KLAUS MEINE Wants SCORPIONS To Be Remembered As 'A Killer Live Band'

Pat Prince of Goldmine magazine recently conducted an interview with vocalist Klaus Meine of German hard rock veterans SCORPIONS. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Goldmine: So, Klaus, is this really farewell?

Klaus Meine: Yes, it is. After 40 years of rocking and rolling, and touring the world many times, we realized that this might be the end of the road coming up soon with this last record, "Sting in the Tail". Another time to tour all over the globe, and then close this last chapter of the SCORPIONS. Close the book.

Goldmine: So, it's not going to be like a ROLLING STONES farewell tour — this is definite.

Meine: Yeah, it wouldn't make sense to announce it. There are a lot of artists out there playing that kind of game. And I don't know what the future brings either. It's a fine line. And I don't want to criticize any band taking it 'til the day they die up on-stage. It's a brave way to do it as well. But right now, Rudolf [Schenker] and myself, we just passed 60, and … I mean, the STONES are a blues band … c'mon! We are a hard rock band and there is so much energy onstage and this is what we still pull off every night, wherever we play, all over the world. How can you sing a song like "Rock You like a Hurricane" standing still in front of your fans? No way. We don't want to finish off slowing down in front of our audience, saying we can't do it anymore. We don't want it to come to that point.

Goldmine: How do you think the new album will hold up to past SCORPIONS albums?

Meine: It's hard to compete with your own history. When we went into production this time we wanted to really get the best out of this band. We wanted to make an album that is more like where we come from — more European. We worked most of the time in Germany, trying to reactivate what made SCORPIONS the SCORPIONS. That means great powerful riffs, strong melodies, great guitar solo stuff, fast songs, and, of course, some ballads, too. But the focus was more on attitude. Make an album where people can feel that these guys have fun in the studio. They have fun playing music.

Goldmine: Now, the final tour, it's going to be about three years long … so, over that time, will there be any special appearances? Say, from past members, like guitarists Uli Roth and Michael Schenker, or drummer Herman Rarebell?

Meine: We've played a few shows in the last couple years, having Michael, Uli, and Herman with us up on stage. We just did it last year in Greece, in Athens, at a big stadium show. The fans enjoyed it a lot, of course, and we enjoyed it totally. It was so much fan to have them with us back onstage. It would be cool to have a few shows in the U.S. where we have one of them, or all of them as special guests, turning up, playing a couple tunes from those periods of time where they were involved. I hope that works out. It's not really planned yet, because they are busy with their own schedules, but I know it would be something great for the fans and we would enjoy it as well.

Goldmine: There are a lot of fans that love the old material, from "Lonesome Crow" (1972's debut album) on up. Can those fans expect any older material on the set list?

Meine: Well, maybe not from "Lonesome Crow", but we might go back to the early days and play a couple tunes, maybe from the '70s . We want to try, with this next tour, to really play songs from all those different decades and time. And, of course, songs from the new album. Especially in America, you go to a radio station and present — proudly — your brand new album. And they go, "Well, yes, that's cool, but let's play 'Rock You Like A Hurricane'." So, in a way you're stuck in this kind of window there. I mean, it's great when after a long career you have so many classics, and those songs will probably live on forever, which is great. But still, making new albums, we never lost the passion for rock music, we never lost the passion creating new songs. And many fans around the world were waiting for this new album and it definitely will be one of the best. It will very much connect with the stuff that we did back in the '80s. I'm not saying it's an '80s album, you know. But it brings the best of the SCORPIONS stuff out, and that's where it makes its connection.

Goldmine: Do you feel you opened the door to a lot of German heavy metal bands that came after you, like ACCEPT and so forth.

Meine: Yeah, I think we've opened many doors. Because for quite a long time the SCORPIONS had been the only band that came from Germany that made a worldwide career. There was nobody really following us up. For a long time the SCORPIONS were the only German band out there. And from the early '80s onward, we were always proud to be a part of the international rock family.

Goldmine: What would you like the SCORPIONS to be remembered for, when it's all said and done?

Meine: A killer live band. Always a killer live band. And of course there are a few songs that stand out after all these decades. On your side of the world, it's "Rock You Like a Hurricane", a monster rock anthem. And for many people on the other side of the world, it's a song like "Wind of Change" (1990's "Crazy World") that is so much connected with the end of the Cold War. But don't call us a ballad band. We are always a live band from the heart. And we were never a band that could only produce a lot of noise. We were always a band with great songs, great melodies, and something that can live on forever in the hearts of the fans.

Read the entire interview at Goldmine magazine.