Scorpions Album: “Taken by Force”

And, frankly, that song is why I bought it. That the rest of the album is solid 70's metal is icing on the cake. "Sails" is, quite simply, one of early metal's crowning achievements, especially for Uli Roth's disciplined yet mind-blowing guitar solo during the intro. Blackmore has NOTHING on this guy. Further, it's rhythm track is surprisingly funky, if you can buy that without hearing it. Trust me.

With the exception of a few tracks on "Blackout," I'm not much of a Scorps fan, but this album is really great, in its idiom. And, seriously, if you want to hear some of the finest hard rock guitar playing ever, pick up this bad boy.

You best believe!

Well, I don't know if I should say a sweeping statement like that, but its in the "top 5" for me. All great songs, no filler, and none of Uli's controversial singing! "We'll Burn the Sky" is their "Stairway to Heaven" - a power ballad to conquer all others. Come solo time, and it goes off to the (Strat)osphere! It blows away most of today's shredders and of course we get to "Sails of Charon" which is the crown jewel of this album. Covered by everyone from Testament to Yngwie, this is the beginning of the Neo Classical metal genre. Queen may have laid the groundwork, but a listen to the solos in this one and you can hear the true beginning of the genre. "He's a Woman, She's a Man" may have been one of the things that ticked Uli off to leave, and its the beginning of drummer Herman Rarebell's

controversial lyric writing in the band, but it is a proto thrash song that predicts the heavier side of NWOBHM! And this is from Germany!

Overall, this album has some of the best variety of Uli era

Scorpions, and is the one essential piece of music that everyone should have.

I always had LOVE AT FIRST STING from these guys and listened to that alot, but TAKEN BY FORCE really made me love this band, it was this album that showed me the genius of the Scorpions. TAKEN BY FORCE is my favorite hardrock album now, i'v had it for about a year and listen to it all the time. I really think that the 70's Scorpions with Roth completely blows away the MTV scorpions of the 80's, for one thing, the music was more complex with albums like VIRGIN KILLER and TAKEN BY FORCE and more sincere instead of the "love,sex,fun,get laid" foolishness of there "succsesful" 80's albums. Every track is amazing, this album is a work of art and i can't name favorites, but Uli's guitar playing is unmatched, the greatest guitar player to ever walk the earth!

I am very suprised that this disc receives so little attention,

especially in the US. Nevertheless, is one of the 4 early

Scorpions albums that defined them as one of world's best heavy

metal bands (the others are Virgin Killer, In Trance and Fly To The Rainbow).

This album features the best lineup Scorpions

Up until very recently, almost none of the 4 albums I mention

If you are a true metal fan and love Judas Priest, Helloween,

favorites are Streamrock Fever and The Sails Of Charon which

As a 42 year old Scorpions fan, i've followed the band since 'Lonesome Crow'! I equally love Michael Schenker, Uli Roth and Matthias Jabs, each bringing their own personal perfection and style to the band. The Scorpions were undoubtedly seminal in starting and perfecting the 'hard rock' genre, which became 'heavy metal' after the British invasion with bands like Saxon, Iron Maiden, and Judas Priest. But The Scorpions, with bands like Black Sabbath, Mountain, early Zep, and early Rush, did it FIRST! Let's not forget Hendrix as well. But I digress. 'Taken By Force', 'Virgin Killer', 'Fly To The Rainbow', and 'In Trance', were the 4 albums that really got me and many other coming of age 70's teens into hard rock, and all 4 still strongly stand the test of time, given the tight quality songwriting, Klaus' soaring and powerful vocals, and Uli Roth's beyond amazing virtuoso guitar forays. Many metal and hard rock fans don't realize this, but early Scorpions were responsible for popularizing and perfecting hard rock music around the world. This CD remaster sounds unbelievably great, with increased resolution and air between the instruments and Klaus Meine's great voice! The acoustic guitar parts sound as if they are leaping out of your speakers with improved clarity and presence. I have VERY revealing high end, high resolution panel type MAGNEPLANAR speakers, and McIntosh equipment, and I have to say, I don't hear any compression, hiss, or other artifacts on this remaster. If you are a fan of excellent hard rock or metal, this CD is a MUST for your collection! Long live The Scorpions!