Can you believe that this band has been around since 1965?!!! Well, that was when Klaus Meine and Rudolf Schenker started their little band in Hanover, Germany. Over 35 years later they are still around. They have gone from one of the biggest bands in their genre, to become the laughing stock of the hard-rock movement. Now they are probably mostly known for their work behind the iron curtain, bringing hardrock to Russia, before the cold war ended.

BLACKOUT (1982) EMI

This is one of the classic 80's metal albums that every serious metal collector should own. Scorpions were gaining massive popularity with this release, bringing them into the big hardrock/metal league. The band sort of invented the whole pop-metal genre, and the power ballad songs. But the strength of this album lies in Klaus excellent strong voice, and the guitar-leads of Schenker and Jabs. CLASSIC!

Killer tracks: Blackout, No One Like You, Dynamite

BEST OF SCORPIONS (1984) BMG/RCA

Steamrock Fever Pictured Life Robot Man Backstage Queen Speedy's Coming Hell Cat He's A Woman - She's A Man In Trance The Sails Of Charon Virgin Killer

Although it was released in 1984, this compilation has no tracks newer than 1977. I'm not all that familiar with the early material of the Scorpions, but I recognize 1 or 2 songs on it. This becomes more of a collectors item, until I can get a hold of their back-catalogue.

MOMENT OF GLORY (2000) EMI

Recording albums combining hard rock with a classical orchestra is not a new thing. Deep Purple did this over 30 years ago. But after Metallica did it successfully, it became like a new trend. So the Scorpions also jumped on this bandwagon. The result is a varied affair, and ultimately not a very memorable one. The title track is a new song, and I think "Here In My Heart" is new too. The latter is penned by Dion Warren, a songwriter who also have penned ballads for Aerosmith and KISS. I bought this album hoping it would be a CD that both my wife and me could enjoy. But it has ended up more like a dust-collector.

Killer tracks: Send Me An Angel, Still Loving You

UNBREAKABLE (2004) BMG

All of you who had written of Scorpions as has-been's, raise your hands! I'm the first to admit that I lost interest in the band a long time ago. But then 'Unbreakable' appeared, and people kept telling me how this was a return to the hard rockin' Scorpions of the 70's and 80's. And after hearing "Can You Feel It" on a compilation disc, I had to agree. Then this album popped up as the CD of the month in one of the clubs I'm a member of, so I thought; why not? And I'm glad I did. 'Unbreakable' is without a doubt the best album the Germans have recorded since 'Crazy World' in 1990. I'm not saying that all of the 13 tracks presented are stellar material. But well over half of them does the trick for me. And no sappy ballads are here either (yes, they do ballads, but this time they do no cheezy ones). Just listen to the vitalized "New Generation" and the aforementioned "Can You Feel It". If you don't tap along to the rhythm, or sing along to the choruses within 2 spins of those albums, then you are the stagnant one, not Scorpions! Welcome back, Scorps! Definitely a contender on my top 20 list of 2004 releases.

Also gotta mention the cool silver glossy booklet, with the debossed logo, title and scorpion. Even the CD itself has that silvery shine on the print.

Killer tracks: New Generation, Love 'em Or Leave 'em, Borderline, Blood Too Hot, Maybe I Maybe You, Someday Is Now, Can You Feel It

Scorpions also appear on:  

V/A - 'Hear 'n Aid: Stars'

V/A - 'Power Ballads'

V/A - 'More Power Ballads'

V/A - '96% Puddel Rock'

V/A - 'Pondus - Flat Fuzzpedal'

Klaus Meine guest appearances:

Avantasia - 'The Wicked Symphony'

Rudolf Schenker guest appearances:

Avantasia - 'The Scarecrow'

Related artists:

Kingdom Come, Rainbow, Sun Red Sun, Black Sabbath, Warlock, Doro, Riot, Quiet Riot