Attention Rock Believers!
We wanted to let you know that Whitesnake will no longer be joining us on our U.S. and Canadian Rock Believer tour. Nothing is more important than our fans and it was important to us that we keep the shows as scheduled. We wish Whitesnake all the best and look very much forward to seeing you and rocking with you all on tour along with Thundermother.
The Rock Believer World Tour is heading to the States this Fall! Follow Scorpions and/or RSVP to the show on BandsInTown for a chance to win a pair of tickets to the show of your choice.*
Earlier this month, SCORPIONS singer Klaus Meine was asked by Greece’s RockPages.gr how much “gas is left in the tank” for him and his bandmates after more than five decades of rocking as a group. He responded: “We played almost 30 shows now this year after two years break because of the pandemic. And I think there’s still a lot of gas in the tank. When you imagine that we went through shows we did in the U.S. and now all over Europe, it looks like there’s plenty of gas in the tank. It feels good.”
This past May, Meine, who turned 74 that same month, told Portugal’s “Metal Global” that there is no more talk of retirement for the SCORPIONS, as there was back in 2010 with what was purported to be a final album and a farewell tour that never quite took hold. “No, we scratched that word [retirement] out of our [vocabulary],” he said. “It’s not there. We don’t think about it and we don’t talk about it and we take it as it comes.
Continue reading at Blabbermouth
The Volvo electric heavy-duty trucks are just as flexible as their diesel equivalents and can be built for virtually any task. And the absence of noise and emissions makes them perfect for indoor jobs or nighttime assignments – like the possibly highest-ever drum solo in the history of heavy metal. Watch Mikkey Dee (Motörhead, Scorpions) take his skills to new heights at the classic Ullevi arena in Volvo’s and Mikkey’s hometown of Gothenburg.
Since “Wind of Change”, Klaus Meine has probably not succeeded in creating a song that is as touching, as emotional, as raw as this one: a harmonious guitar solo by Matthias Jabs to start, then the unmistakable voice of the SCORPIONS singer picking up the sound and singing: “I walked down to Notre-Dame, To say a prayer for Bataclan…” The story of this song is from almost seven years ago, when an attack in Paris at the Bataclan music club tragically killed more than a hundred people by gunfire during a concert. In November 2015, the SCORPIONS were the first band to return to the stage and play a concert in Paris. Moving moments, both for the artists and for more than 20,000 fans who spontaneously tuned in the Marseillaise.
Klaus Meine: “It’s a tribute to France, with its wonderful culture and our fantastic fans.” A tribute to the legendary Olympia, to Johnny Hallyday, to the unique city on the Seine, with a good portion of rock in the finest SCORPIONS style – and an amazing ending…
Music is and has always been our favorite language.
France, get your limited vinyl now with our new song “The Language Of My Heart”!
Rock Believers, you can stream our new song now everywhere.
Fresh off of their sold-out Sin City Nights Las Vegas residency, Scorpions will return to North American on the Rock Believer World Tour with special guests Whitesnake on their Farewell Tour.
The two-month long run of dates kicks off on August 14th in Toronto with additional concerts in Los Angeles, Detroit, Chicago, Dallas and Denver, amongst others. In addition to Whitesnake, Swedish band Thundermother will be joining the tour.
Rock Zone members will have exclusive, first access to tickets starting tomorrow, Tuesday, May 10th at 10a local time.
Visit https://the-scorpions.com/rockzone for more information on how to join.
Tickets go on sale to the public this Friday, May 13 at 10am local time on Ticketmaster.
“After the amazing start we’ve had with our residency in Las Vegas, it‘s about time to come back for a real tour to rock the U.S. like a hurricane again. We can‘t wait to see all you Rock Believers out there!” – Klaus Meine
ROCK BELIEVER NORTH AMERICA TOUR 2022:
** Scorpions & Thundermother Only
Shortly after releasing their celebrated new album, Rock Believer, Scorpions have become the latest band to be featured on uDiscover Music’s animated video series, “Beyond The Bus.”
Filmed exclusively for uDiscover Music, ‘Beyond The Bus’ has already showcased tales of ribald rock’ n’ roll revelry from Billy F Gibbons, Eagles Of Death Metal’s Jesse Hughes, irrepressible Aussie rockers Airbourne and blues-rock legend George Thorogood among others. Indeed, it’s fair to say that only bands with an unquenchable thirst for the road and the more exotic fare available at rock’s top table are likely to be immortalized in this series. This is where Scorpions come in, who have plenty of tales from their decades on the road.
Rock Believer, Scorpions’ new album, has been a long time coming. It’s their first release in seven years, since 2015’s Return to Forever, and, happily, it is exactly the record Scorpions fans would want, bringing elements of their most successful albums, 1979’s Lovedrive and 1984’s Love at First Sting.
As it happens, that was no accident. The band deliberately set out to channel the forces that were at work back then, even resorting to using the same guitars and amps that were used on those landmark Scorpions albums.
With estimated total album sales of around 100 million, Scorpions are a huge live draw around the globe.
Just ask rhythm guitarist Rudolf Schenker. “We’ve played in 88 countries,” the founder of the German hard-rock group notes.
“I remember James Hetfield being asked by an interviewer how many countries Metallica had played in, and he replied that he wasn’t sure, but he knew it wasn’t as many as Scorpions.”
Schenker and Scorpions singer Klaus Meine may be well into their 70s, but they are showing no signs of slowing down the pace of their live work.
The band were in the middle of intensive rehearsals when Guitar Player tracked down Schenker and lead guitarist Matthias Jabs to discuss the new album. They were in fine spirits, overflowing with enthusiasm for the record and the chance to get back onstage.
Rock Believer is one of the strongest records in your catalog. What accounts for that?
Matthias Jabs I’m really delighted with the result. The circumstances were different from how we recorded in the past, because the pandemic forced us to work by ourselves, as the producer that we’d chosen couldn’t come to Germany, and we couldn’t go to L.A.
We decided that we’d have to produce it ourselves, but that turned out to be the right move, because we had no outside influence and could really concentrate on doing exactly what we wanted to do.
Rudolf Schenker Yes, we were in our own bubble in the studio, and we could work on it as long as we wanted – but without overworking it, which can sometimes be a problem. We knew exactly what we wanted though, which was to capture the DNA of [1982’s] Blackout and Love at First Sting.
It’s very much the record every Scorpions fan would want to hear.
Schenker We wanted to make a rock album that was not too polished. We wanted to go back into the center of what Scorpions should be, because sometimes we have been a bit too polished. We wanted to make a rock album for the rock community.
Jabs I think so too. Looking back, I think we found our signature sound in the early ’80s, and you can hear, without any outside influence and advice from producers, that is still what we sound like.
Continue Reading at Guitar Player
via Louder
Over 50 years since he formed Scorpions in Hanover, guitarist Rudolf Schenker is still waving the flag proudly for hard rock and heavy metal. His band have released 19 studio albums, played to millions of fans around the world (including iconic events like Rock In Rio) and written some of rock’s most iconic anthems in the form of Winds Of Change, Rock You Like A Hurricane and The Zoo.
Hammer caught up with the legendary guitarist to talk hard rock history, new album Rock Believer and how a night out with Def Leppard and Judas Priest inspired the title of their 1982 platinum-selling album Blackout.
Editor’s Note: This interview was originally completed prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Scorpions have since vocally supported Ukraine and even changed the lyrics to Winds Of Change to remove mention of Moscow.
Rock Believer has some serious classic Scorpions vibes – be honest, how much do you miss the 80s?
“Ha ha ha! When you look back to the musical history from the 60s right up to now, it was just the best. The 60s and 70s were very inspiring for all the bands that came out – that’s what made me want to be in a band in the first place – but the 80s were where anything could happen.”
So was it important to capture that on the album?
“Of course – just look at what’s happening right now! We are talking about a time where there wasn’t sound design or anything in the studio – you really had to play.
So we wanted that to come across with Rock Believer; this is a band in the studio, really playing these songs. You can feel it in the music, like the opening song Gas In The Tank says, [starts singing loudly] ‘LET’S PLAY IT LOOOUDER!’”
Are you tired of people asking if the CIA wrote Winds Of Change?
“I’ll never get tired of talking about that song – it’s a case where you can really see the impact music has. The coin always has two sides so go see what’s behind, that’s why we booked shows in Leningrad in 1988 and did the [Moscow] Peace festival the following year. We felt we were a part of the most peaceful revolution on Earth and the soundtrack to that was Winds Of Change.”
The world’s pretty divided again right now – is it time for Winds Of Change 2?
“We live in a completely different world right now and I think people have to work it out – they can’t just sit around doing nothing. Do sports, make the most of God’s instrument! Force yourself to get stronger and you’ll find inner-balance.”
In your five decades of touring, is there anywhere you’ve played with Scorpions where you’ve thought things got too dicey?
“Not at all! When grunge and alternative blew up we were playing over in Asia, places like Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia where we still played in huge stadiums. We had no fear and it paid off – we sold more albums in Thailand than Michael Jackson. Why fight grunge in Europe and America when we could play huge shows in Taiwan and so on?”
Who is the most famous fan of Scorpions that you have met?
“Having lived through the 70s, Led Zeppelin were one of the most inspirational groups to me, along with Black Sabbath and The Beatles. Jimmy Page once came to my dressing room at the Hammersmith Odeon and we had a really nice time.
I was surprised he wanted to come see us, but I told him – Stairway To Heaven inspired Still Loving You, because it’s such an unbelievable song and so creative.
I’ve met most of my idols and they’ve been great. The only one I never met was John Lennon; I met George Harrison in Tokyo, Ringo Starr when we were at an event with Michael Jackson in Munich at the Olympic stadium, Paul McCartney twice… So many nice people.”
What about the wildest band you ever partied with?
“There are so many! Blackout’s title was inspired by a blackout – the first I’d ever had – partying with Def Leppard and Judas Priest. I’d never heard of that before and I loved the idea of using it as an album title. But Judas Priest, Def Leppard, Van Halen, Ozzy Osbourne… all those bands were our friends and we’d have some insane parties.”
You’re still very much a ‘Rock Believer’ even in your 70s, then?
“Of course! I’m from the 50s, so I saw the Beatles and the Rolling Stones when they first started changing things. I was there and said, ‘Yes, I want to do this – I believe in rock!’ People would say ‘Why do you do these things? Music?! Wake up! What will you do when you’re 30 or 40?’ but I’m still here making music and they’re all not living or looking like they’re 90!”
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