Comeblack

Comeblack is a project on which Scorpions combine new recordings of their signature songs with covers of the 1960s–70s rock classics that became their roots. Rather than a mere rehash of the past, by recapturing the songs with present-day playing and production, both the band’s present and its musical origins come into view. In the first half, signature songs such as “Rock You Like a Hurricane” are rebuilt with a sound pressure and arrangement different from the originals. The more you know the originals, the more you see present-day Scorpions in the layering of the choruses and the distance of the guitars. In the covers of the second half, they translate the songs that influenced them into their own voice and guitar sound, and the very selection tells the story of the band’s roots. Though a project apart from the line of signature albums, it is in the way of reinterpretation that an artist’s aesthetic shows. By setting the past classics beside the songs at their source, it is a record that lets you confirm Scorpions’ musical background in three dimensions — a work with a career-looking-back pleasure distinct from the surprise of a new album.