Scorpions

It's quite difficult to find a young person who knows about the Scorpions. Even when their careers were peaking in the '80s, they were never widely recognized, existing always as more of an underground band. The lack of hit singles produced by the group is by no means a judgment of its talent, however, as Deadly Sting: The Mercury Years proves. Some may find the fact that Mercury made the compilation a double-disc set surprising – again due to the band's small following – but the album is far better than the single-disc collection Best of Rockers 'n' Ballads. Following chronologically from 1979 to 1993 (thus covering the years in which the band enjoyed its most success)…

When the Scorpions finally broke through to the mainstream in 1982, RCA released numerous compilations of the band's earlier work from the '70s. By no means should one think The Best of the Scorpions is for diehards only – the music here is quite enjoyable. RCA would go on to release several more Scorpions compilations (Best Of, Vol. 2, Hot & Heavy, Best of Rockers 'n' Ballads, etc.), but the original Best Of is still the wisest purchase.

Blackout was the Scorpions' first majorly successful album, due to its clever balance of pop/rock (the title track), power ballads ("When the Smoke Is Going Down"), and catchy heavy metal ("Dynamite," "No One Like You"). Vocalist Klaus Meine had a throat operation prior to the record's release, and surprisingly, his voice sounds more melodic and lively than ever…

It appears as though many metalheads lost track of the Scorpions after their whistle-heavy ballad, "Wind of Change," hit in 1991. But as fans who have faithfully stuck by the group's side will tell you, they have continued to issue new albums and tour on a regular basis since then. And while there have been quite a few Scorpions compilations issued over the years, none traced their career over a 30-year span from 1974's In Trance through 2004's Unbreakable. But all that changed with the arrival of 2006's three-disc overview, Platinum Collection. What you get is quite a lot of the expected fare – some of arena rock's most foundation-shaking anthems ("Rock You Like a Hurricane," "Big City Nights"), as well as Bic-hoisting power ballads ("Still Loving You," the aforementioned "Wind of Change").

Still Loving You is a compilation album by the German hard rock band Scorpions. Subtitled More Gold Ballads, the record is a follow-up to the 1985 compilation Gold Ballads. Nine of the tracks were remixed for this album by Erwin Musper at Wisseloord Studios, Hilversum, the Netherlands. The song "Living for Tomorrow" appears here for the first time.

Prior to Lovedrive's recording, the Scorpions' lineup had a major change when their lead guitarist, Uli Jon Roth, quit the group (not to mention, the rock genre was rapidly changing). With this in mind, the band not only highlighted the album with the licks and riffs of three guitarists (Rudolf Schenker, Michael Schenker, Matthias Jabs), but they also dramatically changed their style to sound more like that of Van Halen. This change is quite welcome; not only are the performances more unpredictable, but the lyrics and melodies are better written…

ANIMAL MAGNETISM is an album that may take a few spins before its hypnotic metal groove takes hold. The underlying theme of the album is sexuality and could find easily serve as fine soundtrack for an evening of passion…

The Scorpions' two previous releases, Blackout and Love at First Sting, were mostly successful due to the band's ability to adjust with the times; with Blackout, they used the classic power rock introduced by bands like Van Halen, and for Sting they used similar melodies, but with a harder, tighter sound akin to the work of such bands as Dokken and REO Speedwagon. With Savage Amusement, the group's first studio recording in almost four years, The Scorpions experimented with more polished pop melodies that Def Leppard and the like had made popular…