ULI JON ROTH
''SCORPIONS REVISITED, DISC TWO''
MARCH 2015
105:34
DISC ONE (53:25)
1 The Sails of Charon 08:50
2 Longing For Fire 02:49
3 Crying Days 05:35
4 Virgin Killer 03:57
5 In Trance 06:39
6 Sun In My Hand 04:47
7 Yellow Raven 04:49
8 Polar Nights 07:34
9 Dark Lady 08:18
DISC TWO (52:09)
1 Catch Your Train 03:15
2 Evening Wind 05:37
3 All Night Long 03:11
4 We'll Burn The Sky 08:32
5 Pictured Life 03:11
6 Hell-Cat 03:00
7 Life's Like A River 03:04
8 Drifting Sun 06:40
9 Rainbow Dream Prelude 04:00
10 Fly To The Rainbow 11:34
Uli Jon Roth - guitar
Nathan James - vocals
Jamie Little - drums
Ule W. Ritgen - bass
Niklas Turmann - guitar, vocals
Corvin Bahn - keyboards, vocals
David Klosinski - guitar
REVIEW
ULI JON ROTH
''SCORPIONS REVISITED''
By udr-music.com
For over four decades, Uli Jon Roth has forged new frontiers in the world of guitar, both in terms of approach and style. He even managed to invent the sky-guitar, a six octave lead instrument that remains unparalleled. But before he started to explore the creative worlds of music, philosophy and art, Uli Jon Roth was a member of European rock giants The Scorpions, a band with which he helped create a new path in hard rock music. Venerated for his originality and dynamism at the time, in 2013 Roth found himself intrigued by the memory of those early days which began 40 years ago, and specifically by the music he helped write, perform and occasionally sing on the albums Fly To The Rainbow, In Trance, Virgin Killer and Taken By Force. It lead to Roth deciding to spend a year re-visiting, exploring, performing and re-recording his favorite Scorpions songs.
The first results of this magical, mystical journey into his own past can be heard on ULI JON ROTH – SCORPIONS REVISITED, a double-disc CD recorded in Hanover, Germany which sees the maestro re-harness all the collective power and poise of those original Scorpions classics, and re-imagine them as he feels today. No one in their right mind would dare call these mere re-recordings, as it’s clear that Uli Jon Roth reinvents these songs from the soul up.
"The material for this double CD was recorded last year in the same hall in Hanover that we used for the Scorpions rehearsals 1973-1978,” explains Roth. “Together with an amazing bunch of very talented young musicians, I revisited my personal favourites from the early Scorpions period, some of which were written in that same hall. It was an emotional few days and I am very pleased with the results in more ways than one. The idea was to stay truthful to the original spirit of the music, while also putting a new slant on it whenever it felt like the right thing to do. I feel we really succeeded in this and I’m very excited about this project. It was a intense journey into the past and I think we really managed to bring the songs back to life with a vengeance."
The band which performed with Roth for these historic shows was Nathan James (vocals), Jamie Little (drums), Ule W. Ritgen (bass), Niklas Turmann (guitar, vocals), Corvin Bahn (keyboards, vocals) and David Klosinski (guitar).
As noted, this is the first fruit from a re-engagement with his history that left Uli Jon Roth enjoying a surge of fresh creativity and approach to this classic material. Expect a further announcement for 2015. But for now, feast your ears, heart and emotions on Uli Jon Roth’s unique return to his most famous musical legacy.
BIOGRAPHY / AMG
by Steve Huey
Though he doesn't get nearly as much credit as Deep Purple's Ritchie Blackmore, Uli Jon Roth helped lay the groundwork for neo-classical metal with his lead guitar work for German hard rock icons the Scorpions during the '70s. Roth's playing owed an obvious debt to Jimi Hendrix, but the elegance of his lead lines, the fluidity of his phrasing, and his use of alternate scales learned from classical training all helped push his oeuvre into another realm entirely. Upon leaving the Scorpions in 1978, Roth embarked on an erratic solo career that found him exploring his psychedelic and neo-classical influences to a degree that would have been impossible with his former band.
Uli Jon Roth was born Ulrich Roth in Dusseldorf, Germany, on December 18, 1954. He began playing guitar at age 13 and was performing just two years later. In the early '70s, he joined a band called Dawn Road, which also featured vocalist Klaus Meine. Members of the temporarily in-limbo Scorpions (their guitarist Michael Schenker had just left to join UFO) became interested in Dawn Road's original material, which was largely composed by Roth, and a new Scorpions lineup was formed in 1973 with Roth on lead guitar. 1974's Fly to the Rainbow was their first recording together, but they really hit their stride on the follow-ups, 1975's In Trance and 1976's Virgin Killer, which made them international stars and drew particular acclaim for Roth's soloing abilities. However, musical tensions were evident on 1977's Taken By Force; Roth's epic ambitions began to clash with the straight-up hard rock sensibility of the rest of the band. After a tumultuous world tour, Roth left the group in 1978, following the release of the live double album Tokyo Tapes.
Out on his own, Roth formed a backing band called Electric Sun, which -- in keeping with the classic power-trio format -- featured him on lead vocals as well as guitar. Electric Sun made its debut with the Earthquake album in 1979, which was musically somewhat similar to his work with the Scorpions, albeit with more Hendrix influence, generally longer songs, and a slightly hippie-ish vibe. Those tendencies were explored in more detail on the 1981 follow-up, Fire Wind. For the next Electric Sun project, Roth took a left turn into symphonic neo-classical rock, greatly expanding his compositional palette while introducing his new invention, the six-octave Sky Guitar. The result, Beyond the Astral Skies, was released in 1984 and would prove to be the last Roth recording for quite some time; he elected to take a break from recording in order to work in an ambitious new direction.
Much of Roth's writing from the mid-'80s to the mid-'90s was in a classical style, leaving rock & roll behind altogether. For example, the 1991 piece Aquila Suite (later issued as part of the three-disc From Here to Eternity package) was a set of 12 etudes composed for solo piano, in the style of the Romantic era. Also in 1991, Roth was tapped by German television to direct the tribute special "A Different Side of Jimi Hendrix," which also featured bassist Jack Bruce and drummer Simon Phillips, among many others. In 1993, Roth returned to German television with the "Symphonic Rock for Europe" special, in which he performed his first rock symphony "Europa Ex Favilla" (plus several other pieces) backed by the Brussels Symphony Orchestra. Some of those compositions later turned up on Sky of Avalon: Prologue to the Symphonic Legends, Roth's 1996 return to recording, which featured his new backing band Sky of Avalon. Prologue was the first of a projected four related symphonic recordings spotlighting the sky guitar. In 1998, Roth played his first straight-ahead rock concerts in quite some time, joining the European leg of the G3 guitar-virtuoso package tour with Michael Schenker and Joe Satriani. In 2000, Roth released Transcendental Sky Guitar, a two-CD set of recent live and studio material (including selections from a special 1999 concert in Vienna) that was split into classical and rock-oriented halves.
OFFICIAL SITE
TO THE TOP
''SCORPIONS REVISITED, DISC TWO''
MARCH 2015
105:34
DISC ONE (53:25)
1 The Sails of Charon 08:50
2 Longing For Fire 02:49
3 Crying Days 05:35
4 Virgin Killer 03:57
5 In Trance 06:39
6 Sun In My Hand 04:47
7 Yellow Raven 04:49
8 Polar Nights 07:34
9 Dark Lady 08:18
DISC TWO (52:09)
1 Catch Your Train 03:15
2 Evening Wind 05:37
3 All Night Long 03:11
4 We'll Burn The Sky 08:32
5 Pictured Life 03:11
6 Hell-Cat 03:00
7 Life's Like A River 03:04
8 Drifting Sun 06:40
9 Rainbow Dream Prelude 04:00
10 Fly To The Rainbow 11:34
Uli Jon Roth - guitar
Nathan James - vocals
Jamie Little - drums
Ule W. Ritgen - bass
Niklas Turmann - guitar, vocals
Corvin Bahn - keyboards, vocals
David Klosinski - guitar
REVIEW
ULI JON ROTH
''SCORPIONS REVISITED''
By udr-music.com
For over four decades, Uli Jon Roth has forged new frontiers in the world of guitar, both in terms of approach and style. He even managed to invent the sky-guitar, a six octave lead instrument that remains unparalleled. But before he started to explore the creative worlds of music, philosophy and art, Uli Jon Roth was a member of European rock giants The Scorpions, a band with which he helped create a new path in hard rock music. Venerated for his originality and dynamism at the time, in 2013 Roth found himself intrigued by the memory of those early days which began 40 years ago, and specifically by the music he helped write, perform and occasionally sing on the albums Fly To The Rainbow, In Trance, Virgin Killer and Taken By Force. It lead to Roth deciding to spend a year re-visiting, exploring, performing and re-recording his favorite Scorpions songs.
The first results of this magical, mystical journey into his own past can be heard on ULI JON ROTH – SCORPIONS REVISITED, a double-disc CD recorded in Hanover, Germany which sees the maestro re-harness all the collective power and poise of those original Scorpions classics, and re-imagine them as he feels today. No one in their right mind would dare call these mere re-recordings, as it’s clear that Uli Jon Roth reinvents these songs from the soul up.
"The material for this double CD was recorded last year in the same hall in Hanover that we used for the Scorpions rehearsals 1973-1978,” explains Roth. “Together with an amazing bunch of very talented young musicians, I revisited my personal favourites from the early Scorpions period, some of which were written in that same hall. It was an emotional few days and I am very pleased with the results in more ways than one. The idea was to stay truthful to the original spirit of the music, while also putting a new slant on it whenever it felt like the right thing to do. I feel we really succeeded in this and I’m very excited about this project. It was a intense journey into the past and I think we really managed to bring the songs back to life with a vengeance."
The band which performed with Roth for these historic shows was Nathan James (vocals), Jamie Little (drums), Ule W. Ritgen (bass), Niklas Turmann (guitar, vocals), Corvin Bahn (keyboards, vocals) and David Klosinski (guitar).
As noted, this is the first fruit from a re-engagement with his history that left Uli Jon Roth enjoying a surge of fresh creativity and approach to this classic material. Expect a further announcement for 2015. But for now, feast your ears, heart and emotions on Uli Jon Roth’s unique return to his most famous musical legacy.
BIOGRAPHY / AMG
by Steve Huey
Though he doesn't get nearly as much credit as Deep Purple's Ritchie Blackmore, Uli Jon Roth helped lay the groundwork for neo-classical metal with his lead guitar work for German hard rock icons the Scorpions during the '70s. Roth's playing owed an obvious debt to Jimi Hendrix, but the elegance of his lead lines, the fluidity of his phrasing, and his use of alternate scales learned from classical training all helped push his oeuvre into another realm entirely. Upon leaving the Scorpions in 1978, Roth embarked on an erratic solo career that found him exploring his psychedelic and neo-classical influences to a degree that would have been impossible with his former band.
Uli Jon Roth was born Ulrich Roth in Dusseldorf, Germany, on December 18, 1954. He began playing guitar at age 13 and was performing just two years later. In the early '70s, he joined a band called Dawn Road, which also featured vocalist Klaus Meine. Members of the temporarily in-limbo Scorpions (their guitarist Michael Schenker had just left to join UFO) became interested in Dawn Road's original material, which was largely composed by Roth, and a new Scorpions lineup was formed in 1973 with Roth on lead guitar. 1974's Fly to the Rainbow was their first recording together, but they really hit their stride on the follow-ups, 1975's In Trance and 1976's Virgin Killer, which made them international stars and drew particular acclaim for Roth's soloing abilities. However, musical tensions were evident on 1977's Taken By Force; Roth's epic ambitions began to clash with the straight-up hard rock sensibility of the rest of the band. After a tumultuous world tour, Roth left the group in 1978, following the release of the live double album Tokyo Tapes.
Out on his own, Roth formed a backing band called Electric Sun, which -- in keeping with the classic power-trio format -- featured him on lead vocals as well as guitar. Electric Sun made its debut with the Earthquake album in 1979, which was musically somewhat similar to his work with the Scorpions, albeit with more Hendrix influence, generally longer songs, and a slightly hippie-ish vibe. Those tendencies were explored in more detail on the 1981 follow-up, Fire Wind. For the next Electric Sun project, Roth took a left turn into symphonic neo-classical rock, greatly expanding his compositional palette while introducing his new invention, the six-octave Sky Guitar. The result, Beyond the Astral Skies, was released in 1984 and would prove to be the last Roth recording for quite some time; he elected to take a break from recording in order to work in an ambitious new direction.
Much of Roth's writing from the mid-'80s to the mid-'90s was in a classical style, leaving rock & roll behind altogether. For example, the 1991 piece Aquila Suite (later issued as part of the three-disc From Here to Eternity package) was a set of 12 etudes composed for solo piano, in the style of the Romantic era. Also in 1991, Roth was tapped by German television to direct the tribute special "A Different Side of Jimi Hendrix," which also featured bassist Jack Bruce and drummer Simon Phillips, among many others. In 1993, Roth returned to German television with the "Symphonic Rock for Europe" special, in which he performed his first rock symphony "Europa Ex Favilla" (plus several other pieces) backed by the Brussels Symphony Orchestra. Some of those compositions later turned up on Sky of Avalon: Prologue to the Symphonic Legends, Roth's 1996 return to recording, which featured his new backing band Sky of Avalon. Prologue was the first of a projected four related symphonic recordings spotlighting the sky guitar. In 1998, Roth played his first straight-ahead rock concerts in quite some time, joining the European leg of the G3 guitar-virtuoso package tour with Michael Schenker and Joe Satriani. In 2000, Roth released Transcendental Sky Guitar, a two-CD set of recent live and studio material (including selections from a special 1999 concert in Vienna) that was split into classical and rock-oriented halves.
OFFICIAL SITE
TO THE TOP