Lonesome Crow

More than two decades before they rocked us like a hurricane, the Scorpions' debut album drew influences from heavier recordings by bands like Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin. 1972's Lonesome Crow featured founding member Michael Schenker on guitar, shortly before he left to join UFO. "I'm Goin’ Mad" opens with "Magic Bus"-inspired percussion as Schenker unleashes some kaleidoscopic, psychedelic, six-string leads that make way for what sounds like chanting monks. Klaus Meine had yet to find his countertenor range, but on "It All Depends" you can hear him pushing his voice into new territories — though it's Schenker's proto-UFO riffage that takes center stage on this one — especially since he was 16 years old when it was recorded. The guitars on "Leave Me" sound like he spent much of his bedroom wood-shedding learning Toni Iommi's parts to Sabbath's "Hole In the Sky." He wields an acoustic guitar on "In Search of the Piece of Mind," flirting with the kinds of progressive arrangements that become more fully formed on the 13-minute-long title-track as it echoes early Jethro Tull.