Review Summary: Taken By Force is yet another solid effort, with Uli Roth shining brighter than ever before. But still, despite all the positives, there are some minor flaws deteriorating the whole experience.
During the mid 70’s and after recording 4 studio albums, Scorpions had to be regarded as an entirely different band compared to the first line up incarnation that wrote Lonesome Crow. With each release the germans got meliorated, sweeping off any possible imperfection the previous recordings might had. With Virgin Killer, Scorpions displayed a natural growth in wisdom and stature and their future in the music industry at that point looked prosperous, purely, in terms of musical evolution and progress. But the same could not be said for their financial revenues. Since the band couldn’t get any serious attention outside of Europe, every release failed to meet with the expectetions of each member. That alone explains why Scorpions changed so much after this album.
Musically speaking, the album carries on from where it’s predecessor left us. Virgin killer had almost the same direction with In Trance, but in that album we hear for the very first time the results of Uli Roth’s extended practicing, as he incorporated in his playing style far more advanced compositional elements. As a result, Virgin killer had an exotic, middle eastern vibe combined with the melancholic and sorrowful tone of In Trance. When the time was right, and the band decided to write the successor of Virgin killer, as they set in motion the writing procedures, they took a bold decision, to drag the compositions a step further and experiment a little bit more. Inevitably,the weight of the writing process fell in the shoulders of Uli Roth. Roth’s contribution here is huge. He takes full credit for writing four songs out of the total eight, as also, writing along with Monika Dannemann the lyrics of the epic ballad We’ll Burn The Sky.
Due to it's unconventional nature, Taken By Force, might be perceived by the audience as being somehow less brutal than the two previous albums. Although that point of view is veritable, the presented material is still provided with a vigorous thrust. Scorpions at that time seemed to have almost completely forsaken any effort of writing anything that would sound usual, straightforward or accessible to the wider audience, something which can only be confusing since all of their previous records were a financial failure. But Scorpions insisted. And they were vindicated, as the album provides us with some of the most beautiful songs in the band’s catalog. Streamrock Fever is the album’s opener and as with the previous album-opening songs, Scorpions continue the same trend: Bursting out of the gate with brute force, playing fiercely but without ever crossing the lines of unconventional experimentantion.
(full version: sputnikmusic.com/review/56707/Scorpions-Taken-by-Force/)