FROM THE CRYPTS - CELEBRATING PAST ALBUM RELEASES in the HISTORY of HARD ROCK & HEAVY METAL…
Crazy World was released 32 years ago this week! How did you feel about this album?
On November 6, 1990, the Scorpions released their eleventh full-length studio album Crazy World via Vertigo Records in Europe and Mercury Records in the US.
The album peaked at No. 21 on the Billboard 200 chart for albums in 1991. That same year, the song Wind of Change reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Send Me an Angel reached No. 44 on the same chart. It also has the only Scorpions track to credit bassist Francis Buchholz as a writer, Kicks After Six. This album was the band's first album in a decade and a half to not be produced by Dieter Dierks and is widely considered to be the last "classic" Scorpions album.
Background:
Wishing to distance themselves from the Savage Amusement style, the band separated from their long-time producer and "Sixth Scorpion", Dieter Dierks, replacing him with Keith Olsen when they returned to the studio in 1990. Crazy World was released that year and displayed a less polished sound. The album was propelled in large part by the massive success of the ballad Wind of Change. The song muses on the socio-political changes that were occurring in Eastern Europe and other parts of the world at the end of the Cold War. On July 21, 1990, they joined many other guests for Roger Waters' massive performance of The Wall in Berlin. Scorpions performed both versions of In the Flesh from The Wall.
Crazy World became the band's only album to reach No. 1 in their home country of Germany. In the UK, it remains the only Scorpions album to attain Silver certification (60,000 units sold) by the British Phonographic Industry, achieving this in November 1991. In the United States, it is the band's second best-selling album to 1984's Love at First Sting, and their last one to be certified at least gold in the US by the The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It was the band's last studio album to feature the Lovedrive-era lineup. After the Crazy World tour Francis Buchholz, the band's long-serving bassist, left the group in January 1992.
Hit Between the Eyes was played during the ending credits of the 1992 film Freejack.
Send Me an Angel was played at the closing scene in the 2004 Cold Case episode Who's Your Daddy. Wind of Change was also used during the 2009 film Gentlemen Broncos and towards the end of the 2014 film The Interview and international version soundtrack featured Nutri Ventures in pilot episode.
Critical Reception:
Adrien Begrand writing for PopMatters called the album "pop metal by [the] numbers".
Barry Weber’s review for AllMusic stated;
“After the release of Savage Amusement in 1988, the Scorpions expressed disdain toward the album, feeling that it was too polished when compared to their other work. Their longtime producer, Dieter Dierks, was replaced with well-known rock producer Keith Olsen, who would produce Crazy World”and assist in making it one of the Scorpions' greatest recordings. Their music had certainly changed since Savage Amusement, sounding a little bit heavier and less glamorous. But even with the metal sound, the songs remain melodic and catchy. The power ballads on the album, Wind of Change and Send Me an Angel, are arguably two of the band's greatest slow numbers, boasting soothing harmony and lyrics. Crazy World remains the Scorpions' finest '90s album and is sure to please its listeners.”
Note: The reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells
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