Tag: In Trance

Scorpions – ‘MTV Unplugged in Athens’ (2013) – Album Review (The Scorpions Collection Series)

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The Scorpions have really had a new life since their farewell tour. With a new album, ‘Comeblack’ which had them re-record old hits and some covers, the band was having a good time again. So, when MTV approached them about doing an MTV Unplugged, they jumped at the chance. They put a lot of work in to re-arranging the songs for an acoustic setting as you can tell from the “Making of Documentary” on the DVD on this release. The band actually didn’t really wanted to play their hits, but dig deep. With pushback coming from either the label or MTV (I forget which), they agreed to do some of their hits, but they also went deep and even brought in some new songs specifically for this set. The setlist is one of the highlights as we get old school Scorpions, 80’s heyday and even songs from today. It spans their career in what a good setlist should do.

The recorded 25 songs and performed at MTV’s first outdoor unplugged show and they couldn’t have chosen a more beautiful spot than high a top a mountain at the Lycabettus Theatre in Athens , Greece. It was recorded over 2 nights on September 11 and 12, 2013. The release came quick on November 29, 2013 and I think the U.S. got it later. Let’s get out the one bad thing about the US version. The US Version is only 1 CVD and not a full show. The DVD that comes with it has the full show, but the CD does not. I am not sure why the rest of the world had a 2 CD full show option and we didn’t, but it is what it is. So, I am reviewing the DVD, full show set.

The full band is there and front and center are Klaus Meine, Rudolf Schenker and Mathais Jabs. The other two guys are slightly behind them with James Kottak on drums and Pawel Maciwoda on bass. But they weren’t alone, wow! There is a lot of extra help on the stage including a string ensemble, an extra percussionist with Pitti Hecht and then Mikael Nord Andersson, Ola Hjelm, Ingo Powitzer and Martin Hansen all on guitar (plus Mathias & Rudolf). And that wasn’t all, you also got Hans Gardemar on piano and accordion plus several surprise guest vocalists. It is a full house and one hell of a party.

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Scorpions – ‘Live Bites’ (1995) – Album Review (The Scorpions Collection Series)

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The Scorpions camp felt it was time for another live album. This would be the band’s third to date and was released April 3, 1995. Now, the disc is not one show as that would be the smart thing to do and this instead is the easy way out. They took shows from several concerts from 1988 to 1994. The cities were Leningrad (Russia), San Francisco (US), Mexico City (Mexico), Berlin (Germany) and Munich (Germany). The album has the normal crew of Klaus Meine, Rudolf Schenker, Mathais Jabs, Herman Rarebell and current bass player, Ralph Rieckermann. However, most of the bass playing is long time member Francis Buchholz. The best thing about the album is that they did include 3 studio tracks which is the real reason to buy. No definitive time on the recordings, but I believe they range for 1988-1995, just no where I can prove that out.

As far as live albums go, it does sound fantastic. The guitar sound is actually killer, almost to amazing which makes me wonder if any touch up was done. And Klaus’ vocals are spot on, the drum sound is hard and heavy. There is no denying these boys can play live. They kick off with “Tease Me Please Me” and it would be a good song to start with as it totally rocks out and gets you on your feet. Then we get a real treat with the ‘Lovedrive’ track “Is There Anybody There”. I love the reggae vibe to the song. I really unexpected choice for the live show, but very welcomed. Really cool. Back to the heavy rock guitar sound with “Rhythm of Love” and they nail it here before going in to the only song that is a found on another live album and that is the fantastic “In Trance” and this is a classic track. Man is it good.

The first misstep for me is “No Pain No Gain” as I’m not a fan of this song, but they do make it sound a little better than the studio track here. It fits better in the live setting than album setting, but not by much. Then from ‘Blackout’ we get “When the Smoke is Going Down” and another surprise track for me. I didn’t like this song as the ending to that album, but mixed here in the middle of the show and listening to Klaus sound incredible on this one, I dig it here. Next up is “Living for Tomorrow” and this song had been released previously on the 1992 compilation called ‘Still Loving You’. On here, two slow songs in a row really can start to drag the show down. Klaus speaks to the crowd in Russian as it was recorded in Leningrad.

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Scorpions – ‘Best of Scorpions, Vol. 2’ (1984) – Album Review (The Scorpions Collection Series)

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To capitalize on the success that the Scorpions were seeing now with ‘Blackout’ and ‘Love at First Sting’, the label decided it was time for a ‘Best of Scorpions, Vol. 2’. The new compilation, a companion piece to Vol. 1, was released on July 10, 1984. It didn’t do that great as it only went to #175 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. But still not a bad idea to try and reap some rewards off a band riding high.

It followed the same concept as Vol. 1 by picking songs only from the Uli Jon Roth era. This means it is only songs from ‘Fly to the Rainbow’, ‘In Trance’, ‘Virgin Killer’ and ‘Tokyo Tapes. For some reason, no songs were picked from ‘Taken By Force’. like on Vol. 1…which didn’t have any ‘Tokyo Tapes’ songs. Being Volume 2, these are the next level tier of songs so instantly makes this set a little less in goodness. There is one repeat, but Vol. 2 has a live version rather than a studio…we will get to that.

SIDE A:

“Top of the Bill”, from ‘In Trance’, is basically same as a song on their newest album “Gas in the Tank”. Okay, not really, but not far off. Klaus’ vocals are ear splitting high at times as his shrieks rip through your head. It is a solid rocker that is both explosive and melodic. It is balls-to-the wall energy and I love the vocal harmonies as they add even more to the dynamic track.

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Turntables & Vinyl #25 – The Alternate Covers

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It has been almost two years since I’ve done a Turntables & Vinyl post. And since today is the 2,000th Post on the site, why not do another. 2,000 Posts!! That is insane. I can’t believe I have bored you for that long now and yet you still come back. Thank you for that.

These Turntable & Vinyl post are basically about my collection or interesting things about collecting and this one is about collecting. As far as collecting goes, I haven’t gone down the rabbit hole of getting every variant of an album, but I have found myself, a little unknowingly, picking up duplicate albums with the big difference being they have a completely different album cover. I don’t have a lot, but I am noticing more and more that if I know there is a different album cover, I am now actively looking for it. However, most of the time it has been by utter accident that I found a different cover and didn’t know it existed.

This post is going to show you the handful that I have and then show the ones that I am actively hunting down. But first, why do artist have different album covers in the first place? Most of the time it is simply down to controversy. Some album covers have a little nudity or something offensive that pisses off the wrong people so in order to sell those albums in certain stores a new cover is done. In other parts, it is simply different tastes in different parts of the world. And then it might be a reissue so they change up the cover a little, either way, I think it is cool and so I am now collecting alternate covers.

This is my most recent acquisition and it is from Joe Satriani. The one on the left was the album cover I originally had and all I knew about and it turns out it is the European release cover and the one used in the 1988 reissue. But apparently there was alternate cover because I found the one on the right in a record store in St. Augustine Florida. It really isn’t the alternate cover because I believe it is the original release cover from 1986 and the one i had first was actually the alternate cover. Both are awesome.

Here is another one where I had the alternate cover first, the one on the left, before i had the original cover, the one on the right. The original cover was the UK only release of the original album. The giant snake on the left is the alternate cover for the releases outside of the UK. Not sure why the difference, but both are equally cool.

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Scorpions – ‘Rock Galaxy’ (1980) – Bonus Edition (The Scorpions Collection Series)

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In 1980, not sure if the record label was capitalizing on Scorpions growing success or what they were doing, but the released this 2LP set called “Rock Galaxy”. It isn’t a compilation album…nope. It is a re-release of two of the bands albums…’Fly to the Rainbow’ (1974) and ‘In Trance’ (1975). It was released in 1980, out of Germany, but sold across Europe as you can see from the back cover. It would see re-issues later in Spain and Greece, but my copy is from Germany.

The release I have is a 2LP set and on a wonderful gatefold. The inside picture is of the band and not a great one at that as Klaus is either frightened or he is just totally uncomfortable getting his picture taken. The story of the band is on written in both English and German and is called ‘The Scorpions Chronicle’ or in German as ‘Die Scorpions Chronik’.

The album at least isn’t controversial. It is basically plain and utterly awful. I hope the band didn’t have an input in the cover, because if they did I would question their sanity. We already know record labels were full of idiots so if they chose the cover it then makes sense. However, it is the awful cover that is the main reason I bought this. I already have the two albums, but dang, that cover is so bad I had to have it.

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Scorpions – ‘Best of Scorpions’ (1979) – Album Review (The Scorpions Collection Series)

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With their 1979 album, ‘Lovedrive’, Scorpions were starting to see international success. In the States, the album went to #55 and was certified Gold. In the UK, two of the singles charted. The band was enjoying their new success and the label was ready to capitalize on that success. On November 17, 1979, the band released their first compilation called ‘Best of Scorpions’. The album reached #180 on the Top 200 album chart and didn’t garner I think the fever the band and label were hoping.

The songs from the compilation come from four of their first five albums. There were no songs chosen from their debut album, ‘Lonesome Crow’. All the songs were from ‘Fly to the Rainbow’, ‘In Trance’, ‘Virgin Killer’ and ‘Taken By Force’. There were also no songs from the newest album ‘Lovedrive’. All the songs were from the Uli Jon Roth era of the band. I’ve read some of the songs were new mixes, but not all and the ones that were sounded pretty much the same. I am sure they cleaned them up so they would all sound consistent here on the album. Let’s jump right in…

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Scorpions – ‘Tokyo Tapes’ (1978) – Album Review (The Scorpions Collection Series)

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After 5 albums and the band in peak shape, it was time for a live album. While touring Japan in 1978, they recorded the two shows at Nakano Sun Plaza on April 24th and 27th. From those shows they pieced together a sensational double live album. Not only was it the band’s first live album, it was also the last album they would do with their label, RCA Records. If that wasn’t enough, it is also the last album to feature Uli Jon Roth as he left the band after the Japanese tour and prior to the release of this album. The band would audition close to 140 guitarists until they finally found the right fit in Matthias Jabs, but more on him with the next review in the series. This one is all about the live album.

The album would be released in Japan in August 1978 and around 6 months later, get released in Europe and then the U.S. The album finally saw Scorpions receive some success as they charted in 4 different countries reaching #10 in Germany and they went Gold in France. In an era of great live albums, there is no reason this shouldn’t be up there with some of the best as this takes some already great songs and turns them up a notch. I listened to this album in the car and on the turntable and once with headphones and let me tell you this is a headphone listen for the best experience. Trust me, you pick up so much more.

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Scorpions – ‘In Trance’ (1975) – Album Review (The Scorpions Collection Series)

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Ten months after the release of 1974’s ‘Fly to the Rainbow’, Scorpions recorded then released their third studio album on September 17, 1975 in Europe, but wouldn’t see a U.S. release until March 1976. This time around they had a new drummer as Jurgen Rosenthal left the band because he was drafted in to the Army. He was replaced by Rudy Lenners. The rest of the band was the same with Klaus Meine on lead vocals, Rudolf Schenker on rhythm guitar, Uli Jon Roth on lead guitar (& vocals) and Francis Buchholz on bass.

As far as a sound for the record, Scorpions continued on their hard rock road and left behind those epic 10 minutes songs for an album of 10 tracks within the standard 3 to 5 minute range. They were tighter, more melodic and we even get more Uli Jon Roth on vocals as he gets two songs this go round. This was also the first album that featured producer Dieter Dierks who would go on to produce all their album up to 1988’s Savage Amusement. I guess you could say he was the 6th member of the Scorpions.

This album was also the first album to include the now famous Scorpion log. If that wasn’t enough, it was the start of a set of album covers that would become rather controversial. This one, and the copy I happen to have, shows a beautiful lady standing over Uli’s guitar and one of her breasts is exposed. They would later change the cover to blackout that part hiding her breast. Honestly, this one is really hard to see and you have to be really looking for it to see it, but it is there. This wouldn’t be the last cover of the band to get censored. Censored cover or not, the album helped propel their sound and their popularity, but they were still not near their highest of highs yet. That wouldn’t come for several years.

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Coming to 2 Loud 2 Old Music on August 1, 2022 – The Scorpions Collection Series – Celebrating 50 Years of The Scorpions!!

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That is right…starting August 1, 2022, we will begin the next series here on 2 Loud 2 Old Music and it is the Mighty Scorpions!! This is another “Collection Series” so will be everything I have in my collections from The Scorpions so I might miss a few things. We will start from the beginning with ‘Lonesome Crow’ in 1972 and go all the way to 2022’s release of ‘Rock Believer’. 50 Years of the Scorpions and it is time to celebrate them for the greatness that they are!!!

We will do studio albums, live albums, compilations and singles and whatever I have you will see. So what will we see…a list is at the bottom, but for now here you go.

The 70’s Studio Albums…

The 80’s Studio Albums…

The 90’s Studio Albums…

And the 2000’s…

But we don’t stop there…we will cover their live albums…

Their greatest hits compilations…

And I even have a handful of singles and promos…

So, buckle up and get ready to walk through the history of the Scorpions!! And it is a lot…take a look at it all in its beautiful glory!!

Below is a list of the order of the reviews (it is subject to change)…I can’t wait to dive in deep with these German Rock Gods!! See you real soon…

  1. Lonesome Crow (1972)
  2. Fly to the Rainbow (1974)
  3. In Trance (1975)
  4. Virgin Killer (1976)
  5. Taken by Force (1977)
  6. Tokyo Tapes (1978)
  7. Lovedrive (1979)
  8. Best of Scorpions (1979)
  9. Animal Magnetism (1980)
  10. Rock Galaxy (1980)
  11. Blackout (1982)
  12. Hot & Heavy (1982)
  13. Love at First Sting (1984)
  14. Still Loving You Maxi Single (1984)
  15. Best of Scorpions Vol. 2 (1984)
  16. Gold Ballads (1984)
  17. World Wide Live (1985)
  18. Savage Amusement (1988)
  19. Rhythm of Love – Single (Box Set) (1988)
  20. Best of Rockers ‘n’ Ballads (1989)
  21. Crazy World (1990)
  22. Crazy World – 4 Track From Crazy World Promo Vinyl (1990)
  23. Tease Me Please Me Promo CD (1990)
  24. Don’t Believe Her Promo CD (1990)
  25. Send Me An Angle Promo CD (1991)
  26. Face the Heat (1993)
  27. Live Bites (1995)
  28. Pure Instinct (1996)
  29. Big City Nights (Compilation) (1998)
  30. Eye II Eye (1999)
  31. Moment of Glory (with Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra) (2000)
  32. Acoustica (2001)
  33. Unbreakable (2004)
  34. Humanity: Hour 1 (2007)
  35. Sting in the Tail (2010)
  36. Comeblack (2011)
  37. MTV Unplugged – Live in Athens (2013)
  38. Return to Forever (2015)
  39. Rock Believer (2022)
  40. The Albums Ranked Worst to First