Following the strong success of last year\u2019s Sting In The Tail<\/i>, the Scorpions announced a world tour that would not only be their last but also a chance for fans to say goodbye as the band would at the conclusion of the tour be retiring from the business.\u00a0 Theirs has been an incredible career followed by one of the most loyal fan bases of all time that has at times delivered the band great success when they were least expecting it.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
The current (and in my opinion, the best) line-up of Klaus Meine (vocals), Rudolf Schenker (guitars), Matthias Jabs (guitars), Pawel Maciwoda (bass), and James Kotta (drums) absolutely ripped every show to pieces and then some. They played like men possessed and were clearly determined to make sure that everyone who saw would never forget them.\u00a0 And it was during this last foray that they had come up with an idea to give fans an encore just to say thanks and farewell in the vein of a new album that would be all about having a good time.\u00a0 The decision to re-record some of their most loved songs and mix them with covers of their own idols from the \u201860s and \u201870s was an ambitious one, but they certainly achieved what they set out to do here.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
Their playing is super tight, which is no surprise considering the length of time they have just spent on the road, and Meine\u2019s iconic voice is still holding up as strong as ever.\u00a0 A more cynical reviewer could, of course, question the relevance of a project like this, but when it sounds this good (for the most part) and the artist seems genuine in their reasoning, then I have all the time in the world for a little something like this.\u00a0 I have to admit though that I came to the Scorpions when I was in my mid-twenties after a mate had given me three of their albums in exchange for a Bon Jovi tour poster of mine that had been collecting dust for years.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
So not having grown up with them or been around during their electrifying \u201870s period, I have no real alliance for any particular lineup or period of their work.\u00a0 I say this because I realize these topics are hotly debated among the band\u2019s faithful, and so I\u2019m not about to compare this new release to anything they have previously done because I don\u2019t really see the point. \u00a0If they are to be believed, then Comeblack<\/i> will be the last new material released by them, and apart from a couple of the selected covers, it is a very satisfying curtain call.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
Of their own songs, there really isn\u2019t a whole lot to say because they have been playing them for years and what they have done here essentially is given them an updated sound.\u00a0 So, for instance, a song everyone knows like \u201cWind Of Change\u201d no longer sounds dated and \u201cRock You Like A Hurricane\u201d just sounds like a live recording minus the crowd noise and obvious obstacles that recording live throws up.\u00a0 \u201cRhythm Of Love\u201d and \u201cThe Zoo\u201d actually have benefited from this process; they just sound tighter and leaner then the originals.\u00a0 As for the covers, let\u2019s get the bad stuff out of the way first.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
A bloody horrible rendition of a terrible song \u201cTainted Love\u201d almost put me off buying this album to begin with. Since Marilyn Manson has already done almost this exact version some years ago, I just find it completely unnecessary.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure everyone who has ever even attempted to write a song has been in some way inspired by The Beatles \u2013 I mean, it\u2019s impossible not to have been, as far as I\u2019m concerned.\u00a0 So it\u2019s no surprise that they remain so heavily covered, but rarely do covers even come close to being satisfactory and the version of \u201cAcross The Universe\u201d added here is no exception. It sounds dreary and generic and completely lifeless.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
Having said that, though, the rest of the covers are quite surprisingly good, the best of which is a fantastic run-through of The Kinks\u2019 \u201cAll Day And All Of The Night.\u201d\u00a0 The Stones\u2019 \u201cRuby Tuesday\u201d and T. Rex\u2019s \u201cChildren Of The Revolution\u201d are also highlights.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
So it\u2019s with Comeblack<\/i> the Scorpions draw their 46-year career to a close, and as an encore to the brilliant Sting In The Tail<\/i>, it\u2019s a pretty cool way to say goodbye.\u00a0 Adios, boys, thanks a million.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":30826,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[6173],"rating":[5615],"class_list":["post-42500","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-scorpions","rating-rating-b"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/42500","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\/67"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42500"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/42500\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=42500"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=42500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}