn’t get the respect he deserves. He plays with feeling. He’s creative, inventive and talented. His fingers can sing like a girl (and I mean that as a compliment). Animal Magnetism<\/em> is solid from beginning to end and doesn’t get old, featuring perhaps the band\u2019s heaviest and most endearing live track to this day \u2013 \u201cThe Zoo.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Blackout<\/em> gave the band a hit video on MTV. \u201cNo One Like You\u201d started off with climbing twin harmony guitars that cut through the air with clarity. Vocalist Klaus Meine acted the part of an Alcatraz prisoner that was to be executed after receiving a visit from his knockout brunette love interest. Add one iconic visual of Rudolf Schenker wrapped in bandages with forks sticking into his eye sockets, and the Scorpions left an indelible impression on the MTV-watching world. And the band hadn\u2019t even peaked yet.<\/p>\n

I left the Scorpions behind in 1983 due to my newly re-embraced religious convictions. I was glad that one of my old favorite bands was now finally taking over the world, but I couldn\u2019t stomach the lyrics of their biggest hit \u2013 \u201cRock You Like A Hurricane,\u201d which took their naughty penchant of being sexually graphic up a notch. This was first seen on \u201cHe\u2019s A Woman, She\u2019s A Man\u201d and \u201cAnother Piece of Meat,\u201d but got a little raunchier with (pardon me): \u201c\u2026bitch is hungry \/ feed her inches\u2026\u201d My newfound religious faith desired something more, shall we say, edifying and encouraging in my pursuit of pleasing God over myself. So, while I stayed very aware of the Scorpions and their music, I wasn\u2019t buying their albums and listening to them non-stop. I didn\u2019t even buy their second double-live album, World Wide Live<\/em>, which certainly capture them in their new incarnation’s prime.<\/p>\n

History was kind to the Scorpions. Or, I should really say that the Scorpions have been kind to history. They are the one band that is forever associated with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the fall of Communism. Their whistling hit, \u201cWind of Change,\u201d was basically the worldwide soundtrack to this great fall. Talk about being in the right place at the right time! It was simply the honest reflections of a songwriter as he recalled his experience at the Moscow Music Peace Festival, which saw them playing to 260,000 (and that wasn’t even the biggest crowd they’ve played for!).<\/p>\n

I kind of tuned out on the Scorpions for the next several years, instead focusing my energy on all the Christian metal bands I was covering for Heaven\u2019s Metal Magazine from \u201985 to \u201995 and then transitioning the change from Heaven\u2019s Metal (Your Hard Music Authority) to HM (The Hard Music Magazine). I barely paid attention to Savage Amusement<\/em> (1988), Crazy World<\/em> (1990), Face the Heat<\/em> (1993), Live Bites<\/em> (whose cover of \u201cIn Trance\u201d from the previous Uli-era definitely got my attention), Pure Instinct<\/em> (1996), Eye to Eye<\/em> (1999), Moment of Glory<\/em>, which found the band acknowledging its lost relevance to a fickle music world that had moved on from melodic metal, replete with its illustration of a dinosaur on the cover (2000) and Acoustica<\/em> (2001) \u2013 all of which seemed to show the band adapting to its surroundings. You\u2019d probably be hard pressed to find anyone to say that their best work occurred between 1993 and 2003. That\u2019s six albums I\u2019m still basically content to ignore.<\/p>\n

Then came the unexpected album that broke the trend of adapting to its current musical climate. A breathtaking aggressive melodic metal album called Unbreakable<\/em> (2004) showed the band being true to its identity. It sounded like it could have been the follow-up to Blackout<\/em> or Love at First Sting<\/em>. No one seemed to notice at this point in time as they unleashed an album full of songs that simply showed the band at their best, being who they are with no apologies. Save for a couple of odd tracks (\u201cNew Generation\u201d and \u201cBorderline\u201d), it\u2019s a near-perfect, classic album. Somehow they were able to outdo that high mark with its followup, Humanity Hour 1<\/em> (2007), which at face value appeared to be a concept album about a future with technology and robots ruling over the human race, but instead was one giant breakup album that girls everywhere would do well to thank their lucky stars that these songs weren\u2019t written about them. It stings with a biting venom that\u2019s part romance, part broken heart and part bitterness. Again, it finds the band being great at being themselves. You\u2019ve gotta hear this album. Put it on your bucketlist or even this week’s albums-to-get-now list.<\/p>\n

It sucks that these two albums didn\u2019t wake up the entire world to its greatness, as apparently sales did not go well. It really<\/em> sucks that the follow-up, Sting in the Tail<\/em>, sucked. I\u2019m sorry, but coming on the heals of perfection, this was like ten giant steps back to the mediocrity of the band\u2019s lost decade. Maybe I’ll give it another chance some day…<\/p>\n

Comeblack<\/em> (2011) saw them re-recording their hits, possibly trying to get the attention of radio, who only seems interested in playing the back catalog of classic rock bands and not ever playing anything new from an old artist. A real catch-22 that the Scorpions and its peers still find themselves in. MTV Unplugged in Athens<\/em> was, as it sounds, a live acoustic set filled with hits, also including \u201cDancing with the Moonlight\u201d and \u201cRock \u2018n\u2019 Roll Band,\u201d both of which appear on this new album.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

NOW, THE REVIEW<\/strong>
\nAnd that, if you\u2019re still reading, brings us to this new album. The first listen confirmed my fears that this one wasn\u2019t going to be one of the greats, and I was disappointed. Subsequent listens, however, have grown on me.<\/p>\n

The band explains that this album was conceived with the idea \u201cto revisit their past, recording updated outtakes and unfinished song ideas from their most famous 80\u2019s sessions.\u201d\u00a0Mathias Jabs explains, \u201cThere had been quite a few unused songs over the years that were really good, but in the end didn\u2019t make the cut back then due to the limited space on vinyl. We focused on eight songs, which were partly finished, which we then recorded from scratch. During the work, new song ideas were added. We were having so much fun we suddenly found ourselves in the middle of the songwriting process once again. And in the end, it turned out to be a brand-new Scorpions album after all.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the overall impact doesn\u2019t sound like a bunch of throwaway b-sides put together to cash in on a rabid fanbase, it does suffer a little bit from its scattered musical directions. I believe the majority of these songs were passed over for a reason way back when and the passage of time and a fresh coat of music doesn\u2019t overcome what\u2019s not really there. Is there a hit? Perhaps. The first single, \u201cWe Built This House,\u201d is signature Scorpions and is good, but it\u2019s probably not the best tune on the album. That might be the blistery \u201cRock My Car,\u201d the smoky, bluesy \u201cHouse of Cards\u201d or the nostalgic ballad \u201cGypsy Life\u201d that closes the album (before 7 bonus tracks appear or do not appear, depending upon which release you buy).<\/p>\n

\u201cGoing Out With A Bang\u201d starts off the album with a Southern rock riff that\u2019s anything but the Scorpions. It\u2019s very alien to the guitar tones of Rudolf Schenker and Matthias Jabs. \u201cThis can\u2019t be the Scorpions!\u201d But the opening riff gives way to a chorus and we hear the Scorpions playing basically true to their formula. Not bad, but forgettable. \u201cWe Built This House\u201d quickly brings Klaus Meine\u2019s soft and seductive voice to the forefront. His singing is somewhere between storytelling talking and pouting. He\u2019s one of the golden voices of rock. He\u2019s a lucky guy. He was blessed with a signature voice. The song sounds a bit laid-back and formulaic, but the individual parts that make up the Scorpions are so good that they could release an album of fart noises and somehow make it sound better than half their peers.<\/p>\n

\u201cRock My Car\u201d and \u201cAll for One\u201d are standout tracks, finding the band at full tilt, playing like they want to knock the audience onto their backs with its sonic attack. Like \u201cBlood Too Hot\u201d from Unbreakable<\/em>, Klaus and his mates find a way to repeat the phrase, \u201cRock, rock, rock\u2026\u201d to addictive and tasty results. As a songwriter, it hearkens back to the automobile fixation that \u201cLovedrive\u201d hinted at. It also name drops a staple song from its catalog, \u201cBig City Nights.\u201d It\u2019s a serious rock out workout that\u2019ll leave you breathing heavier after the track ends. It should\u2019ve been the lead-off track, in my opinion, with the melodic \u201cHouse of Cards\u201d adding a little slowed-down dynamics just afterwards. The vocals sing beautifully and melodically, and the lead guitars (which I assume are Matthias Jabs\u2019) sing like a tender voice. There\u2019s also some lyrics a little deeper than most:<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes I hear the echoes of laughter \/ In the twilight of affairs and other tragedies \u2026
\nShe had the look, but no morality \/ Sometimes it\u2019s easy to forget only for a moment \/ But there are nights you regret eternally \/ Whatever frozen hearts can do \/ Will melt the ice away\u2026\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It would appear as if Klaus Meine has tasted the bitter waters of suffering.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow (can) you know what it\u2019s like \/ when good luck has changed the sides \/ and no sun shines in the dark \/ and no angels ever hear your prayers in the night \/ When your fears come up your spine \/ When your life turns upside down \/ it breaks your heart \/ when you get crushed in the house of cards.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is the album\u2019s sweet spot. \u201cAll For One\u201d comes on next with a big shouting gangland instrumental buildup before Klaus fires his opening lines like opening salvos in a defiant declaration of aim:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe weekend comes around \/ the gang is back in town \/ we love Saturdays \/ we love Saturdays \/ another drink to slam \/ the girls wham bang \/ the band starts to play \/ the band starts to play\u2026\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

These three songs show the band fully warmed up and having their way. It\u2019s a good place for the repeat button, and that\u2019s a good thing (the opposite of \u201cskip\u201d). I\u2019m loving these tunes.<\/p>\n

\u201cRock and Roll Band\u201d riffs along like classic Deep Purple (\u201cHighway Star,\u201d perhaps?). \u201cCatch Your Luck and Play\u201d romps like a pop metal anthem with a great Guns N’ Roses type intro riff and then a call-and-response chorus that\u2019s more fun and games (a little Twisted Sister?) than the band\u2019s more favorable aggressive side. \u201cRollin\u2019 Home\u201d is a feel-good anthem, not too unlike the nostalgia of Unbreakable<\/em>\u2019s \u201cRemember the Good Times.\u201d The production of the background vocals and their separation from the drums while everything else drops out sounds ever so slightly like what one might hear on the radio recently (\u201cRadioactive\u201d by Imagine Dragons or \u201cPumped Up Kicks\u201d by Foster the People) without actually sounding contrived, believe it or not. It sounds pretty good. Different, but again, the parts here are so great, it\u2019s hard for the band to go bad.<\/p>\n

\u201cHard Rockin\u2019 the Place,\u201d in my opinion, goes neck deep into that bad territory, however. Someone please tell the band not to use the distorted talk-box (like Sting in the Tail<\/em>\u2019s title track) \u2013 like, ever again. It sounds great in “The Zoo” and “Can You Feel It” (Unbreakable<\/em>), because it’s not overly distorted. The next tune, \u201cEye of the Storm,\u201d doesn\u2019t really pull the album out of trouble, either. It\u2019s a ballad \u2013 the uber-soft kind with soft picking up in the mix with soft vocals. The only way to enjoy this one is to mock it with a bic lighter up in the air. Granted, the chorus rescues the song, bringing in a strong melody… Not a bad tune, but definitely a hair metal ballad if there ever was one. Track this one back-to-back with Motley Crue\u2019s \u201cHome Sweet Home.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Scratch\u201d is an up-tempo blues burner not unlike what you might expect on a Joe Satriani album or a Broadway musical number about a seedy detective in a dark city. This one probably shows the roots of these aged rockers. It\u2019s a little fun, but this is a side I\u2019d prefer not to hear too often.<\/p>\n

\u201cGypsy Life\u201d carries some of that signature Scorpions heavy\/hard to light\/soft dynamics like the part in \u201cStill Loving You\u201d or \u201cMaybe I Maybe You\u201d where there\u2019s a pregnant rest that gets shattered by some ultra powerful high notes that come belting out of the singer\u2019s lungs. Again, play this one back-to-back against the Crue\u2019s \u201cHome Sweet Home\u201d and you\u2019ll find a matching companion.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe World We Used to Know\u201d starts off with a plodding pop chugga-chug that could\u2019ve been lifted from a \u2018Til Tuesday album from the \u201880s, except instead of a female voice, Klaus Meine chimes in. This is even more strange than the Southern rock guitar riff that opens the album. Does it belong here? Well, it\u2019s a bonus track, so maybe you\u2019ll hear it, maybe you won\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Lyrically, it sounds like it could\u2019ve been the thematic \u201cWhat now? How do we then live\u201d follow-up to \u201cWind of Change.\u201d It’s almost preachy. Musically, it\u2019s a departure, for sure\u2026 \u201cDancing with the Moonlight\u201d is an upbeat rocker with a funk rhythm that could\u2019ve been borrowed from a Lenny Kravitz album or maybe a distant cousin from the soulful \u201cDancing in the Moonlight\u201d tune by Thin Lizzy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the Truth Is a Lie\u201d has some dark guitars that introduce the song, which reads like another breakup tune, realizing the betrayal that is clearly seen in hindsight. I hope it wasn’t that knockout in the \u201cNo One Like You\u201d video that did Klaus Meine wrong! All kidding aside, the dude knows how to pen a painful song.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho We Are\u201d follows the Scorp’s ballad formula to a T. It\u2019s compelling because of his vocals, but the BGVs offered up are more Air Supply than what we\u2019d expect from a black leather heavy metal band. Oh well, it\u2019s a bonus cut. \u201cOne and One is Three\u201d could be a Cheap Trick cover tune with its uptempo beat, climbing riffs and sing-along-able verses.<\/p>\n

\u201cDelirious\u201d is one of the better bonus tracks (iTunes only), a slightly behind the beat tune with great, thundering drums. \u201cCrazy Ride\u201d closes out the collection of bonus tracks with some hollow repeating riffs that could just as easily be at home on a Big Country, Alarm or even \u201880s U2 album. Its lyrics recap the long and wonderful journey that this great German band has taken. Thank goodness they\u2019ve stuck around this long \u2013 defying the odds and successfully making music that still means something.<\/p>\n

It took me about eight listens to really embrace this album, but I can safely say that my initial disappointment has been flipped over to an appreciative gratitude that I\u2019ve got these tunes to enjoy. Can they still bring it? Oh heck yeah. Is every song good? Not quite. Overall, the good far outweighs the bad. Oh my, I hear a terrible \u201cBad Boys Running Wild\u201d pun coming on. I\u2019ll end this long-winded book of a review before it\u2019s too late. [Sony Music\/Legacy Recordings] Doug Van Pelt<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Scorpions Return to Forever FIRST, THE HISTORY The Scorpions are an old band. I mean, they are celebrating more than 50 years together as a unit. Very few bands share that distinction and this one certainly deserves its due. Unlike the Rolling Stones or The Who, this band rocks hard in an almost violent way […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":24304,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,17,23],"tags":[3723,3879,3681,1995,2567,2682,3878,3683],"class_list":["post-24303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-album-reviews","category-blog","category-reviews","tag-classic-rock","tag-humanity","tag-melodic","tag-metal","tag-rock","tag-scorpions","tag-uli-roth","tag-unbreakable","cat-26-id","cat-17-id","cat-23-id"],"yoast_head":"\nScorpions - Return to Forever - The Original Heaven's Metal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/scorpions-return-to-forever\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Doug Van Pelt\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"17 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/scorpions-return-to-forever\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/scorpions-return-to-forever\/\",\"name\":\"Scorpions - Return to Forever - The Original Heaven's Metal\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/scorpions-return-to-forever\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/scorpions-return-to-forever\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Scorpions_Return-To-Forever_c-Oliver-Rath_01-66642154-lo-res.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-06-23T04:56:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-08-16T18:27:40+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/#\/schema\/person\/b155afeb7086c8182b3bb3b435e68c4b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/scorpions-return-to-forever\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/scorpions-return-to-forever\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/scorpions-return-to-forever\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Scorpions_Return-To-Forever_c-Oliver-Rath_01-66642154-lo-res.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Scorpions_Return-To-Forever_c-Oliver-Rath_01-66642154-lo-res.jpg\",\"width\":4566,\"height\":3399},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/scorpions-return-to-forever\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Scorpions – Return to Forever\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/\",\"name\":\"The Original Heaven's Metal\",\"description\":\"Former Editor-in-Chief. 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