Scorpions & Berliner Philharmoniker - Moment of Glory (2000) [Hi-Res+SACD]

Throughout the 1980s, "We are the Scorpions!" was lead vocalist Klaus Meine's concert-opening battle cry, energizing and readying the faithful in sold-out stadiums for a Teutonic onslaught of vital, sometimes plodding, eardrum-splitting rock anthems. In short, the arena-rock monsters were never a picnic-under-the-stars kind of band ... until Moment of Glory. The new millennium brings the Scorpions full circle, melding in-your-face party anthems like "Rock You Like a Hurricane" (now called "Hurricane 2000") and "Big City Nights" into fully orchestrated concoctions featuring the Berlin Philharmoniker. Where the grandiose likes of "Wind of Change" and "Still Loving You" are obvious choices for such a pairing, and indeed, work well, the "Deadly Sting Suite," with almost unrecognizable instrumental versions of "He's a Woman, She's a Man" and "Dynamite," will likely catch the unknowing fan of classic Scorps off guard. Both Deep Purple and Metallica have used full orchestras to accent their songs with mixed results, and the same goes for the Scorps. There's a fine line between wine-and-cheese classical fare and whiney and cheesy metal. Here the Scorpions teeter, if often gracefully, on that line. --Katherine Turman