One would think that the Scorpions would have run out of wind after 32 years of rocking people like a hurricane, but Unbreakable, their 15th studio album, is an undeniable return to their ’80s glory. Forgetting their recent, bizarre tangents into alternative, acoustic and orchestral rock, the German arena rockers have re-expanded to a five-piece and gone back to what they do best: big riffs and fist-pumping anthems.

Their usual themes of peace, love and rocking out remain, but this time around they’ve down-tuned their guitars into an almost nu-metal sound. It actually works – and without sacrificing any of their trademark melody or musicianship. There are the requisite ballads (which are highly skip-worthy) and a couple filler tracks, but overall, the album is a solid listen almost the entire way through. Songs like "New Generation," "Love ’Em or Leave ’Em," and "This Time" are classic Scorpions rockers, while "Borderline" is an evolution from their usual sound, with a real toe-tapping groove.

Although nobody is going to claim that the Scorpions are very relevant in these days of metalcore and screamo, good old-fashioned hard rock is a nice change of pace, and nobody does it better than the Scorpions.



Grade: B