Customer Reviews

Taken By Force

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

And, frankly, that song is why I bought it. That the rest of the album is solid 70's metal is icing on the cake. "Sails" is, quite simply, one of early metal's crowning achievements, especially for Uli Roth's disciplined yet mind-blowing guitar solo during the intro. Blackmore has NOTHING on this guy. Further, it's rhythm track is surprisingly funky, if you can buy that without hearing it. Trust me.

With the exception of a few tracks on "Blackout," I'm not much of a Scorps fan, but this album is really great, in its idiom. And, seriously, if you want to hear some of the finest hard rock guitar playing ever, pick up this bad boy.

You best believe!

Ahh, i love this one! This classic Scorpions album has always been one of my absolute favorites!I feel that this masterpiece has to be one of the best hard rock albums that never got any credit and is extremely underrated.

The Scorpions fifth studio album is the darkhorse effort of their lofty back catalog of albums.Historically,this was the end of the first phase in the Scorps carrer in that it was their last outing with guitar wizard Ulrich Roth or better known as Uli Jon Roth.After this,Ulrich was gone for good and the band singed to Mercury records and started their string of commercial albums.This is the Scorpions at their artistic and experimental peak, never again would they delve into this kind of musical estacy displayed here.Uli Jon Roth must be heard to be belived,his guitar playing is absolute heavenly!I tell you, this guy could easily put Blackmore,Malmsteen,VanHalen or whoever to shame.The whole band on this album is exellent,Rudolf,Meine,Uli and Francis are firing on all cylinders.This is also the first album with Herman Rarebell on drums and he really adds that kick in the pant's to the rhythm section.The album is definatly one of the most dark,moody,experimental things this band has ever attempted.

STEAM ROCK FEVER 10/10
A perfect song to kick off this album,has some great drumming and rhythm guitar which equals to one of their best songs.

WE'LL BURN THE SKY 10/11
The best Scorpions song ever! clocking in at around 6 minutes,this song has a mix of beautiful melodies and skullcrushing power all displayed by top notch musicianship.

I'v GOT TO BE FREE 10/8
A catchy song with some great rebellious lyrics.

RIOT OF YOUR TIME 10/8
Acoustic guitar is used to great effect here.

SAILS OD CHARON 10/11
Maybe the best song on the album.even though they took out the first 45 seconds of the song which was on the vinly,it's still lost non of it's power. imagine Jimi Hendrix.

YOUR LIGHT 10/10
This one has a very moody begining part,overall a great song.

HE'S A WOMAN-SHE'S A MAN 10/10
The funniest song lyricaly.This one is one of the heavist songs the Scorps have done. Many younger bands like Helloween have covered this one.

BORN TOO TOUCH YOUR FEELINGS 10/8
This song is a ballad that is very emotional and is the proto-type for future Scorpion ballads like "Still Lovin You" or "When The Smoke is Going Down".

SUSPENDER LOVE 10/10
Awesome! very funky drumming and muscular guitar playing.

POLAR NIGHTS-LIVE 10/12
The best version of this song by far. The original was from Virgin Killer but this live version kills! Gotta love Uli's singing!

Many people think Virgin Killer is the best 70's era album but i don't think so at all. VK was great but i think this blows it out of the window completely!Taken By Force is just amazing to me! it's everything that i love about the Scorpions and hardrock/metal music;powerful,beautiful,emotional and just sublime.I definatly suggest you give it a try if you are interested in this kind of music.If you want to hear some of the most beautiful singing,here it is! Klause Meine has to be the greatest singer on the planet, he is taking his high-pitched melodic german-acented vocals to the absolute maximum and most sensual on this album.This is almost art put to music, i wish they would do more songs from this album and some of their other early stuff at their shows.Fortuantly,Uli Roth countiued to make some amazing music after he left starting with is solo album Earthquake, while the Scorpions adopted a crunchier heavy metal style with the addition of Mattiahs Jabbs and briefly brother Micheal Schenker.I love all era's of the Scorpions,they are my favorite band and it is interesting to see how they evolved over their 40 year carrer from their humble beginings in Hanover Germany.Their 72 debut Lonesome Crow all the way to 2005's Unbreakable is really a remarkable run in musical evolution,let's be honest, how many band's have been around for 40 years and are still relevant today? My point exactly.

The Scorpions are musical genius.

.. in my opion atleast. Think about this for a moment, "Taken By Force" is sandwiched between two landmark albums which makes it hard for it to get any credability. "Virgin Killer" is considered by many fans the definative 70's Scorps album while "LoveDrive" is very important historically in the Scorps career in which they embarked on the MTV route.

I will admit this upfront, even though i am a fan, i never liked any of their 80's MTV material too much. It was not that i thought it was bad, it's not, the 80's stuff is quite good actually, but it really never appealed to me the way the 70's material did because it was just too generic and commerical sounding for my taste; simplified riffs and generic stupid lyrics about loving/missing/wanting to be with your "woman" and "rocking out", almost every other song they wrote was about that. The lesson is that greed is a destructive force, it has the ability to completey ruin great bands (look at Metallica), for the Scorpions it meant abandoning creativity and artistic integrity for the almighty dollar, the damage has been done and can not be repaired, now you can hear "Rock You Like A Hurricane" at almost every sporting event around the country.

This album was actauly the swan song for the meaningful and artistic Scorpions, it was the last album with Uli Jon Roth, who i feel was the creative nucleus of the Scorps of the old days. The songs are all pretty diverse; basic hard rock, metal, pyschadelic and beautiful ballads all inhabit this dark, moody work of art. It might throw some for a loop if they are only used to the 80's Scorpions.

I always had LOVE AT FIRST STING from these guys and listened to that alot, but TAKEN BY FORCE really made me love this band, it was this album that showed me the genius of the Scorpions. TAKEN BY FORCE is my favorite hardrock album now, i'v had it for about a year and listen to it all the time. I really think that the 70's Scorpions with Roth completely blows away the MTV scorpions of the 80's, for one thing, the music was more complex with albums like VIRGIN KILLER and TAKEN BY FORCE and more sincere instead of the "love,sex,fun,get laid" foolishness of there "succsesful" 80's albums. Every track is amazing, this album is a work of art and i can't name favorites, but Uli's guitar playing is unmatched, the greatest guitar player to ever walk the earth!

Any of you Scorp Heads from years gone by must remember the vinyl version of "Taken By Force" That had the full version of "The Sails Of Charon" with the psycadelic intro! Why has this version never made it to CD? I keep buying new versions of this CD hoping to find it. If anyone can help me with this please post!

1st let me say this, "Taken By Force" is an essential Metal Classic. Unfortunately this was lead guitarist Uli Jon Roth`s last studio album with the band. He left shorly after due to artistic and creative differences.

The sound quality and production on the Japanese remaster is excellant! You can hear everthing. Klaus Miene`s vocal`s are powerful and emotive. This was drummer Herman Rarebell`s 1st album with the band and is probably his best performance as well . Uli`s flawless technique and style(Neo-Classical + Hendrix) always amazes me!

Whether it be the simmering power ballad "W`ill Burn The Sky, the commercial hard rockin "He`s A Woman, She`s A Man" or the classic premetal shred of "Sails Of Charron", this is a band at the top of their game and ready to take the next step up to international success and fame.

This album was a turning point for the Scorpions and showed the musical direction that the band would take thru out the next decade.

Any later day fan of the Scorpions who hasn`t checked out their earlier RCA albums yet would do well to start here!

Well, I don't know if I should say a sweeping statement like that, but its in the "top 5" for me. All great songs, no filler, and none of Uli's controversial singing! "We'll Burn the Sky" is their "Stairway to Heaven" - a power ballad to conquer all others. Come solo time, and it goes off to the (Strat)osphere! It blows away most of today's shredders and of course we get to "Sails of Charon" which is the crown jewel of this album. Covered by everyone from Testament to Yngwie, this is the beginning of the Neo Classical metal genre. Queen may have laid the groundwork, but a listen to the solos in this one and you can hear the true beginning of the genre. "He's a Woman, She's a Man" may have been one of the things that ticked Uli off to leave, and its the beginning of drummer Herman Rarebell's
controversial lyric writing in the band, but it is a proto thrash song that predicts the heavier side of NWOBHM! And this is from Germany!
Overall, this album has some of the best variety of Uli era
Scorpions, and is the one essential piece of music that everyone should have.

As a 42 year old Scorpions fan, i've followed the band since 'Lonesome Crow'! I equally love Michael Schenker, Uli Roth and Matthias Jabs, each bringing their own personal perfection and style to the band. The Scorpions were undoubtedly seminal in starting and perfecting the 'hard rock' genre, which became 'heavy metal' after the British invasion with bands like Saxon, Iron Maiden, and Judas Priest. But The Scorpions, with bands like Black Sabbath, Mountain, early Zep, and early Rush, did it FIRST! Let's not forget Hendrix as well. But I digress. 'Taken By Force', 'Virgin Killer', 'Fly To The Rainbow', and 'In Trance', were the 4 albums that really got me and many other coming of age 70's teens into hard rock, and all 4 still strongly stand the test of time, given the tight quality songwriting, Klaus' soaring and powerful vocals, and Uli Roth's beyond amazing virtuoso guitar forays. Many metal and hard rock fans don't realize this, but early Scorpions were responsible for popularizing and perfecting hard rock music around the world. This CD remaster sounds unbelievably great, with increased resolution and air between the instruments and Klaus Meine's great voice! The acoustic guitar parts sound as if they are leaping out of your speakers with improved clarity and presence. I have VERY revealing high end, high resolution panel type MAGNEPLANAR speakers, and McIntosh equipment, and I have to say, I don't hear any compression, hiss, or other artifacts on this remaster. If you are a fan of excellent hard rock or metal, this CD is a MUST for your collection! Long live The Scorpions!

The Scorpions with Uli Roth were a groundbreaking band, with a great combination of good songwriting, great musicianship, and excellent vocals. This album is the swan song of this incarnation of the Scorpions, and although I like their Mercury line-up to the present, I believe this particular combination was the best. "Sails of Charon" and "We'll burn the Sky" are the highlights of this disc, as far as I'm concerned. Sadly as a symptom of the personality conflicts that led to Uli's departure from the band, he refused to play a solo on "Steamrock Fever". Frankly I like the song and think the odd chord progressions before the chorus would make for a good solo backdrop for Uli's lead. But alas it didn't happen. It makes little difference as the album as a whole is still 1st rate and one of my favorite Scorpions releases.

The Scorpions really put it out with Taken By Force! A hard rocking album with some nice contrast songs mixed in as well.Many of todays bands come and go,but the Scoroions remain strong and tight. There music is as good live as it is in the studio. First things first! Taken By Force is an excellent sounding re-issue cd. The Bass parts and the low end play through extemely well without sacrificing any of the high end. Well recorded!! My favorites- Iv'e got to be free: Rebellious Rock at its best. Syncopated rythym guitar and hard driving bass /drums. The Riot Of Your Time: A touch of mystery on this one.Guitar work is outstanding! The acoustic guitar at the begining is flawless and there are some awesome drum fills to help close it out. Next up is Your Light: A nice mellow feel during the verses. Smooth guitar,tasteful vocals and solid laid back drum playing."lots of percussion on the ending" Very cool! Born To Touch Your Feelings: A slow ballad that features beautiful vocals and acoustic guitar.The band really shows us how well they can play loud and soft."nice dynamics" The ending offers some strange yet creative female vocal ad libs. He's A Woman-She's A Man: Is a rock n roll boogie thats guaranteed to get you jumpin!!"i love the accented chorus line" The last song features a live version of Polar Nights: Live jamming in the raw! Energizer bunny watch out. These guys are blowin the roof off!! Whip it out guitar playing and more!! Final thoughts: Taken By Force has a little bit of everthing for scorpion fans. Solid and Tasteful!! Enjoy!