Herman's folly = Uli's FAIL ( Scorpions )

I am floored and stripping myself of my rock cred. I am punching myself all Fight Club style, and breaking the first rule of Fight Club. I am not a true metal dude and not cool at all. I'd cut but it's weird.

Why the high drama?

I had not heard the 1977 Scorpions': Taken by Force until Jan 2012. Seriously, not one note of it.

I thought I knew the Scorps. I thought I knew them well. I even swiped a copy of an early Scorpions tape from a Murphy's bargain bin when I was 11. It was Fly to the Rainbow, and I hated it. That same year World Wide Live found its way into my tape deck. I ejected it not long after, but it had the hits, so what else was there to know?

In my defense, the heyday of the Scorpions was a couple of years before my time. I remember thinking that they must rock because the older Heads always got fired up when they started talking Scorps (these are the same dudes that could chronologically name every Krokus album - losers).

I am sure that any Metal geek familiar with early Scorpions is thinking I'm a poser right now. I am cool with that. My life is pretty good, so you and your vast knowledge can go suck an egg. Where the hell were you when I needed you to expose me to this? Probably busy memorizing Krokus album titles - loser.

I digress.

Herman Rarebell, former Scorpions drummer, is doing a ton of PR these days to pitch his ghostwritten, "tell nothing" book (speculation). I heard him say on TMS that when he joined the band in '77, they had two styles, and he pushed the band choose. He felt that he made the right decision by going to a more commercial sound after Taken by Force, eventually leading to the Rock You Like a Hurricane era and beyond.

After I discovered Taken By Force, I did a little more investigating, and I think that Scorps had 3 different styles in the '70's:

1. Uli Jon Roth's weird/bluesy side (ex. Hell Cat)
2. The Schenker/Roth funky-thrash style (ex. The Sails of Charon)
3. Everything else (commercial Scorpions)

Herman, you pushed for the wrong style.

OK, the above statement is not really fair. After all, they did achieve huge commercial success and have enjoyed a long career, but Uli's guitar playing was light years ahead of the rest of the pack. Yngwie Malmsteen was still sucking on a binky when Uli was busy SHREDDING.

This song below is from Taken By Force . Play close attention starting at 41 seconds. The lead is reminiscent of Megadeth's Wake Up Dead for some reason. For those keeping score, that would be 9 years later.

The Sails of Charon

 That's right, disco bitches, it was 1977!

Uli could suck too. Some of his song ideas were pure shit. He could not sing and should not have tried, especially with the pipes of Klaus Meine at his side, but his playing was amazing.... Amazing enough to afford him some ego. An ego that made some bad decisions for his band. A guitar player with an ego is like a teenage girl with a new boyfriend. 'Nuff said.

Unhappy with the commercial direction the band was headed, Uli quit in '78 to focus on his solo career (FAIL).
The Scorpions rose to superstardom, until they eventually alienated everybody by over saturating the market with ballads and receding hairlines (FAIL).


Lets look at another song that from the album peaked my interests, both because Metallica should pay royalties to Scorpions and because of the stupid lyric (FAIL).

He's a woman, she's a Man

Taken by Force is the sum of it's parts. It is catchy and still somewhat raw. It is not the same band that Rock Radio USA treats people with during the "all request lunch hour":

"Can yinz guys play some Scorpions?"
Who's this?
"It's Jimmy from Blanox"
Hey Jimmy from Blanox, what are you up to today?
"Ahhh...just drinking some beers 'n working up on my moms ruff n@."
Fake laugh... Haha, well you be careful up there. Drink one for me and we'll see what we can get on for you. (cue the intro to The Zoo)

Rudolph Schenker did a lot of writing for Scorpions musically. He never struck me as a great musician, but riff writing is a different animal than shredding. I like a lot of what he did back then. If this album was his idea of a commercial compromise, then he and the rest of the Scorps were on the right track.... Unfortunately, when you take out the challenge of working with a Uli Jon Roth to admittedly sell out, you will eventually end up surrounded by "yes" men polluting your albums with "Rock" songs (1/4 of the songs on 2010's Sting in the Tail have the word "Rock" in the title).

One more vid and then I am going to let this be. Steamrock Fever. I have no idea what it is about and I wish it was called Steampunk Fever, as that would be cooler by today's standard.

It's weird broken German stuff....But it's got a hook, so I like it.

I have some questions:

• Why is there a Steamrock band?
• Why are they in LA?
• "Get up to see and cry, and they will begin". What exactly does that mean?

I am a nerd.... therefore I reserve the right to skip a huge portion of this bands story. No mention of UFO, Michael Schenker, Storm Thorgeson, US Festival, or retirement; I will assume that you already know that stuff.....Maybe some other blog?

I follow vamush-shwa.....down to dorky park....listen to da wind, of change.