Fly to the Rainbow

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Fly to the Rainbow
Scorpions-Fly To The Rainbow.jpg
Studio album by
Scorpions
Released1 November 1974
RecordedApril 1974
StudioMusicland Studios, Munich, West Germany
Studio Maschen, Seevetal, West Germany
GenreHard rock[1]
Length40:47
LabelRCA Records
ProducerFrank Bornemann
Scorpions chronology
Lonesome Crow
(1972) 		Fly to the Rainbow
(1974) 		In Trance
(1975)
Singles from Fly to the Rainbow
  1. "Speedy's Coming"
    Released: 1976
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic3/5 stars[2]
Teraz Rock4.5/5 stars[3]
Sputnikmusic4.5/5 stars[4]

Fly to the Rainbow is the second studio album by German hard rock band Scorpions. It was released on 1 November 1974 in the United States.

Background[]

In support of the Lonesome Crow album Scorpions toured as the opening act for the British rock band UFO. At the end of the tour Scorpions lead guitarist Michael Schenker was asked to fill an open position as UFO's guitarist and accepted the position.[5] Schenker's departure temporarily resulted in the breakup of the band but Rudolf Schenker and Klaus Meine ultimately merged with the band Dawn Road. The new band consisted of guitarist Ulrich Roth replacing Michael as well as drummer Jürgen Rosenthal and bass guitarist Francis Buchholz.[6] The new line up assumed the Scorpions name and recorded Fly to the Rainbow. Three songs on Fly to the Rainbow were co-written with departing guitarist Michael Schenker as part of his agreement on leaving the band.

Artwork[]

When asked to comment on the cover art for the album Uli Jon Roth said: "Don’t ask me what that cover means… I disliked it from the beginning. It looked ludicrous to me back then and looks just as bad today. It was done by a firm of designers in Hamburg who had actually done a good job on the Lonesome Crow album before but I think that time they failed miserably. As for the meaning I can only guess, but I’d rather not…"[7]

Live performances[]

Five songs from Fly to the Rainbow were regularly performed live by Scorpions: the title track, Speedy’s Coming, They Need a Million, This Is My Song, and Drifting Sun. The live versions of Speedy’s Coming and the title track appear on the live album Tokyo Tapes which was recorded in April 1978. Soon after Scorpions dropped these songs from their setlist. Between 1980 and 1999 nothing from Fly to the Rainbow appeared in Scorpions concerts.[8] Following a one-off performance of They Need a Million on 7 June 1999 at Patinoire de Kockelscheuer, Luxembourg[9] the title tune and Speedy's Coming were performed a number of times between 2000 and 2008. Speedy's Coming was played with relative frequency from 2015 to 2019.[10]

Track listing[]

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Speedy’s Coming"Rudolf Schenker, Klaus Meine3:36
2."They Need a Million"R. Schenker, Meine4:50
3."Drifting Sun"Ulrich Roth7:42
4."Fly People Fly"Michael Schenker, Meine5:03
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
5."This Is My Song"R. Schenker, Meine4:18
6."Far Away"M. Schenker, R. Schenker, Meine5:38
7."Fly to the Rainbow"M. Schenker, Roth9:40

Personnel[]

Scorpions

  • Klaus Meine – lead vocals
  • Ulrich Roth – lead guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Drifting Sun" and co lead-vocals in "Fly to the Rainbow"
  • Rudolf Schenker – rhythm guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals on "They Need a Million" and "Drifting Sun"
  • Francis Buchholz – bass guitar, backing vocals
  • Jürgen Rosenthal – drums, percussion

Additional musicians

  • Achim Kirschning – organ, Mellotron, synthesizers

Production

  • Mack – engineer
  • Horst Andritschke – engineer

References[]

  1. ^ Heatley, Michael (1996). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Rock: The World's Most Comprehensive Illustrated Rock Reference. Virgin. p. 134. ISBN 9781852276669.
  2. ^ Rivadavia, Eduardo (2011). "Fly to the Rainbow – Scorpions | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
  3. ^ GAJEWSKI, MARCIN (2011). "Teraz Rock | jedyne pismo rockowe w Polsce". terazrock.pl. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
  4. ^ user DLT (2011). "Scorpions – Fly to the Rainbow (album review) | Sputnikmusic". sputnikmusic.com. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
  5. ^ Trunk, Russell A. "Scorpions: Yet Another Sting in the Tale!". Annecarlini.com. Retrieved 12 May 2008.
  6. ^ Syrjälä, Marko. "Interview with Francis Buchholz". Metal-rules.com. Archived from the original on 18 June 2012. Retrieved 12 May 2008.
  7. ^ Jeb Wright. "Uli Jon Roth: Surviving the Scorpions Sting". Archived from the original on 13 June 2007. Retrieved 14 July 2007.
  8. ^ Scorpions Album Statistics
  9. ^ ‘They Need a Million’ setlist statistics
  10. ^ https://www.setlist.fm/stats/scorpions-3d63ddf.html

External links[]

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