On March 23^rd 2010 Scorpions, Germany’s very own heavy metal and hard rock masters, released their latest album “Sting in the Tail” of which they have said will be there last. The band is gearing up for a three year tract across the globe to say goodbye to their fans and to support Sting In The Tail. Scorpions are one of the longest lasting bands in rock history and have undoubtedly earned their retirement. If you think the Scorpions are a hair metal band who were an eighties hard rock one hit wonder with “Rock You like a Hurricane” then you either don’t know your rock history or you are a diehard country music fan under the age of twenty one.

Here are the facts: the Scorpions have been around for 45 years and have released 17 studio albums. The band floundered around early on and never really came into their own, style wise, until their 1976 “Virgin Killer” album. After that they were swinging for the fences and knocking them out of the park with songs like “The Zoo”, “No One Like You”, and “Holiday”. The Scorpions became heavy metal and hard rock legends based on beautifully arranged vocals, meaningful lyrics and more than anything else, their monstrous guitar tones!

Power chords, searing leads with brutal, kidney bruising tones were the Scorpions backbone. A tradition which began early on with Uli Jon Roth, Michael Schenker and Rudolph Schenker. Mattias Jabs(lead guitar) joined the Scorpions in 1978 and the guitar partnership of Rudolph Schenker and Jabs proved to be the magic formula for the Scorpions. The power and energy that they were able to capture through their guitars and amps are unparalleled, in my humble opinion.

In 1984 the Scorpions released “Love At First Sting”. This album would be their biggest and most successful release to date and would also be where the Scorpions would peak both musically and in popularity. Love At First Sting was pack with 9 grade “A” quality hard rock and heavy metal songs, all well written and arranged. “Rock You Like A Hurricane” a timeless and beloved rock anthem for the ages was a smash and has stood the test of time. It can be heard to this day in heavy rotation of rock radio, as well as in commercials. A royalty gold mine! They had hit the nail on the head in a big, big way!

The next five Scorpions albums would see the Scorpions begin to decline musically and in popularity. Always a top notch hard rock band and making great hard rock and heavy metal for sure, however the musical landscape was changing. The world had grown bored with hard rock and heavy metal due to over saturation and grunge was on the horizon. Have said that, please make no mistakes, the Scorpions have never made anything that wasn’t good…..just not as good.

In 2007 the Scorpions released what I think was a masterpiece called “Humanity: Hour 1”. If you haven’t listened to this album, then you definitely should. I feel it is some of the best Scorpions music ever. I was pleasantly surprised how very good it was. So when I began to hear the claims the band was making that Sting In The Tail was some of their best music in a long time I thought, “Man, this album is going to be mind blowing if it is better than Humanity: Hour 1”. Would the music match the hype?

March 23^rd 2010 the Scorpions released their last album “Sting In The Tail”. The CD’s first track entitled “Raised On Rock” is a great, classic sounding Scorpions hard rock anthem, which recalls their late 1970’s sound. The last track entitled “The Best Is Yet To Come” is an awesome, staple Scorpions power ballad, which seems to say goodbye to the fans and leave them with a word of encouragement that everything will be alright. I can almost see it now, 10,000 forty something heavy metal fans at their last show, adorned in their favorite Judas Priest and Ted Nugent concert shirts from the early eighties. Bic lighters in hand, drying their eyes with their mullets while the Scorpions seemingly saying “There, there, there” through the power of song. All having been said, it is a damn great song. In fact the entire CD could be carried completely on these two songs alone, and unfortunately at first listen I thought the album would have to be carried by them.

When I first listened to the album I was disappointed a bit. Maybe I was expecting too much due to the hype, and also because Humanity: Hour 1 was such a great hard rock/heavy metal album. So before passing judgment I listened to the CD again, and then again, and then again. I realized that “Sting In The Tail” is packed with great songs. The problem is that at first listen they don’t reach out and grab you like “Raised On Rock”, but once fully listened to objectively I realized that these songs kick just as much ass!