Scorpions
Tokyo Tapes

THE REVIEW

One of the first things I noticed arriving at DeBaser was the scarcity of reviews about one of the major groups in the global hard rock scene, I'm talking about the Scorpions. This band, led by singer Klaus Meine and guitarist Rudolf Schenker, achieved great success in the '80s and '90s thanks to the ballad "Wind of Change."

In reality, the Scorpions started producing music back in the '70s, and during this period, they were also known for the provocative album covers, which depicted photos with double meanings (something that still accompanies them now), especially the one for "Virgin Killer," which featured a naked young girl and was replaced in many countries with a photo of the band. But from "Virgin Killer," let's jump in time to 1979, when guitarist Uli Roth found himself at odds with the other members of the band due to the fact that the band had a sound that was too Hendrix-like for Meine & co.'s tastes. So it was decided to embark on a world tour, let's say a "farewell" tour, which led them to Japan, where this "Tokyo Tapes" was recorded. Probably the group did not have a precise idea for the future, whether to look for a new soloist or disband; I say this because before the live performance, a collection of all the Scorpions' hits up to that period was released, which, together with this live album, would suggest a probable breakup.

Now let's talk about this concert, which certainly has much rawer sounds than those obtained in the studio and is therefore much more energetic and more hard rock. However, it must also be said that technically it is not perfect and Meine's voice is rougher and scratchier, which works well on fast tracks but does not perform as well on slow songs. The tracklist is really good, played very fast throughout. Meine, despite not having his voice in the best condition (as mentioned earlier), sings with a powerful grit, and Schenker, along with Uli Roth (in my opinion, the best of the performance), and the entire rhythm section, namely Bucholz on bass and Rarebell on drums, put on a good show.

The powerful riff of "All Night Long" heralds a rocket start, and the trio of hard rock songs formed by the aforementioned "All Night Long" and the two "Pictured Life" and "Backstage Queen" does not disappoint, with Meine shouting over the refrains of Roth and Schenker, making you want to jump. With "In Trance" and "We'll Burn the Sky," things slow down, but the emotion is truly sky-high on the sweet notes that carry you away and the audience applauding so much that it interrupts the execution of the second of the two mentioned. We return to rock with the rhythmic "Suspender Lover," and other exciting moments include the high notes of "In Search of Piece of Mind" and "Fly to the Rainbow." Perhaps the rawest track on the album is "He is a Woman She is a Man," where the guitars and drums make as much noise as possible, and "Speedy's Coming" is much faster and more energetic than in the studio. "Top of the Bill" features a nice drum solo where Rarebell dispels the "mere member" label that was attached to him, proving to be a musician of level as well. The two covers of the moment, performed very quickly one after the other, are "Hound Dog," with a nice guitar solo, and "Long Tall Sally." "Steamrock Fever" I find somewhat unnecessary, while "Dark Lady" is capable of exhilarating with its high notes and screams. A Japanese song executed especially for the occasion, "Kojo No Tsuki," features very high notes over a slow base that builds as it goes on. A not-so-brilliant execution of "Robot Man" closes the live performance.

Fortunately, the Scorpions will continue to produce music, replacing their (let's call him historic) lead guitarist Uli Roth. Two more live albums will be released, "World Wide Live" and "Live Bites," the first of which I consider to be the best of the Scorpions, but the energy present here will no longer be. The band is still active today, and after participating in Gods of Metal, it seems a new album will be released.