Intro (Edit)

The Scorpions are a heavy metal band from Germany. They’re probably known for their song, ‘Rock You Like A Hurricane.’ The band has sold over 75 million albums worldwide.

Rudolf Schenker, the rhythm guitarist, formed the band in 1965. At first, Rudolf did the vocals himself until 1969, when Rudolf’s younger brother, Michael, and vocalist Klaus Meine joined the band.

The band released their first album in 1972. The album, Lonesome Crow, was released by Brain Records. It is the only album to feature lead guitarist, Michael Schenker as a full-time member. This early line-up consisted of Lothar Heimberg on bass guitar and Wolfgang Dziony on drums.

During the tour for this album, the band toured with an upcoming British band called, UFO. At the end of the tour, the members of UFO offered guitarist, Michael Schenker, a job in their band as a lead guitarist. Soon after the offer he accepted. He was replaced to finish the tour by Uli Roth.

After Michael left the band, the Scorpions broke up for a short time. Then in 1973, Uli Roth was asked to join the band again as the lead guitarist, but declined. He wanted to stay with his current band. Rudolf wanted to reform the Scorpions, but not with the old line-up.

Rudolf attended a rehearsal of Roth’s band, Dawn Road, and decided the join. The band consisted of Uli Roth on lead guitar, Francis Buchholz on bass, Achim Kirschning on keyboards, and Jürgen Rosenthal on drums. The rest of the members convinced Rudolf to ask Klaus Meine to join as a singer, which he soon did. They decided to change their name to the Scorpions, because it was already well known in the German rock scene and they had already released an album with that name.

1974 saw the new line-up of the Scorpions release an album called Fly To The Rainbow. The album was more successful than their debut, and on some songs it started to establish their sound as a band. Soon after, Achim Kirschning left the band and Jürgen Rosenthal had to leave because he was being drafted into the army. Rudy Lenners replaced Rosenthal on the drums.

In 1975, the band started a long collaboration with a German producer, Dieter Dierks. Their album, In Trance, was a big improvement in their hard rock sound. At this time, the band started gaining a worldwide fan base.

The bands follow up to In Trance, was Virgin Killer. The original artwork caused much controversy, but the music gained much success from critics and fans.

In 1977, drummer Rudy Lenners had to resigned due to health problems. He was replaced by Herman Rarebell.

In 1978, the band released, Taken By Force. With the band gaining fans, their label made a conscious decision to promote the album in stores and on the radio. But with this album, Roth was not happy with how the band had made a musical change to favor the commercial fans. He played on the tour, but after the tour of Japan, he left to form another band. After Roth had left, the band had recruited a new guitarist, Matthias Jabs.

With Jabs now in the band, the Scorpions left RCA Records for Mercury Records, on which their next album was released. Their next release was 1979’s, Lovedrive. The album peaked at number 55 on the US Charts, proving the band had a worldwide following. During this time Michael Schenker was kicked out of UFO due to his suffering of alcoholism. He performed on three songs for the record. The band had decided to keep Michael, so they kicked Jabs out. But a few weeks into the tour, Michael was still battling alcoholism. He missed a number of gigs and collapsed on stage. So Jabs was called in to finish the rest of the tour. In April of 1979, the band brought in Jabs as a permanent replacement to Michael.

Animal Magnetism, the bands next album, was released in 1980, although the album was certified Platinum in 1991. The album containes the classic, The Zoo. But soon after the release, Meine experienced throat problems. It was thought he might not be able to sing again.

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History (Edit)

During this time, the band turned to Don Dokken to sing on the album. Demos were recorded with Don on vocals, but did not make it to the album, as Meine’s vocal abilites were back in time for the release. The album was certified Gold in 1982 and then it went Platinum in 1984.

1984 is when the Scorpions became rock superstars, with the release of the album, Love At First Sting. The albums popularity was propelled by the single, Rock You Like A Hurricane. A few months after the release, the album went Double-Platinum and peaked at number 6 on the US Charts. Today, the RIAA has certified the album as Triple-Platinum.

During the worldwide tour in support of the album, Love At First Sting, the band released another live album called, World Wide Live. This album did well to, peaking at number 14 in the US and number 18 in the UK.

After a massive tour, the band released the album, Savage Amusement in 1988. The album was a dissapointment to what their last studio album had achieved. The band went for a more polished pop sounds, similar to Def Leppard. Despite the not-so-great-reviews, the album did sell well.

In 1990, the band returned to the studio, this time, with a new producer, Keith Olsen. The band released Crazy World. The band wanted to distance themselves from the pop sound of their previous album, so they went for more of a hard rock sound on this album. This album was a hit, due to the success of the ballad, Wind of Change. After the tour in support of the album, the bands bassit, Francis Buchholz, left. He was replaced with Ralph Reickermann.

The bands next album was released in 1993, the album was called, Face The Heat. The band went in a more ‘metal’ direction than melodic. This split the fan base, the headbangers were happy, but the long-term fans didn’t really care for the album, for the most part. The album was only a moderate success.

Their next release was a live album called, Live Bites. The CD had songs from their tours from 1988 to 1994. The album had a much cleaner sound compared to their last live album, but it still did not sell as well as the other.

The bands thirteenth album was, Pure Instinct. During this time, drummer, Herman Rarebell, left the band. While Curt Cress played on the album, the bands choice for a replacement was, James Kottak. The album had only moderate success.

Three years later, in 1999, the band released Eye II Eye. This album was a huge change in sound for the band. The album mixed some elements of pop and techno. Most fans were unsure what to think of the bands new sound. The album was heavily criticized from fans and critics alike.

In 2000, the band released the album, Moment of Glory. The album helped the band rebuild their musical reputation. This album is a ’symphonic rock’ album, which is where the band played with a symphony in the background as well. Critics accused the band of trying to follow the success of Metallica’s album S&M, but in reality, the orchestra had approached the Scorpions with this idea back in 1995.

The following year the band released an all acoustic album, featuring acoustic remakes of classics, covers, and some new tracks, the album was called, Acoustica. While the album was appreciated by fans, the lack of more new songs made some fans frustrated.

2004 saw the release of, Unbreakable. Critics and fans hail this album as their long-awaited return to their hard rock musical formula. The album did not chart, many say it is due to poor promotion from the label. The band toured as ‘Special Guests’ with Judas Pries in 2005.

The band released a concept album in 2007. It is called, Humanity: Hour I. The album peaked at number 63 on the Billboard 200. The album received the highest success in Greece and Russia, where it peaked at number 1 and 5, respectively. Klaus Meine said about the album, “…the album isn’t so much a concept album, its a collection of songs with a common theme.”

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