"Covered Like a Hurricane"
Deadline Records
By Vinnie Apicella Well first I'll go on record as saying this is definitely the heaviest the Scorpions have sounded in years. and after thirty years in the Rock business you'd think this was due them long ago! But finally someone had the wherewithal to put things right-and who better than the label fast becoming known for their quirky yet usually quality tributes, that being Deadline Records. And keeping consistent with their usual assembly of seasoned Rock veterans, this, like their many other tributes is worth the price of admission just to hear what many of your old favorites sound like today. Truthfully, it's an '80s who's who in many cases and most if not all of these contributors still remain on the active roster in one form or another. But to the present, let us first come to realize how important The Scorpions were and will always be to Rock & Roll music in general. Always known to be amongst the fairer side of heavy Rock, The Scorpions collectively and individually rank amongst the best musical talents of all time-having successfully conquered far reaching continents as well as platinum selling status the world over, they remain one of the most revered acts ever to arise from the Western world. So first up we'll uncover twelve tracks-most as you'd expect-the fan's choice, and the instrumental section which remains the constant all throughout what must have been a continuous studio session. In no particular order, George Lynch handles the lead guitar duties, and few would argue if any were qualified to try to recreate and capture all of the advanced wizardry offered up by their six string virtuosos, Lynch is the man. Chuck Garric handles the bass duties-best known for his work with L.A. Guns, while John Morris of Dig does some jamming on the rhythm guitar-no small expenditure when you're stacked up against the likes of Rudy Schenker, and on the drums, I give you Mr. Steve - 1,2,3,4 - Riley! To begin with, "Here I Am (Rock You Like a Hurricane)" starts the set off and maybe coincidentally so does on-again Hurricane singer Kelly Hansen handle the vocals and does a pretty decent job but is too far off in the background. so like a more settled version of original belter Klaus Meine. well maybe Hansen's just got a softer voice. "Still Lovin' You" is done by Kix' Steve Whiteman and I swear it was over and done and I couldn't for the life of me figure out who it was till I looked down. a good thing I suppose considering how this was one of Meine's shining achievements and a world renowned hit forever after. The Bulletboys' Marq Torien comes out of hiding to do a number on the "Animal Magnetism" non-classic "Falling in Love." Now here's where we get a little funky with the odd remixed version of something that presumably was never released before in the first place-but maybe it was-Kevin Dubrow-sixteen years later, still in need of no introduction, right-and a real stunted version of the "Love at First Sting" and future live staple "Big City Nights," and the jury's still out on this one. If I can ever get over the fact that Dubrow's doing vocals for this one, that's one thing. what they're doing with the mix is, well, weird. but definitely not the same old same old. Tuff's Stevie Rachelle comes scathing through on a pretty solid version of the '82 hit "Blackout," an album that first signaled the charge for this German terror to soon be unleashed upon audiences of the Americas. Pick hit goes off to Jizzy Pearl, one who manages to stay quite busy these days fronting this band and that band and writing books and when's the VH1 thing and all that. "No One Like You," The Scorpions' first big hit and again, as with most, musically sound-only the vocals remain changed. his voice is buried somewhat like Hansen's before and he's probably swallowing the mic by the time the second verse kicks in but he's got this really scratchy and raw appeal to his sound that lends this fucked up charm to a song that probably deserves a little more than its getting. but it's cool anyway. Runner up goes to the Kory Clarke fronted version of the '76 classic "In Trance," dazzling on all counts! That about covers half of it here-okay so maybe we're only "half" covered by a Hurricane. whatever. The main thing is its been done-it's an impressive first step in paying tribute to a band that in recent years maybe lessened the degree of their once mighty sting all those years ago but the nature and quality of these versions, oddly unique but usually consistent with the simple originals. We never venture far off from familiar territory here but stick around toward the end for some rather unexpected oldies to crop up in rather unusual fashion. |
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