SCORPIONS: Unbreakable; 2004 (Sanctuary)
By Fizz
Rating: 7.0
Not long ago, I reviewed Tesla’s latest release. If you haven’t read it yet, go take a look when you’re done here. Actually, I have a number of reasons for bringing this up at a time like this. For one thing, Tesla will be touring with the Scorps this fall. Also, both albums were highly-anticipated comebacks from classic hard-rock bands with something to prove. And when you think about it, both bands have a lot in common, such as:
1) They both made a career out of unpretentious, straight-up hard rock, with the emphasis being mainly on the music rather than a cheesy gimmick.
2) Both bands have fabulous twin-guitar setups that allow for great riffs AND blazing yet memorable solos.
3) Both bands have a sterling reputation for great live performances.
4) Both bands tend to excel in writing ballads that are emotional, but aren’t overly sappy. Ballads you might find a macho more-metal-than-thou type enjoying, when his even-more-metal-than-you freak friends aren’t around.
5) Both bands occasionally lapse into embarrassingly trite save-the-world type lyrics.
6) Most important to the review, both bands had a lot to prove with their current releases, either coming off a ten-year recording hiatus (Tesla) or hoping to bounce back from an equally long period when many fans WISHED they were on hiatus, owing to the shitty records they put out (Scorpions).
7) I’ve already given my thoughts on the new Tesla, and I just did get my Fizzy little fingers on the new Scorpions CD a couple weeks ago. So did they make a better go of it than the Modern-Day Cowboys? Well, yes and no.
The first track, “New Generation,” is one of those aforementioned Songs With A Message. These guys could have a lucrative side-business selling jingles to the Peace Corps. Ingenuous lyrics aside, the song isn’t a good choice to open the CD with, as it’s plodding, not all that catchy, and maybe it’s just me, but hearing a guy in his early fifties singing about how “we” are the new generation is a little bit silly. The next song (and the first single), however, makes up for the lame opening. “Love ‘Em Or Leave ‘Em,” is a typical Scorpions-style celebration of women and all the joys a nd sorrows they afford us men. Or something. Okay, fuck it, it’s a song about chicks, and it has an infectious chorus, a relentless rhythm, and in short, it sounds like classic Scorpions with modern production. Call it the “Tease Me, Please Me” of the album if you want. Put it down in the win column. And I hear it’s actually getting some radio play too, on your more forward-thinking radio stations, which is always a good thing.
Elsewhere, we get the uptempo romp of “Blood Too Hot,” which reminds me of “Kicks After Six.” In fact, a lot of these songs remind me of others from the band’s past. Hell, after 30 years, they’re entitled to recycle a few riffs, I suppose. Starting with track #7 (“Someday Is Now,” another inspirational song), we get a string of good songs that lasts all the way up to and including “This Time.” “Through My Eyes” is a semi-ballad, and actually works better than either of the two full-on ballads here, with its somber verses and chorus pick-up. Both “Can You Feel It” and “This Time” are top album highlights, although somewhat slower in pace. They have the heaviness and hooks of something from 1993’s Face the Heat, especially “Can You Feel It.” You don’t even mind the vaguely modern, chugging riffs. The album ends with “Remember the Good Times,” which does exactly as its title suggests, remembering in particular “Bad Boys Running Wild.”
Of note are the two ballads, and unfortunately, neither is very good. This is especially disappointing because Scorpions (no “the” in the band name--Eddie Trunk said so, so it must be true) have always had a special gift for creating excellent ballads. They were masters of adding that minor-key, desperate feel, rather than the happy G-chord strum-a-thons that people tend to associate with the word “ballad.” “Maybe I, Maybe You” actually has a piano in it, for shit’s sake! Of course, fans were similarly aghast over a decade ago when the band incorporated whistling into a ballad, I can’t recall the name offhand. Oh, “Wind of Change,” right. The difference? The whistling worked; the piano has to go! “She Said” is a better example of Scorpological Balladry, but it’s nowhere near “Still Loving You,” “Holiday” or “When the Smoke Is Coming Down.” It might hold its own against, say “Believe In Love” or “Lady Starlight” though.
The rest of the songs are all okay, but are really nothing to write home about. I have to give the band credit though, for actually having a few great songs on the album, instead of releasing a disc full of blandness and mediocrity. This is the advantage Unbreakable has over Tesla’s latest: it has several instant favorites, while I really had to coax myself to like most of Tesla’s new material. Scorpions have made an adequate comeback, and it is certainly much better than their last two studio albums. In style, think of it as a mix of Face The Heat-style heaviness and Savage Amusement’s general less-than-catchiness, with a bit of Crazy World thrown in for good measure. The production has a definite modern sound to it, with drums that aren’t as pounding as they could be, and guitars that are louder than most everything else. Good thing Rudolf and Matthias are still great players! Klaus Meine still sounds exactly like he always has, and even has some of that roughness in his high register like he did in the band’s early days.
I paid $18.99 for this CD, and I have to say it wasn’t worth that much, even with the nifty embossed cover. But if you can grab it for five bucks less, and are a Scorpions fan to begin with, it’s a pretty safe buy.
Best song: “Can You Feel It”
Worst song: “Maybe I, Maybe You”
