Tokyo Tapes (live)

The Scorpions Tokyo Tapes were captured only days after Cheap Trick's At Budokan in April 1978. Though hardly as inspired or successful, the Tokyo Tapes set still serves as an ideal greatest-hits collection of the Scorpions' first decade. This recording also showcases the spectacular playing (and occasionally, the dreadful singing) of guitarist Uli Jon Roth, who would soon leave the band for a misguided solo career, but displays some jaw-dropping technique here, most notably on the epic "We'll Burn the Sky." The rest of the band also puts in competent performances on such early standards as "In Trance," "Fly to the Rainbow," and "Speedy's Coming."