883. Scorpions / Return to Forever. 2015. 3/5

This could be the longest goodbye retirement farewell in the history of music, but Scorpions are still out there doing their thing, and doing it their way. So they may have reneged on their retirement announcement, and they may have reneged on their final album quote. They may well be around forever, constantly touring the globe without ever coming to Australia so that we could see them live like practically every other place in the world has. Certainly they have come across a slightly new and ingenious way to write and record this new album, and while only time will tell if this party is going to continue, there is no denying the fact that this band keeps producing listenable albums after almost 50 years.

From all reports, when this album was first mooted, it was actually going to contain only material from the archives, culled from the numerous songs written and recorded for previous albums, but never used mainly due to the space and time restraints on vinyl records.. The majority of these songs were to be from the 1980's and through into the early 1990's, so the era that they were being drawn from was arguably the band's greatest. However, when the band had come to its decision not to finish up, and there was some more writing being done by the band, it was decided to make the album a hybrid, mixing both new material and these older unused songs and demos, with a little bit of spit and polish to bring them up to speed.
Does it work? It's an individual's thing I guess. The new songs written for the album have that Scorpions sound to them. "Going Out With a Bang", "We Built This House" and "All For One" all have that famous Scorpions hard rock sound and sing-along choruses, and focus on the relationship of the band as a whole. "Rock My Car" originates from the band's early days, and rocks along much like these songs.
"House of Cards" falls in that slower, quieter, ballad section that Scorpions always have, and admittedly always do well. Obviously there are some songs that stand out better than others of this variety from the past, and these songs here wouldn't make that. "Gypsy Life" also goes down this path, though as it was written originally for the Acoustica album this is understandable. Both of these songs are okay, but not high on my list of favourites from the album.
"Rock 'n' Roll Band" and "Catch Your Luck and Play" are from the Savage Amusement era, and both actually have the vibe of that album. Both are catchy and pacier numbers that track along at a fast clip with prominent guitars and again those choruses that are simple and as a result easy to sing along with. "Eye of the Storm" finds itself somewhere in the middle of all of this, a reasonable track that doesn't seem to be able to find its niche within the album framework.

When Humanity - Hour I was released, it blew me away. It was an album that just enraptured me. Sting in the Tail was fine, but more back in an average type of Scorpions album. Return to Forever ends up being in the same category. The idea of finding these songs written in the past, in an era when they dominated the scene, and using them now 30 years later isn't a bad one. There is good material here, and the band sounds as good as ever, but perhaps in the long run this does just sound a little too much like their standard songs without having a real hook or a real thunderhead to grab your attention and hold onto it. if you like the Scorpions, you will be able to put this on and enjoy it for what it is. If you are looking for an album that will be this year's balltearer, then you should be searching elsewhere.

Rating:  We're going out with a bang. Well, we'll see about that...  3/5