945. Scorpions / Lovedrive. 1979. 5/5

I had had a little bit of Scorpions stuff on cassette prior to 1987 (mostly the World Wide Live album), when I walked in to Illawarra Books and Records and first picked up the vinyl copy of this album, the first Scorpions album I ever owned. Yeah, the cover does rope you in a little, but it was the prospect of actually experiencing a full album of this band that had me excited when I found this. There was also the excitement of discovering that Michael Schenker had contributed to the album as well (given I had a couple of his MSG albums before this). I can still remember the day I bought this clearly in my mind, and the first time I put it on in my parents lounge room when I got it home. It has been a favourite ever since.

The album opens with the positive earnest lyrics of "Loving You Sunday Morning", fired along by the first involvement of Mathias Jabs lead guitar, who had replaced Uli Jon Roth the previous year. Everything flows together wonderfully well to open the album in a great way. This is followed by the hard rocking and lyrically tongue-in-cheek relating of "Another Piece of Meat". This has been a fan favourite since its release, not only because of Klaus' wonderful vocal range, but the fast paced rhythm pounding out the song, while returning prodigal son Michael Schenker blazes away over the top with his solo for the song, and Mathias throws in his lead licks throughout. It's a fast paced song that really clicks along, a real mood swinger.
"Always Somewhere" is a song that, by any other band on any other album, could be one of the straws that could contribute to breaking the camel's back. Following hard on the heels of such a raucous song, if this wasn't handled perfectly, it would have stopped the momentum of the album in its tracks. However, this is the Scorpions, and amazingly, it just seems to fit. Yes, I know coming from me that seems incredible, but just occasionally I am able to go with the flow of such peculiar swings in mood and song genre. And it was always the case with this album. Each piece of the puzzle seemed to fit at every section. There's no doubt that, if this came up on a song shuffle, I would very possibly skip it to get to the next action song. but when listening to Lovedrive in its entirety, there's no way I can do it.
Perhaps my favourite part of the album follows this, and some may also feel this is an anomaly. The instrumental "Coast to Coast" is the song, and I simply love this piece of music. It is simple and 'basic', but what a terrific sound! The 2/4 drumming with the bass working alongside, allowing the guitars to do their things over the top of this. For me this has always been an uplifting track, a mood changer, in all of its simplicity but marked with its intricate guitar pieces. A winner. Rudolf Schenker, thank you.
Side Two of the album starts again with the heavier and raucous elements of "I Can't Get Enough". It was certainly enough in the old days to make you get up and turn the vinyl over. And then, such is the joyousness of this album, you can't even feel any enjoyment seeping away when you first notice the complete reggae-ness of "Is There Anybody There?" In fact, with the mood of the album, you move into and through the song as if it is an everyday event for an album based in the roots of 70's hard rock and heavy metal to have a song so flavoured by reggae on it. Klaus' amazing vocals are the star of the show. Crashing out of this is the upbeat return of that magical Scorpions heavy sound in the title track "Lovedrive", driven by that magnificent drum beat and heavy rhythm guitar riff flowing from Rudolf's guitar, and complemented by the leads of both Mathias and Michael. Awesome riffs, just brilliant. Just a great song.
The closing track "Holiday" returns to the quiet melodic half of the Scorpions sound, dominated in the first half by Klaus' amazing harmony vocals over the acoustic guitar, before the band comes in halfway through the song to bring out the fullness of the song and band. Again, reggae flavours this half of the song, though not as completely is it does in "Is There Anybody There?"
This is quite an amazing album, given the ebbs and flows of the music, or certainly the flow from the heavy side to the reflective side. And yet none of it sounds out of place, as can often be said of power metal bands albums of the late previous century and early this century. Scorpions is a band that has its two sides, and especially on Lovedrive they blend as a perfect mixture.

I love this era of the band, and I still love this album today. Choosing between this and Love at First Sting and Blackout would be a difficult thing to do as all three are magnificent, but perhaps the fact that this has such a varied range of material that sews together almost seamlessly, and that it also has "Coast to Coast" on it, could be the swaying factor in my suggestion that this is my favourite of all Scorpions albums. Having waited 30 years to see them, and knowing that I am now going to do just that this coming October in Melbourne, I think this will get a few more playings before then.

Rating:  "She said hey, let's go, don't put on a show".  5/5.