Tokyo Tapes (album)

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Tokyo Tapes
TokyoTapes.jpg
Live album by
Scorpions
Released15 August 1978 [1] [2] (Japan)
December 1978 (Europe)
January 1979 (US)
Recorded24 & 27 April 1978
Venue Nakano Sun Plaza, Tokyo, Japan
Genre Hard rock, heavy metal
Length85:07
Label RCA
Producer Dieter Dierks
Scorpions live albums chronology
Tokyo Tapes
(1978)		 World Wide Live
(1985)
Original 1978 Cover (Japan Only)
Tokyotapesalternate.jpg
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [3]

Tokyo Tapes is the first live album by German rock band Scorpions and their last release by RCA Records. It was also the final release to feature Uli Jon Roth, who left after the 27 April taping session.

Contents

Tokyo Tapes includes songs from all Scorpions' albums released before 1978, which were recorded at Nakano Sun Plaza (Tokyo's Nakano Ward, Japan) on 24 and 27 April, during the band's Japanese tour in 1978. These shows were guitarist Uli Jon Roth's last performances with the band, who had announced his departure after the release of the studio album Taken by Force .

The songs "Hell-Cat", "Catch Your Train" and the Japanese national anthem ("Kimi ga yo") were also performed during these shows but were not included in the official album. On the 2001 EMI re-mastered CD, "Polar Nights" was omitted so as to fit a single CD, although it was included on the re-mastered version of Taken by Force. The earlier two-CD release, however, is the original album in its entirety. The original release was on 15 August 1978 [1] [2] in Japan only with cover artwork of an embossed platinum Scorpion on a rose as opposed to a live shot of the band when it was eventually released in Europe in December 1978. It was released in January 1979 in the U.S.A..

Roth commented about the recording of the album:

"Tokyo Tapes was a peak time, we have played together for all these years and it all came together at that time. Particularly on the first show, which unfortunately wasn't recorded. There were three shows in Tokyo, the first one was by far the best, but the second one was good too. Those are the ones on the album, the second and the third that were used. The first one I thought was a lot better and I was disappointed that it wasn't recorded." [4]

In 2015, as part of Scorpions' 50th Anniversary, Tokyo Tapes was remastered and re-released, with all omitted songs restored ("Polar Nights" and the three songs excluded) and alternate version of several songs originally found on the album. [5] Due to time constraints, "Robot Man", the last track of the original release, was shifted to the beginning of Disc 2 which otherwise contains bonus tracks).

Track listing

Side one
  1. "All Night Long" (Uli Jon Roth, Klaus Meine) – 3:44
  2. "Pictured Life" (Rudolf Schenker, Meine, Roth) – 3:12
  3. "Backstage Queen" (R. Schenker, Meine) – 3:44
  4. "Polar Nights" (Roth) – 6:43 (omitted from single disc releases)
  5. "In Trance" (R. Schenker, Meine) – 5:25
Side two
  2. "We'll Burn the Sky" (R. Schenker, Monika Dannemann) – 8:07
  3. "Suspender Love" (R. Schenker/Meine) – 3:38
  4. "In Search of the Peace of Mind" (R. Schenker, Michael Schenker, Meine, Lothar Heimberg, Wolfgang Dziony) – 3:02
  5. "Fly to the Rainbow" (M. Schenker, Roth) – 9:39
Side three
  1. "He's a Woman, She's a Man" (R. Schenker, Meine, Herman Rarebell) – 5:22
  2. "Speedy's Coming" (R. Schenker, Meine) – 3:40
  3. "Top of the Bill" (R. Schenker, Meine) – 6:45
  4. "Hound Dog" (Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller) – 1:14
  5. "Long Tall Sally" (Enotris Johnson, Robert "Bumps" Blackwell, Richard Penniman) – 2:50
Side four
  2. "Steamrock Fever" (R. Schenker, Meine) – 3:41
  3. "Dark Lady" (Roth) – 4:18
  4. "Kōjō no Tsuki" (Rentarō Taki, Bansui Doi, arr. Francis Buchholz, Meine, Rarebell, Roth, R. Schenker) – 3:35
  5. "Robot Man" (R. Schenker, Meine) – 5:47
2015 Remastered edition bonus tracks [5]
  2. "Hell Cat" (Roth) - 9:47 (recorded 27 April 1978)
  3. "Catch Your Train" (R. Schenker, Meine) - 3:52 (recorded 27 April 1978)
  4. "Kimi ga yo" (Yoshiisa Oku, Akimori Hayashi, Franz Eckert, arr. Scorpions) - 1:29 (Japanese National Anthem, recorded 24 April 1978)
  5. "Polar Nights" (Roth) – 7:32 (recorded 24 April 1978)
  6. "He's a Woman, She's a Man" (R. Schenker, Meine, Rarebell) – 6:06 (recorded 24 April 1978)
  7. "Top of the Bill" (R. Schenker, Meine) – 10:48 (recorded 24 April 1978)
  8. "Robot Man" (R. Schenker, Meine) – 6:49 (recorded 27 April 1978)

Personnel

Scorpions
Production

Charts

Chart (1978-1979)Peak
position
French Albums (SNEP) [6] 14
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [7] 10
Japanese Albums (Oricon) [8] 51
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [9] 42

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
France (SNEP) [10] Gold100,000*

* Sales figures based on certification alone.

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References

  1. 1 2 "Tokyo Tapes – Scorpions". Archived from the original on 1 July 2016. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  2. 1 2 Tokyo Tapes (50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) [Live] by Scorpions, 15 August 1978, retrieved 15 August 2022
  3. ↑ Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Scorpions Tokyo Tapes review". AllMusic . Rovi Corporation . Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  4. ↑ Syrjälä, Marko. "Interview with Uli Jon Roth". Metal-rules.com. Archived from the original on 26 November 2010. Retrieved 12 May 2008.
  5. 1 2 "Tokyo Tapes (Deluxe Edition)". Amazon.com. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  6. ↑ "Le Détail des Albums de chaque Artiste – S". Infodisc.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 22 October 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2012.Select Scorpions from the menu, then press OK.
  7. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Scorpions – Tokyo Tapes" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  8. ↑ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN   4-87131-077-9.
  9. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Scorpions – Tokyo Tapes". Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  10. ↑ "French album certifications – Scorpions – Tokyo Tapes" (in French). InfoDisc. Retrieved 13 January 2022.Select SCORPIONS and click OK. 
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