Blackout

by

Scorpions

Edit

i was a junior in high school when this was originally was released on vinyl. i had already been weened on Animal Magnetism and Lovedrive by then, but was pleasibly surprised by this bad boy. what a breath of fresh air! if you were a hard core rocker, then you had Metallica and Motorhead to cut your teeth to, but for those of us who still liked the late '70's early '80's hard rock, ala Y&T, Dio, Ozzy, Judas Priest, AC/DC and others, then this was a diamond in the rough. i was blown away when i first heard this. it didn't seem like the same Scorpions i was used to. it seemed heavier, more alive, than those previous releases. this was a release you could sink your teeth into. a head banger. something the Scorps really hadn't fully accomplished until then. not only did they tear it up, but they slowed it down as well. "china white" is an all time classic, with the likes of the raucas "arizona" and thrashers "dynamite", "now" and of course the famed "blackout" and "no one like you". this is a cd any rocker must have in his/her collection. whether you're a thrash fan, a death metal head, or just a plain ol' rocker, you'll do well to have this in your collection. peace.

This is the Scorpions' Off the Wall. When Michael Jackson hit his peak with Thriller, it was interesting to go back and hear the previous album. When the Scorpions hit their peak with Love at First Sting, you could go back and hear this, the album in which they were clearly trying to figure out how to reach the largest possible audience.

On Blackout, even the missteps are pretty good. You Give Me All I Need and No One Like You are prototype power ballads with a little too much power. That makes them more interesting than anything on Love at First Sting. And songs like Blackout and Now! are a lot of fun --- garage versions of Rock You Like a Hurricane.

It helps that this album sounds so good remastered. It's really tight, but too old to be as slick as anything produced today. And they didn't throw in any extra tracks; I just want the original album, sounding good but without weak bonus tracks.