Scorpions - Pure Instinct (1996)

Tracklist:
1. Wild Child
2. But the Best for You
3. Does Anyone Know
4. Stone in my Shoe
5. Soul Behind the Face
6. Oh Girl (I Wanna Be With You)
7. When You Came Into My Life
8. Where the River Flows
9. Time Will Call Your Name
10. You and I
11. Are You the One?


Hidden Genius – 9/10

Isn’t it surprising how almost every 90s album by an 80s metal band gets bashed nowadays? And you should know most of that isn’t even deservedly. Take this album for example; the Scorpions take a different step in their career than cheap, commercial hair metal and in an instant the fans bombard this album as one of their worst. Lucky for this album there is still someone like me to stand up for this hidden gem.

Hidden behind the abominable cover art are eleven great tracks; all of them containing a lot of colourful themes and arrangements. There’s just one problem for our everyday Scorpions fan: there’s a certain lack of heavy rockers. Predecessor Face The Heat had enough of them and is perhaps the heaviest Scorps record to date. What better solution for a follow up is there than to release the inevitable opposite? Oh yes, there are a few rockers on the album, and probably some of the best the Scorpions have written. “Wild Child” with its drum-heavy verses and very catchy chorus is an instant Scorps classic, “But the Best for You” rolls on tightly with a friendly riff and “Stone in my Shoe” is a relaxing track with a typical 90s-Scorpions feel to it. Said quite blandly: the rest of the songs are all ballads. Now don’t you dare to trash this album just because of that. These eight ballads happen to be some of the finest the Scorpions have ever put together.

The first you’ll come across is “Wind of Change”-clone number two: “Does Anyone Know”; to sum this one up it’s a sing-along track with similar styled lyrics to the aforementioned track and is probably one of the less original songs on here, but still not bad. “Soul Behind the Face” takes the album to a whole new sound with its bluesy lead guitars at the intro. Given the often cheesy lyrics to ballads, it’s safe to say this one features some of the most thoughtful love-styled lyrics they’ve written. A lot of arrangements have been done with the clean and acoustic guitars, though the electric guitar still mostly blinks at us from the chorus and the solos. “When You Came Into My Life” is a very passionate one with a great build-up with very persuasive spine-shivering vocals from Klaus Meine. That brings us to another element in favour of this album: Klaus Meine is in a great shape. Combined with the very colourful and intimate arrangements of the songs, the result is breathtaking. We are surprised by Matthias Jabs when he plays some slide guitars on “Where the River Flows”, my favourite track off the album. In this track Ralph Rieckermann proves that he is the only worthy successor to Francis Buchholz and his bass-lines make the song. He does so much more than just accompanying it.

A little bit of guts are added with the acoustic swinger “Time Will Call Your Name”. Very catchy chord progressions vary with the inventive vocal melody in a way that is neither cheesy nor cheap. Note that this track’s chorus is one of the catchiest on Pure Instinct. “You and I” is the lead single from this album and somehow the Scorpions always succeed in writing an amazingly catchy ballad and making it so memorable at the same time. This is one of their finest ballads ever, even topping classics such as “Still Loving You” or “Wind of Change”. The almost orchestrally arranged “Are You the One?” closes this album and might seem like a weak track, but when you listen the album as a whole it perfectly closes the album as it actually sums up the record.

So in fact we have a pretty good Scorpions album here. Hell, on of the finest they’ve released I’d say. They might not be playing metal here, but that shouldn’t matter and it doesn’t. This collection of pop/rock tracks deserves to be much more than just another album in the Scorpions discography nobody knows. Underrated and highly recommended.

Strongest tracks: “Where the River Flows”, “Time Will Call Your Name” and “You and I”.

Scorpions - Sting in the Tail (2010)

Tracklist:
1. Raised on Rock
2. Sting in the Tail
3. Slave Me
4. The Good Die Young
5. No Limit
6. Rock Zone
7. Lorelei
8. Turn You On
9. Let's Rock
10. SLY
11. Spirit of Rock
12. The Best is Yet to Come

I Fail to Get Stung – 6/10

The sooner the release date approached, the better the album was promised to be. First we are told this album is going to sound like the Scorpions did in the early 80s. Second we are told that this album is very good, on par with the classic albums Blackout and Love at First Sting, in the opinions of the band members. Last we are surprised with this being the final studio album the Scorpions will ever make together and they want to end their career on a high note, making this their swan song. If all these things were true, the Scorps would be making on hell of a farewell album. Unfortunately, the Scorpions seemed to have set the bar extremely low or they have just no more inspiration. I don’t mean to say the entire album is bad, but it sounds uninspired nonetheless.

Oh yes, this album sounds 80s alright, but it’s nowhere near Blackout. Actually, the sound reminds me more of Crazy World and Unbreakable, with a dash of new. This new element is the will to party, and party they did. Choruses like “Let’s Rock” and “Turn You On” are really happy and celebrating, unique to Sting in the Tail. The quality of the songs is however a bit less. I already said it was a little like Crazy World, and I think that one is a bit of a dull album. Well, this album is actually quite the same, but in a different way. Where Crazy World just didn’t have enough hooks and heartbreaking melodies, SitT does have hooks, but they don’t last for very long. They kept this album very simple, very happy and thus making it sound uninspired. The band’s performance is very tight, but the arrangements are dull. Best example of that is the title track with its one-chord verses and chorus. There’s just no challenge for the listeners on this album, although I have to admit the guitar solos are great again, after a short absence from previous albums.

This doesn’t mean the album doesn’t have its moments. “Raised on Rock” is a classic opener with very tight “Hurricane”-ish riffs and real good vocals. Vocalist Klaus Meine is really shining on the album, hitting high notes on his old day. “Lorelei” is a truly great ballad, slightly borrowing arrangements in the main theme from Crazy World’s “Send Me An Angel”. “Let’s Rock” is my favorite track with it’s relaxing heavy riff and very melodic partying chorus, but unfortunately not all CD releases feature this song. “The Best Is Yet to Come” is as a final ballad also worth a positive mention with its more modern sound and very catchy melodies. It’s obviously an upcoming live track with the stadium chants of ‘heyaheyo’. Having mentioned these four good songs, this is where the notable work stops.

The rest of the album is filled with okay but not great tracks. “Sting in the Tail” and “Rock Zone” for example are two very uninspired rock songs that don’t feature anything really stunning or notable. Same with rockers as “No Limit” or “Spirit of Rock”. These songs are not necessarily bad: they have considerably good riffs, great vocals and good choruses, but they are far from memorable. It’s okay, but not great. The ballad “SLY” on the other hand is quite a bad song. They not only copied the opening chords from “Send Me An Angel” again, but the rest of the track doesn’t go anywhere. That’s the whole problem with this album: most songs don’t go anywhere, they just go. That’s what makes this album pretty dull. European single “The Good Die Young” is in itself not a bad song, but doesn’t add anything to the album but an okay track without a solo. And then we have Tarja Turunen doing some backing vocals here, but it’s nothing that can’t be replaced by keyboards. It’s really a pity the Scorpions decide to end their career with this.

In short, Sting in the Tail is not the great farewell album they promised it to be. There are some fine songs on it, but the rest doesn’t matter. They’re not bad songs, but not at all great, and thus they make this a very dull album. I would recommend this only to collectors of the Scorpions’ music.

Strongest tracks: “Let’s Rock”, “Lorelei” and “Raised on Rock”.
Weakest tracks: “Sting in the Tail”, “Rock Zone” and “SLY”.

Scorpions - Wind of Change (Russian) [Single] (1991)

Tracklist:
1. Veter Peremen
2. Wind of Change [single edit]
3. Vientos de Cambio








This wind needs a change – 6/10

“Wind of Change” is still the biggest hit to date by the Scorpions and it’s a bit of a symbol of the downfall of the Iron Curtain and the Soviet regime. Therefore this song is close to the hearts of many Russians and the Scorpions decided to translate the song in Russian so they could understand the song too. Quite understandable, isn’t it? Furthermore this single contains the normal English single edit and a Spanish version. Why the hell they would translate this song to Spanish is beyond me. I guess a totally new song would’ve done better.

So actually, we have three times the same song on here but in different languages. It starts with the familiar whistle and then the clean rhythm guitars join in. Klaus Meine starts to sing and Matthias Jabs gives us some great fills and eventually a great guitar solo. The chorus is still one of the best to date, being catchy in every language. What more explanation does this song need? The weird part of this single is the inclusion of three times this song. The Russian and English versions are single edits, while the Spanish version is the album version (with a different language of course). Sure, the song is great, but after hearing it three times in a row we don’t need any more of the same. We need some change here. Why not include a rocker from the album of that time, Crazy World? Just a little variation is all we need.

In the end, I think this single is more of a collectors item than something you’d want to give a spin over and over again. If you are Russian or Spanish I could understand you’d want your own version, but if you are not then this is not worth a lot of money. I would recommend this to collectors only.

Scorpions - Savage Amusement (1988)

Tracklist:
1. Don't Stop at the Top
2. Rhythm of Love
3. Passion Rules the Game
4. Media Overkill
5. Walking on the Edge
6. We Let it Rock, You Let it Roll
7. Every Minute, Every Day
8. Love on the Run
9. Believe in Love




I’m amused alright – 8,7/10

So often do I come across an album by a band that’s severely underrated by the fans and, of course, loved by me and a few others. Though this is the follow-up to the overrated and commercial Love at First Sting, they did make a huge change in their music. There were four years between these albums and though bands can pull that sort of thing off in the here and now, it was certainly something rare back in the 80s. The Scorpions have spent those four years well I’d say. They found a way to still be commercial, like on Love at First Sting, but also write GOOD songs in the process, something that was forgotten back in 1984. On Savage Amusement, the Scorpions show the world they can be commercial without being lame and unoriginal, and that’s what matters most to me.

This album is not heavy at all. Can you even consider it metal? It’s hair metal at best. Maybe Love at First Sting is even heavier than this, yet this all doesn’t matter. For who cares what style they pursue, the main question will always be: are the songs original, well-written and good? Well, yes, the songs on here are very good. It’s really classic Scorpions of the likes of which you would hear on Blackout or Lovedrive, but then reissued in a commercial jacket. Vocalist Klaus Meine is in excellent shape, as is the lead-work of Matthias Jabs and Rudolf Schenker. Drummer Herman Rarebell does his job typically 80s style but with some cool unexpected moves. This album contains melodic rockers like “Don’t Stop at the Top” and “We Let It Rock, You Let It Roll”, some great (power) ballads like “Walking on the Edge” and “Believe in Love”, and there is a piece of speed metal found here in the shape of “Love on the Run”. Together the songs form a strong album with a great overall ambience throughout. Let’s get a bit into the details.

The album opens with the hesitating guitar intro to “Don’t Stop at the Top”. As soon as the band joins in we are surprised by Rarebell making an unexpected move by not hitting his snare in one bar. The song then evolves into a melodic theme with great lead guitars and the verses totally change the mood of the chorus, which is a great contrast. “Rhythm of Love” was the biggest hit off this album and therefore is one of the lesser songs on here, which still isn’t that bad. It starts the same as the previous song in structure, giving a hesitating start at first and then evolving into the catchy theme. It’s melodic and catchy as hell, two standard ingredients for a hit, and it works. The catchiness and somewhat poppiness continues with “Passion Rules the Game” and “Media Overkill”, and they’re really good songs with cool riffs and good melodies. Especially “Media Overkill” has the necessary 80s pop influences in the beginning but it has a really groovy bass line throughout the verses to give it its unique sound. Then we come to power ballad “Walking on the Edge”. It starts off really quiet with a soft guitar playing gentle chords. Carefully Meine joins in to sing some lines and then at the verses the power starts coming in gradually and at the chorus it bursts out! It’s a little aggressive in sound then and it’s a really cool journey from gentle to wilder.

“We Let It Rock, You Let It Roll” has, besides one hell of a cheesy title, the best riff on this album. The lead guitars at the beginning really reminded me of Children of Bodom a little, mostly due to the pinch harmonics. The song is really aggressive and adrenaline pumping. This is my absolute favorite of Savage Amusement. The verses and chorus really carry lots of energy and the guitar solos are very inspiring. We continue on a high note with “Every Minute, Every Day”. This one starts off like the first two songs: hesitating at first, but then bursting into the catchy theme. This one features odd keyboards at the theme. The rest of the song sounds great again and continues in the same vein as the other great songs here. “Love on the Run” is a fast speed metal-ish song to give the album some more energy and power. This one does not meet the greatness of the other tracks here, but a good fast song is always welcome. The album is closed by “Believe in Love”, one of the finest ballads the Scorpions have ever recorded. It’s gentle, romantic, melodic and catchy. What more does a good ballad need, besides members of the Scorpions to play the instruments and to sing?

My writing skills tend to fail me in describing the greatness of some albums, and this is one of those albums. The melodies are many and the originality is high. This is what the Scorpions should be remembered for, not predecessor Love at First Sting. This is the proper way of a metalband going commercial, such a shame that so many fans fail to see it. I recommend this album to every Scorpions fan.

Strongest tracks: “We Let It Rock, You Let It Roll”, “Media Overkill” and “Believe in Love”.

Scorpions - Humanity Hour I (2007)

Tracklist:
1. Hour I
2. The Game of Life
3. We Were Born to Fly
4. The Future Never Dies
5. You're Loving Me To Death
6. 321
7. Love Will Keep Us Alive
8. We Will Rise Again
9. Your Last Song
10. Love is War
11. The Cross
12. Humanity

Scorpions... this is Scorpions, right? – 6,5/10

This is exactly what one would say when hearing this album. After the splendid Unbreakable the Scorpions really seemed back to rock the world once more, but now in a more modern way. Its follow-up, which is this album, Humanity Hour I has nothing in common with Unbreakable except for the more modern sound, but then this release is even more modernized. Actually this whole album does not sound like they are the Scorpions. It is modernized in every way and the trademark Scorps sound is gone. Mostly such a change would make me love the album, but Humanity Hour I actually doesn’t do that.

So the Scorpions adopted a modern sound, what do I actually mean? There are traces of downtuned guitars on some songs, the tracks are mostly short and don’t even contain solos and of course there’s this concept. Yes, this is a concept album by the Scorpions. Apparently this concept was the idea of songwriter/producer Desmond Child, who we’ll discuss later on. This concept is about how evil and bad mankind is right now and this is just hour one to our insanity. They believe the worst is yet to come. Well, that’s pretty optimistic, don’t you think? And that’s all made up by a man with vision, this Desmond Child guy, whose fingerprints are on all of the songs. Which brings us to the why and how of the soundchange. The songs are mostly credited for a whole bunch of people and only one bandmember. If the Scorps have stopped writing their own songs, then how can we expect to hear the trademark Scorpions sound? Seriously, this was a sad move.

On to the songs. Even though the overall feel is very modern and not Scorpions-like, it’s not an awful album. The whole army of songwriters did know how to write songs, so it seems. As soon as opener “Hour I” begins we have a bit of a nu-metal feel through our veins. It starts off with a bombarding drum intro, soon accompanied with a heavy drop C guitar riff and a shrieking lead guitar trying to imitate sirens. We are alarmed now and when Klaus comes in to preach of our downfall we finally recognize the band we listen to. Have the Scorpions ever been this heavy before? No way! It’s a cool song, that’s for sure, but it really doesn’t fit the Scorpions. We have a slightly more Scorpionized riff at “The Game of Life”, but the rest of the song continues in the modern feel. Then there are these heavy riffs on “We Were Born to Fly” and “We Will Rise Again”. In a way these songs are great. They are well-composed with good and nice riffs, vocal melodies and arrangements, but unfortunately something is missing. If it’s not the solo that’s missing it’s either something else. There are some radio-friendly modern ballads or pop songs on this album such as “Love Will Keep Us Alive”, “Your Last Song” and “Love is War”. As the titles might suggest, they are about love, but not with the cheesy ‘I want you tonight’ lyrics we are used from the Scorpions. Again, these songs are really nice and they are good songs, but there’s something missing in them. I can’t believe I would ever complain in a review about a band not having its trademark sound, but Humanity Hour I is just not a Scorpions album.

I might be complaining a lot about the lack of Scorpions sound here, but there are a few songs with typical Scorpions lyrics, only a new kind of music as an accompaniment. “You’re Loving Me to Death” for example has lyrics in the vein of 1990’s “Don’t Believe Her” and the terribly cheesy “321” has the well-known ‘I wanna rock’ type of lyrics, which really looks odd compared to the rest of the album. Perhaps it was included to give a short break after all that optimism about humanity? There are two more great songs to discuss and discuss them I will before coming to a close. “The Future Never Dies” is a very catchy powerballad with a hidden hint to the Scorps sound. It comes to your attention immediately when listening because it’s actually very full of heroic melodies and is slightly epic. If only it had a solo... Album closer and second title track “Humanity” is also quite a blast. It begins really gently with some plucking on the strings, then Klaus joins in with his everlasting optimism and from there it bursts into a melodic epic song. Again, all what’s missing is a convincing guitar solo. There’s one big star on this album besides the splendid performance of vocalist Klaus Meine and that is James Kottak on the drums! We get to hear a lot of drumming from him with his bass drums, like on “Hour I” and “Humanity”. He drums very varied and stylish and that’s what I like about drummers.

To come to a close, Humanity Hour I is not a bad album, but it’s not a Scorpions album. They hardly wrote the songs themselves and their fingerprints are missing everywhere. Furthermore there are mostly shorter songs and fewer solos. I guess we have to deal with that and take this album for what it is. Therefore I will not recommend this album to anyone but a die-hard Scorpions fan who likes modern touches.

Strongest tracks: “The Future Never Dies”, “Love is War” and “Humanity”.
Weakest tracks: “321”.

Scorpions - Eye II Eye (1999)

Tracklist:
1. Mysterious
2. To Be No.1
3. Obsession
4. 10 Light Years Away
5. Mind like a Tree
6. Eye to Eye
7. What U Give U Get Back
8. Skywriter
9. Yellow Butterfly
10. Freshly Squeezed
11. Priscilla
12. Du Bist So Schmutzig
13. Aleyah
14. A Moment in a Million Years

The Incidental Masterpiece – 10/10

Eye II Eye is the black sheep of all Scorpions albums. The band itself even stated in an interview that they did not like this album. It is so different from everything they ever released before that nobody really dared to actually listen to the album, although there is a small group of big Eye II Eye fans scattered across the world, which I will gladly represent in this review.

As soon as opening track “Mysterious” begins to play, we are immediately shocked by what happens. First we have an overdriven guitar to play a very short riff-ish something, and then some laid back drumbeat kicks in, only to be accompanied by an immensely laid back guitar riff, and a moaning Meine on the background. What the hell? Where are those typical Scorpions hard rock driven riffs with solid drums and catchy lyrics? Instead, we get to hear some insanely relaxing shit which only gets better when you’re a bit used to it. Vocalist Klaus Meine sings with a dirty low pimp-ish voice on the verses of many songs, sounding a bit hoarsely, but in the choruses he mostly shows off his clear voice, as we’re used to. The opening track evolves into an offbeat chorus and then back into the relaxing rhythms with the after-chorus. This song sets the tone for the rest of the album and is followed by the equally laid back single “To Be No.1”, obviously repulsive to many with its techno-ish beep in between. But also this one is nothing but a diamond! Just because it is so different from all the other Scorps-tunes it stands out! The relaxing ambience continues throughout the entire album, with heavy riffing occurring on various songs like “Mind like a Tree” or “Yellow Butterfly” and sometimes even classic Scorpions riffing like on “Aleyah” and “Priscilla”.

I will discuss some of the highlights of this album, to give a better overview. There is a gem in title track “Eye to Eye”, which is very gentle, almost poppy, but so very touching a ballad. It is about the deaths of the fathers of guitarist Rudolf Schenker and vocalist Klaus Meine, and the lyrics are so beautiful and Meine’s voice is so full of emotion, though hoarse, and the ambience through the entire song... indescribable. Then there is “Skywriter”. Though its verses might not be very catchy at first, the chorus will most likely get your attention. Not to mention the great bass tune underneath. Come to think of it, that bass player, Ralph Rieckermann, is truly a star on this album. On numerous songs his colourful bass playing really stands out, for example on “Mysterious”, “Yellow Butterfly”, “10 Light Years Away” and , of course, “Skywriter”. It’s really a pity this was his latest studio album with the Scorpions. An often disliked song would also be “Freshly Squeezed”, another one of my favorites. It sounds so damn wrong in the verses that it’s actually very cool. It sounds like some attempt at being modern, cool and hip with its fast and catchy verses and the offbeat rhythm throughout the song. They probably failed at being hip or modern, but they certainly made a cool song here. Another standout would be Priscilla, with a more recognizable Scorpions touch. As you hear Klaus Meine sing about Priscilla eating all his food and him planning to kill her, it was truly funny to hear that Priscilla seemed to be a cockroach! Didn’t see that one coming.

Classic Scorpions riffing on “Aleyah” must’ve satisfied all the naysayers of this album, if they would still be listening to this album and not be turned down by its weird ambience. There is just typical 80s riffing here and the chorus is so epic, especially at the end when the normal riff is placed underneath it and the epic solo comes through. The album is closed by the piano ballad “A Moment in a Million Years”, which is an emotional thank you to the fans. A great way to close the album, and I think most fans would appreciate the thanks after the ‘torture’ of this album. Only some fans, like me, will notice that the end song is just speaking up for what the entire album is.

As usual in my reviews of black sheep and hidden gems, here’s to the naysayers. Eye II Eye is not the typical 80s hair metal you are used to on albums like Love at First Sting, Blackout or Crazy World. This album is unique in its own way, and you can only see it if you manage to let go of what you wish. You can’t love this album if you hate it for what it isn’t, but you will if you can see it for what it is: the best Scorpions album ever recorded.

Strongest tracks: “Mysterious”, “Eye to Eye”, “Freshly Squeezed” and “Aleyah”.
Weakest tracks or fillers: NONE!

Scorpions - The Good Die Young [Single] (2010)

Tracklist:
1. The Good Die Young (radio edit)
2. The Good Die Young (album version)









Preview of the Sting – 7,5/10

The Scorpions have decided to release “The Good Die Young” as the first promotional single from their upcoming farewell album. A single usually is to promote the album it is from. The question is: does this single do its job well?

The song is a power ballad. It sounds like trademark Scorpions, and at the same time it doesn’t. It starts off with gentle arpeggiated chords, accompanied with some guitar leads. Then the drums kick in to form a steady rhythm on which the verse flows. It seems the lyrics of this song are about war and about young soldiers needing to come back. Then the chorus kicks in and there is the recognizable Scorps sound. It’s a heavy chorus with some solid riffing and some epic melodies. It’s closed by some more guitar leads, and then goes back to the arpeggiated chords of the beginning. This repeats itself three times before the song comes to a close after five minutes. The radio edit that’s also present just removes a repeat.

I must say vocalist Klaus Meine sounds like himself on the choruses, but tends to sound like Axl Rose or Serj Tankian in the verses. He uses his lower range and goes through the lyrics rapidly, leaving a nu-metal-ish impression. And there at the background of the verses we have guest vocalist Tarja Turunen making some opera-esque harmonies. Surely, she adds something great to the song, but nothing that would not have been possible to be replaced by keyboards. It probably would’ve been a better cooperation with a full duet between her and Klaus. Overall, I think the song does a good job. It has energy, a mid-paced groove and a very memorable chorus. The only thing that it lacks is a good guitar solo. What happened there? The Scorpions were always known for their striking solos, but nowadays they seem to be lacking. Ah well, apart from that, it’s a good song.

In the end, I think this single does the job. It might not be the classic Scorpions sound, but it certainly is a good song, and the boys did a good job. I’m looking forward to Sting in the Tail even more now I know there’s at least one good song on it. Hopefully the other songs do have solos though, it really adds a lot.

Scorpions - Love at First Sting (1984)

Tracklist:
1. Bad Boys Running Wild
2. Rock You Like A Hurricane
3. I'm Leaving You
4. Coming Home
5. The Same Thrill
6. Big City Nights
7. As Soon As The Good Times Roll
8. Crossfire
9. Still Loving You



Love at First Sting, Hate at Second – 4/10

If there is one thing I can’t understand, then it’s why the hell the commercial albums by metal bands often are the most praised among the fans. It was like that with Queensrÿche’s Empire, Judas Priest’s British Steel and, even though it’s not metal, Kayak’s Phantom of the Night. Love at First Sting is no different from all those. Cheap, commercial, uninteresting, but still very praised among the majority of the Scorpions’ fans. This I totally can’t get to. Honestly, I don’t care what genre a band plays. They can go progressive, they can go grunge, or they can go commercial, as long as the songs are good and original. I’m not sure that is the case with this album.

With the raw sound the Scorpions adopted in the 70s already dismissed on 1982’s Blackout, Love at First Sting sounds overpolished at times, and very uninspired. Apparently the masses don’t care for good songwriting, since I’ve rarely come across a commercial album with solely good songs. Anyhow, we are welcomed into the album by a shrieking guitar dubbed in a nasty 80s chorus effect. The rest of the song “Bad Boys Running Wild” consists of a few average riffs with an average vocal melody over the verses. The chorus is where the song gets a little more interesting... IT’S ABOMINABLE! They shout the title of the song with a choir and then ramble on about “and you better get out of the way”. Well, if this song is accompanying these “Bad Boys” then I’ll sure stay out of their way. Ah well, the second song makes it all right. “Rock you like a Hurricane”, a true live-track with a catchy riff, but nothing really memorable. I guess this is one of the better tracks off the album, and that says something. We proceed with what the opening track tried to tell us in “I’m Leaving You”. Again, a bunch of average riffs with an average vocal melody and you’ve got it. The bridge is quite catchy though.

The REAL music starts with “Coming Home”. On the Blackout album we already saw the Scorpions could make 80s metal with a good result, and this song would’ve fit better on that album. It starts off like a ballad, with some arpeggiated chords as an intro, but then kicks off into a speedy rocker full of energy. And THIS is riffing; THIS is what the Scorpions can do so well. Not all that commercial crap the rest of the album is filled with. Such a shame. But as soon as they’ve recorded a masterpiece like this, they think they can take on the world and give birth to another fast song called “The Same Thrill”. Nothing is as bad as this song. Was there an election for the worst Scorpions song ever? I’ll pick this one. How low can we go? The entire verse-chorus-verse-chorus is the same chord, with singer Klaus Meine just shouting the lyrics over it. The bridge is a little different, but nothing worthwhile, and then we get that same chord again for the solo. Wasn’t that fun? No it wasn’t.

Remember track two? “Rock You Like A Hurricane”? Meet his twinbrother, “Big City Nights”. Since BCN was born two minutes earlier, it beats its younger brother by far. This time, we have a real catchy riff instead of just using every chord on the e-minor pentatonic scale, and this time the melody is way better. This is Blackout quality. But beware of its end! For there’s another piece of sheer boredom following this one. “As Soon As the Good Times Roll” is a song that can pass by and never be noticed. Or at least the verses. But I assure you the chorus is just more of the “Same Thrill”-quality. Next song is “Crossfire”. A song with political character that doesn’t seem to vary its drum-rhythms, but still manages to be so catchy and epic to keep me listening to it over and over again. Last song off the album is the big hit “Still Loving You”. I can’t say anything bad about this one. This is truly a classic Scorpions song through and through. A really good power ballad with an epic chorus and epic ending.

Well I think I gave you a pretty good impression of Love at First Sting. It’s commercial through and through, with some elements of the good side of the Scorpions showing up, especially near the end of the album. With a few good songs, a few really bad songs and a few average ones, I don’t think this release deserves the praise it gets. I wouldn’t recommend this album to anyone, unless you get horny by the cover. Only then you might enjoy this CD.

Strongest tracks: “Coming Home”, “Big City Nights” and “Crossfire”.
Weakest tracks: “Bad Boys Running Wild”, “The Same Thrill” and “As Soon As the Good Times Roll”.