Scorpions: your favorite decade/era?

[LudwigVan]

Which was the best Scorpions era? I don't foresee many votes for 90's or 00's, but you never know.

I went with the 70's. When I first got into the Scorpions, I sort of dismissed Lonesome Crow and Fly to the Rainbow, but now I absolutely love them.

70's: Lonesome Crow, Fly to the Rainbow, In Trance, Virgin Killer, Taken by Force, Lovedrive

80's: Animal Magnetism, Blackout, Love at First Sting, Savage Amusement

90's: Crazy World, Face the Heat, Pure Instinct, Eye II Eye

00's +: Unbreakable, Humanity Hour I, Sting in the Tail, Return to Forever

[Grappler]

Definite the 80's era - they were absolutely on fire during those years. 

[WildRanger]

70's (non-commercial) stuff, hands down.
Taken by Force and Tokyo Tapes - 'nuff said. When they were young, hungry, creative and had no cheesy ballads. And when they had Uli Jon Roth!

[EPICVIEW]

I love UJR but it has to be the 80s

[Stadler]

This is REALLY tough; with Lovedrive in the "70's" group, I'm going for that.   I like the first four post-Roth records, but it drops off pretty quick after that. I can take or leave Roth's voice, mostly leave, but there's more good in the first half than the next phase.

"We'll Burn The Sky"!   

[pg1067]

I gotta go with 80s, but splitting it in this way doesn't make a ton of sense.  The better splitting point is between Tokyo Tapes and Lovedrive (which would make my vote even stronger).  In other words, my real vote is Lovedrive through Love at First Sting.  The Roth era is rather hit-or-miss for me.

Full disclosure:  Other than Wind of Change, I don't think I've heard any Scorps material after Savage Amusement.

When they were young, hungry, creative and had no cheesy ballads.

Well...sure, but can you really say that He's a Woman - She's a Man is appreciably better than a song like Lady Starlight or Still Loving You?

[Stadler]

I gotta go with 80s, but splitting it in this way doesn't make a ton of sense.  The better splitting point is between Tokyo Tapes and Lovedrive (which would make my vote even stronger).  In other words, my real vote is Lovedrive through Love at First Sting.  The Roth era is rather hit-or-miss for me.

Full disclosure:  Other than Wind of Change, I don't think I've heard any Scorps material after Savage Amusement.

When they were young, hungry, creative and had no cheesy ballads.

Well...sure, but can you really say that He's a Woman - She's a Man is appreciably better than a song like Lady Starlight or Still Loving You?

You're making me rethink my choice.   But you're right: Tokyo Tapes is a far better line in the sand.   I think the duds in the 70's (HAW-SAM, Steamrock Fever, Hell Cat) are worse than anything in the 80's, but the peaks of the 70's are pretty darn high.

[TAC]

Full disclosure:  Other than Wind of Change, I don't think I've heard any Scorps material after Savage Amusement.

I have Crazy World and it's not bad. But Humanity Hour One is AMAZING!

[pg1067]

You're making me rethink my choice.   But you're right: Tokyo Tapes is a far better line in the sand.   I think the duds in the 70's (HAW-SAM, Steamrock Fever, Hell Cat) are worse than anything in the 80's, but the peaks of the 70's are pretty darn high.

That's for damn sure.

Also, I rather like Steamrock Fever (I don't even mind HAW-SAM, but it seemed an apt song to use in response to WR's point about "cheesy ballads").

[TAC]

Lovedrive is the swing vote for me.

[Zoom E]

I voted 70s but the 80s era is amazing too. Blackout was my first Scorps album, so that’s near and dear to my heart.

Post 80s, my two favourite albums are Unbreakable and Humanity Hour One.

[Dream Team]

This is REALLY tough; with Lovedrive in the "70's" group, I'm going for that.   I like the first four post-Roth records, but it drops off pretty quick after that. I can take or leave Roth's voice, mostly leave, but there's more good in the first half than the next phase.

"We'll Burn The Sky"!   

Yup

[Setlist Scotty]

I went with the 80s.

I know it gets slagged a lot by fans, but I really love Savage Amusement. Not everything on that album is perfect, but the highs and lows are not as extreme as say on Crazy World (Crazy World, Hit Between the Eyes, Don't Believe Her, Send Me an Angel = killer; Tease Me Please Me, Money and Fame and especially Kicks After Six = awful). SA is a good album.

Humanity Hour One is AMAZING!

I agree! Wonder if there will ever be an "Hour Two".

[emtee]

80's

[pg1067]

My the way...

Is there any mainstream band that has had more album covers censored or changed?

[bosk1]

I went with the 80s.

I know it gets slagged a lot by fans, but I really love Savage Amusement. Not everything on that album is perfect, but the highs and lows are not as extreme as say on Crazy World (Crazy World, Hit Between the Eyes, Don't Believe Her, Send Me an Angel = killer; Tease Me Please Me, Money and Fame and especially Kicks After Six = awful). SA is a good album.

I agree.  I liked that album a lot. 

For the poll, I went with '80s.  Every one of those albums is solid.  For the '70s, I don't own a single album, and have no desire to.  But there are a lot of strong [i[songs[/i].  But the thing is, this is a band that has so many greatest hits and live packages that it isn't hard to collect the songs I like without having to buy the albums and skip the filler. 

For the '90s, they had some decent output.  Face the Heat was pretty solid.  And I liked Pure Instinct, even if it did sound a bit "by the numbers" and uninspired.  But Crazy World didn't do it for me, and Eye II Eye was one of only two albums that I bought and promptly returned after one listen. 

In the '00s, Humanity Hour I was amazing.  I put it up there with the classic material.  Haven't heard the other albums, and don't really feel a strong need.

[Evermind]

But Humanity Hour One is AMAZING!

In the '00s, Humanity Hour I was amazing.  I put it up there with the classic material.  Haven't heard the other albums, and don't really feel a strong need.

Humanity Hour 1 is fantastic, not a single weak song. Incredibly strong effort, and I'll go as far as to say it's my favourite Scorpions album.

I've heard and own Sting in the Tail and it's half killer, especially if you like trademark Scorpions ballads, and half meh. Raised on Rock, The Good Die Young, Sly, Lorelei and The Best is Yet to Come are all very strong songs, in my opinion, the rest I could do without.

[bosk1]

This may sound a bit odd, given where they had a lot of their success, but I never really cared for their ballads, for the most part.  Even Still Loving You.  I mean, it's not a bad song.  But there are a bunch of real rockers on that album that I would rank ahead of it. 

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

I grew up with the ballads man, so their ingrained into my soul. In my opinion it's high quality cheese.

I just love the debut though, it's just so diffrent and I would've never guessed it was Scorpions if I heard it without context.

[TAC]

Still Loving You is amazing!

[Stadler]

My the way...

Is there any mainstream band that has had more album covers censored or changed?

The "In Trance" cover is one of my favorite album covers of all time (the caveat being that I have every reason to believe the model is of age. ;0)

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

Still Loving You is amazing!

Yes it is!

[pg1067]

My the way...

Is there any mainstream band that has had more album covers censored or changed?

The "In Trance" cover is one of my favorite album covers of all time (the caveat being that I have every reason to believe the model is of age. ;0)

...as opposed to what came immediately after.

[EPICVIEW]

we are in a tie!!!! 

[Stadler]

Still Loving You is amazing!

I saw that tour, and that was one of the few moments of the show I remember.   Hearing Klaus sing that in an arena was pretty friggin' cool. 

[bosk1]

Like I said, I don't dislike it at all.  But I never really liked it as much as most seem to, and just feel it is overrated.  If you love it, that's great.  You obviously aren't alone.  It was a massive hit for a reason.

For the most part, when I reach for Scorpions these days, it is usually either World Wide Live, Live Bites, or Humanity.  And those satisfy my Scorps itch pretty well.

[TAC]

Still Loving You is amazing!

I saw that tour,

Me too. Bon Jovi opened.

[Stadler]

Still Loving You is amazing!

I saw that tour,

Me too. Bon Jovi opened.

Yep; they were good too, even though I never really followed up on them as a fan.

[TAC]

They were so good, I bought the sleeveless sweatshirt thingy they were selling, and I bought their tape the next day.

[pg1067]

I only saw the Scorps once -- on the Savage Amusement tour at the old LA Sports Arena.  The internet suggests that Winger opened, but I don't think I watched them.  My interest in the band was waning at that point, but it was a damn good show.

[TAC]

I only saw the Scorps once -- on the Savage Amusement tour at the old LA Sports Arena.  The internet suggests that Winger opened, but I don't think I watched them.  My interest in the band was waning at that point, but it was a damn good show.

That was actually the last time I saw them. We got Kingdom Come opening here.

[Setlist Scotty]

Only saw them once when they co-headlined with Deep Purple and Dio opened in 2002. Actually, that's the only time I ever saw any of those bands live, but it was a great show. I think Scorpions put on the most energetic set (DP closed) but it was enjoyable all around.

[Zoom E]

My first Scorpions show was in 82, with Iron Maiden and Girlschool in support. That was a cracker of a show.

 My other Scorps shows were in 84 on the Love at First Sting tour, 1990 on the Crazy World tour, around 1997 with Alice Cooper, and in 2007 with the band Three opening.

[King Postwhore]

Love at First Sting tour with Bon Jovi opening for me. What a killer show. 

[TAC]

My first Scorpions show was in 82, with Iron Maiden and Girlschool in support. That was a cracker of a show.

That's awesome Zoom. I saw Girlschool open or Deep  Purplein '84.