180 gram vinyl. BLACKOUT, released 1982, finally elevated the Scorpions into the top ranks of the hard rock world. While the album made it to number ten in the Billboard charts, the first single “No One Like You” did even better and went straight to number one. On BLACKOUT, the Scorpions strike a near perfect balance between raw and dynamic hard rock and their very own brand of beautiful power ballads. The album has it all, sheer aggressiveness, razor sharp guitars, powerful emotions and outstanding melodies. Thanks to heavy rocking tracks such as ‘China White’, ‘Now’ or ‘Dynamite’, the Scorpions became very popular not only with the traditional melodic hard rock crowd but also with the emerging heavy metal scene of the early 1980s. The success of BLACKOUT turned them into global superstars. The outstanding music was matched by the iconic cover-artwork created by the Austrian artist Gottfried Helnwein. The band carefully selected the five pieces which have never been released before. Among them is a rather intriguing demo version of “Blackout”. The other four are “Sugar Man”, “All My Love”, “Searching For The Rainbow” and “Running For The Plane”. The LP comes in an original replica version with the CD in paper sleeve incl. all bonus tracks.
