Scorpions Album by Album?

Just seen this on ebay for anyone looking for the elusive In Trance RCA. As they normally go for this price alone it`s not a `bad` deal! (No affiliation with the seller btw).

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Scorpions...t=Kinder_Haushaltsgeraete&hash=item20f1d8d018

 

AFAIK the Original Album Classics box - which should be available used at around 30 Euros - offers the same (original) mastering, so there's no need to spend a little fortune on the single disc.

 

I know. I got that set for €9.00 3 years ago. I put it up for completists with deep pockets

 

Face the Heat is the twelfth studio album released by the German hard rock band Scorpions in 1993.



It was produced by the band and the late Bruce Fairbairn and released on the PolyGram label. This album marked their status as a sort of political band with the song "Alien Nation", which was about the re-unification of Germany . This album had a contemporary touch to it, as the band were then going with the current trends, before later returning to their original style in Unbreakable in 2004. This is last album to feature drummer Herman Rarebell, and the first with Ralph Rieckermann on bass guitar.

Album
1. "Alien Nation" Rudolf Schenker, Klaus Meine 5:44
2. "No Pain No Gain" Schenker, Meine, Mark Hudson 3:55
3. "Someone to Touch" Schenker, Meine, Hudson 4:28
4. "Under the Same Sun" Hudson, Bruce Fairbairn, Meine 4:52
5. "Unholy Alliance" Schenker, Meine 5:16
6. "Woman" Schenker, Meine 5:56
7. "Hate to Be Nice" Schenker, Meine 3:30
8. "Taxman Woman" Schenker, Meine 4:30
9. "Ship of Fools" Schenker, Meine 4:15
10. "Nightmare Avenue" Matthias Jabs, Meine, Hudson 3:54
11. "Lonely Nights" Schenker, Meine 4:50

Japanese edition bonus tracks
12. "Kami O Shin Juru" Schenker, Meine 3:49
13. "Daddy's Girl" Schenker, Meine 4:18

European edition bonus tracks
12. "Destiny" Schenker, Meine 3:17
13. "Daddy's Girl" Schenker, Meine 4:18

US edition hidden track
12. "(Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame" (Del Shannon cover) Doc Pomus, Mort Shuman 2:27

Face the Heat single-only tracks
1. "Rubber ****er" (from the "Alien Nation" maxi-single) Herman Rarebell 3:39
2. "Partners in Crime" (from the "Under the Same Sun" maxi-single) Schenker, Meine 4:24

Personnel
Band members

• Klaus Meine – lead vocals
• Matthias Jabs – lead guitar,rhythm guitar,6 & 12 string acoustic guitars,slide guitar,Fatbody Jazz guitar,talkbox, backing vocals
• Rudolf Schenker – rhythm guitar,lead guitar,6 & 12 string acoustic guitars,sitar,ebo, backing vocals
• Ralph Rieckermann – bass
• Herman Rarebell – drums, percussion

Additional musicians

• John Webster - keyboards
• Luke Herzog - additional keyboards on "Woman" and "Lonely Nights", arrangements with Klaus Meine on "Woman"
• Helen Donath - opera voice on "Ship of Fools"
• Rhian Gittins - girl's voice on "Nightmare Avenue"
• Paul Laine, Mark LaFrance, Bruce Fairbairn, Mark Hudson - backing vocals

Production

• Bruce Fairbairn - producer, arrangements with Scorpions
• Erwin Musper - engineer, mixing
• Mike Plotnikoff - engineer
• George Marino - mastering

• Hubert Kretzschmar - cover photography

 

Unfortunately Face The Heat is very underrated album, which features new bass player. I think Ralf added a lot to the sound of Scorpions with fat sound of his instrument and slap technic in several songs which was never used by Francis.

This period was very productive for the band with 5 non-album songs released. Under The Same Sun and Lonely Nights are as great as the pair of ballads from previous album. Also there's some experimentation with songwriting and arrangemetn on this album, operatic voice for example. This album features only one filler for me, Hate To Be Nice which possibly better to be replaced with excellent B-side Parters In Crime.

Face The Heat Tour has excellet vibe with its excellent variable setlist featuring acoustic part with double bass.

 

I don't see any reference to the German reunification in "Alien Nation"; where did you get that from?

Face The Heat is - unfortunately - a quite terrible album from start to end and easily the band's worst output since their crude Lonesome Crow debut 20 years before. Since its predecessor Crazy World the world had seen albums like Nirvana's Nevermind, Pearl Jam's Ten and RHCP's Blood Sugar Sex Magik, and the punk revival in 1994 with bands like Green Day, Offspring, Bad Religion or Rancid clearly demonstrated that traditional Hard Rock/Metal no longer was music for the masses. It looked like the Scorpions at this point were struggling to find their identity in an rapidly changing music scene, and having three different producers (Dierks, Olsen, Fairbairn) on their three albums between 1988 and 1993 surely didn't help.

That said, Lonely Nights is the one delightful exception on this album and one of their strongest ballads, so if you find FtH in some bargain bin, it may be worth it for this song alone.

 

This info is from wiki. Possibly this sentence must been editied out. Actually, I think WOC made them a political band 3 years earlier

 

IMHO, Lonesome Crow was not a bad album, and if they were looking for an identity, this was the one that might have shown it. Heavy Black Sabbath influence on this young band.
By 1993 The Scorpions were not looking for an identity; Christ, they already had one. They were trying to change with the times, which for a lot of bands is a big mistake. Sometimes it's better to stick to what you are good at.

 

The ballads were rarely my favorites, but Under the Same Sun is great.

 

The title track is amazing.

 

My first foray into the world of Scorpions... I was hooked and still am..

 

Sensational album and love the Japanese version's cover art

 

I like Lonesome Crow as well.

 

you must have forgot about the political tones of "wind of change"

 

Is the hidden track on all CD versions? I will have to check my copy.

 

yeah i don't remember that

 

Hidden track "His latest Flame" only on the US edition.

 

For me this is where they started to have a modern sound. Alien Nation is a awesome track and a great opener. This one song might my favorite Scorpions song.

 

a bit modern yes

 

Did this thread die out?

 

My copy of LC is on the Brain label.

 

Kind of. Comments can revive it.

 

Cool. My CD version is on Rhino "Rampage". The Brain is just a tad better.

 

Scorpions in the 70's were great, possibly in the 80's (if you like their style on Blackout and Love At First Sting), but for many the 90's and anything after wasn't too remarkable, so there isn't too much interest regarding these albums in an album-by-album thread. Such a thread really needs a dedicated and passionate fan to bring it from start to finish. My last Scorpions album was Face The Heat, too.

 

Funnily enough Crazy World was a great album and the last fw have also been excellent.