THE SUPERIOR SCHOOL OF COMMERCE NICOLAE KRETZULESCU

The Scorpions

Coordinator: Corban Florentina

Student: Dogaru Claudia-Roxana XII F

Bucharest 2011

Table of contents

Argument

Introduction

Chapter I

History

Formation and early history (1965-1973) Rise to the fame (1974-1978) Commercial success (1979-1991) Later days (1992-2009) New album and retirement (2010-present)

Chapter II

Band members

Current members Former members Conclusion Bibliogrphy Annexes

Argument

As Klaus Meine said in an article (2007) There are many longtime fans but there are a lot of young kids .He also said that there are young kids rocking out to songs that were written way before they were born. It is amazing that they succeded to amaze the teenagers with their music. One of the reasons why I chose to speak about The Scorpions is because of the complexity of their music. They are a worldwide renowned in heavy metal music band that specializes in hard rock. It is one of the foremost bands that emerged in the music scene. The group has had many members over its long history, continuing to make very good songs. I am a big fan, and I would really like to go to their concert in June the 9 th. My father gave me the opportunity to listen to this great metal band. My father is a musician so I got the love for good music from him and for music generally. In my deep appreciation for music I used to sing last summer in a band which made covers after The Scorpions, combining in this way my two forever loves, music and The Scorpions. Their lyrics inspired me in life, and in my way of thinking. Their romantic lyrics and melodies made me have a certain perspective of life. My sensitive way of being is mostly because of their music. For example the song Loveem or leaveem helped me pass a difficult time when I broke up with my teenage love, and my artistic inclination is also due to them. Their non aggressive music style helped me choose wisely in life who I should stay with, my clothing style doesnt stand out and my life style isnt rebel. Unlike other metal bands The Scorpions are softer and their music refers more to feelings. One of the things I love at this band is the devotion Klaus Meine showed during a concert, when he lost his voice during the song Blackout. He preferred a surgery to leaving the band. This incredible devotion moved me and made me appreciate them even more. This is inspiring for every teenager, because this has a very profound message; never give up on what you like no matter what. The passion for their art is notable from the fact that despite their age they still rock out.And the love of younger people is still there, and also their admiration. Their music will live on forever in the hearts of their fans and in the hearts of future listeners; even though their songs are old the passion they invested in their art will make their music immortal. Hits like Wind of change, Rock you like a hurricane and Love of my life, make them ,in my point of view, the kings of metal.

Introduction

Known best for their 1984 anthem "Rock You Like a Hurricane" and the 1990 ballad "Wind of Change," the German rockers the Scorpions have sold over 22 million records, making them one of the most successful rock bands to ever come out of Continental Europe. Originally formed in 1969 by Rudolf Schenker, the original lineup consisted of rhythm guitarist/vocalist Schenker, lead guitarist Karl-Heinz Follmer, bassist Lothar Heimberg, and drummer Wolfgang Dziony. In 1971, Schenker's younger brother Michael joined the band to play lead guitar and good friend Klaus Meine became the new vocalist. The group recorded Lonesome Crow in 1972, which was used as the soundtrack to the German movie Das Kalte Paradies. Although they failed to get into the public's eye, the early formation of '70s rock band UFO noticed Michael Schenker's guitar playing and hired him as their lead guitarist; Michael, therefore, would leave the band in 1973. Guitarist Uli Jon Roth replaced him, and under his guidance the group released four consecutive albums under the RCA record label: Fly to the Rainbow (1974), In Trance (1975), Virgin Killer (1976), and Taken by Force (1977). Although these albums failed to attain any serious attention in the United States, they were all quite popular in Japan. By the time Taken by Force was released, Roth made the decision to leave the band and form Electric Sun after feeling that his musical ideas would take the group in an entirely different direction. Tokyo Tapes, a double live album that the group recorded in Tokyo with Roth, was released in 1978. Shortly after Roth's departure, Michael Schenker was kicked out of UFO for his constant alcohol abuse and came back to play with the Scorpions in 1979, who had recently signed with Mercury Records. The group released Lovedrive that same year and played their first American tour, but Lovedrive failed to attract attention, being banned in the United States because of its sexually explicit cover. Still coping with his drugs and alcohol addiction, Michael missed tour dates repeatedly and guitarist Matthias Jabs was hired to fill in for him on nights when he was absent. Michael eventually would leave the band a second time after realizing that he was failing to meet their expectations. Now with a lineup of Klaus Meine on vocals, Rudolf Schenker on rhythm guitar, Matthias Jabs on lead, Francis Buchholz on bass, and Herman Rarebell on drums, the band released Animal Magnetism in 1980 and embarked on another world tour. Surprisingly, Animal Magnetism went gold in the United States, and the Scorpions immediately went back into the studio to record their next release. Problems arose, however, and the project was postponed because Meine had lost his voice and would have to have surgery on his vocal chords. Many thought Meine had been fired from the band, and rumors spread that metal singer Don Dokken had already replaced him. The Scorpions proved these rumors untrue when Meine returned for the 1982 release Blackout, which contained the cult hit "No One Like You." A major success worldwide, Blackout sold over one-million copies in the U.S. alone. But as popular as

Blackout was, it was the band's powerful follow-up, Love at First Sting, that succeeded in making them superstars. Released in 1984, the album boasted the MTV single "Rock You Like a Hurricane" and would eventually achieve double-platinum status. The group undertook one of their most successful world tours yet, boasting an outstanding stage show with high-energy performances.

After releasing World Wide Live in 1985, the band took a long hiatus and remained uninvolved from the music industry for two years. Their tenth studio album, Savage Amusement, was finally released in 1988, and the hit ballad "Rhythm of Love" brought on another major success. In 1990, the album Crazy World was released and would eventually become the Scorpions' biggest-selling record to date, drawing on the strength of the hit ballad "Wind of Change." Not too surprisingly, Crazy World was the last successful Scorpions release in the U.S. By the time their Face the Heat album hit the shelves in 1993, many longtime fans had already lost interest in the band, due to the alternative explosion of the early '90s. Face the Heat did eventually reach gold, and in 1995 the band released another live album, Live Bites. Moment of Glory, featuring the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and several revamped versions of Scorpions cult classics, was released in fall 2000. Continuing to be productive into the 21st century, the Scorpions released their fifteenth studio album, Unbreakable, in 2004, followed by the concept album Humanity: Hour 1 in 2007. In 2010 they released their final studio album before retirement, Sting in the Tail. ~ Barry Weber, Rovi

Chapter 1 History1.1.Formation and early history (19651973)Rudolf Schenker, the band's rhythm guitarist launched the band in 1965. At first, the band had beat influences and Schenker himself did the vocals. Things began to come together in 1969 when Schenker's younger brother Michael and vocalist Klaus Meine joined the band. In 1972, the group recorded and released their debut album Lonesome Crow, with Lothar Heimberg on bass and Wolfgang Dziony on drums. During the Lonesome Crow tour, Scorpions opened for upcoming British band UFO. Near the end of the tour, the members of UFO offered guitarist Michael Schenker the lead guitar job, an offer which he soon accepted. Uli Roth, a friend of the Schenker brothers, was then called in temporarily to finish off the great tour.

The departure of Michael Schenker led to the breakup of the band. In 1973, Uli Roth, who had helped Scorpions complete the Lonesome Crow tour, was offered the role as lead guitarist, but turned the band down, preferring instead to remain in the band Dawn Road. Rudolf Schenker eventually decided that he wanted to work with Roth, but did not want to resurrect the last Scorpions lineup.

The Scorpions 1965 He attended some of Dawn Road's rehearsals and ultimately decided to join the band, which consisted of Roth, Francis Buchholz (bass), Achim Kirschning (keyboards) and Jrgen Rosenthal (drums). Roth and Buchholz persuaded Rudolf Schenker to invite Klaus Meine to join on vocals, which he soon did. While there were more members of Dawn Road than Scorpions in the band, they decided to use the Scorpions name because it was well-known in the German hard rock scene and an album had been released under that name.

1.2.Rise to fame (19741978)In 1974 the new line-up of Scorpions released Fly to the Rainbow. The album proved to be more successful than Lonesome Crow and songs such as "Speedy's Coming" and the title track began to establish the band's sound. Achim Kirschning decided to leave after the recordings. Soon after, Jrgen Rosenthal had to leave as he was being drafted into the army. Later, in 1976, he would join a German progressive rock band called Eloy and record three albums with them. He was replaced by a Belgian drummer, Rudy Lenners. In 1975 the band hit their stride with the release of In Trance, which marked the beginning of Scorpions' long collaboration with German producer Dieter Dierks. The album was a huge step forward for Scorpions and firmly established their hard rock formula, while at the same time garnering a substantial fan base, both at home and abroad. Cuts such as "Dark Lady", "Robot Man" and the title track are still considered classics by fans today

. In 1977, Scorpions released Virgin Killer. The album's cover featured a nude prepubescent girl covered with broken glass. The cover art was designed by Stefan Bohle who was the product manager for RCA Records, their label at the time. The cover brought the band considerable criticism and was pulled or replaced in several countries. Despite the controversy, the album itself garnered significant praise for its music from critics and fans alike.

Virgin KillerBy that time in mid 1978, after auditioning around 140 guitarists, Scorpions recruited new guitarist Matthias Jabs.

1.3.Commercial success (19791991)Following the addition of Jabs, Scorpions left RCA for Mercury Records in the States and Harvest/EMI Electrola worldwide to record their next album Lovedrive. Just weeks after being ejected from UFO for his alcohol abuse, Michael Schenker also returned to the group for a short period during the recordings for the album. This gave the band three guitarists (though Schenker's contribution to the final release was limited to only three songs). The result was Lovedrive, an album which some critics consider to be the pinnacle of their career. Containing such fan favourites as "Loving You Sunday Morning", "Always Somewhere", "Holiday" and the instrumental "Coast to Coast", the 'Scorpions formula' of hard rock songs mixed with melodic ballads was firmly cemented. In 1980, the band released Animal Magnetism, again with a provocative cover.Animal Magnetism contained classics such as "The Zoo" and "Make It Real". Soon after the album's release, Meine began experiencing throat problems. He required surgery on his vocal cords and doubts were raised about whether he would ever sing again. Meanwhile, the band began working on their next album, Blackout in 1981. Don Dokken was brought in to provide guide and backing vocals while Meine recovered. Meine eventually healed completely and was able to finish the album. Blackout was released in 1982 and quickly became the band's best selling to date, eventually going platinum. Meine's voice showed no signs of weakness and critical response to the album was good. Blackout spawned three hit singles: "Dynamite", "Blackout", and "No One Like You". Gaining in popularity from their success from "Blackout", Scorpions performed to over 375,000 fans on Day 2 at the three-day US Festival concert held in San Bernadino, California during Memorial Day Weekend of 1983. It was not until 1984 and the release of Love at First Sting that the band finally cemented their status as rock superstars. Propelled by the single "Rock You Like a Hurricane", Love at First Sting climbed the charts and went double platinum in the USA a few months after its release. MTV gave the album's videos "Rock You Like a Hurricane", "Bad Boys Running Wild", "Big City Nights", and the power ballad "Still Loving You" significant airtime, greatly contributing to the album's success. The channel even supplied Scorpions with the nickname "The Ambassadors of Rock". The band toured extensively behind Love at First Sting and decided to record and release their second live album, World Wide Live in 1985. On the Savage Amusement tour in 1988, Scorpions became only the second Western group to play in the Soviet Union (the first being Uriah Heep in December, 1987), with a performance in Leningrad. Crazy World was released that same year and displayed a less polished sound. The album was a hit, propelled in large part by the massive success of the ballad "Wind of Change". The song muses on the socio-political changes that were occurring in Eastern Europe and in other parts of the world at the end of the Cold War

Love At First Sting Tour Crew

1.4.Later days (19922009)In 1993, Scorpions released Face the Heat. Bass was handled by Ralph Rieckermann. For the recording process, Scorpions brought in producer Bruce Fairbairn. The album's sound was more metal than melodic and divided the band's fan base somewhat. Many "headbangers" responded positively to the album while many longtime fans were put off. Neither the hard rock single "Alien Nation" nor the ballad "Under The Same Sun" came close to matching the success of "Wind of Change". Face the Heat was a moderate success. In 1995, a new live album, Live Bites, was produced. The disc documented live performances from their Savage Amusement Tour in 1988, all the way through the Face the Heat Tour in 1994. Prior to recording their 13th studio album, 1996s Pure Instinct, drummer Herman Rarebell left the band to set up a recording label. 1999 saw the release of Eye II Eye and a significant change in the band's style, mixing in elements of pop and techno. The following year, Scorpions had a fairly successful collaboration with the Berlin Philharmonic that resulted in a 10-song album named Moment of Glory. The album went a long way toward rebuilding the band's reputation after the harsh criticism of Eye II Eye. In 2001, Scorpions released Acoustica, a live unplugged album featuring acoustic reworkings of the band's biggest hits, plus new tracks.

In 2004, the band released Unbreakable, an album that was hailed by critics as a long-awaited return to form. The album was the heaviest the band had released since Face the Heat, and fans responded well to tracks such as "New Generation", "Love 'em or Leave 'em" and "Deep and Dark". On May 14, 2007, Scorpions released Humanity - Hour I in Europe. Humanity - Hour I became available in the U.S. on August 28 on New Door Records, entering the Billboard charts at number 63.

1.5.New album and retirement (2010-present)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.

Chapter II Band members2.1.Current members

Klaus Meinelead vocals, occasionally rhythm guitar (1970present) Klaus Meine (born May 25, 1948, Hannover, Germany) is a German singer, best known as the frontman and occasional rhythm guitarist of the hard rock/heavy metal band Scorpions. Meine is well-noted for his unique countertenor voice, strong German accent and polished delivery which ranges from high notes to soft ballads, and is respected worldwide for his support for music and human rights. Meine writes most of, but not all of, the lyrics to Scorpions' songs. He also shares the authorship of some lyrics with Herman Rarebell (former drummer of Scorpions) on some songs like the major hit "Rock You Like a Hurricane", among others. Meine composed some songs alone like "Wind of Change" and "A Moment in a Million Years".

In 1981, after a world tour and during the recording of the Blackout album, Meine lost his voice so badly he could not even speak properly. Meine was advised by his doctor to consider another profession because of his voice problems. However, Scorpions stuck together and after therapy and 2 vocal cord surgeries, Meine's voice recovered. Meine was ranked by Hit Parader as the twenty-second greatest heavy metal vocalist of all time. Klaus Meine (born May 25, 1948,Hannover, Germany) is a Germansinger, best known as the lead vocalist and occasional rhythm guitarist of the heavy metal/hard rockband Scorpions.

Matthias Jabslead & rhythm guitars, backing vocals (1978present) Matthias Jabs (born October 25, 1955) is a German guitarist and songwriter. He is a member of the hard rock band Scorpions. Before joining the Scorpions, Jabs had played for the bands Lady, Fargo and Deadlock. Jabs joined the Scorpions after Ulrich Roth left in 1978. The first album recorded by Jabs with the Scorpions was Lovedrive. His guitar playing contributed significantly to their signature sound. In an interview on the 'World Wide Live' video, he mentioned that his goal is not to become the best or fastest guitarist, but to be a very good composer. In most Scorpions songs, guitar solos are performed by lead guitarist Matthias Jabs, but there are exceptions, in which Rudy makes the solos, such as "Wind of Change", "Always Somewhere", "Still Loving You", "As Soon as the Good Times Roll", "Through My Eyes" "Coast to Coast" (second solo) and "Big City Nights". Matthias Jabs (born October 25, 1955) is a German guitarist and songwriter. He is a member of the heavy metal band Scorpions. Before joining the Scorpions, Jabs had played for the bands Lady, Fargo and Deadlock. Jabs joined the Scorpions after Ulrich Roth left in 1978. The first album recorded by Jabs with the Scorpions was Lovedrive. His guitar playing contributed significantly to their signature sound. During the 1980s he had a 1963-64 black Fender Stratocaster, called his "trouble guitar", which had a Floyd Rose floating bridge and a Bill Lawrence L90 pickup, and it featured on many tracksthat needed a tremolo, including "Blackout".

A copy of this guitar with a black Gibsonhumbucker is seen on the 'Make

a Difference Foundation' video filmed Osbourne and Gorky Park.

in Russia,

with

other

guests

including Ozzy

Jabs favours Gibson Explorer guitars and designed a model for them, called the Explorer 90 (due to the body being 90% the size of a regular Explorer), in the late 1980s. He also has a signature Fender Stratocaster dubbed "Jabocaster". Nowadays, Jabs and the rest of the Scorpions play the German Dommenget brand of guitars, with all their signature models now made by them. His most recent signature guitar is his "Mastercaster" used mostly on stage and on their Humanity - Hour 1 album. Jabs is notable for his playing of a Talk box in some songs (such as "The Zoo" on Animal Magnetism and "To Be No. 1" on Eye II Eye, "Money and Fame" (Crazy World), "Can You Feel It" (Unbreakable), and "Media Overkill" (Savage Amusement) .

Jabs had also once replaced the Marshall amplification logo on his amplifier cabinets with his own name, in the same font style as the Marshall logo. Besides Marshall, Matthias uses Wizard cabinets, Hiwatt, Engl, Fender Prosonic and Soldano amplifiers and cabinets, kitty hawk preamps, Dunlop picks, Seymour Duncan JB pickups, back in the 80s he uses marshall JCM 800 2210 amplifiers which you can see on the world wide live DVDs, Ovation 6 and 12 string acoustics, D'addario strings, talk box from Heil. In 2010 Cort Guitars collaborated with Matthias to develop his signature line of electrics guitars called the Garage 1 and Garage 2.

James Kottakdrums, percussion, backing vocals He is married to Athena Kottak, rocker Tommy Lee's younger sister, who is also a drummer and fellow member of Kottak. The couple has three children; one girl, Tobi, and two boys, Miles and Matthew. James is one of the characters in the book Sex Tips from Rock Stars by Paul Miles to be published by Omnibus Press in July 2010.

His entire life has been devoted to one solitary dream To rock & roll forever James screams! androck & roll he has!

James Kottak (born December 26, 1962, Louisville, Kentucky) is an American drummer for the heavy metal band Scorpions, which he joined in 1996. Prior to joining Scorpions, Kottak was a drummer for Nut House, Mister Charlie, Buster Brown, Montrose, Kingdom Come, Wild Horses, theMcAuley Schenker Group, Warrant, and Ashba. He also gave drum lessons at Far-Out Music in Jeffersonville, Indiana, once having formerBride drummer, Jerry McBroom, as a student. He also played with guitarist Michael Lee Firkins. He also plays in his own band Kottak, formerly known as KrunK. He is married to Athena Kottak, rocker Tommy Lee's younger sister, who is also a drummer and fellow member of Kottak. The couple has three children; one girl, Tobi, and two boys, Miles and Matthew. James is one of the characters in the book Sex Tips from Rock Stars by Paul Miles to be published by Omnibus Press in July 2010. James endorses Ddrum and Yamaha drums, Aquarian drumheads, Zildjian Cymbals, Ahead drumsticks and accessories and Danmar percussion.

Having performed on over 130 cds, dvds and countless worldtours , James has spend the last 12 years as a member of the legendary german rock super-group The Scorpions.Since his first tour of the United States in 1978 to Current world tour, James 30 year star spangled career has had all the typical ups & downs. I thank God its been mostly ups!, James laughs, but really, I should thank all the fans who bought all the cds, t-shirts & concert tickets. I literally have eaten ROCK & ROLL!ha! All this stamina Led James to his first big break in 1985 when he was asked to play with Ronnie Montrose on the Mean album. that wasthe ultimate dream come true, having been raised on the first Montrose record.After his move to Los Angeles in 1987 from hometown LouisvIlle, Kentucky , it was non-stop platinum status. kingdom come, the cult, warrant, msgyhe list goes on & on. James has now recorded 6 cds & 5 dvds with THE SCORPIONS. I feel the best is yet to come. I got on this crazy train and plan to literally ROCK & ROLL FOREVER!

Pawe Mciwoda - bass, backing vocals (2003present)

Pawe Mciwoda (Polish pronunciation: born on February 20, 1967) is a Polish bass guitarist who joined the Scorpions in 2003 as bassist, but became an official member on January 10, 2004. Born in Wieliczka, Poland, Mciwoda began playing bass guitar semi-professionally at the age of 15 with his father's encouragement. His young age on the rock and roll circuit earned him the nickname "Baby", but within a few short years Mciwoda was touring Europe with a jazz fusion band called the Little Egoists, and for overlapping periods of time performed as a member of the avant-garde rock bands Dp and Pdelsi, both based in Krakw. At about the same time he also released a solo album entitled Radio Wieliczka. His other band credits during his early years included the popular jazz-rock band Walk Away, headed by the world-famous violinist Micha Urbaniak and lead vocalist Urszula Dudziak, with whom he recorded the album Magic Lady.

2.2.Former members Karl-Heinz Vollmer-lead & rhythm guitars, backing vocals (19651970) Lothar Heimbergbass, backing vocals (19651973) Wolfgang Dzionydrums, percussion, backing vocals (19651973) Michael Schenkerlead & rhythm guitars, backing vocals (19701973, 1979) Uli Jon Rothlead & rhythm guitars, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Drifting Sun", "Fly to the Rainbow", "Dark Lady", "Sun in My Hand", "Hell Cat", "Polar Nights" (19731978) Achim Kirschningkeyboards (19731974) Jrgen Rosenthaldrums, percussion, backing vocals (19731975) Francis Buchholzbass, backing vocals (19731983, 19841992) Rudy Lennersdrums, percussion (19751977) Herman Rarebelldrums, percussion, backing vocals (19771983, 19841995) Ralph Rieckermannbass, backing vocals (19932000, 20002003) Curt Cressdrums, percussion (1996) Ken Taylorbass, backing vocals (2000) Barry Sparksbass, backing vocals (2004) Ingo Powitzerbass, backing vocals (2004)

ConclusionScorpions Announce Retirement In conclusion, German rock crew Scorpions may have "reached the end of the road," as they recently announced. But that doesn't mean the band, which recently called it quits after four decades in the music industry, is done touring. Since The Scorpions didn't reach great commercial success until the late '70s and early '80s, many people don't realize that some form of the band has been around since 1965. 45 years later, and massive hits from the '80s such as "Rock You Like a Hurricane" and "No One Like You" are still prominently featured at gentleman's clubs worldwide. Guitarist Rudolph Schenker launched the band from Hanover, Germany, all those years ago and he ultimately made the decision for The Scorpions to retire after its current tour. In a tellphone from Quebec, Schenker was kind enough to converse about a variety of topics. Will this really be the final tour? Some bands like The Who seem to have had a least a dozen "final tours." Look, we made the decision to retire. It was an instinct. We just had the feeling that it was the right time. The new album [Sting in the Tail] is a good way to go out. I think the new album really got to the essence of The Scorpions. After over 40 years, things get difficult. We tried to adapt to the music business--even changed our sound up a bit on a couple of albums. But it's better to be back and to end with our old sound. Klaus [Meine] and me, we are both 62. We have another three years for this last tour and we know that we can still deliver. We have a great set list and a fantastic production. We've sold out shows from Moscow to Prague and we are looking forward to seeing big crowds in the states. When we finish this tour, Klaus and I will be 65. To go onstage again and sing "Bad Boys Going Wild," well, it sounds stupid. It's better when you can control the situation. It's always difficult to make these big decisions. We know that we are all not getting any fitter. Right now, we can still deliver at 150 percent. In five years, I don't know. The band has been around, in some form, for 45 years. In that time, you've sold over 100 million albums. How do you account for the band's success and longevity? We're Germans and, if you can make it out of Germany, you can make it. You have to find the right people. You have to have the right chemistry, to be strong enough to deliver the goods in foreign countries. We played a style of music that is normally associated with England, not Germany. You have to be better than other English and American acts and I think we did this. Plus, this band is composed of a bunch of friends and we've always spread an idea of friendship.

When I first heard Little Richard, that music gave me a feeling that there was something to live for and perhaps our music had that same effect on some people. When I saw The Rolling Stones and The Beatles in Germany, I saw four or five friends playing together. That gave me my vision. The Scorpions have tried to make the right decisions. I think the writing team of Klaus and I wrote some outstanding songs. We didn't want to be a German band. We wanted to be a global band. I think we were positive role models for a lot of bands. It's all about vision and friendship. If you put it all together, you have a great career for forty years. You said you were excited about the set list for the current tour. Does a band like The Scorpions owe it to the audience to play the hits? Of course. Now, the set lists are a bit different when we play Europe. We play all the hits plus three songs from the new album. The feedback on our website has been very positive. Klaus did have the flu for a couple of shows and his voice was fucked up, so we had to shorten the list a bit. But now, it's back to two hours of our best music. It's a party, with big '80s production values. The new album has a production style very similar to the band's '80s heyday. Was that because you did not want to mess with a successful formula? It was really the producers, the Swedish guys [Mikael Andersson and Martin Hansen]. They really wanted to bring us back to that polished, American-style production. The producers were big fans. They wanted the big guitar riffs and good melodies. We wanted to connect with the people. For nearly 18 years, people have been asking us, why don't you make an album like Blackout? Sometimes, we have said that we've done that already, but I think the time now is right for a return to that sound. There seems to be an '80s comeback and we want to surf that wave. Then, we decided to make this the last one we will ever do. Of course, classic rock never goes away. The Scorpions will be releasing one more studio album, then calling it a career after an extensive three year world tour. Sting In The Tail will be released March 23rd(2010). "While we were working on our album these past few months, we could literally feel how powerful and creative our work was - and how much fun we were still having, in the process," said Klaus Meine. "We want to end the Scorpions' extraordinary career on a high note. We are extremely gracious for the fact that we still have the same passion for music we've always had since the beginning." "So at some point," added guitarist Matthias Jabs, "it came to us to end our career with this exceptional album." Rudolf Schenker stated, "The three year tour through five continents is meant to be a huge blowout, where we can party with our fans and say good-bye." "When I started out, I had a lot of wishes," Schenker noted. "It's crazy, I achieved more than I ever even dreamed of." During their 40-year career, Scorpions sold over 100 million albums. The tour will launch in the band's home country Germany in May. After that, they will be touring through North America before they continue their journey through five other continents until 2012.

In an interview with NoiseCreep, guitarist Rudolf Schenker offered a bit more of an explanation, saying that the decision really sprung from how good the group felt about their final work. Said Schenker, "It sounds like a combination of the best material on the 'Lovedrive' and 'Crazy World' albums. The songs have that feel and spirit. Then our manager had the idea to finish the band on a high note with this record... And it turns out he was right.

Bibliography

Books : SCORPIONS: 'Rock N' Roll Forever' Book May 14, 2010 by Marc Theis Scorpions (Band): Scorpions Albums, Scorpions Members, Scorpions Songs, Songs Written By Klaus Meine, Songs Written By Rudolf Schenker Sting In The Tail by Scorpions Links : http://www.the-scorpions.com/english/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scorpions_(band) http://www.answers.com/topic/scorpions-discography#References http://www.smnnews.com/2010/04/15/scorpions-klaus-meine-vocals/ http://hardrockhideout.com/2011/04/01/the-scorpions-eye-ii-eye-1999/ http://delafont.com/music_acts/scorpions.htm

ANNEXE NO. 1 Discography

Peak chart positions Year Album details Certifications GE AU CA FI FR NL NO SW SW U US (sales thresholds) R T N N A D R E I K]

Lonesome Crow 1972 Released: August, 1972 Label: Brain Records Fly to the Rainbow 1974 Released: November, 1974 Label: RCA Records In Trance 1975 Released: January, 1975 Label: RCA Records Virgin Killer 1976 Released: November 21, 1976 Label: RCA Records Taken by Force 1978 Released: January, 1978 Label: RCA Records Lovedrive 1979 Released: February 25, 1979 Label: Harvest/EMI (Europe) Mercury Records (US) Animal Magnetism 1980 Released: March 31, 1980 Label: Harvest/EMI Mercury Records (US) Blackout 1982 Released: April 10, 1982 Label: EMI Mercury Records (US) Love at First Sting 1984 Released: May 4, 1984 6 19 15 4 4 17 9 17 6 *GER: *US: Gold 3x (Europe) 10 11 12 1 12 11 10 *US: Platinum (Europe) 12 76 37 23 52 *US: Platinum 11 10 32 36 55 *GER: Gold *US: Gold

ANNEXE NO. 2 SCORPIONS: 'Rock N' Roll Forever' Photo Book - May 14, 2010 by Marc Theis

ANNEXE NO.3 Scorpions (Band): Scorpions Albums, Scorpions Members, Scorpions Songs, Songs Written By Klaus Meine, Songs Written By Rudolf Schenker by Llc Books

ANNEXE NO.4 TIMELINE Members of The Scorpions