Scorpions Return To Forever cd review



2010 saw the release of "Sting In The Tail " which was due to be the last Scorpions album with a 2 year World tour as a goodbye to the fans.

With the tour never stopping (apart from the UK ) and then the release of the Unplugged concert at the end of 2013 , which included some new material played acoustically, the idea came up to look at some of their unused ideas that had not quite made it to cd as a thank you to the fans.

With some of this material coming from the bands classic 80's period expectations amongst fans have been high. Utilising "Sting In The Tail's producers Mikael Nord Andersson and Martin Hansen ( who do a fantastic job ) the band trawled through their archives and quickly realised their was some quality material available and with more new ideas coming together they soon had 19 songs ready. 12 for the regular edition and 16 for the Deluxe and of course an itunes exclusive too.

With Rudolf Schenker accidentally finding an old cash book that his mum had used to record the earnings and expenses of the Scorpions from day one it was soon realised that the Scorpions are celebrating incredibly their 50th anniversary and " Return To Forever " and the subsequent tour were born.

So is it any good? Of course it is. It is the Scorpions doing what they do best. A glorious mix of all out rockers and ballads.

First track " Going Out With A Bang " will be a great show opener with a fast pace and big riff and chorus . 

First single "We Built This House" is classic Scorpions. With lyrics detailing how they have built their career brick by brick and on a rock!!! Light and shade from a picked electric riff and Klaus sounds wonderful on the verse before the the big riff kicks in pre chorus and I love the way as Klaus sings sings the word "Rock" the riff crashes back in.


"Rock My Car" is all rolling Schenker riff at the opening sprint.The song again builds pre chorus as the main riff returns. Sure to be a live favourite with plenty of woah woahs in the chorus and Matthias Jabs shows he can still pull a fast paced solo as the rhythm team of James Kottak on drums and Pawel Maciwoda on bass lay down a barrage.

"House Of Cards " is the first ballad with a soft acoustic guitar at its heart and Klaus showing at the age of 66 he can still put more emotion into a song than most of his younger counterparts.You can see the arenas now with all the phone lights on and a superb electric guitar solo mid song just tops it off.

" All For One " ups the pace with a classic Schenker riff on a fast paced rocker with a guitar melody played against the vocal chorus.

" Rock nRoll Band " again is another rocker with a big riff and chorus that would have fitted perfectly on any album the band released in the 1980's. Sure to be played live.

" Catch Your Luck And Play" is a real gem that starts all Schenker riff with a Jabs guitar melody played over the top.You can imagine Rudolf playing this live huge grin on his face and arms flying round!! A multi layered chorus before a trademark Jabs solo too.

" Rollin Home " just doesn't work for me and is very out of place so I will just gloss over it.

" Hard Rockin' The Place " is so much better. A mid paced big riff rocker with a stop start riff and a Meine masterclass vocal in the pre chorus.

" Eye Of The Storm " is a ballad. You think not another one but when Klaus's vocal starts your heart melts and think wow this man can sing!! Slow pace but that builds to a chorus built for arenas and crowds to sway their arms too!! Jabs hits a superb ballad solo that fits just so!!

" The Scratch " is a bluesy groove based shuffle song that feels like it was jammed out in the studio and the band had some real fun on it.A little different to usual but love the extended guitar solo that Jabs does mid song.

" Gypsy Life " ends the album with a ballad with Klaus excelling on a classic Scorps ballad with the lyrics again talking about their career on the road.

If this really is the last Scorpions cd the band go out on a high with a cd that has all their classic imprints all over it and I am sure all of their fans worldwide will love it.

The Scorpions we salute you!!

Return To Forever” is out February 23, 2015 and will be released on CD, Deluxe CD, vinyl, Limited Collector’s Box, and several more digital and physical formats. The first single “We Built This House” can be downloaded as an Instant Grat on iTunes and Amazon.mp3 .



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