Scorpions
Savage Amusement

In 1985, an important period for the Scorpions came to a close. A period that started in 1979 with the release of "Lovedrive," and ended with "World Wide Live," saw the Hannover group experiencing magnificent years both in the studio and on tour, with a background of memorable songs like "The Zoo", "Blackout", "No One Like You", "Rock You Like a Hurricane", "Big City Nights", and "Still Loving You", which indelibly marked the band's hard n' heavy era.

So, after five years lived to the fullest, the Scorpions take a three-year break before returning in 1988 with "Savage Amusement." Although it's not a disappointing work, it always left me with a sense of bitterness because, listening to it, you understand that the band's golden era is now inevitably behind; this despite the tracks maintaining typically hard rock standards, but mid-tempo songs prevail over the hard gallops of previous albums; additionally, Matthias Jabs seems to be playing with the handbrake on, no longer delivering the lightning solos we were accustomed to, and the songs seem to follow precise, more calculated schemes without improvisation; and if you add to this a Klaus Meine no longer at the level of their best times (the years pass for everyone), and a certain nod towards more commercial and mainstream territories, it's clear why the album might have seemed like a half-disappointment to fans, and indeed, the commercial success was less than that of previous records.

However, good songs are not lacking; in fact, I believe there isn't a single objectively bad song, just that there are no tracks able to excel and elevate the album's level, but despite this, songs like "Rythm Of Love," with a really successful though somewhat too commercial refrain and chorus, "Passion Rules The Game" and "Media Overkill" are tracks that can always be listened to with pleasure; a particular preference goes to the latter, which features a compelling chorus even if penalized by excessive use of electronics in Meine's voice and Jabs' solo. "Walkin On The Edge", positioned in the middle of the album, mellows the atmosphere a bit with its slow, ballad-like start, while in the chorus the pace picks up with Klaus Meine taking center stage for one of the album's best songs. Closer to the band's recent past are "We Let It Rock....You Let It Roll" and "Love On The Run", more driven and fast-paced songs where the Scorpions turn up the volume a bit, and Matthias Jabs gifts us a few more pyrotechnic solos, even if the songwriting is no longer at the levels of some years ago; while the opener "Don't Stop At The Top" (covered by Children Of Bodom) and "Every Minute Every Day" continue with the mid-tempo vibe that permeates the album, yet they are still two well-crafted and enjoyable hard rock pieces. We reach the album's end, and as tradition now dictates (since the days of "Blackout"), it's time for a tear-jerking ballad, and never more than in this case: here comes "Believe In Love", for me one of the band's best ballads, preferred even to classics like "Still Loving You" and "Wind Of Change", and I place it on the level of their finest ballads from the 70s, like "Always Somewhere", "In Your Park", "Holiday" and the 80s "Lady Starlight". The song begins with a splendid and very catchy riff, then Meine's voice takes over, convincing with a heartfelt and passionate interpretation; the final chorus repeated twice is wonderful and truly spine-tingling, and I will never tire of listening to it.

The album closes with what might be its best moment, which is not the Scorpions' best, but it is also the last time we can sense that magical 80s atmosphere, typical of a musical genre that will soon experience its decline. This work will be followed by the decent "Crazy World" (1990) the one with "Wind Of Change," and the near-heavy surges of "Face The Heat" (1993), the last peak from a band that soon after will begin to show the first signs of aging and faltering (with "Pure Instinct" and especially with the indescribable "Eye To Eye"), but which, through ups and downs, continues even today, over 35 years after debuting and with all its members over sixty, to produce new albums and keep the name of the living legend of German hard rock high on the road.

“Baby our love's got what it takes

To give us one more chance to start

Once again

Baby our love will find a way

As long as we believe in love.”