Klaus Meine and the Scorpions hit it big in America in the early
\n’80s, thanks to albums like
\nBlackout<\/i> and
\nLove At First Sting<\/i>. The surge in metal’s popularity and the
\nbirth of MTV didn’t hurt matters, either. But what many people
\nprobably didn’t realize was that the Scorpions had been working on
\ntheir success for a decade before they finally made it to the big
\ntime.<\/p>\n
Their 1972 debut album,
\nLonesome Crow<\/i>, is considered to be one of the tougher albums
\nby the group to find. (It was re-released in 1989 on Rampage, a
\nsubsidiary of Rhino Records; that’s the copy I stumbled upon in my
\nweekly trip to the used record salon.) But if you expect to hear
\nscreaming guitars and power chords up the yin-yang on this one,
\nyou’re in for one hell of a shock.<\/p>\n
I can’t verify this as truth (though the page I learned it
\nfrom,The Scorpions Home Page, seems to be blessed by the band), but<\/p>\n
Lonesome Crow<\/i> actually served as the soundtrack for a German
\nfilm; shortly afterwards, the band broke up after a lackluster
\ntour. With the roots of the band dating back to the mid-60s, one
\ncould understand the frustration felt after working so hard and
\nmaking little progress.<\/p>\n
Listening to this album for the first time, the words “heavy
\nmetal” were not what popped to mind as a descripiton of the
\nScorpions. Instead, words like “jazz” and “Focus” came into mind –
\n“Focus” because songs like “I’m Goin’ Mad” reminded me a little bit
\nof the Dutch group’s hit “Hocus Pocus”, “jazz” because, well, the
\nmusic sounds more jazzy than metal. I realize this was 1972, but
\nit’s not like crunching music didn’t exist then.<\/p>\n
Adding fuel to the jazz fire is the exceptional bass work of
\nLothar Heimberg, who lasted only one album with the group. Pity, as
\nhis work is some of the most exciting on
\nLonesome Crow<\/i>, especially on the title track. Heimberg’s
\nwork is technical without becoming either flamboyant or arrogant,
\nsomething that’s hard to do when one is talented on an
\ninstrument.<\/p>\n
Michael (then spelled Michel) Schenker’s guitar work is
\nimpressive, but sometimes it doesn’t seem to fit the mood that the
\nmusic is creating. Also, I kept waiting for him to just let loose
\nwith a six-string barrage, forgetting that not only wasn’t the
\nmusic of the Scorpions in that vein yet, but also that Schenker has
\nnever really been that kind of a guitarist.<\/p>\n
One major disappointment in
\nLonesome Crow<\/i> is that Meine is underused as a vocalist.
\nKnowing now that the music on this album was originally meant for a
\nfilm helps to explain things a little more, but Meine’s vocals are
\nso much a part of the Scorpions’ sound that any lack of his
\npresence is almost immediately felt. For that matter, Rudolf
\nSchenker’s rhythm guitar is hidden too far in the mix.<\/p>\n
As for the music on
\nLonesome Crow<\/i>, it suffices to say that it’s not the band’s
\nbest work – but it’s also not bad considering the time period it
\nwas recorded in. Tracks like “In Search Of The Peace Of Mind”,
\n“Inheritance,” “It All Depends” and the title track have the most
\nbang for your musical dollar, though each of these tracks have weak
\nmoments as well. The other three songs on this one, unfortunately,
\nare much weaker all around. “I’m Goin’ Mad” just doesn’t have the
\nkind of punch one would have expected from this group, while “Leave
\nMe” (which does have a killer intro sound) and “Action” both aren’t
\nas strong as some of the other cuts.<\/p>\n
\nLonesome Crow<\/i> is still an interesting first snapshot of a
\nband who would eventually gain superstardom – though it might have
\nbeen hard to tell that they were headed that way if you first heard
\nthis when it was released. The diehard fans (at least those who
\ndon’t have this one in their collections) will undoubtedly want to
\nsearch out a copy, if only to complete their discography.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28016,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[6173],"rating":[5614],"class_list":["post-39408","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-scorpions","rating-rating-c-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39408"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39408\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=39408"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=39408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}