{"id":38094,"date":"2014-03-03T20:09:03","date_gmt":"2014-03-04T01:09:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=38094"},"modified":"2014-03-03T20:09:03","modified_gmt":"2014-03-04T01:09:03","slug":"scorpionstv-unplugged-in-athens-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2014\/scorpionstv-unplugged-in-athens-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Scorpions | MTV Unplugged: In Athens<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Alexandra Mrozowska<\/span>
\n– Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"ScorpionsIn spite of their almost 50-year existence as a band (launched by the guitarist Rudolf Schenker as early as in 1965) and 40 years of recognition as a hard rock giant, the German group Scorpions somehow escaped the early\/middle-\u201890s MTV Unplugged craze. For having a chance to experience the band\u2019s repertoire presented acoustically, the Scorpions avid fans had to wait until the 2001, when a live album (and a DVD) Acoustica<\/em> was released. And yet, 2013 brought another acoustic release from Scorpions \u2013 this time, a full-length MTV Unplugged album containing two CDs. Recorded in the ancient Lycabettus Theatre in Athens, Greece \u2013 the first open-air performance ever in the history of MTV Unplugged \u2013 the album was among the most anticipated, not only by Scorpions aficionados. <\/p>\n

First of all, the Unplugged album \u2013 both being a double one and similarly to Acoustica<\/em> \u2013 is representative to the band\u2019s overall output. It therefore presents a cross-section of the Scorpions\u2019 discography from 1974 song \u201cSpeedy\u2019s Coming\u201d off their second album to 2010 Sting In The Tail<\/em> album\u2019s highlights. Also, there is something interesting in the sequence of the subsequent tracks \u2013 the first CD comprises mostly obscure or rare tracks, a few of them from the 1970\u2019s albums, and \u2013 surprise! \u2013 the four of the five previously unreleased songs. The second, on the other hand, mostly features the expected set of hits. There is a certain diversity to this album, making the solid and representative \u201cgreatest hits\u201d compilation (with some fresh breeze here and there) out of it \u2013 so that everyone should find something for themselves.<\/p>\n

The undisputed highlights of the first CD are the two great ballads \u2013 \u201cBorn To Touch Your Feelings\u201d and \u201cThe Best Is Yet To Come\u201d \u2013 the former from 1977 Taken By Force<\/em> and the latter from 2010 Sting In The Tail<\/em>. The acoustic format didn\u2019t deprive any of them of their power and sublimity, the impression strengthened by the solid performance of the musicians, whose abilities still remain untouched by time (especially Klaus Meine\u2019s characteristic manner and powerful vocals). There are some weak moments to the first part of the album, however. For example, the opening \u201cSting In The Tail\u201d sounds slightly odd in the acoustic version and so does \u201cIn Trance,\u201d plus an unconvincing guest appearance by a Hamburg-based singer C\u00e4the in the latter track. As for the new material, \u201cDancing In The Moonlight\u201d surely doesn\u2019t break new ground, but this fast-paced, catchy tune very much in the Scorpions\u2019 trademark style. The following track \u201cDelicate Dance\u201d is Matthias Jabbs\u2019 bluesy instrumental piece with a surprisingly monumental coda, a nice acoustic interlude which precedes \u201cLove Is The Answer\u201d. In this, it\u2019s Rudolf Schenker who takes over the microphone \u2013 certainly not for the first time in the band\u2019s history, but still with moderate result, as the Scorpions axeman never really had a powerful voice at his disposal (let alone the tough German accent here and there). The last song of the CD is again a new track, a well-crafted ballad \u201cFollow Your Heart\u201d sung by Klaus Meine and undoubtedly a decent song altogether. <\/p>\n

Because of the selection of songs, the second CD is mostly 1980\u2019s\/early 1990\u2019s Scorpions-revisited. The audience\u2019s familiarity with the songs is obvious and understandable here, hence the crowd\u2019s enthusiastic singing in \u201cSend Me An Angel\u201d. But again, there are song versions more interesting than their respective original incarnations (a good example of which is \u201cWhere The River Flows\u201d enriched with harmonica) and there are those the acoustic versions of which end up boring and deprived of their \u201cedge\u201d (\u201cPassion Rules The Game\u201d or \u201cBig City Nights\u201d). Fan favorites \u201cRock You Like A Hurricane\u201d and \u201cBlackout\u201d, however, certainly don\u2019t belong to the latter category and remain the highlights of the whole show \u2013 even if the vocal duo with German singer\/songwriter Johannes Strate in the former of the two is not entirely convincing. Speaking of duos, there is also \u201cWind of Change\u201d in which Meine shares a microphone with A-ha\u2019s Morten Harket and this one sounds slightly odd too (in spite of Harket being one of the best singers known to the world of popular music). Apart from this, the best-known Scorpions song in the set is supported with an outstanding instrumental background, proving there is still magic to the worn-out 1991 classic. Yet, this one soon gets effaced by its followers \u2013 a stellar performance of the final songs \u201cNo One Like You\u201d and \u201cWhen The Smoke Is Going Down\u201d which, with no bizarre elements or surprising new arrangements, still sounds as strong and moving as ever. And as for the expected icing on the cake \u2013 that is, the fifth of the new songs on the album \u2013 a dynamic \u201cRock\u2019n\u2019Roll Band\u201d blends nicely with the classics in the track list, again close to the group\u2019s trademark style. An interesting addition to the cross-section of the most popular songs of the German band the second CD ultimately stands for.<\/p>\n

Overall, there are always great expectations and some criticism afterwards, when a legendary band decides to go for a potentially glorious, but demanding format of MTV Unplugged (a good example of this can be Bon Jovi\u2019s 2007 infamous Unplugged performance). As for the Scorpions MTV Unplugged: In Athens<\/em>, the album portrays the German hard rock giants (with their usual Polish\/American rhythm section, supported by the additional Swedish musicians) giving an interesting and solid performance altogether. There are numerous flaws to this, of course, but the strength of the album lies predominantly in the great form of both the band\u2019s instrumentalists and its lead singer. Plus, there is a couple of new tracks, a fact pretty much unusual in relation to the standard MTV Unplugged performance, but promising anyway (especially in the case of the stellar \u201cDancing In The Moonlight\u201d). MTV Unplugged: In Athens is, all in all, clear proof Scorpions are not to retire anytime soon \u2013 and that most probably we are going to enjoy their prolonged farewell.<\/p>\n

Genre: Hard Rock<\/p>\n

Band:
\nKlaus Meine – vocals and guitar
\nRudolf Schenker – guitar and vocals
\nMatthias Jabs – guitar
\nPawel Maciwoda – bass
\nJames Kottak – drums<\/p>\n

Additional Musicians:
\nMikael Nord Andersson – guitar, mandolin, lap steel and vocals
\nMartin Hansen – guitar, harmonica and vocals
\nOla Hjelm – guitar and vocals
\nHans Gardemar – keyboards, harmonica and vocals
\nPitti Hecht – percussion
\nCathe – guest vocals (8)
\nJohannes Strate – guest vocals (16)
\nMorten Harket – guest vocals (23)<\/p>\n

Track List:
\n01. Sting In The Tail
\n02. Can’t Live Without You
\n03. Pictured Life
\n04. Speedy’s Coming
\n05. Born To Touch Your Feelings
\n06. The Best Is Yet To Come
\n07. Dancing With The Moonlight
\n08. In Trance
\n09. When You Came Into My Life
\n10. Delicate Dance
\n11. Love Is The Answer
\n12. Follow Your Heart
\n13. Send Me An Angel
\n14. Where The River Flows
\n15. Passion Rules The Game
\n16. Rock You Like A Hurricane
\n17. Hit Between The Eyes
\n18. Drum-Athenica
\n19. Rock ‘N’ Roll Band
\n20. Blackout
\n21. Still Loving You
\n22. Big City Nights
\n23. Wind Of Change
\n24. No One Like You
\n25. When The Smoke Is Going Down<\/p>\n

Label: Sony Music<\/p>\n

Website: http:\/\/www.the-scorpions.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven Rating: 8\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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