Greg Plato – German Metal Machine: Scorpions in the ’70s (Book)

The current book on the Scorpions, focuses on the 1970s era of the band which is the most qualitative one according to the die hard fans of the German rockers. The book consists of 222 pages that describe each album of the band that was released during these days and also there are some other parts of the book that discuss the personalities or the influences of the band. The structure of the storytelling is a bit different  from what we are used to when we read musical books. Actually, this is not a biography book, it is a book that chronicles the 1970s era of the Scorpions with the help of people who were influenced by the Scorpions and several original members of the band. The author is trying to discuss the albums of the Scorpions by asking mostly people who were not Scorpions members, but they are famous and you would be interested in their point of view. There are members of Def Leppard, Savatage, Megadeth, Slayer, Exodus,  Fates Warning, etc. who talk about the band. Of course, there are a few interviews with former Scorpions members such as Francis Francis Buchholz, Dieter Dierks (Scorpions producer), Achim Kirschning (1973-1975 member), Herman Rarebell, Michael Schenker, Uli Jon Roth. However, the storytelling is mostly applied by non Scorpions members and while it is interesting from the journalistic side, it does not add any serious facts to the historical side of the band’s legacy. So it depends on what you expect from the book as a reader, then you can decide how are you going to evaluate the final reading result. Personally, as a journalist, I enjoyed reading the book and remembering the old catalogue of the Scorpions.

Info: https://www.amazon.com/German-Metal-Machine-Scorpions-70s/dp/1519491670