Unbreakable

I had the chance to catch the Scorpions on tour with Whitesnake last year and they still put on a hell of a show. It was the fifth time I'd seen them with the first being in 1983 when they opened for Rainbow during the tour for the Blackout album and blew them off the stage. I'd always considered them to be one of the front runners of the "new" metal wave that hit in the late 1970's and into the 80's although they had existed for years before that. I'm a huge fan but I'll have to admit that the last time I saw them, they seemed nothing more than a classic rock band, touring and playing their old "hits" to appreciative fans but offering nothing in the way of new material. I like all Scorpions albums with one exception, the 1999 techno abomination Eye To Eye (what the hell were they thinking???). Their sound started to lighten up a bit after the Crazy World album in the late 80's and the two subsequent releases in the early to mid 90's, Face The Heat and Pure Instinct had several solid songs but paled in comparison to other greats such as Love At First Sting, Blackout, Animal Magnetism and Lovedrive. When it was announced late last year that the band was going into the studio to record a new album with a return to the classic Scorpions sound of the 80's, I was excited and a little skeptical at the same time. I figured if the the band was still able to do this, why have they waited for so long? About 3 or 4 songs into this new album Unbreakable, I found myself drifting back to the 80's when the Scorpions used to blast out of my car stereo all summer....it has the same sort of sound. Now the burning question...have they delivered what they promised??....yes they have!!!

From the slow pounding hypnotic opener New Generation with it's Animal Magnetism/The Zoo type arrangement through to up tempo rockers like Love 'Em Or Leave 'Em and Blood Too Hot, this album has the trademark Scorpions sound. Tracks like Deep And Dark with it's heavy riffing and Borderline with it's slower pounding style, bear the great balance of heaviness and melody that I fell in love with oh so many years ago. One of the highlights is a spirited Someday Is Now. It has a simple yet very effective riff structure with the classic Mattias Jabs lead fills and a great soaring melodic structure. My City, My Town is another great one that has a great sense of melody and heaviness. The power ballad is revisited several times on this album with Maybe I Maybe You having the "breathy" vocal style of Still Loving You and Through My Eyes with it's classic No-one Like You quiet/heavy arrangement. The lighter side of balladry is explored with She Said and the album finishes with Remember The Good Times, a rougher sounding mix that is an ode to the 60's generation.

After many listens to this album, it still stands up. It's great return to form and although is not even close to the greatness of some of their classic albums from the 80's, it's still a great Scorpions album and the best one since Crazy World (maybe even better) in my opinion. Several tracks on this album would not be out of place on classic albums from the past, they would fit like a glove. The overall song structure, sound and production really reminds me more of the Blackout, Animal Magnetism era of the band and not the ultra-slick production of albums like Crazy World. Klaus Meine's voice sounds like he's never aged and the rest of the band is as tight as ever. If you've written this band off because of their somewhat lackluster efforts in the 90's, their more recent Eye To Eye album and overall lack of solid new material for many, many years check this one out, I hope it brings as big a smile to your face as it does mine every time I hear it........