14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
THE 2, I MEAN THE 3 BEST SCORPIONS ALBUMS EVER, May 15, 2007
This review is from: In Trance/Virgin Killer: The Axe Killer Warriors Set (Audio CD)
these are truly the best scorpions albums ever... In Trance and Virgin Killer. Very well digitally mastered and complete with liner notes and photos but the best is... The 7 bonus tracks are actually all 7 tracks from the second album Fly to the Rainbow. Digitally mastered. So you actually get 3 albums at a very good price. Since these were the only 3 albums left unmastered now you can have all the catalogue remastered and sounding good...
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Three great albums, one great price, May 23, 2007
This review is from: In Trance/Virgin Killer: The Axe Killer Warriors Set (Audio CD)
This set contains all the material from Fly to the Rainbow, In Trance, and Virgin Killer! I had been waiting for remastered versions of these albums to be released in the US, as they did with Lonesome Crow, Taken By Force, and Tokyo Tapes. Since that hasn't happened, this is your best alternative.
The standard warning on 70's era Scorpions music applies here. This isn't the Scorpion's everyone knows and loves from the 1980's. Their sound was very different during the 1970's due to Ulrich Roth's influence. His songs are more jazzy/psychedelic and his singing is very different than Klaus Meine's, or anyone else you've ever heard. Someone exploring 1970's era Scorpions for the first time may want to start with Taken By Force or the excellent live album Tokyo Tapes as the price is much lower and both albums are a good representation of the band's sound during this time. For everyone else familiar with the Scorpions of the 1970's, buy this set! You won't be disappointed. Where else can you get three great import albums for under $40?
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing metal albums, lousy packaging, June 13, 2010
This review is from: In Trance/Virgin Killer: The Axe Killer Warriors Set (Audio CD)
Just to clarify - Axe Killer, the French reissue label that has re-released these classic Scorpions albums, has issued two different versions of this set. Both sets include the same two CDs, but the packaging is quite different.
The first version, released in 2000, was called the Back to Black Collection. It featured both CDs in a deluxe digipack with a black leather (maybe fake leather, but still...) cover. This is a sturdy, attractive package. My rating for this would be 5-stars for the music and 5-stars for the packaging - 5-stars overall.
The version that came out in 2007 is, contrary to Amazon's current product listing, called the Axe Killer Warriors Set. The discs come housed in cheap cardboard sleeves (that can scratch the discs when you remove them) inside a black cardboard box that's way too big for its contents. The box is big enough for two discs in jewel cases, which would have been much better. It does come with a detailed CD booklet (one covers both albums) and a fold-out poster of the In Trance cover artwork. Unfortunately both the booklet and poster were horribly creased in my set since there is so much room in the too-big box. My rating for this set would be 5-stars for the music and 1-star for the packaging. That should be a 3-star overall rating, but the albums are simply too good for that.
As for the albums themselves, well, they're amazing. I grew up with the arena-destroying "Rock You Like a Hurricane" Scorpions, and still love those albums, but In Trance and Virgin Killer are really breathtaking heavy metal albums. Uli Jon Roth's guitar work here is legendary, and the songwriting is so much more dramatic and artistic (not really progressive, but it has that vibe) than the band's more commercially successful releases. Beyond that, the digital remastering Axe Killer gave these albums is phenomenal. If that weren't enough, the bonus tracks on each disc actually make up the band's full 1974 album Fly To The Rainbow. So you're getting three classic Scorpions albums, all digitally remastered, in this set.
Whatever format you choose, this collection is absolutely worth buying. The albums are essential and they sound incredible. It's just a matter of what you're willing to pay for the packaging. Obviously I went with the cheaper Axe Killer Warriors Set. It will do, but it's nowhere near as nice as the fancy Back to Black collection my friend keeps lording over me!
Oh, and in case anyone is wondering, the sleeve for the Virgin Killer album does feature the original, uncensored cover artwork.
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