Wednesday, January 23, 2013

20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection: The Best of Scorpions

I have the same complaint with this album as I do with every other 20th century Masters album. the production sounds flat. Even on songs that I know have much better sounding production. But I wanted a cheaper CD that gave me a decent run down of a great band. I'll eventually replace this one when the time is right, just based on production.

Prior to buying this album, the only CD I had from this amazing German band, was Crazy World. To this day I still love that album. I also had the luxury of getting to see Scorpions live in 1996 when they were touring with Alice Cooper. I didn't know half the set list, but it didn't matter. These guys were awesome. If I could get a good quality copy of the show on audio I'd be super happy. A lot of that set list can be found on this disc, but certain songs just sound better live.

This is a great introduction to commercial Scorpions if that is what you are looking for, and it was fine for me to use as a starting point. But that's all this album is.

The first thing this album does is get the band's biggest, most over played hit out of the way, right off the bat. Rock You Like A Hurricane is a great track, and it gets people riled up perfectly. As much as I might trash on this song, because it's really very tame for this band, it's a great energy builder. It helps set the mood for excitment.

No One Like You is a pretty decent track. I've got to be honest. Love songs should only be sung by German men. This isn't a full on power ballad, but it's pretty close, and Klaus Meine sounds much cooler doing it than any of those American Glam bands. Hell better than the the British ones too.

I fell in love with The Zoo when I saw Scorpions live. They had such a great back boogie to the song that it was great to watch all the women at the concert dancing around in their little seat area. The studio version of the song doesn't capture the same vibe and feel. Sure ladies can totally strut to this sexy, sexy track, but it's so much better live. This could easily go on my list of songs I want to cover.

I'm not a fan of Loving You Sunday Morning. I didn't know this song prior to this collection, and that was okay. Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad song, and I can think of friends that I'm sure would dig it. It's just not my thing.

Another complaint I have about this album is the number of slower tracks they included. Still Loving You is an awesome song. I think it's absolutely beautiful, but this is the third love song at this point, and I'm getting annoyed.

Big City Nights is another song that is so much better live. The production is what kills it on this album for me. I'd love to hear a remaster, or better yet a good live version.

Once again it's time for another ballad, and now the songs are really starting to get ballady. Believe In Love has me banging my head off the wall asking why. It's just not cool to have this many love songs on one album. This is not a man's Scorpion album. This one was designed for women.

Rhythm Of Love has me on the fence. I like the song when it comes on the radio. It's not exactly a Scorpion's Top Ten contender, but I can tolerate it. However, on this collection I'm just happy that this love song isn't so fucking slow.

By the time we get to track nine, which is I Can't Explain, I pretty much want to hand this album to my daughter, because she'll enjoy it more than I do. It's perfect for girls that wanna rock out, and tolelrable for guys that want to rock out with chicks. This album is a great stripped album, but it would need better production. The last three tracks on this album are great tracks, even though they are either slow, big time ballad, or one hell of a naughty track.

First up is the really naughty Tease Me Please Me. Oh this song is musically perfect. The guitars actually sound like they are a woman's teasing fingers. The riffing is simple, and the chorus is as catchy as the STD's that come with women using this song to seduce men. Then there's the lyrics. "I've been around the world / I've known a lot of girls / Livin' and lovin' / It's hard to keep them all in line / I've seen a lot of sights / Many crazy nights / Cruisin' and boozin' / It's a wonder that I'm still alive / Never wasted any time / Never missed a beat / Total satisfaction / Always guaranteed / Tease me / Please me / No one needs to know / Tease me / Please me / Before I have to go". It's real Rock N' Roll on this one.

Next up is the slower and more classic Winds Of Change. This is the biggest song the Scorpions ever wrote as far as I'm concerned, and the charts around the world. Out of all the major markets, Canada, US and the UK were the only ones where the song didn't reach number one. It was ten, four and two, respectively. This was the song that captured the fall of the Berlin Wall, and brought hope to so many. " I follow the Moskva / Down to Gorky Park / Listening to the wind of change / An August summer night / Soldiers passing by / Listening to the wind of change / The world is closing in / Did you ever think / That we could be so close, like brothers / The future's in the air / I can feel it everywhere / Blowing with the wind of change / Take me to the magic of the moment / On a glory night / Where the children of tomorrow dream away / In the wind of change / Walking down the street / Distant memories / Are buried in the past forever / I follow the Moskva / Down to Gorky Park / Listening to the wind of change / Take me to the magic of the moment / On a glory night / Where the children of tomorrow share their dreams / With you and me / Take me to the magic of the moment / On a glory night / Where the children of tomorrow dream away / In the wind of change / The wind of change / Blows straight into the face of time / Like a stormwind that will ring the freedom bell / For peace of mind / Let your balalaika sing / What my guitar wants to say / Take me to the magic of the moment / On a glory night / Where the children of tomorrow share their dreams / With you and me / Take me to the magic of the moment / On a glory night / Where the children of tomorrow dream away / In the wind of change". It's just a really moving song.

The album ends with Send Me An Angel. I normally wouldn't bitch about this song. I love it on the Crazy World album. On this collection I'm just tired of the slow songs. However, I do normally love this song. The lyrical content is once again something that just totally draws me in. "The wise man said just walk this way / To the dawn of the light / The wind will blow into your face / As the years pass you by / Hear this voice from deep inside / It's the call of your heart / Close your eyes and your will find / The passage out of the dark / Here I am / Will you send me an angel / Here I am / In the land of the morning star / The wise man said just find your place / In the eye of the storm / Seek the roses along the way / Just beware of the thorns / Here I am / Will you send me an angel / Here I am / In the land of the morning star / The wise man said just raise your hand / And reach out for the spell / Find the door to the promised land / Just believe in yourself / Hear this voice from deep inside / It's the call of your heart / Close your eyes and your will find / The way out of the dark / Here I am / Will you send me an angel / Here I am / In the land of the morning star / Here I am / Will you send me an angel / Here I am / In the land of the morning star". I know people think this song is about worshipping Satan, but I think it's about needing an angel to help guide the subject of the song out of Satan land. Telling the person to close there eyes and just follow the Angel, ignoring everything in the world controlled by Satan. But that's just my view.

I've made it pretty cler how I feel about this album. It's just not an album for me, but others, mainly women, might really like this one.

7/10 - content

6/10 - production

4/10 - personal bias

No comments:

Post a Comment