Review by Daniel for Scorpions - Love at First Sting (1984)

I've always found that I get some enjoyment out of Scorpions records but have never found myself gushing over them like the majority of rock/metal fans seem to. Sure, the guitar solos are great but they have a fair amount of cheese included on every record too & I'm pretty sure that all of our regular contributors clearly understand my aversion to that abominable trait by now. I was familiar with the full string of five albums from 1976's "Virgin Killer" up until 1982's widely celebrated "Blackout" record (not to mention their 1978 "Tokyo Tapes" live release) prior to coming into "Love at First Sting" with all of them sitting at that 3.5/5 mark but the Germans highly regarded 1984 ninth full-length may be the first album I've heard from them where I struggled to overcome the commercialism with fully-fledged glam metal raising its head on more than one occasion.

The tracklisting begins quite well with the heavy rock of opener "Bad Boys Running Wild" being pretty entertaining however proceedings descend significantly after that with five lacklustre efforts in a row before the band miraculously resurrects things with three quality hard rock numbers to close out the album. Closing ballad "Still Loving You" is the clear album highlight & leaves me feeling better about the whole experience but I can't quite shake the memories of glam metal numbers like "Rock You Like A Hurricane", "The Same Thrill" or "Big City Nights" with their obvious pop hooks that were so clearly intended to crack the American rock radio circuit. There's no doubt that Matthias Jabs' guitar solos are exhilarating & my ears prick up every time he steps up to the plate but, as with every other Scorpions record, I have serious doubts about the metal credentials of "Love at First Sting". There's really only the one song that I regard as being genuine metal in the fairly dull "Coming Home" although "Bad Boys Running Wild" kinda skims along the borderline between hard rock & heavy metal. I guess they're a metal band if you think that Van Halen, AC/DC or Guns 'n' Roses are but I very strongly disagree with that sentiment.

"Love at First Sting" gives 80's Scorpions fans exactly what they want but I'm afraid this is where they've started to lose me & I'm a little fearful about what's to come from their later material given that it's not regarded anywhere near as highly as the band's classic era which ended with this record.