392. Scorpions / Fly to the Rainbow. 1974. 3/5

Scorpions had released their debut album in 1972, titled “Lonesome Crow”, having done their time out in the pubs and clubs like all bands of their ilk. On the back of the album, they toured Europe and the UK, and in particular as support to the British hard rock band UFO, who were also trying to find their niche in the music market. So impressed were the band with the Scorpions young guitar prodigy Michael Schenker that they asked him to join their band. Having consulted with older brother Rudolph, who encouraged him to further his career, Michael left Scorpions for UFO, a decision that was to benefit both parties until the end of the 70’s decade. In order to complete the tour, Michael suggested his friend Uli Jon Roth come in and fill in on lead guitar, which he then did. At the end of the tour Uli Jon was asked to remain a part of the band, but he instead decided to remain in his own band, called Dawn Road. This and Michael’s departure led to the Scorpions breaking up at this time.
All was not lost, however. Despite the demise of Scorpions, Rudolph had decided that he wanted to work with Uli Jon, and having attended some of Dawn Road’s rehearsals he decided to join the band, which at that time consisted of Uli Jon Roth on guitar and vocals, bass guitarist Francis Buchholtz, drummer Jurgen Rosenthal and keyboardist Achim Kirschning. Once he was in the mix, Roth and Buchholtz convinced Rudolph to invite Klaus Meine to come on board as lead vocalist, reprising his role from Scorpions, which he eventually agreed to. With two bands figuratively merging into one, the new group decided to forego the Dawn Road name to retake the name of Scorpions, as that name was already well known in the German music community and had of course already released an album, which Dawn Road had not. And thus came the second coming of Scorpions the band.
This was the lineup that entered the studio to record what would now become Scorpions sophomore album. As a part of his agreement to join UFO, Michael Schenker contributed to the writing of three songs on the new album, thus allowing a direct correlation and similarity in the writing partnerships between the first two albums. And with Rudolph and Klaus contributing the majority of the rest of the writing, the band was ready to take the next step in their career.

Creating a tradition that would last for decades, the Scorpions open their album with the hard rocking and fast tempo of "Speedy's Coming", a song that not for the last time references the band's fans and they way they both interact. It is a terrific opening statement from the newly constituted band, composed by Rudolph and Klaus and showing off each aspect of the new band lineup, especially showcasing Klaus Meine's amazing vocals and Uli Jon Roth's wonderful lead guitar work. On this track too you get a real feel for Francis Buchholtz's bass sound, it is very prominent here and adds greatly to the sound of the song. Following this comes the very middle-eastern influenced sound of the Schenker/Meine song "They Need a Million" featuring the lead vocals of rhythm guitarist Rudolph Schenker, one of the very few times he performed this role in the band's career. And, he does an admirable job of it as well. Certainly not well enough to justify doing the role over Klaus, but it is still interesting to hear him do so on this track. Then comes "Drifting Sun", the only song on this album composed by Uli Jon Roth, and also featuring him on lead vocals. It must have been an interesting time for the band, and with three different lead vocalists on the first three songs of the album, perhaps they thought at the time this would be a direction they might head in. Once again, Uli Jon is not in the same race as Klaus Meine when it comes to singing, but here, unlike some of his efforts on future albums, his vocals are quite listenable, and his lead guitar is great once again. It's a long rambling song in the style of the era, and one that is enjoyable as a result. Closing out side one of the album is the first of the tracks co-written by Michael Schenker, this one along with Klaus, "Fly People Fly" with Klaus returning on lead vocals, a song that harps on rising above your struggles and reaching for the sky.
The second side of the album is kickstarted by "This is My Song", Rudolph and Klaus's remonstration with the state of the world, of the negativity that prevails and their hope for a better world. The lacklustre start does brighten towards the end with Uli Jon's solo guitar stretching through the back half. "Far Away" is composed by Rudolph and Klaus along with Michael, follows on from this song, with Klaus's lyrics encouraging of leaving behind any troubles and of searching for positives in your life. Again the song starts off in a quiet melancholy phase before breaking out at the halfway point and coming home in a harder fashion. The album then concludes with the epic title track "Fly to the Rainbow", composed by Michael Schenker and Uli Jon Roth, the only time they have collaborated together. At almost ten minutes in length, it covers the gamut of music at the time, including psychedelic elements and hard rock themes, with the bass guitar from Francis again booming through as a major player throughout the song, topped by the drums of Jurgen Rosenthal. Uli Jon has a ball on his guitar during the song, breaking out at times of his choosing to penetrate the songs veneer. This song is again perhaps the final great song of that era in regards to its sound. It is born of the 1960's, and by 1974 music had morphed into a different era, and this is the final remnant of the psychedelic period, one which all members of this band originated from, but were well on their way to helping to form what was to come in the music world.

Those who have followed my Scorpions journey will know that it was those albums of the second era of the band, from 1979 through to 1993, that initially grabbed me by the you-know-what's and turned me into a fan. The World Wide Live album was that first stop, and the other albums from that point on are still a major part of my music makeup. Delving back into the albums of the 1970's became a task that followed all of this, and was an interesting period in itself. The Uli Jon Roth years are a different kettle of fish in the Scorpions discography and journey, and having digested the later material first, it is a challenging thing to firstly listen to and then appreciate this era of the band.
This first album of the merged entity does however deliver. It would be hard not to, with Klaus Meine's voclas and Uli Jon Roth's guitar alone. Both are spectacular and are afforded the opportunity to shine. This is not to overlook the excellence of Rudolph Schenker's guitaring as well, always so important in the band's music, and Francis Buchholz on bass guitar is excellent as is Jurgen Rosenthal on drums.
It has been a little over 20 years since I first heard this album in full, and listening to it again in recent weeks it has been noticeable to me how much I still enjoy it. "Lonesome Crow" is almost a standalone album, given the time since it was recorded and released and the change in personnel, and this merged group could easily have gone bust very quickly. But the choice to insist that Michael Schenker contribute to the writing of this album before leaving for UFO, and only one song from Uli Jon, meant that the writing stayed on a similar path that the original Scorpions had done, and allowed the other influences to seep in slowly, and I think that not only works here on "Fly to the Rainbow" but for the basis of the future albums. Achim Kirschning decided to leave after the recording of the album. Soon after, Jürgen Rosenthal had to leave as he was drafted into the army. He was to become the first of several drummers over the next few years. This album began a run of several albums through to 1978 where the Scorpions built their reputation through Europe and the UK, and eventually into the US, as a band with great songs and great musicianship. It may not be what people who grew up with the band through the 1980's would remember, but with a consideration for the times it was recorded in, this album holds its own for the era.