There's also a new 3D Blu-Ray DVD Live In 3D: Get Your Sting & Blackout. I had the honor of speaking with Scorpions guitarist Rudolf Schenker about the new releases and some of his memories of the band's fantastic career.
Chad Bowar: How did you choose the songs for Comeblack?
Rudolf Schenker: When you do a successful farewell tour, and you see how many young kids are in front of the stage, you feel unbelievable. When you see the younger generation into the Scorpions, we thought it would be good to give them our classic songs. The first idea was to make Comeblack all Scorpions songs, but then there was the idea to honor our favorite bands with cover versions. We recorded 20 or 25 cover versions to see which songs would be perfect for Klaus' voice. Klaus, Matthias and me picked the songs we would like to do, and at the end came up with the versions that are on the album.
With the Scorpions songs, we thought of the songs we play live always, because the fans love them. We wanted to have the fans' input with these songs. We have over a million fans on Facebook, of all ages. It's great to be able to build bridges between generations, between different countries. The new generation is growing up. When we started, we had the philosophy as our generation coming up not making war, but coming in with guitars and making music and bringing love. We are happy to have the young kids and the older fans who have been with us our whole career. That's the reason we did Comeblack, a project we came up with by being inspired to give the young kids the music we listened to.
When I listen to the re-recorded versions of “No One Like You” or “Blackout,” it's great to hear the new versions. Playing the songs for over 20 years, we changed them a little bit. We spice them up a little, making them a bit different than in the '80s. You can do a few things with ProTools that you couldn't do when we recorded the stuff in the '80s.
You're also releasing a 3D DVD.
When I saw Avatar, I was so amazed by the effects, by the possibilities. I said we had to make a 3D live recording. At first, they said it wouldn't work, it was too expensive, and so on. So we put it aside. But then a big company from Europe came to us, and said they wanted to film us in 3D, pay for it, get the best cameras. We said of course! 3D with 5.1 surround sound is the perfect way for people who can't go to the show to really enjoy the performance. You have the feeling you are in the hall, in the crowd. It's fantastic.
How long will the farewell tour last?
The end of this year or maybe the first months of next year. We have a few good offers to make the last show. Then we're done touring. We want to end on a high note. We don't want to sing “Running Wild” when we are 70 years old.
When we come to the United States again, we will play in some places we played already, but mostly in new places. We'll also go to South America and Europe and Asia, and then the final countdown will happen. It will be sad, but it's good to end on a high note. I think that's the best way to finish our career.
As you look back on your career, what have been some of the highlights?
To be invited by Mikhail Gorbachev to the Kremlin in 1991 was very special, especially when you look at the history between Germany and Russia. There were a lot of wars, then we were making friends with the leader of Russia. It was something very special.
The Us Festival, produced by Steve Jobs, was fantastic. There were 350,000 people, which was unbelievable. Being a part of The Wall in Berlin with Roger Waters was great. There have been a lot of other things. We have over 800 hours of film of us doing things like playing in front of the pyramids in Egypt, playing in Red Square, playing in the Amazonian jungle. When we have time, we want to put all these things together and give it to the people. We have a lot of outstanding moments we want to share.
When the Scorpions are done, what are your plans?
I just got back from India, playing soccer for kids and to help victims of an earthquake. Before that, I was part of the Rally Dakar in Chile. So I have a lot of things to do, and whatever comes next for me, I will be there. I'm not finished.
