Scorpions Still Got That Sting -- Alice Cooper Joins Them At The Gorge

Concert preview The Scorpions and Alice Cooper, 7 p.m. Saturday, the Gorge Amphitheatre, George, Grant County; $26.80-$42.55. 628-0888.

For almost 25 years, the Scorpions, Germany's multimillion-album-selling metal meisters, have been covering the globe.

The band began humbly enough, playing pop music in the bars and dance halls around Hanover in the mid-'60s. But in 1972 that lineup dissolved, re-formed as the Scorpions, and put out "Lonesome Crow," a hybrid roar of pop/metal topped with the high wailing vocals of Klaus Meine.

Their homeland popularity secured, they set out to conquer the rest of the world, succeeding first in Europe, then Japan and Britain. After six albums they released "Lovedrive," and broke through on the American charts.

But it was "No One Like You" from "Blackout" in 1982 and "Rock You Like a Hurricane" from "Love at First Sting," coupled with continuous exposure on the then-fledgling MTV and a dynamic live show that cemented their stardom internationally. The Scorpions have long been a powerful live act, brutal guitars and chalkboard-scraping vocals - tolerable but no less intense - complemented by state-of-the-art production. The Gorge should make a dynamic background.

The band just released its 13th recording, "Pure Instinct," which is more a collection of metal ballads than thrashers. (Actually, the band's biggest single was a ballad, 1990's "Winds of Change," a song about the group's experiences in Russia during glasnost.) The Scorpions show is expected to be a well-mixed set of the new and old.

While the Scorpions have always put on a high-energy show, for pure theatrics, few short of GWAR or Kiss have ever matched Alice Cooper's gift for excess and the outrageous.

The Alice Cooper Group started in the late '60s and recorded its first two albums for Frank Zappa. Lead singer Alice Cooper (Vincent Furnier) wore dresses and makeup and was considered to front the worst band in Los Angeles. The band eventually left Zappa, moved to Detroit and in 1974 released "Love It to Death," the breakout album that included the hit "Eighteen." "School's Out," "Elected" and "No More Mr. Nice Guy" followed.

As Cooper got bigger, the live show got more grandiose and gory, including live snakes and chopped-up baby dolls. As Cooper said at the time: "We were into fun, sex, death and money when everybody else was into peace and love. We drove a stake through the heart of the Love Generation."

But while Cooper may have seemed horrific, he was still wholesome enough to appear on "Hollywood Squares" and "The Gong Show."

Cooper took a hiatus in 1978, returning in 1986 with "Constrictor." His last release was 1994's "The Last Temptation," although a three-CD box set and live recordings of his greatest hits are expected this year.