01. Scorpions Lovedrive 1979 (Harvest)
Heavy Metal
My whore's got wings and we're taking off!
Overview
With their previous album
Taken By Force (see review) the Scorpions had gone full circle musically and in the process had released their best and most accomplished album to date. The band had also established themselves as the premier metal band from the European scene and in the process had proven themselves to be one of the tightest and best quintets around. But with superstardom now surely within their grasp, their pivotal guitar maestro Uli Roth would surprisingly pack his guitar and leave the band! Uli Roth’s decision to leave came after their previous ‘Japanese tour’ (see
Tokyo Tapes review) as he didn’t much care for the overtly commercial direction that the band were now heading into. He would therefore go onto form his own band, which were the less than impressive neo-classical outfit Electric Sun (well he was your typical German peace loving hippie from the 1960s and 1970s!) His replacement came in the form of the more contemporary sounding Matthias Jabs, after the band had amazingly auditioned around 140 guitarists for the vacant slot in the band, before Matthias Jabs was finally handed the plum role. His position in the band though was far from initially secure, as original guitarist and the now famous Michael Schenker having been recently ousted at UFO, came back to the band to play on the
Lovedrive recordings and in the process giving the band three guitarists around this time. After the recordings for the
Lovedrive album, Michael Schenker would actually stay on and Matthias Jabs’ short tenure with the band seemed up. But then on their 1979 tour Michael Schenker’s persistent alcohol addiction found him unable to play properly on that tour and after being kicked out of UFO, was now given the boot by his former brothers in the Scorpions, which in turn now left the door open for the quick return of Matthias Jabs, he would now permanently remain with the band. There was no change though in the production department, as German producer Dieter Dierks who had just about seemingly recorded with almost every German artist in existence by 1979, would still be on board to produce his fourth album with the band and
Lovedrive would surely be his finest credit to date. Also I’ve previously remarked at just how great and provocative the Scorpions’ album covers usually were and
Lovedrive is no exception to that rule, as it perfectly captures the euro decadence of the of the well-to-do in the back of a chauffeur driven vehicle and with some gum added in for good measure, making the album as good as it looks!
Klaus Meine- Vocals
Matthias Jabs- Guitar
Rudolf Schenker- Rhythm
Francis Buchholz- Bass
Hermann Rarebell- Drums
Production- Dieter Dierks
Album
Loving You Sunday Morning- With its almost trademark sluggish opening riff, the song is a monster rocker and a vital component in the Scorpions cannon, all in all the song is simply 5 plus minutes of pure rock bliss and Matthias Jabs doesn’t miss a note!
Another Piece of Meat- The heaviness remains here, but we now have a major change in song tempo and it’s one of the fastest songs that the band ever put out, where the band perfectly capture the pure energy from the metallic feel of the track and the track itself is simply blistering in intensity!
Always Somewhere- The album’s principal ballad and the perfect example of the Rudolf Schenker and Klaus Meine writing partnership that would start to flower here and provide the backbone for the band over the ensuing years.
Coast to Coast- Just when you think things can’t get any better, the band gives us their fourth killer track on the album in this pounding mother of an instrumental track and a song that is still an instrumental staple of their concerts.
Can’t Get Enough- A return to the speed of “Another Piece of Meat” here and a song that probably would’ve worked better further down on the b-side, due to its largely later album style vibe.
Is There Anybody There?- With its almost reggae style beat, the song comes across as a nice variation on the album and it earns its merits with its catchy chorus and a surprising highlight.
Lovedrive- The title track delivers where it matters and combines the metal and melody of the band in perfect unison, on one of the band’s best known tracks and some essential guitar work.
Holiday- Much like UFO before them, the band hit us with this slow burning ballad style closer of a track and it’s usually regarded as another band essential.
Verdict
By the time of
Lovedrive the Scorpions had already trawled through five studio albums and had gone full circle musically, and now saw that a change was needed. Their earlier albums had largely played ball to the band’s own self-indulgences and had robbed them of a somewhat early lead in the music stakes, but over a series of albums they had slowly corrected this fault. The next step in their process came with the borrowing of Michael Schenker and the arrival of a more commercially dedicated guitarist in Matthias Jabs. So by the time of
Lovedrive the band had completely refocused on the type of album that they wanted to put out and Matthias Jabs’ arrival would cement this focus a la Eddie Van Halen. The focus would be on putting out a metal album with a strong commercial angle, but without sacrificing the essential heaviness of the album.
Lovedrive captures this to perfection and is littered with heavy stunners like the album opener “Loving You Sunday Morning” where the song comes across like a wild beast that’s luckily been kept on its chain. Then there is the all out pounding speed metal of “Another Piece of Meat” another album essential, where the band perfectly harness everything that is great about metal in a simply blistering fashion. This song is later mirrored by the b-side opener “Can’t Get Enough” which despite not being as accomplished as the previous song, still has its killer moments. The heaviness then continues on the instrumental “Coast to Coast” which actually sounds like an early version of what would become “Rock You Like a Hurricane” a few years later. The title track “Lovedrive” perfectly captures the commercial metal spirit of the album as a whole and sums up the true direction of the band. Then there is the beauty of the ballad “Always Somewhere” and it’s the type of ballad that the Scorpions would replicate to even greater commercial success in the 1980s, but the hidden surprise of the album comes in the reggae inspired “Is There Anybody There?” a true delight. Despite the musical variation on offer here, steady balladry though remains the key for the band and that returns on the nostalgic album closer “Holiday”.
Lovedrive is quite simply a rollarcoaster of an album that lets everything in the Scorpions’ locker hang out and that includes the melancholic vocals of Klaus Meine, stunning guitar licks by Jabs and the Schenkers, the blending of powerful rock that is spliced with epic balladry and then all wrapped up in a metal coating! If I had to say just how good and inspirational
Lovedrive as an album actually is, I’d pit it as one of the best albums that I’ve reviewed on here to date, because in just 37 glorious minutes the band don’t miss a heartbeat and deliver their masterpiece.