Style: classic rock, hard rock, heavy metal
Label: Hip-O
Year: 2002
Home: Germany
Members: Klaus Meine ~ vocals
Michael Schenker ~ lead guitar/b. vocals
Matthias Jabs ~ guitars/b. vocals
Rudolf Schenker ~ guitars/sitar/ebow/b. vocals
Francis Buchholz ~ bass/moog/b. vocals
Ralph Rieckermann – bass/b. vocals
Herman Rarebell ~ drums/b. vocals
Additional: Koen van Baal, Jim Vallance, John Webster ~ keyboards
Lee Aaron, Claudia Frohling, Tony Ioannoua, Cliff Roles, Jim Lewis, Dries van der Schuyt, Paul Laine, Mark LaFrance, Bruce Fairbairn, Mark Hudson ~ b. vocals
This is one of those bands that in America, for most of my life anyways, folks were more likely to pick up a Scorpions greatest hits than any individual studio album. They had but a few hits here & a small legacy often eclipsed. It's in Europe is where their biggest impact really lies & the most honest recognition of the diversity of the output. Until the last few years, partially due to the announcement they were disbanding, later retracted, but earlier due to the resurgence of heavy metal, American fans forgot the Scorpions had a four decade career full of much more diversity than one might expect from a metal band. I've always thought it was good to see them come back to the spotlight over the last few years, bringing American fans, new & old, to their studio output beyond just the few hits. But, ignoring this recent surge & even assuming that even with it many new or casual fans might just turn to the greatest hits album anyways, I wanted to take one of the many such compilations available & answer the question - is it worth picking up? Is the hype real & the legacy valuable? I declare yes. & unlike many bands the legacy is not necessarily built on reputation or names/faces or famous events, but just great music. The rockers are just pure headbanging joy, though some are less inspired & more imitative like "Tease Me, Please Me" & "Blackout". The middle ground, like "No One Like You", shows off the Dio-reminiscent vocals that were the secret to this band. Also on this particular collection for this range is "Loving You Sunday Morning" & "Big City Nights". There's a bunch of hits the Scorpions had in these two styles (i.e. "Rock You Like A Hurricane", "Rhythm Of Love"), but the real secret in the band's longevity might be the ballads (i.e. "Wind Of Change", "Still Loving You", "Send Me An Angel"). These are not cliched hair metal power ballads, as one might want to think, but draw on the fact that the Scorpions had been around in the 70's, thus these are more akin to Boston or Journey. The Scorpions are not an 80's power metal band & never really were & that's the even more hidden secret to the game. There's numerous greatest hits compilations. This is just one of many. It includes two new songs to attract old fans to buy one more album, but they are inconsequential as greatest hits additions often are as they're nice to hear but pale in comparison to the hits sitting next to them & their only value might be that they feature a new bassist. But, avoid buying the compilations from early in their career as while the output is good but it'll lack many of the more recognizable songs.
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