Scorpions – ‘From The First Sting’

(BMG)

Another Scorpions Compilation I hear you cry? Yes, but this one does incorporate the bands entire career right up until today! So not just another straight forward smash and grab with the bands most famous songs, this is a more comprehensive career retrospective. Is it any good? of course it is, it’s the damn Scorpions!

The album runs in chronological order which shows the bands musical evolution clearly. Starting with ‘In The Search of the Peace of Mind’ from their 1972 debut album ‘Lonesome Crow’ all the way through to the title track of 2022’s ‘Rock Believer’ album’. Every studio album is represented by at least one song and a whole bunch of Live songs are mixed in along the way. There are two unreleased tracks both live cuts ‘This Is My Song’ and ‘Still Loving You’ which features a guest appearance from violinist Vanessa Mae – this live recording was from around 1996.

It is a monster collection of thirty-one songs, which with a five-decade long history is still only a drop in the ocean. There are of course some notable omissions but it must have been a nightmare collating this album to feature the bands entire career and include all their hits at the same time. All the heavy hitters are here like ‘Wind Of Change’ and ‘Rock You Like A Hurricane’ but there are a few tracks missing that I think some people will be shocked have not appeared in this collection. With such a big back catalogue it should not be a surprise some tracks have had to be cut and what makes this compilation different is it does cover the bands entire history, that may not have been possible if some of their bigger albums got more song representation.

The Scorpions are famous for their ballads and this album has a lot of them, so that may not be for everyone. I know some may have preferred for the rockier side of the band to be front and centre but for a band synonymous with power ballads it does not surprise me one bit.

‘From The First Sting’ is a great starting point for newbies as it showcases the bands sound over the decades and it will allow new listeners to hear the band in different eras, rather than just the Eighties for example which is not representative of the bands style in its decade’s long entirety.

9/10

Essential Track - 'No One Like You'

Review by Woody