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Three of Self Made Man’s favourite rock artists have released new albums in March and so there was only one man qualified to deliver the rushonrock verdict on the Scorpions, Joe Bonamassa and Bad Company.

SMM has seen all three live and knows their back catalogues like the back of his hand but what about their 2010 output and – in the case of the Scorps – what about their last ever record? Read on to find out more. Scorpions – Sting In The Tail

It’s better to burn out than to fade away says Neil Young. Well, Deutchsland’s finest have done neither.

The Scorpions are going out with at atomic blast of bang. OK, they’re not quite bowing on a crest of a wave in terms of album sales or popularity.

But make no mistake about it, their last-ever studio album is one of their best and bears comparisons with classics such as Lovedrive, Blackout and Love At First Sting. It’s all been a question of balance for Klaus Meine, Rudi Schenker, Matthias Jabs and co. – Scorps’ albums are about musical contrasts, raunchy riffs once minute, melt-in-the-mouth ballads the next.

In the 90s, they got it all wrong with Alien Nation too much one way and the saccharin-sweet Basic Instinct too much the other. When they experimented with techno-pop, Eye To Eye was panned by critics.

Sting In The Tail‘s immediate two predecessors Unbreakable and Humantiy: Hour One suggested they were back on track again and this is their crowning glory. It kicks off with Raised On Rock, a look back on their 40 odd years in the business before the anthemic title track – guaranteed to be a live favourite – hits you straight between the eyes.

At the risk of being sued for libel, Meine has an ability to switch between Manilow and Metallica in an instant and while the beautiful Lorelei and Sly are ballads you’d play to your granny, No Limit and Rock Zone are blasters with the capability of performing a collective lobotomy on the neighbourhood. Not so much a Sting in this Tail as an explosion ripping through the body.

rushonrock rated: 9/10

Joe Bonamassa – Black Rock

Joe Bonamassa is a guitar genius, an excellent vocalist and a very fine songwriter.I repeat, a very fine songwriter. Are you listening, Joe? You pen a mean ditty.

So why does the most talented blues rock musician of his generation persist in filling his albums with covers? Now don’t get me wrong, there is absolutely nothing wrong with anything on his latest release and his versions of Bobby Parker’s Steal Your Heart Away, which opens Black Rock and Leonard Cohen’s haunting Bird On A Wire are outstanding.

But Bonamass’a finest work on this follow-up to The Ballad of John Henry,  is his own. He even admits it himself. In a recent interview when asked which are his favourite tracks he reveals Wandering Earth and Athen To Athens are top of the list and he’s right – the latter one of several Greek-influenced tracks reflecting the country where this album was recorded.

And while it is testimony to how highly he is rated in the music world that BB King sings on Night Life, that particular collaboration is very much a run-of-the-mill blues rocker. Black Rock is heavier than Joe’s recent albums and could have done with a slow, drippy Sloe Gin type (and yes, I know that’s a cover). But his guitar playing is, inevitably, sublime  and if this isn’t quite the killer album JB has always threatened to release, it will enhance is soaring reputation.

rushonrock rated: 7.5/10

Bad Company – Hard Rock Live

With little fanfare, the refomed Bad Company have released a truly outstanding CD/DVD of their 2008 reunion gig in Holywood, Florida when Mick Ralphs joined Paul Rodgers and Simon Kirke on stage for the first time in years to remind the audience why they once rivalled Led Zeppelin as the finest rock band on the planet.

Those who own a copy of 2002 Merchants Of Cool or even Paul Rodgers: Live in Glasgow may decide this is surplus to requirements. That would be a mistake and not only because the package represents excellent value with both audio and visual discs.

Bad Company made stripped down, no frills rock and roll and art form and while guitarist Ralphs, drummer Kirke and additional band members Howard Leese and Lynn Sorensen, both members of Rodgers’ solo band, are all fine musicians in their own right, there are no solos and little improvisation.

On stage, they stay faithful to the studio originals and this is one of the CD/DVD’s strengths with most of their songs lasting little more than four minutes and only the penultimate Ready For Love stretching beyond eight minutes.

I swear Rodgers’ voice is better now than it was in the 70s when he was widely acclaimed as the world’s finest blues rock singer. He’s a lot more comfortable singing his own material than Queen’s and the smile on his face throughout the concert is only matched by the admiration, respect and passion the audience have for singer and band.

With Bad Company playing virtually all their best-known songs, this is not just for devotees of the band but a worthy starting point for anyone wanting to listen to blues rock at its best.

rushonrock rated: 9/10