Tag: Klaus Meine
5 Scorpions – Comeblack (2012)
The Scorpions have returned with Comeblack, their last studio album before the band retires. Comeblack is one half re-recorded originals, and one half cover tunes.
How does it stack up? Comeblack shows you just how good the Scorpions original songs are. The versions on Comeblack are not quite as aggressive as the originals. Klaus doesn’t push his voice as much as he did on the original tunes. I have found that the songs are slightly different. The tempo may be a little different on some of the songs. I have heard the original versions of these tunes hundreds of times, so some of the nuances stand out to me quite a bit. To the average fan, they may not notice much of a difference, if any. The cool thing is…all of the songs still work. I prefer the original versions of the songs, but the versions on Comeblack are still very good.
I have never been a big fan of cover song CD’s, but I have to admit the cover songs on this CD, are really good. My favorites of six covers are “Tainted Love”, “All Day and All of the Night” and “Ruby Tuesday”. All of the cover songs are very good. I am convinced that Klaus Meine could sing anything, and make it sound good. To my ears, “Tainted Love” and “All Day and All of the Night” are easily as good, if not better than the originals versions.
Is Comeblack worth picking up? If you are a fan of the Scorpions, you should definitely get this. It is the last studio album the band will ever do. The cover songs are pretty good, and are definitely worth adding to your collection.
My only wish is that someone could talk the Scorpions out of their retirement talk. Comeblack shows me that the band still has plenty of fuel in the tank.
Rating: 
Out of 10
Track Listing:
01. Rhythm of Love
02. No One Like You
03. The Zoo
04. Rock You Like A Hurricane
05. Blackout
06. Wind of Change
07. Still Loving You
08. Tainted Love
09. Children of The Revolution
10. Across the Universe
11. Tin Soldier
12. All Day and All of the Night
13. Ruby Tuesday
Scorpions are:
Klaus Meine – Vocals
Rudolf Schenker – Guitars
Matthias Jabs – Guitars
Pawel Maciwoda – Bass
James Kottak – Drums
2 The Scorpions – Eye II Eye (1999)
I am convinced that in 1998, the Scorpions and producer Peter Wolf were abducted by Aliens and transported to the Planet Suck. From the Planet Suck, the band brought back with them the CD, Eye II Eye. OK, maybe that is not really what happened, and maybe that is a little extreme but I would have never expected a Scorpions CD to be this disappointing. I didn’t pick this up when it was released in 1999, and only found a reasonably priced copy recently. I didn’t read any of the reviews for it, as I knew I would pick it up eventually. Needless to say, I was very let down after hearing Eye II Eye. I totally get it when bands try to do something different, but this disc is just bad. I couldn’t find much music that resembled the band I have loved for many years.
“Mysterious” has a funky rhythm that seems better suited for a pop song. There are parts that resemble the Scorpions of old, but over all it just doesn’t work. I just can’t get into this song. “To Be No. 1” sounds like a regurgitated Prince song. I don’t get why The Scorpions were trying to down the pop road, but I can’t stand this song. (Decide for yourself in the video below.) Luckily, there aren’t too many songs like this, but it doesn’t get much better. “Freshly Squeezed” also falls into this weird pop rock sound.
Eye II Eye is plagued by far too many slow songs. “Obsession”, “10 Light Years Away”, “What You Give You Get Back”, “Skywriter” and “A Moment in a Million Years” if listened in succession might just lull you into a coma. In the Scorpions defense, “What You Give You Get Back”, and “A Moment in a Million Years” aren’t bad songs, but they needed some heavy rockers to break them up.
“Mind Like A Tree” is one of the semi-heavier songs on the album, and I like this one somewhat. “Yellow Butterfly” has some heavy moments and is an ok tune. I have to admit that “Priscilla” is kind of catchy. It is an upbeat rock tune that avoids that pop rock stuff. It is definitely one of the more listenable songs on Eye II Eye. Overall, I am thankful that the Scorpions returned to their classic sound with their follow up effort Unbreakable. Eye II Eye was a complete let down for me. This CD is only for Scorpions die-hards and those looking to complete their collections from the band.
Rating: 
Out of 10
Track Listing:
1. Mysterious
2. To Be No. 1
3. Obsession
4. 10 Light Years Away
5. Mind Like a Tree
6. Eye to Eye
7. What You Give You Get Back
8. Skywriter
9. Yellow Butterfly
10. Freshly Squeezed
11. Priscilla
12. Du bist so schmutzig
13. Aleyah
14. A Moment in a Million Years
The Scorpions are:
Klaus Meine – Lead vocals
Rudolf Schenker – Rhythm guitars, Backing vocals
Matthias Jabs – Lead guitars, Backing vocals
James Kottak – Drums, Percussion, Backing vocals
Ralph Rieckermann – Bass, Backing vocals
3 Scorpions at the M3 Rock Festival
Early in the day at the M3 Festival, Eddie Trunk broke the news on Twitter that Klaus Meine from the Scorpions was sick, but would perform. I didn’t quite know what to expect at this point, but was a little disappointed that my first (and possibly last) Scorpions show would not have the band at 100%. The show started out with an extended instrumental only version of the Scorpions song “New Generation” from the Unbreakable album.. I don’t know if it was a miscue or what, but they played the song for about five minutes with the stage lights on, and no vocals. It was just weird. I didn’t know what the hell was going on.
The Scorpions obviously had the best stage show. The video screen behind the stage was pretty awesome, and James Kottak’s drum kit was on a rising platform, that was raised over ten feet in the air with chains that were mounted to the floor of the drum riser. It was a pretty cool site. I really got a kick out of watching the band play. Rudolf Schenker and Matthias Jabs were much more animated than I expected them to be. One upon a time, I heard Rudoph Schenker was kind of a shy guy. You would never know it from his stage performance. He was incredible!
Luckily, the Scorpions got their act together and played a blazing set of their classic tunes, including “Blackout”, “The Zoo”, “Rock Me Like a Hurricane”, “Big City Nights”, “Holiday”, “Bad Boys Running Wild”, “Winds of Change”,”Coast to Coast” “Tease Me Please Me” and “Another Piece of Meat” in which the band brought out Vince Neil on vocals to give Klaus a hand. My first thought was, “Oh Great, Here is ANOTHER song that Vince can forget the lyrics too”. Luckily Klaus did most of the singing. Quite honestly, I thought the Scorpions sounded incredible, even though Klaus was not singing up to his normal level. I could tell that he was definitely holding back somewhat, and struggling a little bit, but it did not detract from my enjoyment of the show. A dumbass fan in the front row was giving a Klaus a hard time, and telling him to sing louder. Klaus seemed a little pissed and explained to all of the fans that he was sick, and his voice was shot. He encouraged everyone to sing a long. He was truly doing the best he could. Lets face it , the band could have easily canceled this show, but decided not to. I thought it was cool for them to carry on with the show. I would have been greatly disappointed if they didn’t play. I can’t believe a stupid fan would disrespect the band, and Klaus in this way. I don’t know if it was the extreme heat at M3, or what, but the dumb ass fans seemed to be in abundance in the pit. The front row heckler was not the only knucklehead. A guy in the fourth row, who was easily over 6 foot tall decided to stand on his chair and block our view. Security took care of him after a few songs, but it wasn’t any where soon enough in my opinion. Seriously folks, if you are taller than a freakin’ beanstalk, do you really need to stand on a chair and block other fan’s views?
Aside from the boneheads at the show, I really did enjoy the Scorpions quite a bit. The band performed a few of their new tunes including “Raised on Rock”, “Sting in the Tail” and “The Best Is Yet to Come”. I love their new album, Sting in the Tail, but I probably would have traded one of these songs for “Still Loving You”, but what are you going to do. I enjoyed the Scorpions farewell tour at M3, and I hope and pray that they play near me one more time, before they call it a day. They will be greatly missed when they retire. The Scorpions closed out M3 in fine fashion. I can’t wait until the next festival in 2011!
Check out the pictures and clips of the show below!
0 Video – Avantasia – Dying For An Angel
Check out the new Avantasia video, “Dying for An Angel”. This video features The Scorpions Klaus Meine on vocals. You can pre-order the new Avantasia CD, “Wicked Symphony” at this link.
4 Scorpions – Sting In The Tail (2010)
2010 marks the end of a long and awesome career for the Scorpions. The band is preparing a multi-year farewell tour, and has returned with the seventeenth and final studio album of their long and storied career. The Scorpions has been saying for months that Sting in The Tail is a return to their classic sound, and I would have to agree. 2010 has been another great year for hard rock, and even with some stout competition Sting in The Tail is going to find its way on a lot of top ten lists at the end of the year.
Klaus Meine sings his ass of on this CD, and still sounds amazing. Rudolf Schenker and Matthias Jabs cut loose often, and dish out some tasty guitar riffs that classic Scorpions fans are sure to love.
If you have listened to Hard Rock Hideout radio over the last few weeks, you have heard the first single “Raised on Rock”. This song is so good, it has made me anticipate the release of Sting In The Tail even more.
In my opinion, the title track “Sting In The Tail” is one of the weaker cuts on this album. The music is good, and this song does a good job at keeping the pace going, but there is something odd about it that I can’t put my finger on.
“Slave Me” on the other hand, is damn near perfect. I love this tune.
“The Good Die Young” features a duet with former Nightwish singer Tarja Turunen. If this song doesn’t get tons of radio play for the Scorpions, there is something seriously with a whole lot of DJ’s out there. This song is awesome!
James Kottak dishes out some killer drum work on the rocker “No Limit”. Klaus Meine pulls off some screams that I didn’t think he had left in him. This song gets better every time I listen to it.
If “Rockzone” doesn’t have you throwing your metal horns in the air, nothing will. This is one of the heavier songs that the Scorpions have done in quite some time. “Rockzone” flat out rocks! I love this!!!
If I would have changed anything on this CD, I would have added one more rocker to the mix. Three ballads are a bit much, even if they are quite good.
Did the Scorpions save their best release for their last one? Absolutely not. Sting in the Tail is however a damn fine release, and one of the stronger efforts by the Scorpions. If Sting in The Tail is truly the Swan Song for the Scorpions, then the band can retire knowing they gave their best effort for their final disc. That is all this fan can ask! While I am sad to see the Scorpions retire, I am going to enjoy Sting In The Tail for many years to come.
You can grab a copy of Sting In The Tail for only $7.99 this week at this link!! Don’t miss this!
Rating: 
Out of 10
Track Listing:
1. Raised On Rock
2. Sting In the Tail
3. Slave Me
4. The Good Die Young
5. No Limit
6. Rockzone
7. Lorelei
8. Turn You On
9. Sly
10. The Spirit of Rock
11. The Best is Yet To Come
The Scorpions are:
Klaus Meine – Lead vocals
Matthias Jabs – Lead guitar, Backing vocals
Rudolf Schenker – Rhythm guitar, Backing vocals
Paweł Mąciwoda – Bass, Backing vocals
James Kottak – Drums, Percussion
