POP MUSIC REVIEWS : Scorpions’ Rock of Ages Past a Welcome Change at Forum

If you’re starved for old-fashioned arena hard rock, even the Scorpions sound good.

Considering the Nirvanas and Pearl Jams dominating rock these days, with their intensity, insight, Angst and preoccupation with the offbeat, it was a pleasant change on Friday at the Forum to stroll down memory lane with a dinosaur like the Scorpions who are dedicated to mindless, party-time, straight-ahead hard rock (they also played Saturday night at the Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre).

While sometimes rousing and gloriously anthemic, the Scorpions’ music is most often shallow, with hardly a memorable lyric. For the pumped-up Scorpions crowd, though, that’s not a negative. When you’re grooving to “Rock You Like a Hurricane,” you’re not looking for words of wisdom.

The German quintet does try its hand at meaningful music--”Wind of Change” is a homage to the turbulent changes in Russia. The result: well-meaning but pretentious.

After 23 years on the rock circuit, they don’t rock as hard as they used to. There was a mechanical, rote feel to some of the music. Lead singer Klaus Meine sounded out of tune and strained at times but, as usual, the band did a fair job of covering up his mistakes.

The Scorpions show may have been occasional fun and a welcome change from a steady diet of alternative rock, but you could see why their kind of arena hard rock is dying out.