Prato, Greg: German Metal Machine - Scorpions In The 70's (Book)

There are very few books concerning celebrated German rockers the Scorpions and even fewer that focus on their first decade, before the massive commercial success that they would enjoy in the 80's. Acclaimed music and sports journalist Greg Prato is a self-proclaimed fan of this era and German Metal Machine: Scorpions in the '70s brings the reader exactly what you would expect from the title. Rather than any kind of biographical narrative from the author the story is told entirely through extracts from interviews with some of the key players such as Uli Jon Roth, Michael Schenker, Francis Buchholz, Herman Rarebell and Dieter Dierks along with the likes of Eddie Trunk, Lips, KK Downing and Kirk Hammett, the latter contributing the foreword.

The six studio albums released by the band during the 70's from Lonesome Crow to Lovedrive evidence their development from psychedelic rock roots to melodic hard rock and, as explained in the book, the road was often a rocky one as members came and went and their sound evolved. Roth and Schenker are arguably the most important contributors here and both discuss at length their time with the band both on the road and in the studio. The definitive book of the Scorpions is still to be written and would require all members past and present to be allowed to have their say, something that would seem to be extremely unlikely to ever happen given the current state of affairs between the Schenker brothers. In the meantime you can sit back, open this book at any page and be transported back to a time when the band poured their hearts and souls into writing and recording majestic anthems 'The Sails of Charon' and 'We'll Burn the Sky'.

Added: July 20th 2016
Reviewer: Dean Pedley
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Language: english

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