Scorpions lyrics and Scorpions guitar tabs, Scorpions pictures and biography

Vocal/Guitar --- Klaus Meine
Guitar --- Rudolf Schenker
Guitar --- Matthias Jabs
Basse --- Ralph Rieckermann
Drums --- James Kottak

This German hard rock group was formed by guitarists
Rudolf and Michael Schenker
(b. 10 January 1955, Savstedt, Germany)
in 1971. With Klaus Meine
(b. 25 May 1948; vocals), Lothar Heinberg

(bass) and Wolfgang Dziony
(drums), they exploded onto the international
heavy rock scene with Lonesome Crow in 1972. This tough and exciting
record was characterized by Schenker's distinctive, fiery guitarwork
on his Gibson 'Flying V' and Klaus Meine's dramatic vocals. Soon after
the album was released, Heinberg, Dziony and Schenker left, the latter
joining UFO. Francis Buchholz and Jurgen Rosenthal stepped in on bass
and drums, respectively, for the recording of Fly To The Rainbow.
Ulrich Roth was recruited as Schenker's replacement in 1974 and Rudy
Lenners took over the drumstool from Rosenthal the following year.
The following releases, Trance and Virgin Killer, epitomized the
Scorpions' new-found confidence and unique style - a fusion of
intimidating power-riffs, wailing guitar solos and melodic vocal
lines. Produced by Dieter Dierks, the improvements musically were
now matched technically. Their reputation began to grow throughout
Europe and the Far East, backed up by exhaustive touring. Taken By Force
saw Herman Rarebell replace Lenners, with the band branching out into
anthemic power-ballads, bolstered by emotive production, for the first
time. Although commercially successful, Roth was not happy with this move,
and he quit to form Electric Sun following a major tour to support the
album. Tokyo Tapes was recorded on this tour and marked the end of the
first phase of the band's career. This was a live set featuring renditions
of their strongest numbers. Mathias Jabs
(ex- Fargo ) was recruited as
Roth's replacement, but had to step down temporarily in favour of Michael
Schenker, who had just left UFO under acrimonious circumstances. Schenker
contributed guitar on three tracks of Lovedrive and toured with them
afterwards. He was replaced by Jabs permanently after collapsing
on stage during their European tour in 1979. The band had now achieved a
stable line-up, and shared the mutual goal of breaking through in the USA.
Relentless touring schedules ensued and their albums leaned more and more
towards sophisticated, hard-edged melodic rock. Blackout made the US
Billboard Top 10, as did the following Love At First Sting which featured
'Still Loving You', an enduring hard rock ballad. World Wide Live was
released in 1985, another double live set, but this time only featuring
material from the second phase of the band's career. It captured the band
at their melodic best, peaking at number 14 in a four-month stay on the
US chart. The band took a well-earned break before releasing Savage
Amusement in 1988, their first studio album for almost four years. This
marked a slight change in emphasis again, adopting a more restrained
approach. Nevertheless, it proved a huge success, reaching number 5 in
the USA and number 1 throughout Europe. The band switched to Phonogram
Records in 1989 and ended their 20-year association with producer Dieter
Dierks. Crazy World followed and became their most successful album to
date. The politically poignant 'Wind Of Change', lifted as a single,
became their first million-seller as it reached the number 1 position
in country after country around the world. Produced by Keith Olsen,
Crazy World transformed the band's sound, ensuring enormous crossover
potential without radically compromising their identity or alienating
their original fanbase. Buchholz was sacked in 1992, at which time
investigators began to look into the band's accounts for alleged tax
evasion. His replacement was classically trained musician Ralph
Heickermann, who had previously provided computer programming for
Kingdom Come, as well as varied soundtrack work. Heickermann made his
debut on a perfunctory 1995 live album, their third such venture. Allied
to a lack of new material, Live Bites only served to heighten suspicions
about the long-term viability and vitality of the band.