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keeper avg .375
Scorpions' first album of the 80's opens with "Make It Real," which sounds like the quintessential Scorpions song without being exceptional in any way, the mid-tempo groove sounding like a dry run for better singles like "Like A Hurricane." Klaus Meine embraces his most libidinous voice on the speedier "Don't Make No Promises (Your Body Can't Keep)," a near carbon-copy of "Another Piece of Meat" from the previous album "Lovedrive," and on drummer Herman Rarebell's punchy "Falling in Love"****. A true product of its time, the catchy "Twentieth Century Man"**** sounds more like Foreigner / new-wavey cock-rock than a recording by a metal band.
The only real noteworthy thing about the album is how slow (tempo) a good portion of the songs are, especially considering the coke-metal fest that would be released next (which would be "Blackout", 1982). "Hold Me Tight" has a kind of minimalist elegance, and the tasteful "Lady Starlight," the album's requisite ballad, is the first (and only) Scorpions recording with full orchestration. Even the album's big single "The Zoo" moves with a deliberate strut, kind of a metal version of "Stayin' Alive"; however badass that off-time riff is, at more than five-minutes it drags after hearing it dozens/hundreds of times on decades of rock radio. Presumably it helped make "Animal Magnetism" Scorpions' best-selling album to date, though it must have only become a staple in retrospect as it didn't even chart in the US at the time. That being said, the best song on the album by far is its slow-crawling, closing title track*****. I'd call it doom-metal, and in place of Black Sabbath's bluesy licks its menacing chromatic riff gives it a Kashmir-like "eastern" quality; Alice In Chains would base their entire approach on this in the next decade.
By simplifying their melodies and riffs Scorpions started the 1980's with their first platinum-selling album (in the US). Unfortunately, while the only truly bad song on the album is the awkwardly swinging "Only a Man," the album as a whole is kind of a hiccup in the middle of an otherwise fantastic string. Simplicity can be great but if not handled correctly it can also add up to a bland, underwhelming result. The band would perfect that streamlined approach by cranking-up all the tempos several notches on "Blackout."
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