Scorpions

SCORPIONS

   Scorpions are a rock band from Hannover, Germany, formed in 1965 by guitarist Rudolf Schenker, who is the band's only constant member.They are known for their 1980s rock anthem "Rock You Like a Hurricane" and many singles, such as "No One Like You", "Send Me an Angel", "Still Loving You", and "Wind of Change". The band was ranked #46 on VH1's Greatest Artists of Hard Rock program. "Rock You Like a Hurricane" is also #18 on VH1's list of the 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs.On January 24, 2010, after 46 years of performing, the band announced that they will be retiring after touring in support of their new album Sting in the Tail.The band sold over 100 million albums worldwide.

   In November 2009, Scorpions announced that their 17th studio album, Sting in the Tail, would be released in early 2010, recorded in Hannover with Swedish producers Mikael "Nord" Andersson and Martin Hansen. Sting in the Tail was released on March 23, 2010.

   On January 24, 2010, the band announced that Sting in the Tail will be their last album and that the tour supporting it will be their final tour. Dokken was scheduled to open for them but canceled after a dispute.The tour is expected to end in 2012 or 2013.

   On 6 April 2010, Scorpions were enshrined in Hollywood's Rock Walk in a handprint ceremony, with the band members placing their hands in a long slab of wet cement. The slab will be placed in the ground next to other musical artists on the Rock Walk.

   According to bassist Paweł Mąciwoda, Scorpions will enter the studio in the fall of 2011 to re-record versions of their older material. At the beginning this retro collection was tentatively due for release in early 2012.The album was titled Comeblack and was released on 7 November 2011.

   Frontman Klaus Meine was asked in a July 2011 interview about the future of Scorpions and whether the band was going to make another album. He replied, "Our newest project comes out in the next few months. It gives you a chance to experience the Scorpions in 3D. You can actually feel the smoke string out of the guitar like it is a live show. It is an incredible experience. The DVD features our concerts in 3D in Germany. We are just about to do the mix and it should be in the Middle East and Saudi Arabia hopefully soon. Indeed, the strong 3D technology makes us feel like pioneers after all these years (he says, laughing). We have an album coming out later this year featuring classics. You know our love for them. The '60s was the era for our inspiration. Our movie/documentary also is soon to be released. We have cameras with us on tours, so this documentary is being made during our tours. It also gives you a picture of the Scorpions career and journey."

   Almost a year in advance it was announced Scorpions would headline the Wacken Open Air Festival on 4 August.

Current members:

• Rudolf Schenker — rhythm & lead guitars, backing vocals (1965–present)
• Klaus Meine — lead vocals (1970–present)
• Matthias Jabs — lead & rhythm guitars, backing vocals (1978-present)
• James Kottak — drums, backing vocals (1996–present)
• Paweł Mąciwoda — bass, backing vocals (2004–present)

Discography:

LONESOME CROW

(1972)

   Lonesome Crow is the first album by the German heavy metal band Scorpions produced by Conny Plank and released in 1972.

   It is the band's only album with lead guitarist Michael Schenker as a full-time member. He left not long after to join UFO and was replaced by Ulrich Roth on later albums. Schenker, however, did rejoin the band briefly during the recording and touring of 1979's Lovedrive.

   Of the album, vocalist Meine said:

With Lonesome Crow, we were just a young band trying to find our way, trying to shape an artistic style to find the Scorpions DNA. There was a ballad with "In Search of the Peace of Mind", and a psychedelic rocker with the title track, "I'm Goin' Mad", [which] was a great rocker with Michael Schenker playing great solos. We were just a young band with talented guys, with no idea on where to go from here.

For the subsequent album, Fly to the Rainbow, we brought in Uli Roth, who had a Hendrix influence, and Rudolf and I became a songwriter team. When Matthias Jabs joined the band, we found our style, fast riffs but great melodies, along with the power ballads.

— Klaus Meine

   The album was used as the soundtrack to the German anti-drug movie Das Kalte Paradies.The album had several different cover art sleeves and was re-titled Action for some releases. The 1982 German re-issue cover art was created by the artist Rodney Matthews

FLY TO THE RAINBOW

(1974)

   Fly to the Rainbow is the second studio album by German heavy metal band Scorpions, released in 1974. In support of their Lonesome Crow album, Scorpions appeared as the opening act for the British rock band UFO. At the end of the tour, Scorpions lead guitarist Michael Schenker was asked to fill an open position as UFO's guitarist and accepted the role.Schenker's departure temporarily resulted in the breakup of the band but Rudolf Schenker and later Klaus Meine ultimately merged with the band Dawn Road which consisted of guitarist Ulrich Roth filling Michael's role, as well as drummer Jürgen Rosenthal, and bass guitarist Francis Buchholz.The new line up resumed under the Scorpions name and recorded Fly to the Rainbow.

IN TRANCE

(1975)

   In Trance is the third studio album by the German heavy metal band Scorpions, released in 1975, The album's music was the complete departure from the progressive Krautrock of the two previous albums in favor of a heavy metal sound of shorter and tighter arrangements with which the band would achieve their later global success and fame, extended suites in the vein of songs such as Lonesome Crow and Fly to the Rainbow are absent altogether.

VIRGIN KILLER

(1976)

   Virgin Killer is the fourth studio album by the German heavy metal band Scorpions. It was released in 1976 and was the first album of the band to attract attention outside Europe.The title is described as being a reference to time as the killer of innocence.The original cover featured a nude prepubescent girl, which stirred controversy in the U.K., U.S. and elsewhere. As a result, the album was re-issued with a different cover in some countries.

   In December 2008, the image again gave rise to controversy when the British Internet Watch Foundation placed certain pages from Wikipedia on its internet blacklist, since it considered the image to be "potentially illegal" under the Protection of Children Act 1978.This resulted in much of the UK being prevented from editing Wikipedia, and significant public debate of the decision. The decision was reversed by the IWF after four days of blocking.

TAKEN BY FORCE

(1977)

   Taken By Force is the fifth studio album by German heavy metal band Scorpions, released in 1977. This was the first Scorpions album to feature drummer Herman Rarebell and the final album to feature guitarist Uli Jon Roth. Roth left the band in 1978 following the end of the album's tour, and was eventually replaced by Matthias Jabs.

LOVEDRIVE

(1979)

   Lovedrive is the sixth studio album by the German heavy metal band Scorpions, released in 1979. Lovedrive was a major evolution of the band's sound, which exhibited their "classic style" that would be later developed over their next few albums. Michael Schenker, younger brother of rhythm guitarist Rudolf Schenker, performed lead guitar on 3 songs. The RIAA certified Lovedrive as Gold on 28 May 1986 and the album ranked 25 on IGN's list of the top 25 metal albums.

ANIMAL MAGNETISM

(1980)

   Animal Magnetism is the seventh studio album by the German heavy metal band Scorpions, released in 1980. The RIAA certified Animal Magnetism as Gold on 8 March 1984, and Platinum on 28 October 1991.

BLACKOUT

(1982)

   Blackout is the eighth studio album by the German heavy metal band Scorpions, released in 1982 on EMI Germany Records and Mercury Records.

   After losing his voice during the writing of the album, lead vocalist Klaus Meine had to undergo surgery on his vocal cords and it was uncertain whether he would be able to record it. Demos of the material were recorded with Don Dokken as vocalist; however none of those recordings are featured on the album.

   Rudolf Schenker could not choose between his guitar solos on "China White", so the US and European releases differed in this small detail.

   A self-portrait of artist Gottfried Helnwein is featured on the cover of the album. Rudolf Schenker portrays this character in the "No One Like You" music video. Shirts with this album artwork on them are amongst the most popular Scorpions t-shirts out there; the seller of the Nintendo Virtual Boy in the Pawn Stars episode Darth Pawn is wearing a Scorpions Blackout shirt.

   The RIAA certified Blackout as Gold on June 24, 1982 and Platinum on March 8, 1984.

LOVE AT FIRST STING

(1984)

   Love at First Sting is the ninth studio album by the German heavy metal band Scorpions, released in 1984 (see 1984 in music). Love at First Sting became the most successful album of the band in the USA where it peaked at number 6 on the Billboard 200 chart in 1984 and went triple platinum. The song "Rock You Like a Hurricane" reached number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the same year, "Still Loving You" reached number 64 on the same chart, number 14 in Germany, number 2 in the French and Swiss Top 50. This album is notable in that it was one of the first digitally recorded heavy metal albums ever released.

SAVAGE AMUSEMENT

(1988)

   Savage Amusement is the tenth studio album by the German heavy metal band Scorpions, released in 1988. It peaked at #5 in the USA where it became platinum on June 20, 1988. It was also the last Scorpions record to be produced by Dieter Dierks.

   The album was the follow-up to the successful Love at First Sting and had some musical differences when compared to its predecessor. The overall feel of the album shows that Scorpions wanted to experiment with some different genres, going to a more radio friendly style and incorporating more synthesized sounds. While there are still some straight hard rock songs, like "Don't Stop At The Top" and "Media Overkill", there are also progressive rock songs such as "Walking On The Edge" and "Passion Rules The Game".

CRAZY LOVE

(1990)

   Crazy World is the eleventh studio album by the German heavy metal band Scorpions released in November 1990. Crazy World peaked at number 21 on Billboard 200 Chart for albums in 1991. The song "Wind of Change" reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1991, and "Send Me an Angel" reached number 44 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The last album to feature bassist Francis Buchholz.

   In the UK, it remains the only Scorpions album to attain Silver certification (60,000 units sold) by the British Phonographic Industry, achieving this in November 1991.

FACE THE HEAT

(1993)

   Face the Heat is the twelfth studio album (14th including major live recordings) released by the German heavy metal band Scorpions in 1993.

   It was produced by the band and the late Bruce Fairbairn. It was released on the PolyGram label. This album marked their status as a sort of political band with the song, "Alien Nation"; which was about the re-unification of Germany. This album had a contemporary touch to it, as the band were then going with the current trends, before later returning to their original style in Unbreakable in 2004. The last album to feature drummer Herman Rarebell,and first album with Ralph Rieckermann on bass guitar.

PURE INSTINCT

(1996)

   Pure Instinct is the thirteenth studio album by German heavy metal band Scorpions, released in 1996.

   The cover art for this album like many previous Scorpions album cover was replaced with an alternative cover for some releases due to the nudity on the original cover. This is the only Scorpions album on which Curt Cress plays drums.

EYE II EYE

(1999)

   Eye II Eye is the fourteenth studio album by German heavy metal band Scorpions, released in 1999. It is a radical departure in that Eye II Eye is much more pop-oriented than their previous work, which alienated some fans, despite lead single "Mysterious" reaching number 26 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart.

   For the first (and, thus far, only) time, Scorpions released a song recorded in their native language, namely "Du bist so schmutzig".

MOMENT OF GLORY

(2000)

   Moment of Glory is the fifteenth studio album by German heavy metal band Scorpions with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. At first the English composer Andrew Powell was asked to provide arrangements. As they would have reduced the orchestra too much, being only a symphonic accompaniment, both the Philharmonics and the Scorpions regarded the arrangements not to be satisfying. As mentioned by Klaus Meine, Michael Kamen was designated next for the orchestral material. After his declining to collaborate with Metallica for the album S&M, finally the Austrian arranger Christian Kolonovits proved to be the right collaborator. See the interviews with Meine and Kolonovits and pages from Kolonovits’ scores Michael Custodis, Moment of Glory - The Scorpions und die Berliner Philharmoniker.

UNBREAKABLE

(2004)

   Unbreakable is the fifteenth studio album by the German heavy metal band Scorpions, released in 2004. In this album, Scorpions return to their original, more raw style of music after many concept albums and experimenting with different styles.This was the first album with Pawel Maciwoda on bass guitar.

HUMANITY: HOUR I

(2007)

   Humanity: Hour I is a concept album (and sixteenth studio recording) by the German heavy metal band Scorpions, which was released in Europe on May 14, 2007 and in the United States and Canada on August 28, 2007. The leading song "Humanity" was performed by Scorpions on March 24, 2007 at Brussels, Belgium.

   The album was produced by James Michael and Desmond Child, who also provide backing vocals. The first single was "Humanity".

   Also of note is the band's logo on the album's cover (Concept by Desmond Child and Concept /Design by Futurist Liam Carl): the text font is similar to their first two albums, as opposed to the band's more famous logo. This marks only the third time in the band's career (and the first time in 33 years) the less familiar font has been used. However, if one looks closely, their more familiar logo can be seen on the back of the neck of the female android.

  The opening track "Hour I" has been used as the intro of the NHL's Minnesota Wild since the 2007-08 season.

STING IN THE TAIL

(2010)

   Sting in the Tail is the seventeenth studio album by German heavy metal band Scorpions. It was released on March 19, 2010 in Europe (March 14 in Greece) and was released on March 23 in North America.It is likely to be their last studio album.

   In an interview with the Songfacts website, Rudolf Schenker explained that their goal was to update their sound from their classic period in the 1980s. He explained: "If you take the best song elements from the '80s albums, and put these on one album, you come up with the Sting in the Tail album. So in this case we tried to re-invent the Scorpions sound from the '80s, using the same DNA after putting in a modern twist, to make it sound like today's music."

   The album has a duet featuring the Finnish symphonic metal singer Tarja Turunen, in the song "The Good Die Young".

   A tentative title for the album was Humanity: Hour II, however this was eventually scrapped.

   First week sales in the United States were 18,500 copies sold placing it at No. 23 on the Billboard 200. In Germany the album debuted at No. 2, but fell in its second week to No. 3, in France at No. 16 and in Greece at No. 1.The album also peaked at Number 2 on the Billboard Rock Charts.

COMEBLACK

(2011)

   Comeblack is a compilation album by German heavy metal band Scorpions.

  The album is composed half of their own classics' re-recorded versions and half cover versions of 60s' and early 70s' popular rock songs.It was announced on 3 October 2011, with a planned global release date of 4 November, with a United States release on 24 January 2012.Comeblack was also released for streaming online by AOL Music on 23 January 2012.The album was released by Sony Music Entertainment and available in both CD and vinyl formats.

   During its first week on sale in the US, Comeblack sold about 5,000 copies, debuting at number 90 on the Billboard 200 chart.

   A review of Comeblack by Allmusic rated the album three out of five stars, noting that the re-recorded songs sounded "bigger than their '80s counterparts," and saying that among the covers, "Children of the Revolution" and "Tainted Love" stood out.

And now ladies and gentlemen enjoy Scorpions' majesty: