Published on Nov 13, 1999
Last time the Scorpions graced our pages, we dug out the band’s
debut
Lonesome Crow. Since then, I’ve found that I’ve had an
interest in discovering just who this band was long before they
became stars of the metal genre in America. So, I’ve found myself
listening to albums like
Blackout and
World Wide Live less and less, and albums like 1974’s
Fly To The Rainbow more and more.
Fly To The Rainbow was the album that first introduced Klaus
Meine and company to the States – and they said “hello” with a
lineup that was much different than the band who recorded
Lonesome Crow. In fact, only Meine and rhythm guitarist
Rudolf Schenker survived from that lineup. Taking over the lead
guitar role was Uli Jon Roth, who would lead the band through what
some people called the Scorpions’s first glory period.
The problem is that this was still a band very much in
transition, and
Fly To The Rainbow, while a stronger work than
Lonesome Crow, still was very disjointed. It’s an
improvement, albeit not much of one.
The first thing that hits you is the poppiness of the leadoff
track “Speedy’s Coming,” a track which dares to suggest that the
band is starting to get serious about rocking you to the floor.
Meine is in fine voice – which is to say, he sounds the same as he
has throughout his career – as he pays tribute to some of the more
popular acts of the time and dares to hint of a new power coming
forth to challenge said groups. So far, so good.
“They Need A Million” is the first suggestion that things
haven’t changed that much. Sure, the eventual lock into a Latin
rhythmic pattern suggests that the rock side isn’t being forgotten,
but leaving Meine to do only background vocals seems to weaken
things. (I’d be lying if I said I knew who handles the vocals on
this track and “Drifting Sun,” but there’s a different singer on
each track.) To the band’s credit, Meine does a lot more of the
vocal work on this album, and he has been moved up in the mix – but
I have to still wonder why he wasn’t the only vocalist for the band
yet.
“Fly People Fly” is a bit of a plodder, and isn’t the best
example of the work that this band could do. Likewie, I think the
title track is stretched out a bit longer than it needed to be, but
isn’t that bad of an effort. The remaining tracks, “This Is My
Song” and “Far Away,” are pretty decent songs, even if they don’t
light up the sky like some people might expect them to.
The addition of Roth and drummer Jurgen Rosenthal seems to kick
some life into the Scorpions. Roth’s guitar work seems to challenge
the melody a bit more, while Michael Schenker (who departed to join
UFO after
Lonesome Crow) seemed to want to work off the melody a
little more. Regrettably, he was gone by the time the next album,
In Trance, came out – but we’ll get to that album soon
enough. Bassist Francis Buccholz seems to provide a solid rhythmic
anchor – as well as one for the lineup, as he would remain with the
band for a good portion of their career afterwards.
Fly To The Rainbow is the first album to really show that
the Scorpions had some promise as a rock band, but they were still
very much learning to walk, and this album is another I’d call a
release for the die-hard fans. It’s still worth listening to,
especially if you want to get a feel for what this band was like
before the spotlight was shining on them. But if I had my choice of
listening to this album or
Love At First Sting repeatedly, I don’t think I’d be going
for
Fly To The Rainbow that often.