The Scorpions' two previous releases,
Blackout and
Love at First Sting, were mostly successful due to the band's ability to adjust with the times; with
Blackout, they used the classic power rock introduced by bands like
Van Halen, and for
Sting they used similar melodies, but with a harder, tighter sound akin to the work of such bands as
Dokken and
REO Speedwagon. With
Savage Amusement, the group's first studio recording in almost four years, the Scorpions experimented with more polished pop melodies that
Def Leppard and the like had made popular. The end result is polished and often predictable music that, while good, on the whole fails to be as infectious as the music on their previous albums. Die-hard fans will certainly find their share of worthwhile songs, such as "Don't Stop at the Top" and "Believe in Love," but they still may find
Savage Amusement to be incomparable to its predecessors. ~ Barry Weber