SCORPIONS' KLAUS MEINE: Rock Is 'Alive' And 'Well'

In a new interview with Liz Barnes of Planet Rock's "My Planet Rocks", SCORPIONS singer Klaus Meine was asked if the title of the band's new album, "Rock Believer", is a message of sorts for the group's fans around the world. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Maybe that's because of the pandemic, it's all a dialogue with the fans. Especially [since] we are blocked away from the world of touring for such a long time, it's like you wanna stay in touch with your fanbase. And through the social media today — with the Facebooks, Instagrams and even TikTok [laughs], whatever comes along the way — you have a chance to be in touch with your fanbase and it's a pretty cool dialogue. You get some feedback to what you say, and maybe it's good, sometimes it's maybe not so good."

He continued: "I'll tell you a story. In the middle of the pandemic, and way before we recorded the first track of this album, I wrote a little song in my studio back home just to put something out on the social media without saying, 'Here's a new single from the SCORPIONS.' It was just a little song. And the song was 'Sign Of Hope'. It was maybe two minutes something — not a big song. And I wanted to get in touch and just say, 'Stay strong. Take good care of yourself. We'll see you again. Let's go through this pandemic together.' And by the end of the year, we put out three ['Sign Of Hope'] fan videos and reached a lot of people. And it was such a nice interaction with the fans. And the same goes for the lyrics in 'Rock Believer'. We are the essence of rock believers, yes, but also we've heard so many years: 'Rock is dead.' There is grunge, there is hip-hop, there is rap. Yes, those genres are very popular these days, no question about it — especially hip-hop and rap — but we see every time we go on the road rock is not dead at all; it's well and alive. And 'Rock Believer' is directed to this community, saying, 'We love you and we hope you love this new album as much as we do. And I'm a rock believer just like you.' It's a clear message."

"Rock Believer" will be released on February 25. The LP was recorded primarily at Peppermint Park Studios in Hannover, Germany and was mixed at the legendary Hansa Studios in Berlin, Germany with engineer Michael Ilbert, who has earned multiple Grammy nominations for his mix work with producer Max Martin on albums by Taylor Swift and Katy Perry.

SCORPIONS' new album will mark their first release since 2017's "Born To Touch Your Feelings - Best Of Rock Ballads", which was an anthology of new and classic material.

SCORPIONS originally intended to record the new album in Los Angeles with producer Greg Fidelman, whose previous credits include SLIPKNOT and METALLICA. However, because of the pandemic, some of the initial work was done with Greg remotely, after which SCORPIONS opted to helm the recordings themselves with the help of their engineer Hans-Martin Buff.

Meine previously told Talking Metal that the goal with using Fidelman to produce "Rock Believer" was to bring "the old vibe from albums like 'Blackout', 'Love At First Sting' or even 'Lovedrive'. We try to focus on those albums and this attitude," he said. "If we get there, who knows — it's so many years later. But it's the spirit and it's the whole vibe around this album. This time, the focus is on the harder songs."

SCORPIONS will kick off their "Rock Believer" world tour in March in Las Vegas where the band will play nine shows as part of their residency at Planet Hollywood Hotel. Afterwards they will cross the Atlantic to Europe where they will play six concerts in France and six shows In Germany supported by Wolfgang Van Halen's new band MAMMOTH WVH.

SCORPIONS' last full-length collection of new recordings was the aforementioned "Return To Forever", partially comprising songs the band had in the vault from the '80s. It was the final recorded appearance of SCORPIONS' longtime drummer James Kottak, who was dismissed from the band in September 2016. He has since been replaced by Mikkey Dee, formerly of MOTÖRHEAD.