March 27, 1984 - Scorpions and Rock You Like A Hurricane

On the exact same day as my last release a new band also joins my library when German band Scorpions released their ninth studio album "Love At First Sting" on March 27, 1984. This would be their most successful album commercially with three successful singles, but I only have one of them, the lead single "Rock You Like A Hurricane". But who are Scorpions? They were a 5-piece metal band from Hanover, Germany and on their ninth album still have two original members: lead singer Klaus Meine and rhythm guitarist Rudolf Schenker. They are joined on this album by lead guitarist Matthias Jabs, bassist Francis Buchholz and drummer Herman Rarebell. "Rock You Like A Hurricane" is driven by an iconic and admittedly pretty cool rhythm guitar riff by Schenker and it kicks off the song, instantly giving things an epic feel. Jabs plays some faster lead guitar overtop that sounds pretty good and after some nice licks they slow things down for the first verse. Meine's voice sounds like one of your typical 80s hair metal bands as he sings in a high, hushed voice. He changes to a decent yell as the guitars return and spice up the second half of the verse and they segue nicely into the catchy opening riff that turns out to be the chorus riff. Meine's shout of "here I am!" before singing the name of the song is very memorable, as are his "c'mon baby" that he adds afterwards in a simple but very catchy chorus. They slow it down again for another verse and follow the same progression back to another chorus before it's solo time. Jabs does a nice job with the solo as he mixes some cool slower stuff with flashes of nice faster guitar. The following verse is even quieter than before as we hear Meine singing overtop some drums and nothing else, but like usual they ramp into a heavier second half before reaching the chorus. They jam out the chorus several times to end the song but we hear some final sweet guitar licks by Jabs and a few nice yells from Meine before they end this song with a final "here I am!" This is definitely not my cup of tea most of the time, but this song is undeniably catchy and does feature some cool guitar. That's it for Scorpions though!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

July 24, 2001 - Avenged Sevenfold and Sounding The Seventh Trumpet

It's a double release day! On the same day as my last release another new band joins my library when Avenged Sevenfold released their debut album "Sounding The Seventh Trumpet" on July 24, 2001. But who are Avenged Sevenfold? They are a four-piece metalcore band from Huntington Beach, California consisting of Justin Sane (bass, piano), James "The Rev" Sullivan (drums, percussion), Zacky Vengeance (guitars, backing vocals) and M. Shadows (lead vocals, acoustic guitar, keyboards). Avenged play an interesting mix of heavy metalcore with screaming vocals, but also a very accesible style of metal with singing at others. Let's see what Avenged Sevenfold are all about! The album kicks off with a short intro called "To End The Rapture" and Vengeance plays a nice heavy rhythm guitar riff before coming right in with some soloing! He is just shredding it right from the get-go with some really wicked stuff and then we hear Shadows for the first time in his uni...
Read more

November 6, 2001 - As I Lay Dying and Beneath The Encasing Of Ashes

Two weeks after my last release a new band joins my library when As I Lay Dying released their debut album "Beneath The Encasing Of Ashes" on November 6, 2001. But who is As I Lay Dying? They are a four-piece metalcore band from San Diego, California consisting of lead singer Tim Lambesis, guitarist Evan White, bassist Noah Chase and drummer Jordan Mancino. As I Lay Dying are part of the budding metalcore scene and they play a very heavy style of metal and Lambesis does all screaming vocals. Let's see what AILD is all about! The album begins with the title track "Beneath The Encasing Of Ashes" and things start off with a pretty fast pace led by some heavy, chugging guitars and bass. They break things down not long after getting started and most of the song is at this slower, very brutal sounding pace. Chase's bass is super heavy, White plays some cool guitar that ranges from super low, all the way to super high, and Lambesis can hardly be understood he sound...
Read more

August 28, 2001 - Puddle Of Mudd and Come Clean

On the same day as my last release a new band briefly joins my library when Puddle of Mudd released their debut album "Come Clean" on August 28, 2001. But who is Puddle of Mudd? They are a four-piece post-grunge band from Kansas City, Missouri consisting of lead singer/guitarist Wes Scantlin, guitarist Paul Phillips, bassist Doug Ardito and drummer Greg Upchurch. I'm not a huge Puddle of Mudd fan, I only have two songs by them in my library, but they are both off this album and were both succesful singles. The first one is called "Blurry" and it's got a smooth and catchy light guitar riff that drives the song and Scantlin sings in a solid grunge-y voice overtop. They ramp nicely from the verse to the chorus and it's a nice heavy chorus with some louder guitars and a solid chorus sung by Scantlin. It's a little repetitive, but things still sound pretty smooth and solid and I think it's a good but not great song. The only other song I have is ...
Read more