EXCLUSIVE: Scorpions keep rocking like a hurricane with new album 'Rock Believer'

Scorpions frontman Klaus Meine (centre) talks about the band’s new album and making true rock believers out of us for over 50 years. – Photo: Marc Theis, courtesy of Universal Music

One does not simply talk to the frontman of Scorpions and not ask about the band’s most famous song – Wind Of Change.

From lead singer Klaus Meine’s iconic whistled intro to the peace-advocating lyrics and soaring chorus, it is a powerful song that may have been released 32 years ago, but is more relevant than ever in today’s turbulent world.

Although our exclusive virtual interview with Meine happened before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, much of what he said about the song still rings true.

“Thirty years ago, Wind Of Change was an outlook into a peaceful future after the coming down of the Berlin Wall, and the end of the Cold War. After all these years, it’s still a peace anthem,” said the 73-year-old vocalist.

Meine changed his songwriting style for 'Rock Believer' by writing the lyrics before the music instead.

“In the world of today, we need peace more than ever. We need to move together to respect each other, and this is what Wind Of Change is all about.

“It’s addressed to the young generation – ‘Take me to the magic of the moment... where the children of tomorrow share their dreams with you and me’” he added, quoting a line from the song.

“Whenever and wherever we perform this song live, fans in front of the stage are crying. It’s because they understand the deeper meaning, that we all live together in peace in the world.”

Meine was speaking to StarLifestyle virtually in a one-on-one interview to promote the legendary German band’s latest and 19th album, Rock Believer, which is its first album since 2015’s Return To Forever.

According to him, the band – which currently comprises Meine on vocals, founder and rhythm guitarist Rudolf Schenker, lead guitarist Matthias Jabs, bassist Pawel Maciwoda, and drummer Mikkey Dee – had initially not planned to make a new album, being too busy with a massive 50th anniversary world tour that ended in 2016.

“We were touring like crazy and we weren’t thinking about making a new album at all. Then in 2018, a good friend said to us after a show, ‘You guys have to make another album like Blackout!’” Meine recalled.

“It was like he was throwing a challenge at us. And we thought maybe it was time to get into it and hopefully come out with a great album.”

Words before music

Meine started writing lyrics for Rock Believer in 2019, and it marked a departure from his usual songwriting style of writing the music before the words.

“To be writing lyrics before the music this time was so inspiring. I was like a storyteller. I had all the time in the world to say whatever I wanted to say, and tell whatever story I wanted before it was turned into music,” he said.

The band members then began working in the studio when they ended their last tour in March 2020 with a final show in Singapore, just before the Covid-19 pandemic hit and crippled the world.

Due to the travel restrictions, the band was forced to abandon plans to record the album in Los Angeles, and instead did it at Peppermint Park Studios in its hometown of Hannover, Germany.

“It was a blessing that we could use those lockdown times to work on new music and get a new album out,” Meine mused, adding that although the album had already been planned since 2018, the pandemic gave them some extra time to work on it.

“Usually when you make the decision to make a new album, you have to take some time off from touring, so you can go deep into writing your material,” he said.

“So we were lucky that we could use pandemic lockdown time in a very positive way.

“We left the coronavirus outside the studio door and went into our own little bubble to write and record, and enjoy making music.”

'Rock Believer is the first album Scorpions recorded with Mikkey Dee (second from left) on drums – Photo: Marc Theis, courtesy of Universal Music

This is also the first album Scorpions made with former Motorhead drummer Dee in place of long-serving drummer James Kottak, who left the band due to his struggles with alcoholism.

“Mikkey’s a great guy. He played for 20 years with Motorhead, and he’s a wonderful and amazing drummer.

“It’s so much fun to hang out with him and you can imagine all those Motorhead stories he had!” said Meine.

“For this album, we were all playing together (in one place) and Mikkey had so much energy. He also participated in the songwriting process, and wrote Hammersmith, which is one of the bonus tracks.”

‘Classic rock is very much alive’

So why did they name the new album Rock Believer?

“Because we just celebrated 50 years as recording artistes. After 50 years, we are the essence of rock believers, you know?” he said with a laugh.

“(This album) is dedicated to the believers in rock around the world. We’ve heard so many times that rock is dead. But we see millions of rock believers out there at our shows.

“Yes, hip-hop and rap are very popular these days, but classic rock is still very much alive. And it’s the older generation like us who pass it on to our kids.

“Rock will never die, and that’s also why we are very much looking forward to starting a new tour in Vegas next month. We can’t wait to be back on the road and be in front of an audience again!”

Meine performing at the Rockaway Malaysia MotoGP Festival in Sepang in 2016. - All Is Amazing

For now, the band has no plans to go beyond album number 19.

“We’re not making any plans anymore. All we know is that the road ahead of us is not as long as the one behind us,” he mused.

“We’re just grateful for this amazing job, and looking forward to this tour, to present this new album, and share it with our fans around the world. We don’t look beyond that... that would be crazy!”