Scorpions – Sting In The Tail

In Scorpions’ tribute for Metalpaths, I somewhat set a riddle, a question concerning Scorpions career until today. Should they’ve retired some years ago, is it the now the right time or there is more to come?

Firstly, a small comment on how this album came out in Greece; Ladies and gentlemen, a band that respect their work throughout their career and their fans too, is never going to include the last album of their career as a free CD in a Sunday’s newspaper. That’s what happened here in Greece. The answer to the question of this review is going to be revealed step by step.

The first hearing of the album creates enthusiasm equal to a new Iron Maiden, Metallica, AC/DC album. But as someone goes on and listens more carefully the album’s value starts to come into balance. Musically, Scorpions’ work throughout the last 15 years seems like football formation, a number of mid tempo tracks, fast tempo and two or three ballads. Well, on this occasion we are not seeing anything different as the band refuse to take any risks concerning the creative part of this album. However, I am surprised by the band’s aggressive attitude in lyrics something that adds points to their work. The band acts as if its members were 20 years old. Concerning the production, it is worthy of a band like Scorpions and adds weight to the sound of Scorpions making them heavier than usual and even more modern.

“Sting In The Tail” has its very good moments that will stand the test of time and appeal to the fans of Scorpions. Such will be the groovy “Raised On Rock”, “No Limit” and “Rock Zone” if we are talking about a heavier fan. “Sting In The Tail” also contains four ballads created using the well known “Scorpions formula” which is the main reason for their success through all these years in audiences of different music tastes. The most memorable, though, will be “The Good Die Young” where Klaus Meine and Tarja Turunen make a touching performance. In general, the band’s performance reaches high levels as their experience cannot allow anything else with Klaus Meine’s voice standing the test of time through 40 years.

On the whole, it’s a decent effort from a band that we all respect but should have, in my opinion, retired some years ago along with many others. Scorpions’ last effort, “Sting In The Tail” may not be written in history like many other albums of this band, but it is a brief reminder of what this band managed to create during a career of 45 years.