Scorpions Announce Plans For 2010 World Tour

The latest classic rock group to announce tour plans for next year are Germany’s hard-rocking Scorpions. As the most successful rock band from Germany, the Scorpions are recognized around the world and can draw fans to arena-sized venues in from South America to Russia.

Even after working through a two-year world tour in support of their most recent album, Humanity: Hour 1, they have announced plans to hit the road again next year for a tour that is planned to last two years and bring the hard-working group to stadiums and other large venues.

With the tour scheduled to kick off in their home country next May, the group are currently working in the studio on a new album that is set for release next year. Also announced was word of a  “sensational statement” that is expected from the group in January, which the group has not elaborated on.

Although no date has yet been announced for release of the new album, it makes sense to expect it to be available before the 2010 tour, which would give the Scorpions new material to showcase for their fans around the world. A new DVD, Amazonia - Live In The Jungle,  which features footage from two of their shows in Brazil during the “Humanity World Tour” is available beginning today. The new DVD seeks to draw attention to the efforts of Greenpeace and their work to stop the destruction of Amazonian rain forests. Part of the proceeds from the DVD will be donated to Greenpeace.

After the start of the tour in Germany, plans are in place to bring the group to the United States, South America, Asia, Russia and other locations in Europe.

Fans will also be interested to learn that guitarist Rudolf Schenker has written a book called Rock Your Life. Although it is currently available only in a German-language version, there are other versions planned for release, including an English version. As the interview below shows, the book is less about rock and roll and more about self-improvement and fulfillment of one’s desire to be truly happy.

More information is available on the Scorpions official website.

Tags: 2010, Amazonia, Book, DVD, Live In The Jungle, New Album, Rock Your Life, Rudolf Schenker, Scorpions, tour

New Live Meat Loaf DVD Hits Stores Today

Shot at the Stadthalle Offenbach, Bat Out of Hell: The Original Tour catches the raw exhilaration of Meat Loaf’s colossal stage performance. Larger-than-life songs such as “You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night)” and “Paradise By The Dashboard Light” sounded utterly extravagant performed live.

Not only does Meat Loaf totally command the stage, but he also enthralls his audiences with the gripping nature of his material, with the assistance of the album’s songwriter Jim Steinman and female singer Karla DeVito. Its visual validation of the power of Bat Out Of Hell, which was certified 10x Platinum and sold over 40 million copies. Also included on the DVD is a bonus interview from 1978 with Meat Loaf and Jim Steinman.

The DVD was filmed during Meat Loaf’s 1977 tour and features most of his major hits such as “Paradise By the Dashboard Light” and “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad.” At the time, the band included Bruce Kulick who would go on to play guitar for KISS, something which results in some of the material coming off a bit heavier in concert.

Tags: 1977, Bat Out of Hell, DVD, Live, Meat Loaf, Original Tour, Stadthalle Offenbach

Tales of David Lee Roth From Guitar Man Steve Vai

Guitarist extraordinaire Steve Vai is out with a new live DVD, although it’s doubtful that anything on this new DVD, which is entitled Where the Wild Things Are, can compare with some of the wild experiences Vai had early on in his career when he was touring with David Lee Roth of Van Halen fame.

Roth, along with his band mates in Van Halen where rumored to be a bit on the wild side when they were on tour, to say the least. There were tales of a secret system that the band had worked out for use during shows where members of their crew were given signals from the stage regarding certain females from the audience that they wanted to get to know a bit better.

Although Vai surely has plenty of stories to tell about his days on the road and the wild things he witnessed, he seems to distance himself from certain activities that were orchestrated by Roth and his crew.

“Actually, I was never really wild,” Vai says, as he explains the scene he found himself in as part of Roth’s group. Massive parties with 50 or specifically chosen females from the audience were the norm. Playing arenas where Vai reports that 80% of the crowd consisted of girls in their underwear certainly seems likely to create a mood that might lead to events that may sound like legends from the days of Caligula.

For Vai, it was an atmosphere he seemed content to remain on the outskirts of. He admits to feeling “like a bee sitting on the rim of the cup sipping the honey,” and reports that he  “just had a taste now and then.”

Apparently the money flowed as freely as the sex on a David Lee Roth tour, as the normal routine was for them to rent two entire floors of a hotel in order to create a “buffer” floor between them and the rest of the hotel. Something that the other guests would have probably appreciated if they had known about it.

There had to have been little doubt in Vai’s mind what kind of experience he was in for after his first day on tour with “Diamond Dave.”

“I’ll never forget,” he says. “I came out of my room and looked down the hall and saw one of the notorious techs and he’s walking down the hall naked with one of these girls I saw under the sink and she was naked. That was my introduction to day one with David Lee Roth on tour!”

Read more from Steve Vai at Spinner.

Tags: David Lee Roth, DVD, Steve Vai, Where The Wild Things Are

Jethro Tull Live At Madison Square Garden 1978

Tomorrow marks the release of the new Jethro Tull live CD/DVD set. From their Heavy Horses tour, the video and audio was recorded during a performance at New York’s famed Madison Square Garden and beamed around the world live via satellite. Something of an event in the days before satellite communications became so commonplace. In fact, the show had to be broken up into three segments due to the lack of broadcast time that was available on the satellite at the time, with the middle portion being shown on television.

The set consists of a single DVD and a single CD. The DVD includes just the audio for the first segment of the show which is comprised of three songs.

The middle portion of the show was televised and the resulting 50 or so minutes of video footage is included on the DVD. Eight songs are performed for the middle segment including hits like “Aqualung” and “Thick As A Brick.” Fans should not expect to see video footage presented in wide-screen “movie” format since the show was being shot for broadcast on television, and as we all know, there certainly was no HD in 1978.

The final segment on the DVD features the audio from three more songs, including “Cross Eyed Mary” and an encore of “Locomotive Breath.”

I had not seen Jethro Tull perform live before this, but I can say without any hesitation that they were certainly not a boring group to watch. Ian Anderson’s energy is extraordinary, and I’m not quite sure the man stood still for a single second during the entire performance. There is little doubt that both Anderson and the rest of the group poured every ounce of energy and ability at their disposal into that show.

Although the group took liberties with the arrangements of some well-known material, as one might expect during a live show, none of the changes diminished the quality of the performance for me. As is typically the case, the frontman got the lion’s share of the face time, and although some of us might have appreciated a little bit more attention directed at some of the other musicians, that appears to be the nature of show business and is not unique to this recording.

As anyone who has read my reviews of live albums in the past will know, my main sticking point is always the sound. I freely admit I am a bit of an audio snob, and I am often disappointed with live albums due to the mix, the acoustics, the microphone placement or any number of other circumstances I might be find disagreeable.

I’m happy to report that the sound quality of this live set is quite good. Especially when one considers that it was recorded 31 years ago! Kudos to Robin Black and Peter Mew, two gentlemen who were responsible for the mixing of the original recording and the newer 5.1 Dolby and stereo mixes respectively. Those are the names that most fans probably never notice among all the others in the liner notes, but they contribute enormously to the quality of the finished product. It really is a superb live recording.

Although I’ve been a fan of Jethro Tull since the 1970’s, I’m not sure I ever listened as carefully to their arrangements as I might have before receiving this new set. Certain passages are almost fusion-like to my ears, and reveal an impressive quantity of talent on that stage that I may have never fully appreciated before.

The CD that accompanies the DVD contains all the audio material from the DVD with the exception of the encore performance of “Locomotive Breath” and a few short non-musical segments like band introductions and such.

Although it is probably obvious by now, I would not hesitate to recommend this set to any Jethro Tull fan. As rare as it may seem coming from me, the quality of this recording elevates its status to one that is worthy of listening to for the audio alone.

Ian Anderson is currently on tour here in the U.S. Having finished up for the remainder of this month with a show yesterday in Connecticut, he will next appear in Phoenix at the Dodge Theatre on November 3rd.

Thanks to the folks at EMI for the review copy of this recording. At the same time, I should also mention that I was not compensated in any way for this review beyond the review copy of the set that I received.

Tags: 1978, Album, CD, DVD, Ian Anderson, Jethro Tull, Live, Madison Square Garden, New York City, Release

Rush ‘Best Of’ Live Compilation Announced

Canadian rockers Rush are breaking new ground with the up-coming release of a “Best Of” Live compilation. The new compilation is set for release on November 17 and will be released on DVD through Rounder and on CD by Atlantic.

Working Men is the title of this new release and will include material that has been taken from the group’s three other live DVD releases, Rush in Rio, R30 & Snakes and Arrows Live. In addition to the recordings previously available on other releases, there will also be a previously unreleased track entitled “One Little Victory.”

Although Rush seemed to attract a cult following for much of their career, recent developments have signaled an appeal to a wider audience. Appearances on popular television programs such as Comedy Central’s Colbert Report and in movies like I love You Man, it appears that the group is recognized by more rock fans today than during it’s early years when albums like 2112 and Hemispheres were being eagerly devoured by their dedicated fans.

Recent comments from the group indicate they more new material is in store from Rush. The group seemed to find new inspiration by working with producer Nick Raskulinecz on their last studio album, Snakes & Arrows. Raskulinecz is said to have pushed the group beyond their perceived limits and proved to them that they still have what it takes to fill stadiums and sell millions of albums.

Tags: CD, DVD, Live, New Compilation, November 17, Rush, Working Men