Scorpions – Return to Forever (2015)
No matter how many times “Scorpions” were saying goodbye to the big stage, music still does not give them peace, the fire in their souls does not go out, which allows them to be living legends of rock. It is difficult to imagine that this group turned fifty years old in 2015. And even after half a century they still have something to say to their fans, and as a gift to the jubilee they released the album “Return to Forever”.
So, the album includes 12 songs and 4 bonus tracks, available in a gift edition. The stylistics of the golden period in “Return to Forever” immediately beats by its color. Everything is not without reason, because most of the material is taken from the developments of the 80’s. How masterfully Scorpions managed to give it all the actual sound and crazy melodism! Good music was always in the blood of these German geniuses. Ideally balanced mixing with a dense and warm sound, where you need hard, and where soft – is a complete delight for the ears.
Now Scorpions simply prolongs the life of their music and raises the mood of their listeners. It is strange to demand more music hits from the worldwide famous group to write a dozen more great ballads. But they do not lose shape, even if they use some of the previous achievements. Between slow and explosive songs in this album – there is a handful of mid-tempo songs that hardly testify to the excellent composer form of the Scorpions, but they sound alive, vigorous and recognizable.
Return to Forever is different from all other albums. There are some amazing, catchy songs, but in addition to the standard rock explosive songs (Going Out With A Bang, Rock My Car, All For One, Rock’n’Roll Band) and ballads (House Of Cards, Eye Of The Storm, Gypsy Life) there is a composition that is not quite typical for the staff – The World We Used To Know – in my opinion, it is the pearl of the album, though as it comes like a bonus. It is unlikely that it will be valued on the one level with the classical works of this band, but a couple of songs you will remember for a long time. I’m glad that the Scorpions continue to create, and it turns out to be very successful to play music, which gives pleasure primarily to themselves and therefore to us.
I don’t know whether this fresh album is really the last one in the discography of the great band. In fact, it does not matter. After all, the age-old principle of rock’n’roll “live here and now”, so I admire the new album very much.