Comeblack [VINYL]

The Scorpions were one of my first rock bands. At 13, it was their 'Unbreakable' album that I first bought and devoured, then two different 'greatest hits' collections, following by 'Humanity Hour 1', and the majority of their back catalogue. As I moved onto other forms of music (mostly rock and metal, mind you) in the interceding years, I found myself returning once in a while to the Scorpions - the riffs would hit me hard, like they first did when I first heard them. 'Alien Nation', 'Rock You Like a Hurricane', 'No-one Like You', 'Tease Me, Please Me, and 'The Zoo' are still as fresh as I can only imagine how they sounded when they were first released, with only the production grounding these classics in the decades that they were released in.

This is what I speculate was partially the thought process of the Scorpions when they came up with the idea to do 'Comeblack' (The less said about that album name, the better - although it comes from a long tradition of dodgy sounding album names such as 'Virgin Killers' and 'Love at First Sting'). An album of covers and updated versions of their hits sounds like a strange concept, and in many ways, it is. The original recordings of their originals were already great, and surely could be remastered in a 'Queen/Greatest Hits [2011]' way. You can't really hear the same amount of 'drive' in the band as well: they definitely sound 'hungrier' in the original recordings, as would be expected. It is easy to forget while listening to 'Comeblack' that the band are all 50 and over, with Klaus Meine pushing 65, standard retirement age in many countries! Meine's voice is ridiculously fresh sounding for a 65 year old. Not only can he still hit the notes, he still has virtually the same amount of breath control and tone! I found myself questioning how this was even possible while listening to the album. This is especially shown in the ballads 'Wind of Change' and 'Still Loving You' showcase Meine's incredible voice.

Despite any misgivings fans or casual listeners might have about this album, I would still recommend it for one simple reason. 'Comeblack' is the sound of a retiring band having a great time while playing their greatest hits from a career of over 40 years. The production is great: Jabs and Schenker sound just as a two guitar-onslaught should, and the thundering drums of James Kottak are mixed and compressed perfectly. Paweł Mąciwoda's bass is mixed louder and is substantial throughout, adding huge weight to songs like 'The Zoo', 'Tainted Love' and 'Children of the Revolution'. Eventually, this final offering from The Scorpions is as fun and rocking as it gets: Cinderella's Tom Kiefer once stated that 'as long as I got rock n' roll, I'm forever young'. While this prophetic statement may not have applied to him, it most certainly does in case of the Scorpions. Turn the volume up, and relive the power of their hits on a modern soundscape!

An album of covers as a retirement gift? Why not. Although re-recording tracks that they still play Live is a bit of a non sense (would have been interesting to go dig old stuff from the early albums), but this said the versions are quite good!
As for the other covers, they are okay, nothing special either and except for Tainted Love and Children of the revolution, the choices are pretty obvious (Beatles, Stones, Kinks, small faces). As a bonus (on certain editions) you have a french version of still loving you in duet with singer Amandine Bourgeois (whoever that is!).
I guess it's x-mas time soon, and this is better than another Best-of!
Overall a decent release. 3.5 stars.

I thought the Scorpions were retiring! it was a sad day for me when I heard that announcement, but if they had to have a last ever album they should have left it at the appropriately titled and brilliant 'Sting in the tail' which would have left me a fantastic memory of one of my favorite bands.

What are they telling us with the title Comeblack? have they decided not to retire?

If you are a fan of the Scopions, like me, then you have to add this album to your collection, but dont expect too much, its not bad, it is a bit of a surprise that they have re released some of their earlier stuff, yes it is totally re recorded but how do you improve on already class material? and I always find it a bit dissapointing when a great band like the Scorpions cover someone elses material.

If there is going to be a 'last' album I hope they now release a real good live album of their farewell tour and really leave lasting memories, better still, I hope they dont retire, I wonder if some of todays young musicians will still be pulling in the audiences and belting out fantastic music when they are in their 60's, dont think so!