Customer Reviews

Sting In The Tail

5 star:		(60)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Originally formed in Hanover, Germany in the late 60s, Scorpions have over 40 years of experience as a band with some incredible hits under their belts. With their first album dropping in 1972, Scorpions are now in their 38th year of recorded material and it is reported to be their last. As the first track, "Raised on Rock," opens, it is easy to point out similarities to one of their biggest hits, 1984's "Rock You Like a Hurricane." Don't think that's because Klaus Maine, Rudolph Schenker, Matthias Jabs, and company have run out of ideas; on the contrary.

They simply tip their hats to the sounds that made them rock royalty while pursuing a conclusion worthy of their storied career. With Sting in the Tail, Scorpions have released an album of classic rock that stands with some of their finest releases of the past.

Although hints of their hits can be heard throughout, Sting in the Tail does an excellent job of combining the old with the new. The production is crisp and clean with an emphasis clearly placed on modern compression techniques that maximize the volume potential of the band, but the music still has that classic vibe that made them famous to begin with.

Meine's vocals are shockingly present and don't appear to have lost any of their hard hitting ability. Singers typically show their age on ballads, but when Scorpions slow things down on "Lorelei" and "Sly," Meine's voice soars over the mix without ever sacrificing a high note. Both power ballads utilize the same gradual build in dynamic throughout that is so characteristic of their sound in the eighties. "Lorelei" even makes use of the classic call and response harmonization on the chorus fans of the classic rock genre adore.

Scorpions continue to be the masters of a decade that has long since passed. For that reason, it is unlikely Sting in the Tail will make much noise on the charts, but for longtime fans, this will be the goodbye they have always craved. For those new to Scorpions, I highly recommend giving Love at First Sting a play through first, but Sting in the Tail is a worthy competitor.

Similar Artists: Quiet Riot, Kiss

Track Suggestion: "Raised on Rock"

If the "Sting in the Tail" is really going to be the Scorps's final album, then after 40 years of action they will leave the world of music on a very high note, leaving a great legacy behind them that not too many musicians can match. Personnaly, after listening the album, I refuse to accept that they are ending their illustrious career. Scorps are back to their best, delivering arguably the best record since the Crazy World record. There is still so much potential in this band, that I am sad to see them leave. I have been a fan of Scorps for the last 20 years, and I have to say that Scorpions sound as fresh as 20 years ago. The "Sting in The Tail" has that much liked 80's and early 90's sound, when the Scorps were at the top of the rock music scene. Guitar playing is strong and Klaus Meine's voice is as clear as it was during the 80's records. My personal favorities from the new album are:
"Raised on Rock", which is going to become the next concert favorite and is similar to the "Tease Me, Please Me", "Sting in the Tail", which features great guitar riff and has elements of the early 80's records, "The Good Die Young", "Turn you on" and "No Limit" - the heaviest song of the record which brings the sound of the Humanity - Hour 1 record. Now the ballads. All three ballads in this record are absolutely breathtaking. They will take you on the journey into the 80's. Lorelei is a song which could be easily included into any of the 80's albums with beautiful lyrics. SLY, is the Still Loving You of the 21 century and the Best is Yet to Come will remind you of Send Me An Angel - a great way to end the album.
I strongly recommend the album to Hard Rock fans who miss the rock sound of the golden rock era of the 80's. Thank You Scorpions for the music you have delivered to us for 40 years. We will miss you.

As a farewell, "Sting in the Tail" is an album the Scorpions and their fans can be proud of. One almost does a double take upon hearing the opening bars of "Raised on Rock". Rudolph Schenker's opening power chord riff and guitar tone sound like something from 1979's Lovedrive. When he's joined by Matthias Jabs on their trademark twin-guitar attack, and by Klaus Meine's instantly recognizable vocal, the effect is complete, the sound familiar, but fresh and not nostalgic.

The songwriting here is characteristically tight, the arrangements and bridges are sophisticated, the production doesn't give in to modern clichés, and the band comes off sounding like a renewed version of themselves.

The band that vaulted to the top of the 1980s metal scene with its balance of rock anthems and infectious power ballads have decided to give it one last blast at what they do best. "Sting in the Tail" is reported to be the final Scorpions studio release. After the three-year mammoth tour, which will take them across five continents, one of the most successful rock bands in the world, will be ending their classic career that spanned over 4 decades.

i have to start my review with two things, i have to thank the scorpions for all their hard work and the best rock music that they made and made my life soundtrack + the gift that came with this cd. the second thing is i agree 100/100 with my 3 brothers in rock that this is a killer cd and its a shame that the scorpions are planning to retire. i have just finished listening to this cd and i have this to say that i have it now in my ipod and round two going to start less then a min from writing this review. i hope that i get to see the scorpions live again on this tour. rock on and long live the scorpions and once again thank you for this album and all the killer albums + the guitar picks

UPDATE - I just assumed the album was "the new album" and didn't look around too much when it came out. Now that I have it, and have seen the reviews of others, it turns out we in America got ripped-off! Someone posted about an itunes bonus track - it turns out this is a half-truth. Itunes has the full European album, while the American release was SHORTED one song (a rocker entitled "Lets Rock")! Amazon.uk has the supposed "bonus" track, while Japan got an actual bonus track ("Thunder and Lightning", which makes it a 13-song album), which I assume is another rocker by the title. The annoying thing is, given the pace-killing excess of ballads in the latter half of the American release, they could've IMPROVED the album by taking off two of the four ballads, and used those ballads as the extra itunes/European/Japanese tracks - then I would've been happy with what we got, but there would've been something to seek for collectors. So, if you just want the cheapest edition or are going to put it on your ipod, the American version might be fine, but otherwise, I'd suggest spending a few extra bucks and ordering through Amazon.co.uk or waiting a month and getting the Japanese import. END OF UPDATE


Well, for a little more than the past decade the Scorps albums have been a mixed bag - "Pure Instinct" was good but short on rocking, "Eye II Eye" dabbled with R&B and other lame pop influences, the band dabbled with acoustic and orchestral reworks of older songs, and "Humanity Hour I" (although when it rocked it ROCKED) was overburdened with songwriter/producers and too many slow songs (or parts of songs) that made the overall album drag. Only "Unbreakable" delivered the classic (80s) Scorpions good-time rockin' metal. Well, if this has to be the last effort, it's not bad. Although it still does have a bit of songwriter/producer influence (the first and last song are pretty much not written by the Scorpions, except a vocal co-writing credit), it's much reduced from the previous album (looking at the songwriting credits of "Humanity Hour I," there's about 5 people writing each song, with never even two of them being members of the Scorpions - and you can tell by listening to it; one of the songs sounds a LOT like a similarly producer/songwriter written Aerosmith ballad from the late 90s) - there's even songs that are completely written by the boys in the band on "Sting In The Tail"! (Interestingly enough, if you look at the excellent "Unbreakable", you'll notice the great music was . . . written almost entirely by the band). I think the fact that they keep letting outsiders have too much creative input in their music is may be a good sign they are indeed ready to retire, though with albums like this and "Unbreakable" I'm sad to see that happen.
The good news is that, even for the producer-written songs, they sound like the classic Scorpions here (probably "Face The Heat" is the sound this reminds me most of). Although, when it did rock, the "modern" sound of "Humanity Hour I" was pretty cool, it's nice to hear the Scorps going with their distinctive sound. The songs are good, upbeat rockers for about 7 songs.
My only complaint is that (to give another Aerosmith comparison, they did what Aerosmith did wrong in the 90s), they made a mistake by over-ballading it - 4 out of 11 songs are ballads, and the last half of the album alternates ballads and rockers each song. This just does not work, and I can't believe bands and producers don't realize it. My personal opinion is that a hard rock/metal band should have 2 or (at most) 3 ballads on an album, and should space them out with at least 3 rockers in between - ballads sound good because they're a change of pace, but you have to create that mood with a couple rockers in a row, or they just become boring. You can pull off an album of mostly mellow stuff, but you have to make the songs a little more musically interesting (which the Scorps succeeded in with "Pure Instinct", in my opinion). Alternatively, just put the ballads all in a row at the end so I can rock out and then chill out, but to alternate fast/slow every other song just doesn't work.
So, overall I would almost be tempted to give this album 3 stars due to the poor pacing issue, but after almost 40 years, and this being their swan-song, I'll forgive the Scorpions that because the songs are all classic Scorpions and the first 2/3 of the album is great (the last bits are fine songs, just the pacing ruins it for me). This should please any fan of the classic 80s/early-90s Scorpions.

First, I would like to thank Scorpions for bringing up so many great albums and songs for many many years. And ofcourse, their live shows are amazingly entertaining. Unfortunately, this album came to me as a big disappointment. Please don't get me wrong, just as much as I love their 80s stuffs, I found their last album (Humanity) to be an extremely great album, but this one? I could not find a single song (apart from the ballads) that I wanted to hear more than 2 times. Ballads were not even that great. Klaus is extremely powerful and catchy whenever he sings any ballads. So Lorelei and the other ballad sounded nice, but nothing extra ordinary. The previous album Humanity had number of songs that I would consider great (Humanity, Game of Life, Love Will Keep Us Alive), but on this album - full of boring stuffs. I only hope that (and have a feeling too) Scorpions will release another album sometime in 2012/2013. By the way, the only song that I thought was really good in this album is - Good Die Young.
But anyway, thanks again Scorpions. You are my all time favorite band and you would always be.

Like many, I can still remember the first time that I heard "Rock You Like A Hurricane" all those years ago. The Scorpions were an important band to me growing up although I managed to drift away from them for a good part of my adult life. It came as somewhat of a surprise to me when I learned that Sting in the Tail was planned as their farewell recording. It is with more than a twinge of sadness that I have been listening to this CD since it came out.

The opener "Raised On Rock" starts out with somewhat of a nod to "Rock You Like A Hurricane". While it might have been intended to be personally about The Scorpions, it is more than fitting for anyone who grew up listening to their earlier hits. Sting in the Tail is at its high energy driven best with the middle tracks "No Limits" and "Rock Zone". These are fist pumpers that will translate well when the Scorpions go on tour. The one slip up comes on the title track. I didn't care for the use of distorted vocals on "Sting In The Tail". The song as a whole is not bad, but that opening makes me want to hit skip.

Another staple of Scorpions music is the power ballad, and Sting in the Tail has plenty to offer here. The first is "The Good Die Young" which serves as their tribute to those who have and will fight for freedom all over the world. It starts with a clean, mournful sounding guitar lick that segues into Meine's lyrics that have been such a constant over the years. While this is a strong offering, the high point for the ballads is "Lorelei". A haunting combination of keyboard and acoustic guitar set the stage before Meine's vocals take over. It serves as a modern take of "Die Lorelei" by Heinrich Heine, and it is vintage Scorpions power ballad material. While the saying often goes that the third time is a charm, this doesn't necessarily apply to "SLY". The instrumentation is solid, but the lyrics seem a bit off. I was curious what the song was about after hearing it as it sounded like a plea for a long lost daughter to return. It turns out to be a tribute to girls born in 1985 induced by the previous power ballad "Still Loving You" - get it? It is also somewhat confusing that the summer of love mentioned here is 1985, but this unfortunately overloads the term that was already used for 1967. This may seem a bit like picking nits, but Scorpions have set their bar pretty high.

The closer "The Best Is Yet To Come" is a bit of a tweener so I decided not to lump it into the previous categories. It may seem an interesting choice to close their final studio recording; however, it serves well in this capacity. First, it signals the upcoming three year farewell tour that will support Sting in the Tail. However, I think it also alludes to the fact that their contribution is complete. Listening to their entire catalog over their career that now includes their finale is the best indeed.

Overall, The Scorpions have put together a fine offering for their swan song. Long time fans should find this more than satisfying whether you are looking for the fist pumping rockers or the power ballads. I am amazed at the consistency in both the vocals and the guitars that regularly take me back 20-25 years when I listen to this music. While fans will long for future recordings, it is good for The Scorpions to go out at the top of their game. I would much prefer this over bands that keep churning out music well past their prime.

Download this: Raised On Rock

I don't know where to start with this review. First I want to say that I can't believe a band this awesome will not be making any other albums after this. I just couldn't believe it when I read about it. Bands like Scorpions need to be around and make true rock music! We need this more than ever!! It's so heartbreaking to know this. I really hope they will change their minds and continue on.

Also, I have to say that I really love the album cover, it's so creative!

Now on to the review. I won't review every song but one main point that needs to be mentioned first is the guest appearance of the Finnish symphonic metal singer Tarja Turunen (Nightwish), in the song "The Good Die Young." When I first read she was featured on this song, before I even heard the album, you have no idea how excited I got and I downloaded that song immediately before buying the entire album. I even got a radio edit version, it's such an amazing and beautiful ballad that has such incredible musicianship. I only wish Tarja sang lyrics but to just hear her vocalizing in the background is so awesome!! I love how Tarja is working with artists like Doro Pesch and Scorpions lately, whom of all I love! The other ballads are amazing as well, like "Lorelei" and "Sly."

The rockers are so amazing as well! "No Limit" is probably my favorite rocker on here, it really rocks and it's an awesome song to listen to while driving! I just love this album so much and cannot recommend it enough! It really sounds so 80's and any Scorpions fan should be getting it!! The vocals, the music itself, everything is more than worth the purchase!! Please don't hesitate to buy it!! There's not one song on here that I don't love!

thank you Scorps , for years of neverending great music I am going to miss waiting for a new release, now that this is the Final sting, My first sting began hearing the "Lovedrive" album, as well as the later albums between 82 and 84, when I first heard the German Rockers , but It was "Lovedrive" that hooked me in, and it was "Lonesome Crow" , and "Fly to the Rainbow" as for the rest of the catalog, that has made me a forever fan. And Now once again, you guys didn't disappoint with Sting in the Tail. I am going to try to see these guys in concert for the next three years as much as I can.

This album is incredible. It's got everything: heavy songs, fast energetic songs, and slow melodic numbers.

I absolutely loved most of the songs on this album. "The Good Die Young" and especially "Lorelei" prove once again that The Scorpions are an absolute Heavyweight Champion when it comes to rock ballads. The weakest track (IMO) is "Slave Me". It's not that it's bad, it's just that I don't really like the flow of it (musically and lyrically). But other than that the whole thing is incredible.

I highly recommend this album. If the band truly ends up retiring after this effort, they will most certainly go out on top.