Taken By Force is the fifth studio album by
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
heavy metalHeavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in England and the United States...
band
ScorpionsThe Scorpions are a heavy metal/hard rock band from Hanover, Germany, probably best known for their 1980s rock anthem "Rock You Like a Hurricane" and their singles "No One Like You", "Send Me an Angel, "Still Loving You", and "Wind of Change"...
, released in 1977. This was the final Scorpions album to feature guitarist Ulrich Jon Roth. Roth left the band in 1979 following the recording of the album and was eventually replaced by
Matthias JabsMatthias Jabs is a German guitarist and songwriter. He is a member of the heavy metal band the Scorpions. Before joining the Scorpions, Jabs had played for the bands Lady, Fargo and Deadlock....
.
The album cover photography was taken by Michael von Gimbut , returning for his third Scorpions album cover commission. Like their previous two albums,
Taken By Force caused controversy with its cover art which again resulted in the artwork being replaced in most markets with an alternate cover using photographs of the band members.
The band's former lead guitarist Uli Jon Roth defended the original artwork in a 2008 interview, stating
I think the original idea was children playing with guns at a military in France and some people found that offensive.
Discussion
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Taken By Force is the fifth studio album by
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
heavy metalHeavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in England and the United States...
band
ScorpionsThe Scorpions are a heavy metal/hard rock band from Hanover, Germany, probably best known for their 1980s rock anthem "Rock You Like a Hurricane" and their singles "No One Like You", "Send Me an Angel, "Still Loving You", and "Wind of Change"...
, released in 1977. This was the final Scorpions album to feature guitarist Ulrich Jon Roth. Roth left the band in 1979 following the recording of the album and was eventually replaced by
Matthias JabsMatthias Jabs is a German guitarist and songwriter. He is a member of the heavy metal band the Scorpions. Before joining the Scorpions, Jabs had played for the bands Lady, Fargo and Deadlock....
.
Cover Art
The album cover photography was taken by Michael von Gimbut , returning for his third Scorpions album cover commission. Like their previous two albums,
Taken By Force caused controversy with its cover art which again resulted in the artwork being replaced in most markets with an alternate cover using photographs of the band members.
The band's former lead guitarist Uli Jon Roth defended the original artwork in a 2008 interview, stating
I think the original idea was children playing with guns at a military in France and some people found that offensive. I don't think it's offensive because I think it was actually a quite a good image because it puts war totally into perspective, very often it is young people, eighteen, , going to war that don't fully understand life. When you're fifty you don't fully understand life, but these guys then have to shoot other people simply because someone tells them to do it for their country. Politicians are sometimes also children with guns, in all periods of time a lot of politicians are far too trigger happy and war too easily becomes an "easy solution", whereas for me it should never a solution, there should be no war in the first place. Maybe every once in a while a country may need to defend itself, I understand that, but in general if you consider that there are over a hundred wars raging in the present day on this planet alone then it's just sheer lunacy and always the tool of the Dark Side. Usually bad things come from war, very few good things, but sometimes good things come from bad things, that's true, nothing's that black and white. It's always the wrong solution to kill people.
Side one
- "Steamrock Fever" (Schenker/Meine) – 3:37
- "We'll Burn the Sky" (Schenker/Dannemann
Monika Dannemann was a German figure skater and painter and was the last girlfriend of American rock guitarist/singer Jimi Hendrix.-Figure skating:...
) – 6:26
- "I've Got to Be Free" (Roth) – 4:00
- "The Riot of Your Time" (Schenker/Meine) – 4:09
Side two
- "The Sails of Charon
In Greek mythology, Charon or Kharon was the ferryman of Hades who carried souls of the newly deceased across the River Styx that divided the world of the living from the world of the dead. A coin to pay Charon for passage, usually an obolus or danake, was sometimes placed in or on the mouth of a...
" (Roth) – 4:23
- "Your Light" (Roth) – 4:31
- "He's a Woman – She's a Man" (Schenker/Meine/Rarebell) – 3:15
- "Born to Touch Your Feelings" (Schenker/Meine) – 7:40
CD reissue bonus tracks
- "Suspender Love" (Schenker/Meine) – 3:20
- "Polar Nights" [Live "Tokyo Tapes" version] (Roth) – 6:56
Note that some versions of this album including all versions with bonus tracks feature an edited, shorter version of 'The Sails of Charon'. The original version has a length of 5:16
Credits
- Klaus Meine
Klaus Meine is a German singer, best known as the frontman and occasional rhythm guitarist of the hard rock/heavy metal band Scorpions...
- Lead Vocals
- Ulrich Roth
Ulrich Roth , more commonly known as Uli Jon Roth, is a Germanguitarist and one of the earliest contributors to the neo-classical metal genre. He is also the founder of Sky academy and inventor of the Sky Guitar. He is the older brother of fellow guitarist and artist Zeno Roth.-Career:In the early...
- Lead Guitars, Backing Vocals
- Rudolf Schenker
Rudolf Schenker is a German guitarist and founding member of heavy metal band Scorpions, being the rhythm/lead guitarist and one of the main song-writers of the band....
- Rhythm Guitars, Backing Vocals
- Francis Buchholz
Francis Buchholz is a German bassist best known as a member of the heavy metal band, the Scorpions.Buchholz discovered rock music at the age of 11. His first public appearance as a bass player was at age 15 while in a high school. From then on he played in different rock, blues and jazz bands in...
- Bass, Backing Vocals
- Herman Rarebell
Herman 'The German' Rarebell is a German drummer, best known for his time in the band Scorpions from 1977 to 1995, playing on 8 studio albums...
- Drums, Percussion, Backing Vocals