Label: BMG Records (Europe), 538159492
Style: Hard Rock
Country: Hanover, West Germany
Time: 51:01
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 424 Mb
Charts - Germany, France & United Kingdom: Gold.
Lovedrive found Scorpions writing shorter, crunchier, songs, with Rudolf Schenker dropping Uli Jon Roth’s flowery Hendrixisms in favour of the choppy, precise riffs that would continue to define the band’s sound.
“This was the album where we wanted to prove losing Uli Jon Roth on guitar wouldn’t affect us," says Schenker. "Klaus and I were determined to show we could carry on without him. We brought in Matthias, but he was still finding his way. So I did a solo, and Michael my brother also did some. He was on honeymoon and called to tell me he was back in Germany. Michael asked what we were doing, and when I told him we were doing a new album, he offered to come down and play on it. That made a big difference to the whole sound."
With Jabs on board the songs were sharper and shorter, as well as a little less reliant on extensive guitar solos than during the Roth era. Dovetailing perfectly with what peers like AC/DC and Aerosmith were doing at the time, the Scorpions added arena sparkle to the title track, Another Piece Of Meat and Can’t Get Enough, and the soft-centred Holiday brought another vital element to the band’s armoury: the big, weepy ballad.
Scorpions 1977 album Taken By Force was Uli Jon Roth's swansong, and the band set out on the arduous task of auditioning over 150 guitarists to find a replacement. They finally settled on a former member of the Pretty Things, Peter Tolson. Unfortunately, things didn’t gel and they again found themselves axeless. Once more they found the solution closer to home, in the form of Matthias Jabs.
“Rudy rang me up to say that he was recording a solo album and would I like to play on it,“ Jabs says. "That was typical Rudy, finding a way to hook you in.” But when Jabs joined the Scorpions, the unexpected happened. Michael Schenker had left UFO after an altercation with lead singer Phil Mogg and had also developed severe drug and alcohol problems in the process. An American management team expressed interest in working with the Scorpions, but strongly suggested it would be a good idea to take Michael on board, regardless of his state of mind. Desperate to break in the States, Rudy agreed and promptly let go of Matthias.
“What you have to remember,” Jabs explains, “is that the Scorpions weren’t a big band at all at the time, so it was really no big deal.”
Michael’s problems manifested themselves early on in the Scorpions’ US tour – he collapsed on stage during the third show. As the tour progressed the band had to plead with Matthias to help them out. “Rudy kept calling me to help out on the shows, and every time I said: ‘Okay, but just this one time.’ And he agreed… typical Rudy.”
Finally, an incoherent Michael departed and Jabs joined full-time, completing the classic Scorpions line-up. Michael did manage to stay long enough to contribute to a couple of tracks on Lovedrive, which marked the beginning of the band’s full-on assault of the US.
(loudersound.com/reviews/scorpions-lovedrive-album-of-the-week-club-review)
01. Loving You Sunday Morning (05:38)
02. Another Piece Of Meat (03:33)
03. Always Somewhere (04:57)
04. Coast To Coast (04:43)
05. Can't Get Enough (02:38)
06. Is There Anybody There (03:59)
07. Lovedrive (04:52)
08. Holiday (06:31)
09. Cause I Love You (Demo Version) (04:31)
10. Holiday (Demo Version) (09:35)
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