Sunday, time for a classic again, today we paddle across the Baltic Sea to Hannover, Germany, where we find the classic rock band Scoripions. Formed in 1965 by guitarist Rudolf Schenker, who is the band's only constant member (although Klaus Meine has been lead singer for all their studio albums). They are known for their 1980s rock anthem "Rock You Like a Hurricane" and many singles, such as "No One Like You", "Send Me an Angel", "Still Loving You", and "Wind of Change". But I actually prefer the time before this, especially the time when Uli Jon Roth was in the band.
Today's tune "Sails of Charon" is taken from the fifth studio album "Taken By Force", released in 1977. This was the first Scorpions album to feature drummer Herman Rarebell and the final album to feature guitarist Uli Jon Roth. Roth left the band in 1978 following the end of the album's tour, and was eventually replaced by Matthias Jabs.
The album cover photography was taken by Michael von Gimbut, returning for his third Scorpions album cover commission. Like their previous two albums, Taken By Force caused controversy with its cover art which again resulted in the artwork being replaced in most markets with an alternative cover using photographs of the band members.
The band's former lead guitarist Uli Jon Roth defended the original artwork in a 2008 interview, stating: I think the original idea was children playing with guns at a military cemetary in France and some people found that offensive. I don't think it's offensive because I think it was actually a quite a good image because it puts war totally into perspective, very often it is young people, eighteen, ninenteen, going to war that don't fully understand life. When you're fifteen you don't fully understand life, but these guys then have to shoot other people simply because someone tells them to do it for their country. Politicians are sometimes also children with guns, in all periods of time a lot of politicians are far too trigger happy and war too easily becomes an "easy solution", whereas for me it should never a solution, there should be no war in the first place. Maybe every once in a while a country may need to defend itself, I understand that, but in general if you consider that there are over a hundred wars raging in the present day on this planet alone then it's just sheer lunacy and always the tool of the Dark Side. Usually bad things come from war, very few good things, but sometimes good things come from bad things, that's true, nothing's that black and white. It's always the wrong solution to kill people.
Kirk Hammett’s love for Scorpions’ “The Sails of Charon” is well-known. He quotes the riff in his live unaccompanied solos (see YouTube), he named it one of the five guitar solos that changed his life, and in this interview with BW&BK, he said:
I’ve been obsessed with that song ever since I was 14 or 15 years old – the riff, the guitar solo, the song itself. Sooner or later, it’s just going to bubble up to the surface and manifest itself somewhere over the course of my playing career.
More info @
Official Scorpions Web
Listen to "Scorpions- Sails of Charon" on Spotify here!Follow tuneoftheday.blogspot.com on Spotify here!
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