A few years back I did a complete collection series on the Scorpions. I figured it was time to show all the vinyl off on The Collection. We will break it up in to two parts with the first being from the debut album, ‘Lonesome Crow’, all the up to ‘Blackout’ with every thing I have in between which we covered last week. For Part 2, this week we will cover ‘Love at First Sting’ up to their latest ‘Rock Believer’. This will cover from 1984 all the way up to their most recent released in 2022. This will have the classic line-up of Klaus Meine, Rudolf Schenker, Mathias Jabs, Francis Buchholz and Herman Rarebell. There will be new members on bass and drums down the road including Mikkey Dee from Motorhead on drums. We will talk covers, music and sound…all the good and bad an inbetween.
So go check it out as it will be live tonight right now, October 14, 2024 at 8pm. Thanks for stopping by and please click “Like” and hit “Subscribe” as it helps out the site when you do.
It started back on August 1, 2022 and it ends today. The Scorpions Collection Series has been a run ride and after 40 posts, we come to the conclusion. And that conclusion will take the 19 Studio albums and 1 compilation and rank them from the best album to the worst. The 1 compilation is really a studio album. ‘Comeblack’ is 1/2 re-recorded hits and 1/2 covers so in my book, it is a studio album.
Scorpions started way back in 1965, but their first album after many ups and downs finally came out in 1972. It was ‘Lonesome Crow’. There are two classic line-ups of the band in my book. You have the 1st with Rudolf Schenker, Uli Jon Roth, Klaus Meine, Francis Buchholz and Rudy Lennars. Then their heyday of the 80’s saw Rudolf Schenker, Klaus Meine, Francis Buchholz, Mathias Jabs and Herman Rarebell. Yes, Micheal Schenker was in the band and there have numerous drummers and the like, but I would say these two were my favorite line-ups. The final album came out in 2022 and it was called ‘Rock Believer’, so we have 50 years of albums and over 50 years of the band and it was a hell of a ride going through this series.
Now, let us get to the brass tacks here and start this ranking…and away we go….
THE WORST – ‘EYE II EYE’ (1999):
I think it is fair to say this might be the worst Scorpions album of them all. And since I’ve heard them all, I think I’m qualified to make that statement. I am all fine with experimenting, but with such a drastic change, it is a little too much all at once. The techno sound, the rapping, the almost full album of ballads was too shocking for most humans to handle. Now, there are a handful of great tracks on here, but not enough to save this pile of garbage (though good enough for a Scorps playlist). My Overall Score is a 1.0 out of 5.0 Stars as the Scorpions are not a boy band, they are not a pop band and they are definitely not a techno band. They are a hard rock, heavy metal giant that got lost in the 90’s like a lot of 70’s/80’s bands did.
While at a record show here in Charlotte, one of the vendors had a Special Edition single of the Scorpions song “Rhythm of Love”. The single was a UK edition and it was a box set. On the cover it says it is a Special Boxed Set including record & Five Full Colour Cards. You know it isn’t a US release because color is spelled as “Colour”. The set was released in 1988 and I will say that my box is a little beat up and not in the greatest shape, but everything is there and I think it is still pretty cool.
As I said above, the set came with 5 full color pictures and what is cool is that they are double sided. On one side, you get a picture of each band member, up close and personal…
And then on the other side, you get the album pictures of their last 5 albums…
It had been four years since the band’s last studio album ‘Love at First Sting’ in 1984. The band toured extensively for that record and then released a live record ‘World Wide Live’ celebrating that tour. Then the band toured again for the Live album and they were exhausted. They finally headed back in the studio in 1987 to start recording ‘Savage Amusement’ and worked on the new album through to early 1988. The band’s sound changed as they became way more polished and mature sounding thanks in large part to the success of Def Leppard. I would say the sound tried to mirror them to some degree.
The album saw the full band return with Klaus Meine, Rudolf Schenker, Mathias Jabs, Francis Buchholz and Herman Rarebell. The producer was the same as well with Dieter Dierks, however, this would wind up being his last Scorpions album. ‘The ‘Savage Amusement’ was released on April 16, 1988 and did really well going to #5 in the U.S. and going Platinum with over 1,000,000 copies sold. Sadly though, it was considered a disappointment.
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…
Lonesome Crow (1972)
Fly to the Rainbow (1974)
In Trance (1975)
Virgin Killer (1976)
Taken by Force (1977)
Tokyo Tapes (1978)
Lovedrive (1979)
Best of Scorpions (1979)
Animal Magnetism (1980)
Rock Galaxy (1980)
Blackout (1982)
Hot & Heavy (1982)
Love at First Sting (1984)
Still Loving You Maxi Single (1984)
Best of Scorpions Vol. 2 (1984)
Gold Ballads (1984)
World Wide Live (1985)
Savage Amusement (1988)
Rhythm of Love – Single (Box Set) (1988)
Best of Rockers ‘n’ Ballads (1989)
Crazy World (1990)
Crazy World – 4 Track From Crazy World Promo Vinyl (1990)
Tease Me Please Me Promo CD (1990)
Don’t Believe Her Promo CD (1990)
Send Me An Angle Promo CD (1991)
Face the Heat (1993)
Live Bites (1995)
Pure Instinct (1996)
Big City Nights (Compilation) (1998)
Eye II Eye (1999)
Moment of Glory (with Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra) (2000)
2 Loud 2 Old Music 