Michael Schenker tekee paluun Michael Schenker Group – nimen alla tammikuussa, kun uusi studiolevy ”Immortal” julkaistaan. Kyseessä on ensimmäinen MSG-levy vuoden 2008 “In The Midst Of Beautyn” jälkeen. Levyllä kuullaan lukuisia tähtimuusikoita kahden Michael Schenker Fest -albumin tapaan. Levyn tuottaja Michael Vossin lisäksi vokaaleissa vaikuttavat Ronnie Romero, Ralf Scheepers sekä Joe Lynn Turner.
Muun kokoonpanon muodostavat Michael Schenker Festistä tutut kitaristi/kosketinsoittaja Steve Mann ja rumpalit Simon Phillips sekä Bodo Schopf. Kolmantena rumpalina sessioihin osallistui Brian Tichy ja bassossa esiintyi Barry Sparks. Lisäksi kosketinsoittaja Derek Sherinian vierailee albumilla.
Levyllä on kymmenen kappaletta sisältäen uuden tulkinnan Schenkerin ensimmäisestä sävellyksestä, vuonna 1972 Scorpionsin debyyttilevyllä ilmestyneestä ”In Search Of The Peace Of Mind” -biisistä. Kappaleessa vierailevat Michael Schenker Fest -laulajat Robin McAuley, Gary Barden sekä Doogie White.
”Immortal”-levy ilmestyy Nuclear Blastin kautta 8.1.2021 ja rajoitettu versio sisältää BluRayn Michael Schenker Festin keikasta Saksan Bang Your Head! -festareilla kaksi vuotta sitten.
Schenker kommentoi:
It’s going very well. We have a lot of guest musicians, who will undoubtedly help to make it an exceptional success. First of all, I want to say that I am very grateful to any musicians that have helped to create a fitting tribute to my long career on this special release. I want to thank all of them for their incredible contribution.
It is always a pleasure to work with Michael Voss, who works around the clock and is a phenomenal musician and producer. He was composing the melody and lyrics for a power ballad I had written the music for, and he ended up singing along. It turned out so amazing, I did not think anyone else could have done a better job for this song. Truly great.
Brian Tichy was thrilled to be part of it. He is a master of groove and ended up playing on six songs. I could not believe it: This man is something else. He is a true natural and very original. With his input it made the album very solid and complete. So guess what – I am very happy. Derek and myself trading solos, it sounds unexpected and beyond my expectation. Absolutely fantastic!
I wrote “In Search Of The Peace Of Mind” when I was 15 years old, it was my first ever written piece of music which I recorded with Scorpions on our first studio album “Lonesome Crow” in 1970, getting released in 1972 – when I had already left Scorpions to join the British rock Band UFO in June of 1972 – when I was 17. We re-recorded this song for my 50th anniversary as a celebration and it turned out to be an epic; with an extra extension at the end of the song, which turned out fantastic with Simon Phillips on drums, doing his usual amazing stuff. Gary Barden sings the first verse, continued by Ronnie Romero – and in the end we have Ronnie, Doogie White and Robin McAuley screaming their heads off, as a tribute to my 50th anniversary. Absolute amazing. Thanks to the guys for doing this!
We have the Michael Schenker Fest – Bang Your Head – Blu-ray, recorded during our headline show in Balingen/Germany two years ago: Unfixed, raw, pure and great! There’s a couple of small mistakes, but because the show and recording went so well, I decided to keep it the way it went on the night. It’s live, magic and pure.
Lähde: Nuclear Blast
Kuva: Laurence Harvey