Love At First Sting

It's hard to find fault with such a successful album; the Scorpions were already a big name in the rock world, but 'Love at First Sting' propelled them into the major league, making them one of the biggest hard rock acts of not just the mid-Eighties but of all time. Released five years after Uli Jon Roth had departed and the classic Scorpions line-up had been born, 'Love at First Sting' was a solid combination of hard rocking mentality, heavy metal excess, commercial sensibility and the honest creativity of five talented musicians.

However, despite its popularity, 'Love at First Sting' is not without flaws. It holds several classic Scorpions tunes, including what is undoubtedly their finest power ballad - 'Still Loving You', but it's also peppered with filler material, half-baked tunes that pass the listener by and fail to stick in the mind. Hence, at the time, 'Love at First Sting' was considered to be arguably the weakest album made by the definitive quintet of Klaus Meine, Rudolph Schenker, Matthias Jabs, Francis Buchholz and Herman Rarebell.

It's starts impressively enough; 'Bad Boys Running Wild' is a brooding, menacing hard rocker let down only by its somewhat ridiculous title and 'Rock You like a Hurricane' is a triumphant slab of metal, ticking all the right boxes (dodgy lyrics, sing-a-long chorus and fiery guitar solo). The band scored a significant hit in the US with this single, enough for it to get a mention in an episode of The Simpsons. Third track 'I'm Leaving You' is a delight, with it's rather wistful but upbeat tone and 'Coming Home' became the perfect live set opener, the gentle intro creating a perfect contrast to the bombastic metal onslaught of the main song.

But, the sheer quality of the gorgeous mid-paced rocker 'Big City Nights' is marred by it being bracketed by the lame effort of 'The Same Thrill' and the dreary plodding of 'As Soon as the Good Time Roll'. Even 'Crossfire' fails to liven up proceedings, despite its militaristic feel. Hence, the album as a whole tends to drag its feet.

Fortunately, the best moment is saved until the end and the aforementioned 'Still Loving You' is a towering piece of lighters-aloft, misty-eyed majestic hard rock, one of the finest rock ballads of all time. The generally tedious nature of the proceeding ten minutes can be forgiven and for this song alone, 'Love at First Sting' is well worth the purchase price.

Ol' Klause always did have a fine voice. Never more so on the standout track here. 'Still Loving You' is by far their best ballad (and I use that word advisedly) ever.

This isn't any wimp-out job of later years, but a slow building, heart-rending, cry from the heart, slowly but surely reaching it's climax of screaming, wailing guitar and emotion drenched, pleading voice. What a way to end an album! Quite frankly any rock band would give their all to write this type of rock-ballad.

So what of the preceding stuff? All present and correct, sir! 'Bad Boys Running Wild', 'Rock You Like A Hurricane', 'Coming Home', 'Big City Nights', & 'The Same Thrill' - their rocksong-for-the-heck-of-it track.

Not exactly high-brow music but very emotive. Not only that it's wonderfully fabulous!!

The Scorpions achieved their greatest success in the UK with their epic 'Wind of Change', inspired by the fall of the Berlin Wall, but devotees of the band recognise this earlier album as perhaps their finest achievement. Singer Klaus Meine may have a German accent, but Heavy Rock is a universal language which the Scorps (as they are known to their legions of fans) speak fluently. A savage peal of guitars and the album is underway, with Meine offering a timely warning of the danger posed by 'Bad Boys Running Wild'. Faced with this threat, the listener is offered a stark choice: 'if you don't play along with their games... then you'd better get out of the way'. What would YOU do? If you can't decide, Meine's startling cry of 'Get out ze vay!' has the ring of genuine urgency. Next track is the legendary anthem 'Rock You Like a Hurricane'. If Meine's sincerity was ever in question, the listener is left in no doubt by his mid-chorus screech of 'Gonna rock you baby!!' that he is indeed intent on rocking his fortunate lady 'like a hurricane'. The tone set, the album proceeds with classic following classic. I would pick out Meine's moving tribute to the power of rock, 'The Same Thrill', the euphoric 'Big City Nights', and the groundbreaking power ballad 'Coming Home'. Also worthy of mention is the thought-provoking 'Crossfire', in which Meine ponders the dangers of global nuclear proliferation to the inspired backing of military drums. His question, 'Why cannot people that we made the leaders of the world/Understand that we don't wanna fight?' remains as relevant now as it was on the album's release. The LP's totemic status is confirmed by closing track 'Still Loving You', perhaps the ultimate Scorps classic. This heart-shredding rock ballad sees Meine promising to 'try to change/The zings that killed our love' to an understated backdrop of squealing guitar pyrotechnics from the able fingers of Rudi Schenker. Meine's final cry of 'Still loving you babee!!!' confirms beyond doubt that this was a song especially close to his heart - and, after hearing it, I cannot believe that the lady in question refused to take him back. Only the most stony-hearted listener could hear to this track without feeling their eyes begin to water. And so concludes the (brilliantly titled) LP, 'Love at First Sting', an album apt to leave listeners shocked, reeling, unsteady on their feet, and in some cases prone to nausea and vomiting. Such is truly the power of rock and, more specifically, the mighty power of this Scorps classic.