SCORPIONS have shared the title track for their new album Rock Believer. Listen here.
Commenting on the advance release of the title track of their latest album, due out on February 25, Klaus Meine, both singer and author of the lyrics, says, “Over the years, we’ve heard people say lots of times that rock is dead. But there are still millions of rock believers out there all over the world that prove them wrong. Our fans are the best in the world. We’ll see you someday somewhere out there, because we’re Rock Believers, just like you.”
The song is a fundamental commitment to rock music, composed by a band in the style of their outstanding, globally successful recordings of the 1980s.
Meine says, “The new material sees us return to our roots. We simply wanted to reactivate the original SCORPIONS’ DNA — great riffs, strong melodies. We tried to transport that live feel to the studio with all five of us playing in one room again at last. Having Mikkey Dee in the band is like a shot of fresh energy and real fun.”
Due to the pandemic, the recording sessions planned in America had to be canceled and relocated to Germany.
Matthias Jabs says, “In a way, the situation was a blessing in disguise for us.” The band had already hired a studio in Los Angeles, but their plans were thwarted by fate. Instead, the musicians found themselves stuck at home, three of them only a stone’s throw away from the legendary Peppermint Park Studios in Hanover, and as soon as travel restrictions were relaxed, Pawel Maciwoda and Mikkey Dee were able to join them from Poland and Sweden respectively.
“And everything suddenly felt like it had back in the 1980s, when the five of us rocked together, hanging out at the corner pub in the evenings and talking about our music,” Jabs reminisces.
“We had already started to talk about a new album back in 2018,” recalls Rudolf Schenker.
The new single “Rock Believer” is the album’s exclamation mark and credo. The video will follow on January 18.
The spectacular single cover was designed by Klaus Voormann, Grammy winner (“Best Record Cover 1966“) and also creator of the artwork of the award-winning Beatles album Revolver.
In March and April 2022, the band are set to perform at the Planet Hollywood Resorts & Casino in Las Vegas as part of their residency, followed by a European tour scheduled to kick off with a number of shows in Germany in June 2022, with more concerts around the world in the pipeline.
Listen to the previously released “Peacemaker” here.
German rock icons SCORPIONS are set to release their brand-new single “Peacemaker” today, November 4, to whet their fans’ appetite for their upcoming album Rock Believer, scheduled to be released on February 25, 2022 — an amuse-gueule of the rock music variety straight from the metal quintet’s brand-hot kitchen.
Mind you, “Peacemaker” has turned into much more than simply a lead single. It’s a showcase number that has SCORPIONS celebrate their legendary tried and tested DNA in a fresh, tough sonic guise, a musical foretaste of their new album that promises to forge an arc between yesterday and tomorrow.
Does a band whose musical career will span 50 years from the release of their first phenomenal album success Lonesome Crow to the arrival of Rock Believer in February 2022 still have the bite, the toughness, and the brute force that it takes to create and record one or two dozen brand new tracks? Aren’t their 18 studio albums to date, their platinum and double-platinum awards, garnered around the globe, enough for these relentless musicians? Is there still enough gas in the tank to keep going? One of their songs provides the answer to these questions: “Let’s play it louder play it hard / Laid back and a little dark / Give me a dirty riff my friend / There’s gotta be more gas in the tank.”
And indeed, “Peacemaker” sounds like it’s been freshly reimported from the heyday of a legendary hard rock band. “The first thing that came to my mind,” remembers SCORPIONS singer Klaus Meine, who wrote the lyrics to the song (music courtesy of Rudolf Schenker and Pawel Maciwoda) and produced the band with the support of Hans-Martin Buff, “was the hook line. ‘Peacemaker, peacemaker / Bury the undertaker.’ I was just playing around with those words. At a time when so many people have died and are still dying of COVID, from devastating wars and other senseless crimes, it makes you feel that the undertaker must be working overtime. In a peaceful world after the pandemic, it will be time for the peacemaker to rule… that’s an image that really appeals to me,” says Meine.
SCORPIONS are one of the world’s most important rock bands of recent decades, having sold more than 120 million records to date, played over 5,000 concerts, and created a timeless classic in their legendary single “Wind of Change,” which dominated the international charts and still is the best-selling single worldwide by a German artist. Countless awards, a star on the Hollywood Rock Walk of Fame, and more, hits such as “Rock You Like a Hurricane” and “Still Loving You,” among others, followed. Their success to date impressively underlines the influence that the SCORPIONS continue to have on the rock music scene. Their latest album Rock Believer will be out on Universal’s Spinefarm label in the U.S.
Rock Believer, the credo of their new album, will also be the moniker of their upcoming tour. In March and April 2022, the band is set to perform at the Planet Hollywood Resorts & Casino in Las Vegas as part of its residency, followed by a European tour scheduled to kick off with a number of shows in Germany in June 2022 — with more concerts on a global level in the pipeline.
Horror rock legend ALICE COOPER, the German hard rock legends SCORPIONS, and the British Rock legends STATUS QUO will get the Rocksaws jigsaw puzzle treatment in April.
Zee Productions will release two classic SCORPIONS album covers, “Blackout” and “Lovedrive”, two classic ALICE COOPER album covers, “Welcome To My Nightmare” and “Trash”, and three classic STATUS QUO album covers – “If You Can’t Stand The Heat”, “Rockin’ All Over The World’ and “Quo” – as a 500 piece jigsaws, in April 2020, on Zee Productions imprint Rock Saws. The iconic arts of some of Rock’s most influential and highly regarded albums is presented in puzzle form for the first time ever. All puzzles come in a vinyl box set sized box, perfect to fit alongside a vinyl record collection.
Best known for working with the rock bands FIREWIND, TAINTED NATION and HELLOWEEN, and filling in for SCORPIONS at the Grand Prix in Bahrain on 5th April 2014, MARK CROSS, groovy and hard-hitting veteran drummer launches a new adventure.
The line-up is selected from the league of past band mates, a powerful team of world class players to represent Mark’s work; a ‘best of works’ from his collaborations with bands and artists on stage and in the studio, past to present, with a perfect setlist for a spectacular show.
Mark says: “This whole thing is brand new and has already gained great feedback. In brief, after a long pause it is time to get back on stage and play for ya! Playing music live nowadays means much, much more than burning thousands of pounds for recording and throwing a new production on the market that never really reaches the masses.”
He continues: “This show is not only about drumming, of course it plays a major role, but is mainly focused on the music, good playing and performance. Every involved musician?s talent will make this a great sounding and unforgettable experience. It is great to work with top musicians, who have also been involved with all these bands and projects. A very versatile set indeed with many surprises. Soon I will let you all know the line-up and name of the band! Horns and thumbs up boys and girls … “
Jimmy Kay from Canada’s The Metal Voice spoke to Ex-Scorpions guitarist Uli Jon Roth in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on April 16 2019 at the Piranha Bar. Uli Spoke about his Triple Anniversary tour and did a deep dive into the making and recording of the classic live Scorpions album Tokyo Tapes. Uli Spoke about Tokyo Tapes set list, the choice of cover songs, adding the audience from Peter Frampton’s famous live album, Frampton Comes Alive. Uli also spoke about archival Super 8 film footage he has in his vault from all his years in the Scorpions whereas 70% of it has not yet been seen.
Watch the interview here:
When asked on why they chose to have cover songs on Tokyo Tapes
“They were just accidents, for me that wasn’t Scorpions. The band came from a Rock and Beatles background and we did used to play Johnny B Goode occasionally but that was because I was a Hendrix fan and we copied the Hendrix version. Why Long Tall Sally and Hound Dog how they made it to the album I’m still not sure and I don’t want to necessarily disown them but somehow maybe these songs should have not been there because we had more suitable ones. One song I do like off the album is taken from the Scorpions debut Lonesome Crow In Search of Peace of Mind, one that Micheal Schneker wrote, it’s is a masterpiece with beautiful lyrics by Klaus Meine, I love that song.”
When asked if there was any fixing of Tokyo Tapes Live album in the studio
“No, in fact there wasn’t enough of it because I was quite upset when I first heard the recordings because there was a mistake. Apparently the Japanese sound engineers recorded all the pre-sets with EQ’s and you don’t do that because after words you don’t get a chance to tweak the sounds as much and I was not happy with the sound of the album. I remember what it sounded like on stage, it sounded phenomenal particularly in that hall but what I heard on the album was a shadow of that. So that is why I never listen to the album. I never listened to the whole album in one go. ”
“I did the playing on the album and there were no overdubs afterwords we just left everything as it was, except for the audience clapping because we forgot to record the audience so we had no audience sound. I don’t know who’s idea it was in the studio, it wasn’t mine there was this massive album Frampton Comes Alive Album at the time, so somebody took the clapping from that recording and they put it on a loop so suddenly Sun Plaza hall becomes Stadium rock. There is your dirty little insight and it’s a true story nobody will deny it. So the audience of Frampton Comes Alive is on Scorpions Tokyo Tapes. We had a great audience but they weren’t recorded.”
When asked about the song if there was any left over material from the recording of Tokyo Tapes
“There were some and I am to blame for a couple of things that got left out. I didn’t think the song Catch your Train was good enough and I didn’t think Hell Cat was good enough. Then when I heard them recently when they did the re-release and I thought what was I thinking they were good enough I should have had them on. I was actually being a bit too critical at the time. But today I am really glad we did the album and we can be proud of.”
When asked if there was any video of his era with the Scorpions
“I loved taking Super 8 Film footage from day 1 with the Scorpions until my final days in 1978 I chronologically have all the footage from all the tours including Japan and some stuff has been released on the Tokyo Tapes revisited DVD but most of it is unreleased. It’s not live footage it’s all on tour behind the scene footage, about 70% is unseen. It’s the only footage that exists from the 70’s.”
To celebrate his upcoming 50th Stage Anniversary, he will perform concerts across North America this spring.
The two hour-plus programme will consist of carefully selected highlights from Uli’s entire musical career The 50th Anniversary set will naturally include the best of that timeless material, including The Sails of Charon, In Trance, Fly to the Rainbow and many other songs.
As a logical continuation of Uli’s journey into his own musical past he will also be reconnecting with the second very important part of his unique musical journey – that of his ground breaking Electric Sun period – during which he took the art of electric guitar playing to a completely new and unprecedented level.
Also a pre-show V.I.P. Uli will play excerpts from his stunning Metamorphosis of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons Concerto as well as several pieces which feature him on classical, acoustic and flamenco guitar.
Tour Dates
April
16 – Montreal, QC – Piranha
17 – Quebec, QC – L’ Anti
18 – Ottawa, NB – Brass Monkey
19 – Pawling, NY – Daryl’s House
20 – Derry, NH – Tupelo Music Hall
21 – Hartford, CT – Infinity Music Hall
23 – NYC, NY – Gramercy Theater
24 – Asbury Park, NJ – Wonderbar
25 – Sellersville, PA – Sellersville Theater
26 – Syracuse, NY – Sharkey’s
27 – Cleveland, OH – Agora Ballroom
29 – Pittsburgh, PA – Jergels
May
1 – Plymouth, MA – Spire Center for the Performing Arts
3 – Newton, NJ – Newton Theatre
4 – Louisville, KY – Diamond Pub Concert Hall
5 – Nashville, TN – The High Watt
6 – Atlanta, GA – City Winery
9 – Dallas, TX – Trees
10 – San Antonio, TX – Rockbox
The LA Based outfit, A NEW REVENGE, featuring an all star line up will release their debut album, Enemies & Lovers on March 29th, 2019 via Golden Robot Records.
Supergroup is a term that has been diluted over time. Throwing a bunch of people from other bands into a new project doesn’t automatically make them Super, but their bio’s will tell you otherwise. It’s time to seek revenge and reclaim that word!
A NEW REVENGE is the very definition of a supergroup. One who’s members have more than earned their legendary statuses but also remain humble enough to let the music do the talking and not actually rely on the term. So who is out for A New Revenge?
Featuring one of the finest voices in metal of all time, Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens (who’s voice is all over albums from Judas Priest, Iced Earth and Yngwie Malmsteen), one of the most versatile and name checked guitarists in rock Keri Kelli (Slash’s Snake Pit, Alice Cooper, Vince Neil Band and a hundred more) the most iconic bass player in heavy metal history, Rudy Sarzo (who’s work with Ozzy Osbourne, Dio, Whitesnake and many more has earned him an almost revered status in heavy music) and long time Scorpions drummer James Kottak (also from Montrose, Warrant, Kingdom Come & more).
Keri Kelli, the bands guitarist says of A New Revenge coming together; “Beginning the songwriting process we said ‘Let’s get together and come up with three or four original songs.’ Without any pressure, just creating as we went. Finally we got to the eleven songs we were all happy with. ‘Here’s To Us’ was the first song we wrote for this record. It came very fast and was pretty simple to write. Its basically an ode to hard rock fans the planet over”
To further, Kelli comments on the album Enemies & Lovers “It’s been a long time coming but it’s completely finished mixed, mastered and all ready to go. We all really, really excited to finally unleash this on the hard rock community.”
A video for the first single from the albums release ‘The Way’ can be viewed here:
Due to scheduling conflicts, Sarzo was unable to attend the filming of A NEW REVENGE’s videos. The band’s good friend and renowned player Phil Soussan (OZZY OSBOURNE, LAST IN LINE) stepped in at the last minute to take his place.
A NEW REVENGE is greater than the sum of its parts, although its parts are pretty damn mind blowing!
A NEW REVENGE will hit the road across the U.S. in support “Enemies & Lovers” throughout 2019 and is looking at locking in a European tour later in the year. The foursome is an explosive combination with every band member’s skillset and battle tested charisma breaking through the bleak wasteland of current day modern heavy metal.
Razor sharp riffs, thunderous drums and those soaring vocals that come charging in from on high to lay waste to the landscape. A New Revenge are forged from the very heart of heavy metal.
Confirmed track listing for Enemies & Lovers
The Distance Between
The Way
Never Let You Go
Glorious
The Eyes
Fallen
Only The Pretty Ones
Enemies & Lovers
Here’s To Us
Scars
Enemies & Lovers will be released on Friday, March 29th, 2019.
Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ) 