Wind of Change: The Scorpions Story Paperback – 20 May 2016

First of all, this is another superb M.P. publication, as thorough, comprehensive and well researched as you'd expect. I really feel that I now know their history with no gaps. With so many snippets from interviews rather then hearsay, this has got to be THE definitive biog of them.However, the downside of hearing their words so much is that it highlights how two-faced and contrary they come across, when comparing one quote against another a year or two later. So much so that I half expected the usual cliched, excuse-making about "experiments" (as if that word makes things ok) with grunge etc., and how they had to do a volte-face because it wasn't what the fans wanted. (They could have told you that beforehand, jeez.)The book also highlights how the band really DO think they are "unique"! A lot of bands can be accused of this, but the Scorpions go over the top. I honestly believe it could be down to the fact that they were German, and perhaps consequently never bothered to read and see what US and UK bands were doing. Yes, they were more successful than previous non-English rockers, but to my mind, only because their pronunciation was/is superior to the rest. Their hard rock (and no-one could deny they have songs in the genre that are as good as the best US and UK ones.... EVER!), cannot be described as "unique". I got fed up hearing about the "unmistakable" Scorpions sound, the Scorpions way of doing this and that, blah blah. Meine's great voice is distinctive, sure, but musically they have not done anything to deserve that adjective. In fact, to be quite specific about it:-1. They're not the first band to do an acoustic album.2. They're not the first band to do an orchestral rock album.3. They're not the first band to play gigs in Russia.4. They're not the first band to re-record their songs with supposed "new" technology.5. They're not the first band to do half an album of covers.6. They're not even the first band to have a hit record with whistling!Also, I was quite horrified to read of the months wasted in the studio trying to get a certain "tone" on a certain instrument. Changing studios, changing producers (sometimes different ones for different instruments!) is really missing the point! If the melody line and chord sequence is not there to start with, NO studio trickery will improve it. It's just complete nonsense! When will bands realize this and stop making excuses for failing to come up with songs? In fact, if Rudolf Schenker is so particular about sound quality, may I suggest he checks out a few YouTube videos of him singing truly godawful back-up vocals? It makes a complete mockery of his "seeking perfection" argument!(Oh, and furthermore, if they'd been REALLY keen to deliver perfection, they would have demanded Meine sing all of Roth's vocals!)All in all, I came to the conclusion that Meine and Roth were probably more down-to-earth than I'd given them credit for. Bucholz seemed to have been treated appallingly. I don't know if he did "diddle" or not, but if he did - good on yer mate! Rarebell was just a party animal. I'm not interested in lyrics, so if they were as dumb as others say, no matter to me. However, I didn't like his attitude to things like hotel trashing. Here's hoping burglars never trash your house, pal. As for Kottak trying to "up" his contribution by saying he'd been in the band "x" years, once again - it's not how many tours you did, or even time elapsed, but how many classic recordings you featured on, ok?I don't know how long the Scorpions will continue. Admittedly. some of the chord patterns on the past few albums, especially on the ballads, seem to be becoming predictable. I note Rudolf claims to have written "hundreds and hundreds" (i.e. at least 400 then) songs, so maybe there are loads of unreleased albums in waiting? But whatever, I feel I know their life story now, thanks to this honestly GREAT book!

The author has a very biased view of Scorpions. Popoff let’s it be known he only likes pre 1980 era and pretty much dismisses everything after that period. He has a habit of saying an album is poor, but then his song by song review bigs the individual tracks up. This shows to me a lack of consistency and that he has a pre set agenda. The quotes he uses to fill out the book are often repeated and there is nothing new here. For this book to work he needed to be much more open minded and not follow his pre conceived conclusions. I am a massive Scorpions fan and was looking for more insight than this book provides.

I don't know what the complaints are about. I'd much rather read about the story behind the recording of albums than their childhoods. I think this book is great. I'm only up as far as the Blackout album but thoroughly enjoying it so far. If this is how M Popoff does his books I'll be getting some more.

excellentreading

Album by album, compiled from interviews and media articles.