Scorpions have just launched a documentary series about the making of the ‘Rock Believer’ album

Scorpions have just released the first in a three-part series of short documentaries, directed by Thomas Noehre, which sets its focus on the making of the band’s upcoming 19th studio album, “Rock Believer”.

For our new album “Rock Believer”, we all came back together in the studio like in the old days and captured that journey on camera. Today we release the first part 1 of 3. Maybe you discover some unreleased music snippets from our new album in it…

Scorpions

Last month, Scorpions released the music video for their brand new single, “Peacemaker“. The track, which features music courtesy of guitarist Rudolf Schenker and bassist Pawel Maciwoda, and lyrics by renowned singer Klaus Meine, sets the pace for the upcoming album, due for February 25, 2022.

Well, you can expect an album that is dedicated to all the rock believers in the world. And we’re very excited after all these years. We thought, when you think about all the touring we did the last 10 years, after the release of ‘Return To Forever’ in 2015, the time was right to go back into the studio, to write new material, to write new songs and check out if the creativity is still working. The big aim was, the goal was to make a rock album — to make an album with lots of attitude, power and focus on the good old times and really enjoy the music and have some fun with the music. And that feels really good.

Scorpions singer Klaus Mein, in a new interview with Chile’s Radio Futuro on what fans can expect to hear on “Rock Believer”

Look, we are around the world since 50 years or more. And when somebody can say he’s a rock believer, then this is us. And of course, we meet our rock believers in front of us, our audience.

So many people said rock is dead. It’s not dead. It’s always coming back — sometimes, okay, more stronger [or] less strong — but in the end, it’s great to play around the world in over 80 countries we’ve played so far, and all rock believers. It was always great to share the music with them together and be in connection with them. I mean, that’s so amazing and so fantastic, that we are very happy to come out with a new album. And yeah, let’s see what’s happening.”

Scorpions guitarist Rudolf Schenker on the story behind the name of the upcoming album

It is an uptempo rock song, and this album really rocks. There are some heavy songs on the album, like when you think about “China White” and “Animal Magnetism“, there’s a track on the record that is really in the best way of those songs. There are many uptempo songs and, believe it or not, there are even faster songs than “Peacemaker“. [Laughs] There’s also a very beautiful ballad on the album, and I’m sure there are fans out there especially love the Scorpions ballads, and they will enjoy this record as well very much. “Peacemaker” is the appetizer for what the album is all about. It rocks.

Klaus Mein, asked if “Peacemaker“ is representative of “Rock Believer” as a whole

“Rock Believer” was recorded at Peppermint Park Studios in Hannover, Germany and was mixed at Hansa Studios in Berlin, Germany by engineer Michael Ilbert, who has earned multiple Grammy nominations for his mix work with producer Max Martin on albums out of the genre, with pop artists such as Taylor Swift and Katy Perry.

The album was written and recorded in the Scorpions DNA with core Schenker/Meine compositions. We recorded the album as a band live in one room, like we did in the ’80s.

Klaus Mein

Scorpions‘ upcoming album will mark their first release since 2017’s “Born To Touch Your Feelings – Best Of Rock Ballads”, which was an epic collection of both new and classic material.

Scorpions originally intended to record the new album in Los Angeles with producer Greg Fidelman, whose previous works include Slipknot and Metallica. However, due to COVID-19 related setbacks, some of the initial work was done with Greg remotely, after which Scorptions opted to do the recordings themselves with the help of their engineer Hans-Martin Buff.

It 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. 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.

Klaus Mein to Talking Metal on why they decided to work with Fidelman on “Rock Believer”

According to Meine, Scorpions‘ new LP features no outside writers at all, unlike 2015’s “Return To Forever”, which was largely co-written by the album’s producers, Mikael Nord Andersson and Martin Hansen.

Scorpions will set off on their “Rock Believer” world tour in March 2022, starting 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 Eddie Van Halen’s son, Wolfgang Van Halen’s new band Mammoth WVH.

Scorpions‘ last full-length collection of new recordings was the previously mentioned “Return To Forever”, partially comprising songs the band had stored away since the ’80s. It was the final studio appearance of longtime drummer James Kottak, who was dismissed from the band during his well publicized battles with alcohol in September 2016. He has since been replaced by Mikkey Dee, formerly of Motörhead.