SCORPIONS – World Wide Live (1985 Polygram, 2 record set)
The first waves of CD releases generally sucked. Double live albums like World Wide Live, Live After Death, Stages and Exit…Stage Left were edited down to fit on a single CD. One way to ensure you got the complete album (with great sound) was to just go and buy an original vinyl. That is still the best way to enjoy World Wide Live.
The Scorpions were at a peak in 1985. The Love at First Sting tour was one of the biggest metal shows of the decade, but the band hit a speed bump after. This double live album was culled from five shows (three in the US and two in Europe), and sequenced for impact.
“Coming Home” and “Blackout” are a pair of bruisers. One can detect vocal overdubs (sounds like two or three Klauses singing at once on the choruses) but they are largely unobtrusive. Surely most of the album must be live. You can appreciate why the Scorpions were (and still are) huge. Riffs slice from one side to the other, while Klaus Meine dive-bombs like a screaming Stuka. They also had the music. Love at First Sting produced a number of hits (all here). Nothing from the early (Uli Roth) days though, which means the album leans towards the streamlined-style Scorpions. Older stuff would have been nice, but also would have overlapped with their prior double live, Tokyo Tapes. None of that material was in their current set either.
This is a minor quibble. These are the ultimate live versions of classic tunes like “Loving You Sunday Morning”, “Make it Real”, “Coast to Coast”, “Big City Nights”, “Can’t Live Without You” and all the rest. The ballads (“Holiday”, “Still Loving You”) are awesome too, and stacked together so you can get the ballads out of the way and back to rocking again. Scorpions must surely be one of the definitive ballad bands in metal. These two are legendary.
Side 4 is pretty epic: “The Zoo”, “No One Like You”, and an extended “Can’t Get Enough” with Jabs solo. Klaus Meine has an endearing German accent; everybody loves when he tells California that they really know how to partaaaay! (This was immortalised by Sebastian Bach in Season 7 of Trailer Park Boys where he performs a killer Klaus impression.)
Your wisest course of action should be clear. Pick up both Tokyo Tapes and World Wide Live, on vinyl, and get all the best Scorpions tunes done up live. This is good stuff.
4/5 stars
mikeladano.com 
An amazing front cover, which is essential for any live album. I’ll keep a look out for this one, cause I currently have the Tokyo Tapes (thanks to HMO) and enjoy that thoroughly.
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Great cover although you can almost make out the cut & paste lines!
Once you have this, you will have all the essential live Scorpions. Not to dismiss their later material outright, but this is the good stuff.
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Great album… and Tokyo Tapes too. Vinyl looks awesome! The Love At First Sting reissue has a great live show with it now too.
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Slowly catching up on the Scorpions deluxes. Some of them are very pricey imports here. I’d really like to get Savage Amusement next. My first Scorpions album, and 30th anniversary of it!
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I got all of them. Luckily I got most of them second hand and in new condition! So I got great prices… otherwise I’m not sure I’d have bothered.
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You lucky so-and-so!
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I agree with you on this one. I loved this album. I had it on CD at one time and have been searching for it on vinyl. This makes me want to find it even more. Great review.
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Hopefully you have the remastered CD with all the songs! Gatefold sleeves are still pretty nice :)
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Nope. I will get the gatefold vinyl though.
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Here’s one for debate: “World Wide Live” has been considered to be one of the three best live albums of all time. I do love this one.
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I wouldn’t put it in my top 3, but I wouldn’t dismiss it either.
Top 3 live albums of the 80s, definitely possible though!
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Stuka!
I had to click it had no idea what that was but man your spot on with that call!
I was pumped when this was released back in 1985….this was a first day purchase…Man I miss those days ….
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Thanks Deke!
I chose the STUKA bomber because it had a distinctive scream when it came down on you. Seemed appropriate, not to mention the German connection! b
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Slick Move Mikey..
Well played
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Yes, a good album, and the Scorpions are an underrated band.
In case anyone has missed it, they kicked out their longest-serving drummer for substance abuse and now have Micael Kiriakos Delaoglou, a.k.a. Mikkey Dee (whose old boss died not long ago)!
Apart from the Scorpions themselves, I’ve seen Francis Buchholz and Herman Rarebell a couple of times recently as part of Michael Schenker’s band.
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It was sad when James Kottak had his issues. I hope he is doing better now, Mikkey Dee came as a surprise to me, but he’s been fitting right in! And it was great to get a “name” drummer.
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Oh the memories. I remember buying this when it came out. I probably had 20 vinyl total this being one of them. And boy did this one get played along side Live after Death and my Kiss vinyl. Those were the days.
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All wonderful live album to own on vinyl! I’m glad you have it.
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I wish more bands would make onstage pyramids these days, it’s a bit of a dying art.
Killer review Mike.
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DId anyone ever do it better than Scorpions?
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Didn’t the Killer Dwarves have a go?
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