SCORPIONS
Unbreakable
Sanctuary Records 2004
www.the-scorpions.com

What's the 4-1-1?
After completely selling out to techno-pop on 1999’s Eye To Eye, arena rock mainstays The Scorpions return with a brand new studio release to try and recapture their glory days.

Genre
Hard Rock / arena rock

The Good
The Scorpions feel compelled to remind us that children are the future on "New Generation". It’s a mid-tempo track with plenty of hard riffs. The final chorus eerily similar to P.O.D.'s "Youth of the Nation", complete with "we are, we are" chanting by a group of children. "Love Em or Leave" is classic Scorpions with its strong vocals and piston-pumping riffs. "Deep and Dark" was written in the vain of "Still Loving You". It mixes melodic single note picking with some chucky power chords. "Borderline", Blood Too Hot", and "Someday is Now" could easily be the Scorpion's next big arena rockers.

No one, I repeat, no one writes better power ballads than the Scorpions. "Maybe I Maybe You" is a piano and strings arrangement with just a little power guitar towards the end, and "She Said" is an acoustic laden ballad about a loved one's passing, but her spirit lives on. "Can You Feel It" summons the spirit of "The Zoo" with it's muted guitar picking and wah-wah solo section. The Scorpions show their age on anthemic track "Remember the Good Times". The good times they refer to are the sixties and seventies.

The Bad
They sure do use the words "cold" and "ice" a lot.

The Verdict
The Scorpions have returned to the formula that made them arena rock icons.

Did you know?
After the release of 1980’s Animal Magnetism, vocalist Klaus Meine lost his voice and required surgery. This held up the recording of their next album. Rumors were ramped that Meine had been fired and replaced with Don Dokken. Of course the rumors were quashed with the release of 1982’s Blackout, which featured the hit “No One Like You”.

Rating: out of 5

--George Dionne