After experimenting with electronica (the disastrous Eye II Eye album), making a record with a symphony orchestra (the blah Moment of Glory) and then recording an unplugged disc (the intriguing, hard-to-find Acoustica), the Scorpions had little choice but to make an album that rocked or go the way of Ratt.
From the propulsive beat of "New Generation," which opens Unbreakable on a dark yet promising note, through standard Scorps stuff like "Love 'Em or Leave 'Em" and "Blood Too Hot," the requisite ballads "Maybe I Maybe You" and "She Said," all the way to the riff –heavy "Borderline," the anthems "My City My Town" and "Can You Feel It," to the uncontrollably catchy all-out rocker "This Time," this disc comes the closest to the band's mainstream commerical sound since 1993's Face the Heat. Singer Klaus Meine probably can't hit the high notes anymore, but he doesn't try. Each of the 12 tracks on Unbreakable (plus a "retro garage mix" of "Remember the Good Times," a poppy tune co-penned with Hooter Eric Bazilian) plays to the musicians' current strengths. Longtime guitarists Rudolf Schenker and Matthias Jabs trade tasty licks just as effortlessly as they did two decades ago, while the clamp-tight rhythm section of new bassist Pawel Maciwoda and drummer James Kottak keeps the band from spiraling into old age.
Is Unbreakable, the Scorpions' 20th non-best-of disc in 35 years, as appealing as Blackout or Love at First Sting or even In Trance? No, but it's immensely less annoying than Crazy World. And that, my friends, is good enough for me.
Track Listing:
1) New Generation (5:51)
2) Love 'Em or Leave 'Em (4:03)
3) Deep and Dark (3:37)
4) Borderline (4:53)
5) Blood Too Hot (4:16)
6) Maybe I Maybe You (3:30)
7) Someday Is Now (3:24)
8) My City My Town (4:55)
9) Through My Eyes (5:23)
10) Can You Feel It (3:47)
11) This Time (3:34)
12) She Said (4:32)
13) Remember the Good Times (Retro Garage Mix) (4:24)
Total Time: 56:36
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