SCORPIONS — Fly To The Rainbow (review)

SCORPIONS — Fly To The Rainbow album cover

Album · 1974 · Hard Rock

4.5/5 · 2016-04-02
siLLy puPPy

Alright ladies and gents. Step right up and see today’s genre death match. In this corner we have Krautrock! Lysergically trippin’ right now and recently seen piling in the Bratwurst and Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte at their local Hannover buffet after an apparent pot brownie overdose. On the other side we have heavy metal! The new kid in town who was vying for control on “Lonesome Crow” but was constantly distracted by loose skirts, cheap Schwarzbier at happy hour and blowing out too many amps at rehearsals following whiskey fueled bar fights. The two genres coincided side by side for a single album creating one weird little musical hybrid but trouble was afoot as they just can’t get along another day. They can’t take it anymore! The tensions have reached the breaking point to heights not even the Odd Couple could resolve and we are gathered here today to watch one of these genres meet its maker. Let the best genre win! Ding ding! And they’re at it! Bonk! Crrraaack! Ker-sploosh! Splatt! Whamm! OMG! That’s so gotta hurt…….

- insert dramatic pause here -

Ladies and gents! We have a winner! HEAVY FUCKING METAAAAAALLLLL! Now seriously. Did you think Krautrock had a chance here? For those who care, Krautrock was gravely injured but lived to carry on in more appropriate venues around the Berlin scene and lived happily ever after following this painful divorce.

Fast forward to album number two for the SCORPIONS and we get their first truly hard rockin’ heavy hittin’ metal album FLY TO THE RAINBOW. Gone are all the psychedelic jams, freaked out ambience and electronic experiments that personally i liked quite a bit but it was like being torn between two lovers and feeling like a fool and a little obvious that just because these guys were German didn’t mean they quite had the temperaments for such drawn out and intricate mechanical meanderings. These guys wanted to fuckin’ rock! And loud! And it didn’t help that when they were on tour opening for hard rockers UFO, Michael Schenker jumped ship and joined the other team leaving the band more dry than high. This lightning bolt from the sky forced them to do some serious soul searching and they found their new lease on life as a heavy rock band after they serendipitously met another band named Dawn Road which hosted none other than Ulrich Roth (guitars), Jürgen Rosenthal (drums) and Francis Buchholz (bass). The two bands merged like a fleet of BMWs to the Autobahn and it became a major win win situation ushering in the newly born SCORPIONS ready and willing to rock the world to kingdom come. And NOTHING says i’m a new band more than the the most anti-Krautrock song possible namely the sizzling hot bluesy hard rockin’ opener “Speedy’s Coming.” A prescient track title indeed as the band would only gain momentum and heaviness over the following years and become one of Germany’s biggest exports (sorry Volkswagen).

FLY TO THE RAINBOW is one impressive powerhouse of excellent songwriting skills, heavy rockin’ guitar riffs, pummeling bass and drum drives as well as the first album to really showcase Klaus Meine’s incredible vocal range that suits his true skill set. All of the tracks on this one pack a punch of some of the tastiest rock melodies combined with an energetic and passionate delivery whether it be Meine’s excellent vocal performances or the bedazzling dual guitar assault action of Ulrich Roth’s Hendrix inspired guitar acrobatics teamed up with founder Rudolph Schenker’s power riffs. Rosenthal equally delivers his unique drumming skills that accent Buchholz’ groovy bass abuse. While hardly noticeable there’s a touch of organ and Mellotron providing the rare atmospheric enhancer most notably on the title track. Another interesting feature of the earlier SCORPIONS albums is the sharing of vocal duties. Ulrich Roth takes up the lead on “Drifting Sun” and co-leads on the title track. While Hendrix fueled guitar god worship is clearly the star on FLY TO THE RAINBOW, there are also beautiful flamenco type rhythms like on “They Need A Million,” the beginning of their famous power ballads on “Fly People Fly” as well as the outstanding arpeggiated acoustic techniques in addition to the propensity of writing high quality songs that stand the test of time.

All in all, FLY TO THE RAINBOW is an outstanding little gem that found the SCORPIONS struttin’ their stuff like a proud peacock in a peahen harem. So if this is so friggin’ rockin’ then what’s up with that album cover? I mean Herr Tripper gettin’ all Icarus on us with his little propeller feet hoisting a rainbow flag and wearing a welder’s mask and upside down movie popcorn bag on his head? Whaaaaat?!!! I guess nobody told the record company who was the winner of the death match, but just for the record, the band hated the cover from the get go and it has been voted one of the worst in rock history. Personally i think it’s a pretty whacked out bizarre yet interesting concept but maybe a better choice for Achim Reichel or Amon Düül II. Anyhoo, it’s the music that ultimately matters and this album delivers some of the hardest hittin’ melodic bluesy rockers like few others did all the way back in 1974. One of the top tier SCORPIONS albums in my world and an excellent debut of their second major lineup. And if you can’t stand the debut album then start here. It only gets better as the good times roll.

more than 2 years ago
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siLLy puPPy wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Scorpions albums are so catchy and melodic i can't imagine anyone not liking a track or two at least and they really rock. Sure, not the most original band ever but consistent at least until the mid 80s

voila_la_scorie wrote:

more than 2 years ago

I remember in junior high, a friend loved the Scorpions and had Blackout and Love at First Sting in his Walkman all the time. I offered him a listen to "Drifting Sun". He didn't seem to understand. He just looked confused. "It's the Scorpions, man." Nope. Not for him it wasn't.