By the end of the 1990’s however, this was beginning to be stretched very thin. 1996’s “Pure Instinct” had overindulged in the power ballad mentality in overwhelming numbers, which had seen their rock oriented fan group beginning to wonder if the horse had bolted. Following on from this had come “Eye II Eye”, which was another radical departure in that it moved towards a pop sound, an interesting choice for the late 1990’s. This album with its massive changes again alienated big portions of the fan base, despite their single “Mysterious” reaching number 26 on the US charts. It marked a decade that the band had been through a number of stylistic changes that markedly diverged from what was generally happening in the popular music scene, and while this may have been an important thing for the band to do, to continue to push themselves to be flexible with their music, it was not to the overall enjoyment of their long term fans.
So what was to come next? While they had not gone down the unplugged route – yet – the band turned their attention to again pushing the boundaries, though by the time they came to do so, those boundaries had already been given a huge shove. The decision was made by the band to try and record a collaboration with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, which was to feature rearranged songs from the Scorpions repertoire, as well as some classical interludes. Initially, English composer Andrew Powell was asked to provide the arrangements, and Michael Kaman was designated to be the lead on the orchestral material. Unfortunately for the band, Kaman left this project early on when the opportunity came to work with another band who were doing a very similar thing in regards to recording with an orchestra. That album that became S&M, was the biggest hit for Metallica in the late 1990s decade and it made them the leaders of the pack when it came to this kind of album. And despite the fact that Scorpions were doing this as a studio project whereas S&M was alive recording, eventually it was seen that they were copying this concept, when in retrospect, they had germinated the idea as early as Metallica had. Finally, they were able to come to terms with Austrian arrange and conductor Christian Kolonovits, and he proved to be the correct collaborator. Recording for the album took place between January and April of 2000, which led to the release of the final product which was titled “Moment of Glory”.
The album opens with the retitled and expanded glory of “Hurricane 2000”, the excellent reimagining of the band’s most famous and popular song “Rock You Like a Hurricane”. This has been particularly well orchestrated and fills it with an even more anthemic vibe than the original song contains. As a way to give the listener the best idea of the concept that the band is trying to look for here, this song does it perfectly. That opening minute that the philharmonic dominates before Schenker’s opening iconic riff comes in is superb, and from here the two combine as one to create an amazing version of this song. This is followed by a new song written especially for this album, “Moment of Glory”, which is an interesting piece as this had to have been composed with the Berliner Philharmonic in mind to add their pieces. It is very much in the expected power ballad variety of Scorpions track, and is one that has been utilised since this album’s release. And yeah... it’s fine. It morphs into the kind of track certain sections of the fan base would have been looking for.
One of the band’s amazing (if not their most amazing) power ballads “Send Me an Angel” is the next to get the treatment, and we are once again treated to an amazing vocal performance by Klaus Meine, alongside the beautiful orchestral arrangement provided as the background. This song sounds completely brilliant whenever it is performed, but this version with the enhanced acoustics it one of the best. Another of the ‘everyone in the world knows this song’... songs... “Wind of Change”, also gets its chance to shine in this environment, and yes, it too has had a makeover that brings to the fore especially Klaus’s vocals once again. But it does sound a little flat following the previous track, because the platitudes and emotion of that track well and truly outstrips that of “Wind of Change”.
“Crossfire” opens with a version of “Midnight in Moscow” which in turn was a version of the Soviet patriotic song “Moscow Nights”, a classically composed instrumental which ties in nicely to the opening of “Crossfire” itself from “Love at First Sting”, played as an instrumental track and beautifully performed. This then moves straight into the so-called “Deadly Sting Suite” which is a combination of two tracks: “He’s a Woman, She’s a Man” from the album “Taken by Force” and “Dynamite” from “Love at First Sting”. Once again here, like the previous track, this is just an instrumental performance of the combined tracks, which showcases the combining of the band alongside the orchestration, and is excellently performed by both sides of this equation. These songs allow the band to show how wonderful the music is that the band writes, and how it merges so well with the Berlin Philharmonic, without a focus on the vocals of Klaus which had dominated the two power ballads.
“Here in My Heart” is a cover of a song written by well known songwriter Diane Warren and originally released by the artist Tiffany. I’m not going to lie to you here – I don’t understand the motivation to do this song on this album. There is a nice duet between Klaus and Lyn Liechty, but apart from that it is filler. “Still Loving You” is yet another of the Scorpions massive power ballads, and it receives the same sort of care and performance as the previously performed power ballads. Then comes the increased energy of “Big City Nights”, one of the band’s best high velocity tracks, and while the backing orchestration is good, this song really doesn’t need it, it isn’t the kind of song that is going to be improved in this situation. It also has a guest vocal performance from Ray Wilson, which again seems completely unnecessary. The album then concludes with “Lady Starlight”, the final ballad on the album, one that fits the purpose of this album but perhaps misses the mark if you are someone like me who was hoping for more hard in the rock.
At the time that this was released, I was still coming to terms with bands that I had grown up with who had played the greatest of heavy metal of my generation... suddenly devolving into other methods to their music. Metallica and Megadeth, both playing acoustic sets in their concerts, was something that... let’s just say it didn’t sit well with me. Listening to them was akin to torture. And it is fair to say that when these albums began to appear with bands utilising symphony and orchestra, I felt zero need to seek them out and listen to them. It was in fact only through the tireless and endless pushing from the kids half my age I was playing cricket with at the time that I relented and listened to Metallica’s “S&M” and found that it probably wasn’t as bad as I feared it would be. The song selection though remained less than exciting. So that by the time this album was released, I felt less aggrieved by being forced to listen to such an album.
So I got the album and put it on. And the opening burst of the band’s most famous track does come across well. Well enough to deserve a few listens on its own aside from the rest of the album as it turns out. And then as you move through the album... yeah, it sounds great. The band always sound terrific and that is no different here. And the orchestra do a great job and generally fill the songs out well.
But just how often is this something that you are going pull off your shelves and listen to? Is this the kind of thing that is going to interest you enough to keep coming back time after time? I mean, to me it is still a gimmick. A clever one yes. A worthy addition, yes. But for the fan, is it something you will have a desire to revisit on a regular basis.
I have had this on again for the last couple of days, and to be fair that’s more than I would really have bothered with if I wasn’t being thorough for this episode. Once, actually, was enough. It is an enjoyable album. It has some very good Scorpions songs, moulded into shape to have them backed by this orchestra. And for anyone out there who enjoys the Scorpions and hasn’t heard this album, then certainly you should find it and listen to it, because everything about it is done wonderfully well. But this is one of those albums that I was very keen to get the script drafted for, so that I could move onto the next albums and review. Because it isn’t an album I have any need to listen to on multiple occasions back to back. It is a great one-off listen to remind you of their skills. And then, back on the shelves, until the next time.
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