Scorpions
Sting In The Tail

Palermo, on a warm spring afternoon, I find myself wandering aimlessly through Ricordi, and while rummaging through the albums, I find this album in the letter S, "Sting In The Tail," the last (in the true sense of the word) album by the great Scorpions.

With great enthusiasm, I play this album at home. The rhythmic guitar of Rudi Schenker comes in lightning-fast with a great riff, which rightly enters the riff Olympic heights. "Raised On Rock" is a beautiful, very energetic song that shares a lot in common with the much more acclaimed "Rock You Like A Hurricane." It moves on to the title-track, wow! Guys, this sounds like "Loverdrive" or "Blackout!" Pure Rock 'N' Roll, unapologetic, with that "Hail Hail A Sting In The Tail" that immediately sticks in your head. A magnificent start for the Teutons, who, however, return to standard levels with "Slave Me." It's not a bad song, but it lacks something compared to the first two, perhaps due to the funky rhythm, maybe because of its brief duration, yet it flows without any particular excitement.

Here we are at track 4 "The Good Die Young", one of the highest points of the album, an epic ballad made even more precious by the presence of the stunning voice of Finnish singer Tarja Turunen in the chorus, in short, a masterpiece. It's time to shake your hips to the rhythm of "No Limit," which is a really well-done heavy ride. We're at number 6, and I notice (with regret) the brief duration of the songs, but let's cut to the chase and let ourselves be carried away by this relentless hard rock that is "Rock Zone." Meine screams like a madman, the guitars at their highest power, truly a great piece. Track 7 "Lorelei" is the customary ballad, beautiful, also very expressive, but it also comes across a bit too sweet, not quite at the level of "The Good Die Young," but still appreciable. Track 8 "Turn You On" is somewhat a return to the sound of "Humanity Hour I," actually much closer to Nu Metal than to Heavy, but it's still very beautiful, with some shrieks from Meine that perhaps take a bit of a risk but succeed well in this song. "Let's Rock!" has a typically '50s title but a completely different vibe, heavy, metallic, with biting guitars, truly a great song. And here we arrive at another masterpiece of the album "Sly," very expressive and at times moving, Meine is in a state of grace and his voice blends perfectly with the guitars. The only flaw we could find in this song is its too-close resemblance between the opening riff and "Send Me An Angel" from Crazy World. The Nu-Metal sound is found in "Spirit Of Rock" which is one of the lower points of the album, apart from the very catchy chorus, I don't know, but for me, this song represents something heard and reheard.

And to close the album, there couldn't have been a better track than "The Best Is Yet To Come," the Scorpions tell us that "The Best Is Yet To Come," perhaps referring to the mega-tour in support of the album. The track is moving, and considering that it's the last Scorpions album, I can't deny that a few tears did fall. A band, a splendid album like this, a super world tour, and it will all end there after nearly 50 years of career, a truly great album, without a doubt, but it makes me very angry to know that the end of the band was decreed by the producer, but anyway, my stereo is ready to start again, and I let myself be "Raised By Rock"...