The Last Sting . . .

The Scorpions, of hord rock's most legendary outfits, will uncoil their final studio effort this coming Tuesday (3/23/10) with the release of "Sting in the Tail".

With a career now spanning four decades, the Scorpions brand of crustacae-infused metal has garnered a large and faithful following - this thanks in part to strong studio efforts and a relentless touring schedule. Early-era albums like "Lovedrive", "Animal Magnetism", and "Blackout" firmly established the band's signature sound amongst hard rock afficianados. Anchored by mega-hits "Rock You Like a Hurricane" and "Still Loving You", 1984's "Love at First Sting" album catapaulted them into the stratosphere. It still stands today as one of their finest recording / touring efforts. Despite a lack of critical acclaim for ensuing album releases, they are still considered amongst the metal genre's most elite, and deservedly so.

As one would expect with a group of this caliber, the new album release will follow with a major, three-year world-wide tour, with many of U.S. dates being supported by none other than RATT. The expected blast radius from those shows will undoubtedly be vast and very highly anticipated. Having had the opportunity to see the band on their mammoth Worldwide / Live tour, I can report to fact that these guys are the REAL deal, and their stage show - absolutely fuckin' SPECTACULAR! I can only imagine what the band has in store for their final go-round.

You can check out more Scorp news at Blabbermouth; as well as at their official website.

While it's sad to see bands this good hang it up, we can do so knowing that they've left us with an incredible catalog of music to remember them by. I would expect that the forthcoming tour will produce a live concert DVD, thus assuring the fact that we will have the opportunity to feel the "sting" time and time again - - in Dolby 7.1 surround! Glorious! - - J.