Michael Schenker will release his new MSG album, “Immortal” next week, on January 29th, 2021 via Nuclear Blast. The album title is a perfect statement describing Michael Schenker’s legacy and to celebrate his 50th anniversary as a musician. Today, the band reveal their fifth album trailer inwhich Michael Voss discusses the recordings of “Immortal”.
Michael Schenker “50th Anniversary – IMMORTAL” performed by the current MSG/Michael Schenker Group
with special guest DORO 28.10.2021 UK – Leeds, O2 Academy 29.10.2021 UK – Newcastle, O2 City Hall 30.10.2021 UK – Wolverhampton, KK Steel Mill 31.10.2021 UK – London, O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire
Michael Schenker will release his new MSG album, “Immortal”, on January 29th, 2021 via Nuclear Blast. The album title is a perfect statement describing Michael Schenker’s legacy and to celebrate his 50th anniversary as a musician.
Today, the band reveal their fourth album trailer in which Michael Schenker talks about this anniversary.
Michael Schenker “50th Anniversary – IMMORTAL” performed by the current MSG/Michael Schenker Group
with special guest DORO 28.10.2021 UK – Leeds, O2 Academy 29.10.2021 UK – Newcastle, O2 City Hall 30.10.2021 UK – Wolverhampton, KK Steel Mill 31.10.2021 UK – London, O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire
The album was predominantly recorded at the Kidroom Studio in Germany, with Michael‘s long time partner Michael Voss who co-produced the album and also sings on two tracks. The cover artwork of „Immortal“ wascreated by Zsofia Dankova(POWERWOLF etc.).
„Immortal“ will continue the tradition of the previous two MICHAEL SCHENKER FEST records „Resurrection“ and „Revelation“ featuring a big list of friends and guests. The album’s main vocalist will be uprising Chilean born talent Ronnie Romero (RAINBOW etc.), along with Michael Voss (MAD MAX etc.), Ralf Scheepers(PRIMAL FEAR) and Joe Lynn Turner (ex-DEEP PURPLE, RAINBOW etc.) singing on two tracks each. Besides Michael Schenker himself, the album was recorded with Steve Mann (keyboards), Barry Sparks (bass, DOKKEN etc.), as well as the three drummers Bodo Schopf, SimonPhilipps (ex-TOTO) and Brian Tichy (ex-WHITESNAKE). The newest addition to the record is keyboard player Derek Sherinian (ex-DREAM THEATER, ex-KISS etc.), who plays on the album’s opening track, featuring German power machine Ralf Scheepers on vocals.
„Immortal“ will feature ten tracks, including the magnum opus “In Search Of The Peace Of Mind”.„I wrote this song when I was 15 years old, it was my first ever written piece of music which I recorded with SCORPIONS on our first studio album „Lonesome Crow“ in 1970, getting released in 1972. We re-recorded this song for my 50th anniversary as a celebration and it turned out to be an epic; with an extra extension at the end of the song, which turned out absolutely fantastic with Simon Phillips on drums, doing his usual amazing stuff.“ The result is a true highlight and features even more surprises: „Gary Barden sings the first verse, continued by Ronnie Romero – and in the end we have Ronnie, Doogie White and Robin McAuley screaming their heads off, as a tribute to my 50th anniversary. Absolute amazing. Thanks to the guys for doing this!“
The limited first edition of this upcoming MSG album will feature another unique extra: „It will include the MICHAEL SCHENKER FEST – Bang Your Head – Blu-ray, which was recorded during our headline show in Balingen/Germany two years ago: Unfixed, raw, pure and great! There’s a couple of small mistakes, but because the show and recording went so well, I decided to keep it the way it went on the night. It’s live, magic and pure.“
Michael Schenker will release his new MSG album, “Immortal”, on January 29th, 2021 via Nuclear Blast. The album title is a perfect statement describing Michael Schenker’s legacy and to celebrate his 50th anniversary as a musician.
Today, the band release a music video for their third single ‘Sail The Darkness’. Watch the clip here:
“Since I listened the demo I got the feeling that this would become in a great song, because it sounds like the great old Hard Rock songs and the riff is just Michael Schenker at his best! And to me it’s even more special because I had the chance to write the lyrics. I’m pretty sure the fans gonna love this one!”, comments vocalist Ronnie Romero
Jimmy Kay from Canada’s The Metal Voicerecently spoke to legendary guitarist Michael Schenker as he is getting ready to release his MSG (MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP) album “Immortal”, on on January 29, 2021 via Nuclear Blast. Schenker also talk about Eddie Van Halen and why he declined so many major bands over the years as lead guitarist.
Why did you decide to use different artists on the new album Immortal? “Everything in my life happens by circumstances and so I live in the moment. My original idea was to have guest musicians of friends and fans to celebrate the 50 year anniversary. Getting musicians lined up and together it is very very complicated and it was dragging on. So I decided to have a compact band.”
A 50 year anniversary? “My agent said the Lonesome Crow album was released in 1972 so I said that gives me two years to celebrate.”
Tell me why you chose singer Ronnie Romero for this new album “I discovered Ronnie Romero when he sang on the first Michael Schenker Fest first album. I always wondered why Ritchie Blackmore chose him and today I understand why. I understand what Ritchie was up too as we are both in similar situations. Ritchie needed to find a singer who has the ability to sing like everyone, Joe Lynn Turner, Ronnie James Dio and Graham Bonnet. So because I am in the same situation with so many different signers it would be great to have Ronnie Romero as the main singer and to continue live and have a compact band. Ritchie and I have lots of parallels and an endless amount of similarities over the years.”
Tell me how the virus may or may not have affected the recording of the new album “The virus showed up and I call the virus a bittersweet experience, it kind of directed me back to my original idea but without me planning it was just by circumstances. I got all of these incredible new musicians on this album. How it all happened is just a miracle, it’s unbelievable.”
What was it like revisiting and re-doing the Scorpions’ song ‘In Search of peace of mind’, off the band’s debut album Lonesome Crow “It is the best song on that album and is the very first piece of music that I wrote. I was 15 years old and I wrote it in my mothers kitchen. There was nobody there. The original song credits of Lonesome Crow says Michael Schenker and Rudolf Schenker lyrics, we had zero knowledge of English so how could we have been done the lyrics? Misinformation completely. Rudolf cannot even play that song, it’s actually pretty complex if you get into the details of the original version. But it was such an incredible start for myself to put the first note on a record with a song like this. I couldn’t have wished for a better result.”
What was your feeling about Lonesome Crow when it was released officially “I was absolutely excited, I was listening to Led Zeppelin on the radio just a year before in my bedroom when I was 14 years old and then one year later Lonesome Crow was coming through the same radio, it was a great feeling.”
Did Rudolf Schenker contribute musically to Lonesome Crow album “Nothing at all, he can’t even play it. The thing is I wrote most of Lonesome Crow but because I was 15 the rest of the band was 21 the band took advantage of me and wanted a piece of the pie and they wanted to be involved in their first experience of an album that was recorded for the first time for everybody.”
Tell me about the time you were asked to join Deep Purple “In 1993 I got a phone call, I was the first person to be chosen. You have to remember me and Ritchie Blackmore have so many parallels, everyone that leaves Ritchie Blackmore joins the Michael Schenker, it’s the funniest thing. There was always a conversation in Deep Purple and Ozzy, that’s why Ozzy called me up and asked me to join. I was always the first choice but I declined and I must say I’m the kid in the sandbox just enjoying playing. When I get these offers from Thin Lizzy, Motorhead I always decline because I don’t want to copy, I want to do pure self expression. I declined all these bands because I had the vision of focusing on pure expression. I cannot follow a bunch of people looking for something that I have already finished with. My own vision is more important.”
Tell me about Eddie Van Halen and his influence on the world “The weirdest thing is actually Van Halen was supporting UFO at the Starwood (Club), I was 19 years old and it was 5 years before Van Halen broke out with Van Halen One. When I heard Eddie I was like WOW this is amazing. But I didn’t know that he was actually doing the tapping technique. I was wondering how on earth does he get such a smooth guitar sound. Everyone copied him doing the tapping style later on. It was something easy for guitarists to do for overnight success. So there were thousands of guitarists going to guitar school learning tapping to be a star in one or two years. But the thing with Eddie Van Halen was he had rhythm and style. My brother Rudolf told me that he actually heard something Eddie did earlier on that sounded like Eddie was a bit influenced by me. But Eddie took it so far forward that I was blown away by what he did . His sense of Rhythm, his sense of melody, his sense of sound and tone quality. The way he actually entertained was so complete, he was the best.”
“Immortal” track listing:
01. Drilled To Kill- 02. Don’t Die On Me Now – 03. Knight Of The Dead 04. After The Rain 05. Devil’s Daughter 06. Sail The Darkness 07. The Queen Of Thorns And Roses 08. Come On Over 09. Sangria Morte 10. In Search Of The Peace Of Mind
Michael Schenker will release his new MSG album, “Immortal”, on January 29th, 2021 via Nuclear Blast. The album title is a perfect statement describing Michael Schenker’s legacy and to celebrate his 50th anniversary as a musician. The band has revealed their third album trailer, in which Michael Voss explains, how their second single, the power ballad ‘After The Rain’ was written and where the idea for the song came from.
“The song ‘After The Rain’ was coming out of the blue. A power ballad I have never done before. Michael Voss wrote some lyrics and vocal melodies, after I had put down my musically composition on backing track for this song. The next morning Michael Voss played me what he had sang to it and I said: This is so beautiful, only you can sing this song and it turned out amazing“, comments Michael Schenker.
„This is an outstanding mellow tuned power ballad with some unique Michael Schenker clean picking guitarstyle. When I first listened to Michaels rough sketches, I was singing a kinda ‚lala‘ melody that automatically drove me into the line ‚say have you been lonely,…‘ – from there I felt it must deal about a sad loss and a departure of a big love… but there will be sun and light… after the rain“, adds Michael Voss.
Michael Schenker “50th Anniversary – IMMORTAL” performed by the current MSG/Michael Schenker Group
with special guest DORO 28.10.2021 UK – Leeds, O2 Academy 29.10.2021 UK – Newcastle, O2 City Hall 30.10.2021 UK – Wolverhampton, KK Steel Mill 31.10.2021 UK – London, O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire
The album was predominantly recorded at the Kidroom Studio in Germany, with Michael‘s long time partner Michael Voss who co-produced the album and also sings on two tracks. The cover artwork of „Immortal“ wascreated by Zsofia Dankova(POWERWOLF etc.).
„Immortal“ will continue the tradition of the previous two MICHAEL SCHENKER FEST records „Resurrection“ and „Revelation“ featuring a big list of friends and guests. The album’s main vocalist will be uprising Chilean born talent Ronnie Romero (RAINBOW etc.), along with Michael Voss (MAD MAX etc.), Ralf Scheepers(PRIMAL FEAR) and Joe Lynn Turner (ex-DEEP PURPLE, RAINBOW etc.) singing on two tracks each. Besides Michael Schenker himself, the album was recorded with Steve Mann (keyboards), Barry Sparks (bass, DOKKEN etc.), as well as the three drummers Bodo Schopf, SimonPhilipps (ex-TOTO) and Brian Tichy (ex-WHITESNAKE). The newest addition to the record is keyboard player Derek Sherinian (ex-DREAM THEATER, ex-KISS etc.), who plays on the album’s opening track, featuring German power machine Ralf Scheepers on vocals.
„Immortal“ will feature ten tracks, including the magnum opus “In Search Of The Peace Of Mind”.„I wrote this song when I was 15 years old, it was my first ever written piece of music which I recorded with SCORPIONS on our first studio album „Lonesome Crow“ in 1970, getting released in 1972. We re-recorded this song for my 50th anniversary as a celebration and it turned out to be an epic; with an extra extension at the end of the song, which turned out absolutely fantastic with Simon Phillips on drums, doing his usual amazing stuff.“ The result is a true highlight and features even more surprises: „Gary Barden sings the first verse, continued by Ronnie Romero – and in the end we have Ronnie, Doogie White and Robin McAuley screaming their heads off, as a tribute to my 50th anniversary. Absolute amazing. Thanks to the guys for doing this!“
The limited first edition of this upcoming MSG album will feature another unique extra: „It will include the MICHAEL SCHENKER FEST – Bang Your Head – Blu-ray, which was recorded during our headline show in Balingen/Germany two years ago: Unfixed, raw, pure and great! There’s a couple of small mistakes, but because the show and recording went so well, I decided to keep it the way it went on the night. It’s live, magic and pure.“
Michael Schenker will release his new MSG album, “Immortal”, on January 29th, 2021 via Nuclear Blast. The album title is a perfect statement describing Michael Schenker’s legacy and to celebrate his 50th anniversary as a musician.
Today, the band reveal their second album trailer in which they discuss using the MSG logo. Watch the clip here:
Recently, the band also announced new live shows for Europe and the UK for October and November 2021.
Michael Schenker “50th Anniversary – IMMORTAL” performed by the current MSG/Michael Schenker Group
with special guest DORO 28.10.2021 UK – Leeds, O2 Academy 29.10.2021 UK – Newcastle, O2 City Hall 30.10.2021 UK – Wolverhampton, KK Steel Mill 31.10.2021 UK – London, O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire
Copyright by Matthias Rethmann / Tour-Files / Fotograf Münster
MSG released a lyric video for their first single ‘Drilled To Kill’; a heavy up-tempotrack which is also the opening song on the album. The track features the legendary PRIMAL FEAR singer Ralf Scheepers on vocals, whilst Michael Schenker and keyboardist Derek Sherinian (BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION etc.) engage in an exciting battle of guitar vs. keyboard.
The album was predominantly recorded at the Kidroom Studio in Germany, with Michael‘s long time partner Michael Voss who co-produced the album and also sings on two tracks. The cover artwork of „Immortal“ wascreated by Zsofia Dankova(POWERWOLF etc.).
„Immortal“ will continue the tradition of the previous two MICHAEL SCHENKER FEST records „Resurrection“ and „Revelation“ featuring a big list of friends and guests. The album’s main vocalist will be uprising Chilean born talent Ronnie Romero (RAINBOW etc.), along with Michael Voss (MAD MAX etc.), Ralf Scheepers(PRIMAL FEAR) and Joe Lynn Turner (ex-DEEP PURPLE, RAINBOW etc.) singing on two tracks each. Besides Michael Schenker himself, the album was recorded with Steve Mann (keyboards), Barry Sparks (bass, DOKKEN etc.), as well as the three drummers Bodo Schopf, SimonPhilipps (ex-TOTO) and Brian Tichy (ex-WHITESNAKE). The newest addition to the record is keyboard player Derek Sherinian (ex-DREAM THEATER, ex-KISS etc.), who plays on the album’s opening track, featuring German power machine Ralf Scheepers on vocals.
„Immortal“ will feature ten tracks, including the magnum opus “In Search Of The Peace Of Mind”.„I wrote this song when I was 15 years old, it was my first ever written piece of music which I recorded with SCORPIONS on our first studio album „Lonesome Crow“ in 1970, getting released in 1972. We re-recorded this song for my 50th anniversary as a celebration and it turned out to be an epic; with an extra extension at the end of the song, which turned out absolutely fantastic with Simon Phillips on drums, doing his usual amazing stuff.“ The result is a true highlight and features even more surprises: „Gary Barden sings the first verse, continued by Ronnie Romero – and in the end we have Ronnie, Doogie White and Robin McAuley screaming their heads off, as a tribute to my 50th anniversary. Absolute amazing. Thanks to the guys for doing this!“
The limited first edition of this upcoming MSG album will feature another unique extra: „It will include the MICHAEL SCHENKER FEST – Bang Your Head – Blu-ray, which was recorded during our headline show in Balingen/Germany two years ago: Unfixed, raw, pure and great! There’s a couple of small mistakes, but because the show and recording went so well, I decided to keep it the way it went on the night. It’s live, magic and pure.“
