Lonesome Crow (1972) Fly to the Rainbow (1974) In Trance (1975) Virgin Killer (1976) Taken by Force (1977) Tokyo Tapes (1978).
The Scorpions established themselves as a top metal act when hard rock merged with pop music in the hair metal days of the 80s. The Scorpions
turned the power ballad into gold and scored several top forty hits.
Before they found commercial success on Mercury Records, they had
recorded five stellar albums and a live CD on RCA Records which made
them big stars in their native Germany.
Early Scorpions music is a lot of harder and more aggressive than their later music. The first album contained a then young guitarist named Michael Schenker. Psychedelic guitarist Uli Roth was in The Scorpions from 1973-1978. His guitar and the thrashing vocals of Klaus Meine were the key ingredients in The Scorpions' hard rock formula.
While Schenker was on Lonesome Crow, the bands first solid album was
Fly To The Rainbow. The album opened with “Speedy’s Coming”, a
blistering early Scorpions classic. It was The Scorpions first step in
becoming
a classic rock favorite.
“In Trance” came out the following year in 1975. The album is an absolute stunner. The tile track “In Trance” is a slow building scorcher that is somewhat reminiscent of the power ballad sound they would later perfect and use to climb the charts. “Life’s Like A River” is another bluesy slow grinder. “Dark Lady,”“Top Of the Bill,” and “Robot Man” are anthem rockers that are among the best of any Scorpions rockers of any era.
“Virgin Killer” featured the hot
rocking Scorpions classics “Virgin Killer,” “Hellcat,” and “Pictured
Life.” Their fifth release “Taken By Force” is a showcase for Uli Roth,
who
was making his last studio album for the band. “Sails Of Charon” and
“He’s A Woman, She’s A Man” are mesmerizing. “Tokyo Tapes” was a
two-record live collection of the best of the first era of The
Scorpions.
The Scorpions would go onto have US chart success with the rock anthem
“Rock You Like A Hurricane” and several power rock ballads, but the RCA
years contained several underground classics.
Unfortunately, the early albums are hard to find on CD or even downloads. If you can find early greatest hits collections containing the RCA classics, I highly recommend them, they are worth stalking ebay for and haunting used CD stores.
