SCORPIONS thread

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controlled_voltage

controlled_voltage

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where to begin….they are retiring soon ;-(

I saw them 3 times and they always delivered with maximum output.

The first time i saw them was on the love at first sting tour -3rd row at the garden on my last day of high school ever-as a senior.
I was blown the fuck away.I didn't realize how great Mathias is until i witnessed him up close.
Homie was playing all of these insane fills and leads while jumping around like a maniac…
Klaus was jumping off the drum riser just like DLR and just as high ….they had their marshalls stacked up in what looked like custom built racks and it had built in steel bars -like monkey bars for climbing.
By the end of the show they were literally hanging off these amp racks,rudy is rolling around on the fucking stage…klaus is leaping all over the place and rarebell is laughing his ass of while still keeping a solid groove…...Just incredible!

The second time I saw them was at monster's of rock tour 1988 and they blew van halen off the stage-SPAMMY looked like canned meat after the scorps were on.

Third time was a huge arena show in Holland in the early 90s and i had shite seats but they still sounded great.

The records-
I heard all of the Uli stuff at the same time the mathias releases were current and i was engulfed in material to digest.

I can remember where i was the first time i heard polar nights live, just like i remember the first time i heard eruption.
That sound and his playing just stopped me dead in my tracks…i was like who is that?

It made a huge impact on me and was blown away and started digging back to all of their earlier albums.
Uli changed the way i viewed the guitar and its possibilities.His tone was enormous and was just ripping my young stoned suburban face right off.
His entre' to the world of music was the violent wha/modulated wang bar workout on speedy's coming,quite a debut.
It was then that i realized he influenced EVH w/ regard to wang bar antics,huge marshall tone and funky/jazzy phrasing that had swing to it as opposed to typewriter shred.

without a doubt one of my all time fave guitar players
night lights evening wind in your park catch your train polar nights drifting sun we'll burn the sky fly to the rainbow are sublime and timeless.

His solos lps especially earthquake proved he was improving and he continued to break new musical ground.[i know his voice is not the greatest]
I was lucky enough to meet him and chat a bit when he toured w/ michael schenker in 2005
He was such a humble peaceful soul.
It was one of the few times in my life that i acted like a fanboy and i got something autographed[virgin killer lp]

I could go on about uli for hours and or how amazing a guitarist/songwriter/performer rudolph schenker is.
In fact rudy deserves his own thread for writing some of the best hooks and playing the best rhythm guitar …ever.

all scorps records up until love at first sting had incredible guitar tones -and i would consider it much of the mathias material as "brown" although many would beg to differ.

your turn guys…. i just shot my scorps nut and a long winded one at that
 
My buddies and I that were all just starting to play music worshipped at the alter of the Scorpions tunes and tones. :rock:
 
I actually sat down today and I'm attempting to learn the Rock You Like A Hurricane solos. Matthias Jabs is a monster and has killer tone and feel.
I remember being at work and hearing The Zoo for the first time (early 80's). I was hooked. I saw them on the Blackout tour warming up for Rainbow. They were on fire!! Rainbow didn't know what hit them.

Too bad they are retiring. I'd love to see them again.


Mark
 
My experience almost mirrors the OP's minus the '90 concert (and he's 2 years older than me...I had just finished 10th grade when I saw the LAFS tour ;) ).

Uli's greatness aside, Mathias is one one of my all time favorites...one of the most underrated guitarists from that era IMO.
 
Saw them with Judas Priest in 2005. Killer set, killer playing, killer tones, killer band.

-C
 
i never seen them.damn!i was into LAFS when it came out(10th grade i think).never really liked RYLAH.was way into WWL and think they do have great tunes from that period.but i never bothered to go back into their catalog and immense myself in it.all the later stuff was way too commercial for my tastes.

will put the scorps on my "need to re-listen" list.

i'm still drowning in whitesnake and the recent king diamond threads have me hooked on on KD/MF at the moment.
 
Living in the OC...The Scorps play here Every Tour....
I have not missed many Scorpion tours since The Summer Strut in 82? Maiden/Scorps/Loverboy/Forienger

The First show...was Blackout tour...Rudy flying across the stage giant "E" chords..then the Mathias Dive Bomb.....and it was off the hook....

Just saw the Last time they came through Sting of the Tail......a little older ...but still ROckin like a Huricane....
 
Matthias Jabs is one of my all time favs .
:rock:
Killer player with great phrasings note choice and soul
 
Jabs is a monster.. he is one of the best at fills between choruses and bridges in songs. Mark , good luck with that solo.. I've been playing it for over 15 years and there are still a few times when I don't hit it right on. He is a choppy quick player and that is part of his tone along with the harmonics. A+. Great tone too.

As for the band, I'd say it is time to retire. I mean Klaus can still sing but they are increasingly having to tune down and it just sounds like sludge after a while. :( Doesn't have the same power as it did when it was bright and in your face with regular tuning. People don't think that makes a diff but it totally does... especially with the leads where the notes just hang flat and don't cut because of how lose the string tension is. That's just my opinion but listen to Carcass, the strings are just hanging off there and it makes lead playing not fun.
 
Wore out a cassette of "Love Drive" in high school, my friend got sent home for bringing Virgin Killers (the import cover) to school.
 
loved all their stuff up to mid 80's, dug Matthias sound and licks... but when i heard Virgin Killer and Tokyo Tapes, Ulrich Roth blew my mind. He's responsible for a lot of things Eddie and Yngwie did, not too mention a ton of others. and his lead tone's on In Trance/Virgin Killer was ridiculous.
 
rupe":1nn9vzki said:
Uli's greatness aside, Mathias is one one of my all time favorites...one of the most underrated guitarists from that era IMO.

True Dat, I love Uli, The guy has done so much for hard rock guitar playing and has never really recieved the credit that he is so rightfully due IMHO. Matthias came around and IMHO was also very overlooked and underrated. The guy had tone and chops for days and reminded me of the perfect cross of Schenker and EVH( something I heard Rudy say once and I completely agreed) Matthias never had the far reaching impact that Uli has had but he still had his own voice and brought the goods in a big way and sounded great doing it. He was a huge influence on me in the beginning because I totally loved his melodies with the aggressive flash/whizbang/bombastic approach....

I cant choose one over the other because they really are apples and oranges but I appreciate what they both brought to the table in a big way. God bless the Scorps for blessing us with 2 amazing Axemeisters!!!

Kage
 
70strathead":32tirhs9 said:
loved all their stuff up to mid 80's, dug Matthias sound and licks... but when i heard Virgin Killer and Tokyo Tapes, Ulrich Roth blew my mind. He's responsible for a lot of things Eddie and Yngwie did, not too mention a ton of others. and his lead tone's on In Trance/Virgin Killer was ridiculous.
Agreed!

I like Jabs use of pentatonics that aren't blues phrases. He plays them more up and down the neck instead of positions. And like previously posted, his little fills thruout the rhythms are cool. Another guy that is cool like that is Buck Dharma from BOC.

That said...the earlier Uli period is more interesting for me...but they both have good tunes and playing.
 
Greazygeo":lao5lnrj said:
70strathead":lao5lnrj said:
loved all their stuff up to mid 80's, dug Matthias sound and licks... but when i heard Virgin Killer and Tokyo Tapes, Ulrich Roth blew my mind. He's responsible for a lot of things Eddie and Yngwie did, not too mention a ton of others. and his lead tone's on In Trance/Virgin Killer was ridiculous.
Agreed!

I like Jabs use of pentatonics that aren't blues phrases. He plays them more up and down the neck instead of positions. And like previously posted, his little fills thruout the rhythms are cool. Another guy that is cool like that is Buck Dharma from BOC.

That said...the earlier Uli period is more interesting for me...but they both have good tunes and playing.

Yep. the fact is, Uli wasn't even tapping into all of his musical talents during the Scorps, he had to play within the context of those tunes...hence the reason he quit to move onto his own musical journey. He actually gave the Scorpions a one year notice in 77', but they asked him to do that final tour and by that time the Earthquake material was already in progress. George, did you know that Uli used Celestion 80's back then? EJ used them as well in the early years.
 
I'm amazed that where most bands would falter when modifying their approach after losing a key player the Scorps went on to be just as good in a different way. Love the Uli stuff and love up to LAFS. Great stuff, always had great guitar tone and Klaus is right up there with Freddie Mercury, Halford and Dio for voice talent.
 
70strathead":g4nrklik said:
Yep. the fact is, Uli wasn't even tapping into all of his musical talents during the Scorps, he had to play within the context of those tunes...hence the reason he quit to move onto his own musical journey. He actually gave the Scorpions a one year notice in 77', but they asked him to do that final tour and by that time the Earthquake material was already in progress. George, did you know that Uli used Celestion 80's back then? EJ used them as well in the early years.
No I didn't know he used them back then. I remember him recommending them to you at one point. EJ used them huh? Interesting. I met Blackmore's tech at a vintage guitar show and have spoke to him a few different times. He had a bunch of Ritchie's cabs for sale. They were all loaded with them and stuffed with a ton of pink insulation. :)
 
Scorpions trivia : Love at first Sting was one of the first 100 % digitally recorded albums ! I have it on vinyl :lol: :LOL: Still Loving you is a great ballad thats NOT cheesy. The lead tone on that is utter perfection IMO.

Come to think of it, the Scorps have had some of the best guitar tones of all time. Even Alien Nation (1993) had great tones.

And all 3 lead players they've had throughout the years are all outstanding.

I could do without the choreographed trampoline act though :lol: :LOL:
 
Greazygeo":u4a2ky5e said:
70strathead":u4a2ky5e said:
George, did you know that Uli used Celestion 80's back then? EJ used them as well in the early years.
No I didn't know he used them back then. I remember him recommending them to you at one point. EJ used them huh? Interesting.

More significantly, so does thegame. :lol: :LOL:
 
Greazygeo":3bux3d6t said:
70strathead":3bux3d6t said:
Yep. the fact is, Uli wasn't even tapping into all of his musical talents during the Scorps, he had to play within the context of those tunes...hence the reason he quit to move onto his own musical journey. He actually gave the Scorpions a one year notice in 77', but they asked him to do that final tour and by that time the Earthquake material was already in progress. George, did you know that Uli used Celestion 80's back then? EJ used them as well in the early years.
No I didn't know he used them back then. I remember him recommending them to you at one point. EJ used them huh? Interesting. I met Blackmore's tech at a vintage guitar show and have spoke to him a few different times. He had a bunch of Ritchie's cabs for sale. They were all loaded with them and stuffed with a ton of pink insulation. :)


yeah thats right Ritchie did use them as well! ha! Yeah Uli knew what speakers i was using ( greenies) when we opened for him just by listening and told me low wattage greenbacks sounded "one dimensinal" and that he blew up so many on the first Scopions tour, that he had no choice but to go to high wattage. I bet he would LOVE your plexi's and be your best friend! :)
 
thegame":2xf3mi2r said:
Greazygeo":2xf3mi2r said:
70strathead":2xf3mi2r said:
George, did you know that Uli used Celestion 80's back then? EJ used them as well in the early years.
No I didn't know he used them back then. I remember him recommending them to you at one point. EJ used them huh? Interesting.

More significantly, so does thegame. :lol: :LOL:
Well dangit I'm out of the loop as usual!! :lol: :LOL: You guys are holding back important info. :gethim:
 
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