SCORPIONS: In Trance CD Japanese RARE issue. Free for orders of £99. Used, 2nd hand. “Dark Lady”, “In Trance”, “Robot Man” a total classic with Uli Jon Roth.

Description

SCORPIONS In Trance audio review: 

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Scorpions In Trance
Label: BMG Victor Inc. B20D-41011, RCA B20D-41011
Format: CD, Album
Country: Japan
Released: 21 Jun 1989
Genre: Hard Rock
Tracklist
1 Dark Lady 3:30
2 In Trance 4:47
3 Life’s Like A River 3:54
4 Top Of The Bill 3:26
5 Living And Dying 3:25
6 Robot Man 2:48
7 Evening Wind 5:06
8 Sun In My Hand 4:26
9 Longing For Fire 2:45
10 Night Lights 3:15

Producer Dieter Dierks
Barcode: 44988017014356

In Trance = Studio album by Scorpions
Released: September 17, 1975
Recorded: 1975
Genre: Hard rock, Heavy metal
Length: 37:17
Label: RCA
Producer: Dieter Dierks

In Trance is the third studio album by the German heavy metal band Scorpions, released in 1975, The albums music was the complete departure from the progressive Krautrock of the two previous albums in favor of a heavy metal sound of shorter and tighter arrangements with which the band would achieve their later global success and fame, extended suites in the vein of songs such as Lonesome Crow and Fly to the Rainbow are absent altogether.

The original version of the album cover, photographed by Michael von Gimbut, was censored for clearly showing the cover models exposed breast hanging down towards the guitar. Later releases have the breast blacked out so that it is not visible. This is the first of many Scorpions album covers that have been censored. The bands former lead guitarist Uli Jon Roth claimed he may have come up with the “idea to do the thing with the guitar for the cover of In Trance”.
However, in a 2008 interview Roth claimed that early Scorpions album covers in general were “the record company’s idea, but we certainly didn’t object. And so shame on us. Those covers were probably the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever been involved with.” He did, though, classify the In Trance cover as “borderline”.
The White Stratocaster shown on the cover belonged to Roth and he can be seen playing the same guitar on the cover of the Electric Sun album Fire Wind. This is the guitar that Roth used on all subsequent Scorpions and Electric Sun albums on which he played.
This was the bands first album to feature the bands name written in the now-familiar font used on nearly all subsequent album covers.

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In Trance by the Scorpions: the story behind the song

Bridging the gap between their early Euro-rock and later cult metal status, In Trance – an atmospheric ballad of regret – became a key Scorpions track
By late 1975, almost 10 years after they’d formed in Hanover, the Scorpions were finally on the verge of breaking out of their native Germany and becoming a truly international band. A large part of this was down to their third album, In Trance, which was a significant stepping stone between their earlier, more naive albums and their subsequent heavier sound.

Key to the album’s success was the title track. A dark, psychedelic-tinged ballad with a steely backbone, it sounds like nothing they have recorded before or since. A true connoisseur’s favourite, it’s telling that it remains in the Scorpions’ set-list today. The beginnings of the song, one that has been played so many times in clubs and arenas around the world, are unusual. Meine and rhythm guitarist Rudolf Schenker came up with the idea for In Trance as they filled downtime before a gig in a church in the Belgian town of Ligneuville.

“That’s correct,” Schenker recalls. “I already had parts of the song, but the atmosphere in that place was unbelievable. Klaus and I put everything together during the sound-check. Being in the church provided the kick for us to do something very special.”

‘Uli’ is Ulrich Jon Roth, the band’s flamboyant, Hendrix-obsessed lead guitarist between 1973 and 1978. Today he admits that he initially had reservations about the song.

“Back then I felt it was a little too bare with one lead guitar,” says Roth, who plays an uncharacteristically minimalist guitar solo on the track. “I don’t think of it as a solo. It’s more like a change of tone. When he heard the trills and the harmonic parts, our producer, Dieter Dierks, said: ‘Oh, this is like Debussy.’ It wasn’t supposed to be anything flashy. I was trying to reflect the state of mind of the song.”

The ‘state of mind’ he refers to was provided by Klaus Meine, who wrote the lyrics: a fractured meditation on trying to control your excesses, whether physical or mental. Meine sings about taking ‘too much on a Saturday night’, before declaring: ‘I wanna stop this life.’

Schenker say that he knows exactly what was going through the singer’s mind when he wrote it. “It’s about trying to get into the middle of life – not the extreme left or right,” he explains. “You can get stuck in a rut, doing things you don’t like, over and over again. It had to do with drinking, maybe.”

Both the song and the album provided a tipping point for the Scorpions. The album found them embracing tighter, more commercial arrangements. This was partly down to new producer Dieter Dierks, who would go on to help mastermind the band’s long run of internationally successful albums that started in the late 70s and ran through much of the 80s.

Where Kraftwerk producer Conny Plank had given the Scorpions’ debut album Lonesome Crow an experimental sheen, and the band themselves had produced follow-up Fly To The Rainbow, Dierks was able to successfully bring together the two distinct halves of the band.
“On one side there was Uli, who was more Hendrix-orientated, and on the other were the songs by Klaus and myself,” says Schenker. “Dieter had a great ear, and could put the two styles together to make a very spicy sound.”

In Trance also ushered in another era for the Scorpions, with the first of a number of controversial album sleeves. This one featured a scantily-clad blonde squatting over a white Stratocaster, with one of her breasts clearly visible [this ‘wardrobe malfunction’ was airbrushed out on some later pressings]. As the owner of said guitar, Roth subsequently expressed his shame at the photograph – though Schenker says it was Roth who actually suggested it.

“It was his idea,” says an unrepentant Schenker. “It was a great sleeve for us. It’s sexy, it’s mystical and above all it’s not brutal.” Scorpions – also including bassist Francis Buchholz and drummer Rudy Lenners – made their debut UK appearances on the back of In Trance.

The tour included shows at both the Marquee club and The Roundhouse in London, as well as a gig at Barbarella’s in Birmingham, where they were due to support fledgling punk upstarts The Damned – at least until the German band took one look at the audience, got back in their cars and drove off. Amusingly, Schenker recalls even stranger scenes at Liverpool’s famous Cavern club on the same tour, where drunken fans urinated on the PA.

“We had never seen anything like it,” he says. “We didn’t come on stage until one o’clock in the morning, and some fans had been drinking all evening. They were pissing in the corners of the room, everywhere.” Thankfully there was no repeat of that when the band recorded In Trance’s title track for the MTV Unplugged album in Athens in September 2013.

The track sees Meine duetting with Hamburg singer-songwriter Cäthe, giving this version an extra vocal dimension.

Uli Jon Roth – who quit the band in 1978, unhappy with the more commercial, US-friendly path they were plotting – has also revived the song for shows at which he played songs from the Scorpions’ first five albums.

After 40 years, the man who was initially unconvinced by the song has finally come round to it. “I’ve really grown to like it the way we do it now,” he says. “We double up all of the harmonies, and it has the right kind of groove.”

Personnel:
Klaus Meine lead vocals
Ulrich Roth lead guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals on “Dark Lady” and “Sun In My Hand”
Rudolf Schenker rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Francis Buchholz bass guitar, backing vocals
Rudy Lenners drums, percussion
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5.0 out of 5 stars But your life is rock n’ roll.
In 1975, Scorpions released their 3rd album, which helped establish them as THE premier European hard rock band. Featuring the classic Ulrich Roth line-up, the LP featured a perfect combination of slow, intensely emotional ballads and loud screaming rockers. An example of the former would be the title song, which not only is the best known song from the record but along with “We’ll Burn the Sky” (from Taken by Force) is the best example of what would be a Scorpions standard- the power ballad. For headbangers, there’s “Dark Lady”, “Top of the Bill”, “Longing for Fire” and “Robot Man”. Roth’s playing is extraordinary and he will always be the Scorpions’ guitar god. His singing however is lousy, although Klaus bails him out during “Dark Lady”. “Sun in My Hand” could have been so much better without Ulrich’s brutal delivery but still a solid tune nevertheless. “In Trance” is well worth searching out and stands up reasonably well against most of their 80s sell-out product (except for “Blackout”).
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5.0 out of 5 stars Turn it on, turn it up, rock it out!,
This is the Scorpions at the peak of the first phase of their careers. This album proves that they could rock hard with the best of them, as well as lull you under the spell of some extremely accomplished heart-wrenching ballads. The playing and vocals are faultless; the songs come at you one after another with Beatles-esque perfection, leaving you gasping for more once the albums over. There’s no point in mentioning highlights, as this whole record is a roller-coaster ride of pure hard rock energy. Classic is not the word – the Scorpions have bestowed upon us an collection of top-class songs. Most tracks on the album have appeared on any number of their greatest hits collections, and that must mean something. If you’re out for some early Teutonic commercial heavy metal that’s fun to listen to and catchy as hell, then check out this, as well as any other of their early to mid-period albums (try ‘Fly To The Rainbow’ for a more progressive feel, or ‘Trances success! r ‘Virgin Killer’ for an even heavier assault on the senses). At any rate, this is superior stuff your ears will thank you for.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Great Early Scorpions,
1975 gem from the Scorpions. Not yet the sex, drugs, and rock’n’roll band of the late ’70s and early ’80s, this album is more on the psychedelic edge with the title song and also more dramatic with ‘Living and Dying.’ Another good one is ‘Dark Lady.’ Moodier and more melancholic, this is still a great classic by the Scorpions.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Early Scorpions Heat,
Way back around 1975 a friend excitedly put this on my turntable and the rest is history. I had purchased Fly to The Rainbow and liked it. In Trance cemented the fact the Scorpions were a tremendous “discovery” They rock hard on this album but there is enough let up here and there to keep your head in one piece, A must for hard driving rock fans.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Great ’70s metal,
The Scorpions’ third album, In Trance, is an excellent metal album from the `70s and is one of their best. When I first became a fan in the early-80s, I didn’t appreciate the albums with Uli Jon Roth but with time and maturity, I have come to really enjoy them and now I listen to them more than anything they recorded after. This is the best one with Roth although Virgin Killer comes close. “Dark Lady” is a wicked opener highlighted by Roth’s kamikaze guitar solos (think Jimi Hendrix on steroids) with some vocal drama from Klaus Meine combined with Roth own lead vocals. Uli Jon Roth is the Ginger Baker of heavy metal (super talented musician whose vocal stylings are shall we say humorous). The songs “Top of The Bill” and “Robot Man” are furious rockers ala Dark Lady and are nearly as impressive. There are several strong ballads that have that trademark Scorpions sound (quiet reflective verse, loud memorable chorus) like “Life’s Like a River”, “Living and Dying”, and the title track. “Sun in My Hand” is a cool tune penned and sung by Roth that could have fit in on Hendrix Electric Ladyland. “Longing for Fire” is a strong melodic rocker that Rudolf Schenker writes so well and Francis Buchholz has a great counter bassline in this one. “Night Lights” is a mellow instrumental highlighted by Roth emotional guitar lines that closes the album. This is a gem from the Scorpions and if you enjoy great metal from its early years, this is worth the purchase.
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5.0 out of 5 stars grab this one,
In Trance shows signs of the Scorpions headed for commercial success, but thankfully, the song writing hasn’t yet suffered which easily separates THIS album from Virgin Killer.

The guitar solos are quite incredible, and the vocals… WOW, they are mostly short, snappy, melodic and get me in the mood to… be extremely violent! haha, only kidding. Violence never settles anything.

THIS is a fine example of an album that just rips your speakers apart and keeps you begging for more when its over because the music the band was making at the time was just *so good*. In Trance is a must have album for all hard rock fans of the 70s.
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5.0 out of 5 stars The Title says it all,
If you are looking for angry, driving metal you won’t find it here. Look at the title “In Trance”. Soaring vocals, soaring guitars and superb duets between rhythm and lead guitars. For a change up the peppy and driving “Robot Man” which was the closing song in the concerts that made “Tokyo Tapes”. It is clear why. There is taste of psychedelic reminiscent of the first album “Lonesome Crow”. This album really comes into its own when you have worked a lot of hours, achieved your milestone and are way too wired to sleep.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Top Stuff…,
This 3rd release is the Scorpions’ best to that point, and its easy to hear how this album developed into other greats like ‘Virgin Killer’ and ‘Taken By Force’, before their sound changed a bit more for ‘Love Drive’ in ’79 with Mathias Jabs (still a good album also).

‘In Trance’ is an awesome riff-sounding album with a real strong 70s Euro vibe… at one time I even heard a bit of heavy ABBA (chorus of ‘In Trance’). Clause on lead vocals is also on strong form.

There’s a good mix of strong Euro-style ballads and 70s heaviness with that real Scorpions sound, that, after sounding a bit like Black Sabbath on their debut (‘Lonesome Crow’), was starting to rear itself on ‘Fly to the Angels’ and lead into a stronger individual group sound on ‘In Trance’.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Great album that deserves more recognition,
I can’t believe that this album isn’t as well known as Lovedrive, Blackout, Love at First Sting, Savage Amusement and Crazy World cause I think that this is a strong album, so strong that its one of the few albums where it doesn’t have a filler track, how many albums can I say that about? I don’t see why people criticise about Uli Roth’s singing cause to me it doesn’t matter who sings as long as I enjoy it, and I think that its mean for some people to mention Uli Roth as a bad imitation of Jimi Hendrix, in my opinion, this album is good rock ‘n’ roll and I’m happy to own this album, I think that the instrumental Night Lights is one of the most beautiful songs they ever recorded and it was a good way to close out the album, unfortunately this album is hard to find and we rock/metal fans think that it shouldn’t be the case.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Greatest Album Of All Time!,
This is without a doubt the greatest album ever recorded. The Scorpions have never sounded this good before, or since. Klaus’ voice is superb, Uli’s playing is awesome but the unsung hero of this album is bassist Francis Buchholz. if you listen carefully, you will hear why is is one of the all time great bass players. If you don’t own this CD, do yourself a massive favor and buy it right now. Pure rock ‘n roll perfection. I’ve owned this album on one format or another since 1986 and i still listen to it at least once a month all the way through. Its just a shame that more people don’t know about this. A true masterpiece.