Source: Bravewords.com
Robert Cavuoto of Guitar International recently spoke with guitarist MICHAEL SCHENKER (UFO, SCORPIONS) about his new album, “Bridge The Gap”; an excerpt follows:
How does this Bridge The Gap compare to your previous work?
Michael Schenker: “This is a very special album because it’s the closest I have ever gotten to a true band. We have Doogie White; he’s an excellent vocalist and a great showman. We have Herman Rarebell and Francis Buchholz the original rhythm section of Scorpions. We have Wayne Findley who plays a fantastic 7-string guitar and keyboard. So, it’s all the way up there for me.”
The CD title really ties nicely with the vibe of the CD about bridging the gap between the past with Herman and Francis and the present with new players and an updated sound. Tell me about your thinking behind it.
Michael Schenker: “I’ve only done one CD with Herman and Francis, which was Lovedrive in the ‘70s with the Scorpions. For various reasons, we disappeared out of the loop. With Bridge The Gap we are all coming back almost simultaneously and making our second record together. I already knew the album title before I even went in the studio starting to record or before writing. I said to everybody, It’s going to be called Bridge The Gap. When I gave Doogie the material, I said think bridge the gap and think melodic.”
Tell me about song writing process, do you work together as a band with the riffs you’ve saved or do you bring completed songs to them?
Michael Schenker: “For this album, I just looked at what I had. We had six months to get it all together. I started writing around the clock to add to my riffs. By the end of the year, I was ready to give it to Doogie. But for the next record, I want to try something that I used to do long, long time ago at the very beginning of UFO. We used to sit together in a rehearsal studio, and somebody starts a riff and then everybody joins in on the spot to play what they feel. So, I already have an idea for how the next album will start off.”
Guitar legend MICHAEL SCHENKER has announced a string of North American dates in January/February 2014.
Says Schenker: “I am very much looking forward to touring the States in Jan/Feb, and to introducing my new singer, Doogie White, and material from our brand new album, Bridge the Gap. Doogie, Wayne Findlay and myself will be promoting our new album in the States before teaming up with the album lineup for a World Tour starting in March in Japan. We are all looking forward to rock you. ‘Til then, keep on rocking.”
Dates include:
January
9 – Las Vegas, NV – LVCS
10 – Corona, CA – M -15 Concert Theatre
11 – Ramona, CA – Ramona Main Stage Theatre
14 – Denver, CO – Ecks Saloon
16 – Libertyville, IL – Austins
17 – Libertyville, IL – Austins
18 – Toronto, ON – Rockpile West
19 – Toronto, ON – Rockpile East
20 – Englewood, NJ – Bergan Performing Arts Center
21 – Londonberry, NH – Tuepelo Music Hall
22 – New York, NY – Bb Kings Concert Hall
24 – Sayreville, NJ – Starland Ballroom
25 – Poughkeepsie, NY – Chance Theatre
27 – Sellersville, PA – Sellersville Theatre
28 – Cleveland, OH – Agora Ballroom
30 – Oaklahoma City, OK – Chameleon Ballroom
31 – Houston, TX – Concert Pub North
February
1 – San Antonio, TX – Backstage Live
6 – San Francisco, CA – Yoshi’S
7 – Orangevale, CA – Boardwalk
8 – Portland, OR – Tba
9 – Seattle, Wa – EL Corazon
12 – Hollywood, CA – House Of Blues
15 – San Juan, Capistrano, CA – The Coach House
16 – Hermosa Beach, CA – St Rocke
TEMPLE OF ROCK – featuring Michael Schenker (ex-UFO, SCORPIONS) on guitar, Doogie White (TANK, ex-RAINBOW, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN) on vocals, and ex-Scorpions members Francis Buchholz and Herman Rarebell on bass and drums, and Wayne Findlay (MSG, SLAVIOR) on guitar and keys – are gearing up for the release of their brand new studio album entitled Bridge The Gap, due out today November 22nd in Europe and in the UK on Monday, December 2nd.
In preparation for the release, track previews for album tracks ‘Lord Of The Lost And Lonely’ and ‘Rock N Roll Symphony’ have been released.
Doogie White comments on ‘Lord Of The Lost And Lonely’: “’Lord Of The Lost And Lonely’ has a Celtic vibe about it and the riff rocks and rolls. The chorus just bursts out on this song out, and drives right through. It’s that small voice in the back of your mind that you know you really should listen to but can’t.”
On ‘Rock N Roll Symphony’, White says: “’Rock N Roll Symphony’ features Wayne holding the tune down with the Hammond under Schenker’s rolling riff. It’s a celebration of rock’n’roll in all its guises. I took song titles and phrases from the wider rock community and wrapped them up into a lyric.”
Samples of all tracks due to appear on the album are now available for streaming at this location.
According to a press release, the new album features 13 hard-hitting, adrenalin fuelled melodic rock’n’roll songs that showcase Schenker’s distinctive and explosive guitar playing, valiantly underpinned by the ferocious rhythm section of Rarebell and Buchholz, marking the first time Schenker, Rarebell and Buchholz appeared on the same album together since the Scorpions’ 1979 Lovedrive.
Scottish vocalist Doogie White, who co-wrote the album with Schenker, soars across every song, and stamps his enthusiastic personality with every note and phrase. Wayne Findlay adds another dimension to the dynamic, classic Schenker sound with his Dean 7 string guitar and keyboard orchestrations.
Bridge the Gap is a thunderous, explosive collection of brand new songs steeped in shades of dark and light. Musically and lyrically, the new album shows a re-energized guitarist at the top of his game, surrounded by top drawer musicians.
The album was recorded from January to March 2013 at Kidroom Studios, Germany and was produced by Michael Schenker and Michael Voss, and engineered by Voss.
“Michael and I had talked about recording an album together after the tour of 2012,” says Doogie White. “We never spoke about it again until January 2013 when he sent me seven ideas he had been working on.”
“Last October I started writing the music for the new album,” adds Schenker. “I sent material to Doogie in the New Year and he started writing melodies and lyrics. I laid down some arrangements at Michael Voss’s studio. There was a lot of energy flying about during the recording process. I had the same drive making this album as I had when I was 16. I wanted it fast, heavy and melodic. It felt like bridging the gap from my teenage and Lovedrive years to what I am doing now. I’m back to where I was a long time ago and I love it.”
“Never having really written with Michael before, apart from When the Devil Knows You’re Dead (from 2011’s Temple of Rock album), I didn’t know how flexible he would be writing wise,” recalls Doogie.” I laid down some vocal tracks as ideas and when Michael heard them we were off and running. Within two weeks we were in the studio laying down tracks.”
Schenker admits that when he wrote this album, he tried to get a balance between songs that are heavy, fast and melodic, complimented by his signature guitar solos.
“I wanted to combine the old with the new. That’s why the album’s called Bridge The Gap. With Wayne playing 7 string guitar we created some low, heavy modern sounds. Since I play and experiment on a regular basis, I always have some new, fresh sparks to share when I record a new album. I am inspired from within. It’s infinite like a kaleidoscope.”
“As former members of the Scorpions, Herman, Francis and I have been out of the loop of rock’n’roll for quite a while. Getting together for the first time since the Lovedrive album is an incredible jump. We’re connecting the past with the present. We’re bridging the gap.”
Schenker remains philosophical about the name of the new album. He believes the name reflects what is going on in the fast-moving world around him.
“Everything that is currently going on in this world is showing that people are desperate for change. We need to bridge the gap of poverty. There are too many innocent people getting killed in terrorist attacks. We need to leave all of this chaos behind us. We have to be strong. We have to continue moving forward, working together in a balanced way.”
Schenker is amazed how melodic the new album turned out, but he still insists the songs still feature a bit of darkness as well.
“I came up with the name of the album, before I even started writing. When Doogie started writing the lyrics to the new songs he had something to go by. I guess Bridges Burned is a new song that is something of a word play on Bridge The Gap. I love this song. Doogie’s singing is excellent on this.”
“Horizons is a really powerful and exciting track from the new album,” says Schenker. “I love the energy and Doogie’s great vocal lines.”
“Neptune Rising is a song I wrote in the studio. It’s about Wayne Findlay. He reminds me of a Neptune with his crazy hair and beard. One day I had this vision of seeing him with the Trident coming out of the ocean. Wayne loves water and the undersea world. So, I suggested that we design a guitar that looks like a Trident. The guitar is almost completed and will be called Trident and will be seen on our next tour.”
“Because You Lied is completely of the wall. I love everything about it. I had a real blast playing the guitar solo. In general, on the new album I have injected each song with a new wave of lead guitar playing. It had a lot of fun making the entire album. Francis and Herman – the original Scorpions rhythm section of Rock You Like A Hurricane seriously rock on the new album.”
Bridge The Gap tracklisting:
‘Neptune Rising’
‘Where The Wild Winds Blow’
‘Horizons’
‘Lord Of The Lost And Lonely’
‘Rock’n’roll Symphony’
‘To Live For The King’
‘Land Of Thunder’
‘Temple Of The Holy’
‘Shine On’
‘Bridges We Have Burned’
‘ecause You Lied’
‘Black Moon Rising’
‘Dance For The Piper’
‘Faith’ (vocals: Don Dokken) (bonus track)
Audio samples of all the tracks that are set to appear on MICHAEL SCHENKER’S TEMPLE OF ROCK‘s new album, “Bridge The Gap”, are available for streaming at Bridge-The-Gap-Album.com. The CD will be released on December 2.
MICHAEL SCHENKER’S TEMPLE OF ROCK features legendary German guitarist Michael Schenker alongside vocalist Doogie White, guitarist/keyboardist Wayne Findlay, bassist Francis Buchholz and drummer Herman Rarebell. The CD marks the first time Schenker and fellow ex-SCORPIONS members Buchholz and Rarebell have appeared on the same album since the classic 1979 SCORPIONS LP “Lovedrive”.
Says Schenker about “Neptune Rising”: “‘Neptune Rising’ is a song I wrote in the studio. It’s about Wayne Findlay. He reminds me of a Neptune with his crazy hair and beard. One day I had this vision of seeing him with the Trident coming out of the ocean. Wayne loves water and the undersea world. So, I suggested that we design a guitar that looks like a Trident. The guitar is almost completed and will be called Trident and will be seen on our next tour.”
“Bridge The Gap” is described in a press release as “an album of 13 hard-hitting, adrenalin-fueled melodic rock’n’roll songs that showcase Shenker’s distinctive and explosive guitar playing.”
Scottish vocalist Doogie White, who co-wrote the album with Schenker, soars across every song, and stamps his enthusiastic personality with every note and phrase. Wayne Findlay adds another dimension to the dynamic, classic Schenker sound with his Dean seven-string guitar and keyboard orchestrations.
“Bridge The Gap” is a thunderous, explosive collection of brand new songs steeped in shades of dark and light. Musically and lyrically, the new album shows a re-energized guitarist at the top of his game, surrounded by top drawer musicians.
The album was recorded from January to March 2013 at Kidroom Studios, Germany and was produced by Michael Schenker and Michael Voss, and engineered by Voss.
“Michael and I had talked about recording an album together after the tour of 2012,” says Doogie White. “We never spoke about it again until January 2013 when he sent me seven ideas he had been working on.
“Last October, I started writing the music for the new album,” adds Schenker. “I sent material to Doogie in the New Year and he started writing melodies and lyrics. I laid down some arrangements at Michael Voss‘s studio. There was a lot of energy flying about during the recording process. I had the same drive making this album as I had when I was 16. I wanted it fast, heavy and melodic. It felt like bridging the gap from my teenage and ‘Lovedrive’ years to what I am doing now. I’m back to where I was a long time ago and I love it.”
“Never having really written with Michael before, apart from ‘When The Devil Knows You’re Dead’ (from 2011’s ‘Temple Of Rock’ album), I didn’t know how flexible he would be writing wise,” recalls Doogie.” I laid down some vocal tracks as ideas and when Michael heard them. we were off and running. Within two weeks we were in the studio laying down tracks.”
Schenker admits that when he wrote this album, he tried to get a balance between songs that are heavy, fast and melodic, complimented by his signature guitar solos.
“I wanted to combine the old with the new,” he says. “That’s why the album’s called ‘Bridge The Gap’. With Wayne playing seven-string guitar we created some low, heavy modern sounds. Since I play and experiment on a regular basis, I always have some new, fresh sparks to share when I record a new album. I am inspired from within. It’s infinite like a kaleidoscope.”
“As former members of the SCORPIONS, Herman, Francis and I have been out of the loop of rock’n’roll for quite a while. Getting together for the first time since the ‘Lovedrive’ album is an incredible jump. We’re connecting the past with the present. We’re bridging the gap.”
Schenker remains philosophical about the name of the new album. He believes the name reflects what is going on in the fast-moving world around him.
“Everything that is currently going on in this world is showing that people are desperate for change,” he says. “We need to bridge the gap of poverty. There are too many innocent people getting killed in terrorist attacks. We need to leave all of this chaos behind us. We have to be strong. We have to continue moving forward, working together in a balanced way.”
Schenker is amazed how melodic the new album turned out, but he still insists the songs still feature a bit of darkness as well.
“I came up with the name of the album, before I even started writing. When Doogie started writing the lyrics to the new songs he had something to go by. I guess ‘Bridges Burned’ is a new song that is something of a word play on ‘Bridge The Gap’. I love this song. Doogie‘s singing is excellent on this.”
“‘Horizons’ is a really powerful and exciting track from the new album,” says Schenker. “I love the energy and Doogie‘s great vocal lines.”
“‘Neptune Rising’ is a song I wrote in the studio. It’s about Wayne Findlay. He reminds me of a Neptune with his crazy hair and beard. One day I had this vision of seeing him with the Trident coming out of the ocean. Wayne loves water and the undersea world. So, I suggested that we design a guitar that looks like a Trident. The guitar is almost completed and will be called Trident and will be seen on our next tour.”
“‘Because You Lied’ is completely of the wall. I love everything about it. I had a real blast playing the guitar solo. In general, on the new album I have injected each song with a new wave of lead guitar playing. It had a lot of fun making the entire album. Francis and Herman — the original SCORPIONS rhythm section of ‘Rock You Like A Hurricane’ seriously rock on the new album.”
“Bridge The Gap” track listing:
01. Neptune Rising
02. Where The Wild Winds Blow
03. Horizons
04. Lord Of The Lost And Lonely
05. Rock’n’roll Symphony
06. To Live For The King
07. Land Of Thunder
08. Temple Of The Holy
09. Shine On
10. Bridges We Have Burned
11. Because You Lied
12. Black Moon Rising
13. Dance For The Piper
14. Faith (bonus track; featuring lead vocals by Don Dokken)
According to Noble PR, Award-winning, legendary guitarist Michael Schenker will release a brand new studio album entitled “Bridge The Gap” in the UK on Monday December 2nd. Released by in-akustik, the album features Schenker’s band Temple of Rock which consists of ex-Scorpions Herman Rarebell (drums) and Francis Buchholz (bass), plus ex-Rainbow’s Doogie White (vocals) and Wayne Findlay (guitar, keyboards).
Listen to the world premiere of new song “Where The Wild Winds Blow” below:
The new album features 13 hard-hitting, adrenalin fuelled melodic rock’n’roll songs that showcase Schenker’s distinctive and explosive guitar playing, valiantly underpinned by the ferocious rhythm section of Rarebell and Buchholz, marking the first time Schenker, Rarebell and Buchholz appeared on the same album together since the Scorpions’ 1979 “Lovedrive”.
“I wanted to combine the old with the new,” says Schenker. “That’s why the album’s called Bridge The Gap. With Wayne playing 7 string guitar we created some low, heavy modern sounds. Since I play and experiment on a regular basis, I always have some new, fresh sparks to share when I record a new album. I am inspired from within. It’s infinite like a kaleidoscope.
Continues Schenker – “As former members of the Scorpions, Herman, Francis and I have been out of the loop of rock’n’roll for quite a while. Getting together for the first time since the Lovedrive album is an incredible jump. We’re connecting the past with the present. We’re bridging the gap.”
Watch the official trailer
ALBUM TRACK LISTING
1. NEPTUNE RISING
2. WHERE THE WILD WINDS BLOW
3. HORIZONS
4. LORD OF THE LOST AND LONELY
5. ROCK’N’ROLL SYMPHONY
6. TO LIVE FOR THE KING
7. LAND OF THUNDER
8. TEMPLE OF THE HOLY
9. SHINE ON
10. BRIDGES WE HAVE BURNED
11. BECAUSE YOU LIED
12. BLACK MOON RISING
13. DANCE FOR THE PIPER
14. FAITH (VOCALS: DON DOKKEN) (BONUS TRACK)
Legendary guitarist Michael Schenker performed a brand new song, “Horizons”, from his forthcoming album, “Bridge The Gap”, on May 8 at Essigfabrik in Cologne, Germany. Backing Schenker at the show, and the rest of “Temple Of Rock – Lovedrive Reunion Tour 2013”, were fellow former SCORPIONS members Herman Rarebell (drums) and Francis Buchholz (bass), along with singer Doogie White (RAINBOW, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN) and keyboardist Wayne Findlay. Fan-filmed video footage of the performance can be seen below.
Regarding the songwriting process for “Bridge The Gap”, Schenker told Metal Forces in January, “When I’m writing, of course, I have Doogie in my head because I know he’s gonna be doing the vocals. He’s a more metal singer, and so automatically it will be more metal. It will be more on the level of ‘Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead’ [from 2011’s ‘Temple Of Rock’] of course, because that’s Doogie singing there. Doogie has more of a heavy metal voice. Automatically, when I’ve been writing this time I’ve been writing with Doogie in my head, but I have a very good concept usually. When I wrote ‘Temple Of Rock’, I didn’t know what I was doing in the beginning. I just started and went for it, but this time I have a concept. I already know that the title of the album is gonna be ‘Bridge The Gap’, and so this time I have a blueprint in my head, like a map that I see. I can see that it’s a concept I have, and so I have a very clear direction of what I’m doing.”
Michael Schenker‘s “Temple Of Rock: Live In Europe” was released on CD, DVD, Blu-ray and as a limited deluxe edition containing all three formats on December 3, 2012 in Europe and was made available on January 15, 2013 in North America via Inakustik. This essential live rock’n’roll release includes songs performed live in Tilburg, The Netherlands in May 2012, and at London’s High Voltage festival in 2011.
The Tilburg gig, recorded May 2012, features Schenker (lead guitar), Doogie White (vocals; RAINBOW, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, TANK), Herman Rarebell (drums), Francis Buchholz (bass) and Wayne Findley (rhythm guitar, keyboards). London’s 2011 High Voltage festival features Michael Voss (vocals), Rudolf Schenker (SCORPIONS), who plays rhythm guitar on “Rock You Like a Hurricane”, “Hanging On” and “Doctor Doctor”, UFO‘s Pete Way, who plays bass guitar on “Doctor Doctor”, and vocalists Jeff Scott Soto (TALISMAN, JOURNEY, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN) and Doogie White, who both sing on “Doctor Doctor”.
Legendary guitarist Michael Schenker performed a brand new song, “Horizons”, from his forthcoming album, “Bridge The Gap”, at last night’s (Friday, April 5) concert at Izvestiya Hall in Moscow, Russia. Backing Schenker at the show, and the rest of “Temple Of Rock – Lovedrive Reunion Tour 2013”, were fellow former SCORPIONS members Herman Rarebell (drums) and Francis Buchholz (bass), along with singer Doogie White (RAINBOW, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN) and keyboardist Wayne Findlay. Fan-filmed video footage of the performance can be seen below.
Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ) 