Taken by Force was the fifth Scorpions album. Issued in December of 1977, it would be their last album to feature lead guitar virtuoso Uli Jon Roth. The lyrics for the song “We’ll Burn the Sky” were adapted from a poem by Roth’s wife at the time Monica Dannemann. Dannemann had been the last girlfriend of Jimi Hendrix. Hendrix died in her London flat and the lyrics to “We’ll Burn the Sky” are a tribute to him. (Be sure to check out the dance performed by singer Klaus Meine during Roth’s blistering guitar solo in the video!)

Watch the video here below.

When I was growing up in rural Indiana in the early 80″²s, there was very limited access to heavy music. These were the days before MTV blew up with the whole hair metal, Headbangers Ball phenomenon. But on Sunday nights, there was a two-hour radio show that came from WOXY, the radio station of Miami University of Ohio, just across the state line in Oxford, Ohio. It was called Massive Metal for the Masses and I would wait all week for it to air. It was through this show that I was introduced to bands like Venom, Bathory, WASP, Michael Schenker Group, Slayer, and countless others. This Monday weekly column is my tip of the hat to that show. I call it Massive Metal Monday. Every week, I will pay tribute to defining moments by the artists that laid the groundwork for heavy metal to become the worldwide cultural bond for all of us metalheads.

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