It may be 292 days until Christmas, but the Scorpions will release Colours Of Rock, a twelve-vinyl present-busting boxset of band highlights, on 5 May 2023. The colour vinyl treasure trove, which includes four albums remastered for the first time, hits the shops only days before the European leg of their Rock Believer World Tour kicks off.
The four albums remastered for the first time are Fly To The Rainbow, In Trance, Virgin Killer and Humanity (Hour 1). The other albums in the set are Savage Amusement, World Wide Live, Love at First Sting, Blackout, Animal Magnetism, Lovedrive, Tokyo Tapes and Taken By Force.
Fly To The Rainbow, released in 1974, marked a move into a more experimental direction for the band. There were deep influences of hard rock there, and the album was a first sight of their future style. This was the first album that the Scorpions themselves produced. The remastered version will be on transparent vinyl.
In Trace was the band’s third album and helped them make the breakthrough in Japan. This marked the first time the band worked with producer Dieter Dierks. Again, the remastered version will be on transparent vinyl.
The 35-minute Virgin Killer album will be produced on powder blue vinyl. Released in 1976, this was their first album to go Gold in Japan. This took the group one step further away from their psychedelic roots and deeper into the realm of hard rock.
The last remastered album is Humanity (Hour 1). The concept album was produced in Los Angeles by legendary producer dream team Desmond Child and James Michael. Klaus Meine was looking for a very modern sound without wanting to lose the slightest bit of the Scorpions’ character in the process. To achieve this, he combined the early Scorpions sound on this album with that of their later productions. The 21st studio album by the hard rock legends is pressed on gold vinyl for the new version.
The eight classic albums in the collection start with Taken By Force, released in 1977. This was the last studio album with Uli Jon Roth and the first with drummer Herman Rarebell. Tokyo Tapes (1978), a magnificent live album, will be pressed on yellow vinyl.
Lovedrive, from 1979, marked the beginning of a new era in the history of the band. The album had the hallmarks of what would be the signature of the band’s music for the decades to come. This will be on red vinyl.
The recording of Animal Magnetism saw the band in the studio pressured by an extremely tight schedule between two tours. Released in 1980, this was their first album to go Platinum in the USA and has now been pressed on red vinyl.
The eighth studio album, Blackout, followed in 1982 and will be on clear crystal vinyl in the set. This was followed one year later by Love At First Sting. Their most successful album, it will be presented on silver vinyl.
For World Wide Live, originally released in 1985 and now being reissued on transparent orange vinyl, a film crew followed the band’s caravan across the USA, Asia and Europe all the way to South America.
Finally, Savage Amusement, from 1988, is now pressed on transparent light-blue vinyl. For this album, Scorpions barricaded themselves in the studio for almost three years together with producer Dieter Dierks.
Released by BMG, Scorpions – Colours of Rock is out on 5 May 2023 and can be pre-ordered from https://www.artofthealbum.store/en-uk/pages/scorpions.
