Throwback Thursday: "Taken By Force", by The Scorpions

In 1979 German metal band The Scorpions ended quite the era with one final non-pop/glam metal album, titled Taken By Force. Throughout the 70's The Scorpions had put out a whole slew of great heavy metal albums that sadly no one but hard core fans seem to know about these days. Before they put out their big 80's radio hits, they were even more of a musical force to be reckoned with. Incidentally, this was also their final album with guitar god Uli Jon Roth as the lead axe man so that probably explains a lot of the subsequent change in sound.

Taken By Force is a blend of straight up heavy metal, ballads, and oddly enough funk. The latter bit of course is thanks to Roth's playing style. Somehow though he managed to make funky Hendrix-like playing sound perfectly metal. Some of the best tracks on this album are ones where Roth's funk style of playing takes the foreground. You can still hear some of the kinds of styles that the band would expand upon and become famous for later on, but it's still done in such a way where it isn't overly commercial and glossy.

Steamrock Fever is one hell of a way to open an album. It sounds a lot like their 80's stuff in some ways, but it's just so loud, pounding, and fun. Honestly I don't know why this song isn't more famous. It's got a jackhammer keeping rhythm in addition to drums and has a big, thundering, melodic chorus to boot. Sadly there is no guitar solo, but you'll be having so much fun singing along to the song that you won't even notice.

The Sails of Charon in my opinion is the absolute best thing The Scorpions ever did, hands down. Nothing else comes remotely close. It starts off with Roth absolutely tearing it the eff up with some melodic, gypsy-like shredding and leads into a the first verse which whisks you away on a mystical adventure. My jaw dropped the first time I ever heard this song. There is definitely a reason that Uli Jon Roth is regarded as one of the greatest guitar players in the world even today.

Taken By Force is definitely the definition of a hidden gem. If you're a fan of The Scorpions or heavy metal in general then you owe it to yourself to go and find this album in whatever format suits you. It is entertaining and thrilling from start to finish. I guarantee there will be at least a few tracks on there that you keep in your rotation. I'm sure you'll agree with me that it's a criminally under rated album and that there are multiple tunes on it that deserve a lot more radio air play than they are getting these days.

Taken By Force, by The Scorpions receives 3.8 out of 5 stars.

Track List:

1. Steamrock Fever
2. We'll Burn the Sky
3. I've Got to Be Free
4. The Riot of Your Time
5. The Sails of Charon
6. Your Light
7. He's a Woman - She's a Man
8. Born to Touch Your Feelings

Buy the album on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Taken-Force-Scorpions/dp/B00006WKY9/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1507882314&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Scorpions+Taken+By+Force