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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Where the Scorpions really sting, 14 April 2006
Raw and aggressive, 'Blackout' is the sound of the Scorpions stripped down to their grinding, metallic hearts. While other of their albums may be more accomplished, none possess the pure hi-octane heavy metal that is ever-present here. Opening the gates, the title track hurtles out of your speakers and savages your ears like a rabid wolf and second track 'Can't Live Without You' drops the pace but increases the bass, pummelling you into delirious submission before they turn down the aggression while maintaining the energy on 'No One Like You'. A Scorpions classic in the midst of an album full of classics, the use of light and shade is hugely effective when the chorus comes thudding in. 'You Give Me All I Need' follows the same lyrical vein of love and sex, but its run-of-the-mill hard rocking is set alight by a brief but incendiary guitar solo from Rudolph. 'Now!' gets the album back up to the speed it first came at you, with some furious fretwork and a rhythm section running like a full-steam locomotive and long-standing live favourite 'Dynamite' has exactly what the title suggests - the capacity to blow your head off. Only on 'Arizona' do the band take a breather; everything about the track is more laid-back and the music is perfectly in tune with the lyrics, a sweet reminiscence of a particularly memorable lover.
If this album were a zoo, then 'China White' would be the elephant enclosure - a huge, pounding monster, it's undoubtedly the heaviest the Scorpions have ever sounded, with a wonderful, twisted guitar dominating the sound. It creates the perfect prelude to the melancholic cool-down of beautiful closing number, 'When the Smoke is Going Down'.
'Blackout' is a definitive album of early 80's heavy metal, an album that stood out when it was released and stands the test of time, still sounding remarkably fresh in today's metal landscape. Not just a Scorpions classic, this is a metal classic that deserves continued appreciation.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
You beauty !!!, 6 May 2007
A really excellent Scorpions album. If you want a bit of quality heavy rock then this album would be a really worthwhile addition to your collection . Blistering & frantic from start to finish, with only the briefest of pauses along the way, there isn't a single disappointing track on this record. The album kicks off with the really energetic "Blackout" which pretty much sets the tone for the rest of the album - some excellent guitar work & really enjoyable rock tunes.
I can't pick a duff track - "Can't Live Without You", "Now", "Dynamite" are amongst the pick of an outstanding crop. Well worth treating yourself to. Possibly,arguably, their finest work.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Vorsprung durch Technik!, 28 Jan 2008
Some feats of German engineering are so awesome that one can only gaze in wonderment and this album, fom 1982, is just such a beast. The Scorps, who had clumsily managed to lose not one but 2 highly-rated guitarists in their 10 year or so history (to 1982) in "mad" Micky Schenker and the enigmatic, mysterious and outright bonkers Uli Jon Roth, must have been written off by many at the start of the 1980's. Then this appeared, Kerrang! cover and all, and quite simply it's rock, rock, rock all the way. From opener "Blackout" to "Now" at the end of side 1 with just a brief pause on track 4 "You Give Me All I Need" for a breather, then kicking off again with "Dynamite", a wee diversion into less heavy territory with "Arizona" (about the only track I'm not entirely convinced about) to round off with "China White", an epic along the Kashmir-esque lines, all riffs, swirls and histrionics, and rounding things off nicely with the lighters-up "When The Smoke Is Going Down".
It's not a long album (only 2 tracks hang around for over 4 minutes and it barely manages 40 minutes in total) but that's part of its appeal - tease you then leave you wanting more, those naughty mullet-haired, pyramid-forming sexist German people!
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