zorrow Posted January 14, 2009 Posted January 14, 2009 I have to tell this to someone: I'm so into Uli Jon Roth and Michael Schenker that I had completely overlooked Mathias Jabs' abilities as a lead guitar player. I got Scorpions' "World Wide Live" yesterday and I've been playing it the whole day. Mathias Jabs is all over the place on that album, really on fire... Man, you bet this guy can play! He's got some serious chops... One could even say Van Halen with Scorpions! It's quite... stimulating. So, I think I'm grabbing my guitar right now and BURRRN. CU later!
MCChris Posted January 14, 2009 Posted January 14, 2009 Unquestionably one of the worst album covers in the history of rock.
Feynman Posted January 14, 2009 Posted January 14, 2009 Costa Mesa.....There's No One Like You!!!(if i remember correctly)
Steve Haynie Posted January 14, 2009 Posted January 14, 2009 The World Wide Live album is one of the last albums I bought on vinyl. I loved it way back then, but it has been years since I heard it. The album cover not good at all.
cmatthes Posted January 14, 2009 Posted January 14, 2009 Agreed on that crappy cover.Mattias is a monster guitarist - no wonder he always has that smile on his face when he's playing.
MCChris Posted January 14, 2009 Posted January 14, 2009 Agreed on that crappy cover.Mattias is a monster guitarist - no wonder he always has that smile on his face when he's playing.Judging by their videos, the endless parade of mugambo might have had something to do with it as well.
cmatthes Posted January 14, 2009 Posted January 14, 2009 Judging by their videos, the endless parade of mugambo might have had something to do with it as well.Ahhhh...Excellent point. I was overlooking the obvious there!
silentman Posted January 14, 2009 Posted January 14, 2009 Indeed it's a bad album cover, but there are far worse.My favorite scorpions related memory: I was in middle school probably 7th grade. On the bus home, one of the other kids had a sign he made in woodshop. Boy was he proud of it. He had routed 'S-C-O-R-P-I-A-N-S onto a board about 18 inches long. I'll never forget it, LOL!
MCChris Posted January 14, 2009 Posted January 14, 2009 Indeed it's a bad album cover, but there are far worse.I don't agree.
BubbaVO Posted January 14, 2009 Posted January 14, 2009 Indeed it's a bad album cover, but there are far worse.My favorite scorpions related memory: I was in middle school probably 7th grade. On the bus home, one of the other kids had a sign he made in woodshop. Boy was he proud of it. He had routed 'S-C-O-R-P-I-A-N-S onto a board about 18 inches long. I'll never forget it, LOL!I had freinds like that. : )
Steve Haynie Posted January 14, 2009 Posted January 14, 2009 It is those "freinds" that spell "'S-C-O-R-P-I-A-N-S" that end up making it in the music business.
cmatthes Posted January 14, 2009 Posted January 14, 2009 I don't know...that looks an awful lot like a 3d grader's safety-scissors-and-gluestick work to me: Seriously. That's the BEST they could come up with?
Submariner85 Posted January 14, 2009 Posted January 14, 2009 Great Album and VideoI wore them both out years ago.
serial Posted January 14, 2009 Posted January 14, 2009 I don't know...that looks an awful lot like a 3d grader's safety-scissors-and-gluestick work to me: Seriously. That's the BEST they could come up with? Good lord, that bass player makes that P-Bass look like a child's toy.
zorrow Posted January 14, 2009 Author Posted January 14, 2009 Well, now that my fingers hurt, I'm back online. Yeah, maybe because of the ugly cover it was at 2 x 10 bucks at Wallmart. I got that one and Kiss' "Destroyer" --another cheesy cover, I know. BTW, I like "Great Expectations" from Kiss. I'm glad I'm re-discovering this music --I'm a thrash son, but better late than never to get into this stuff.
shredmeister Posted January 14, 2009 Posted January 14, 2009 I posted re: Methias Jabbs over at the Jackson forum months ago.Not much of a response - those guys are use to rockers and shredders over there .The consensus was lots of guys play the riffs he used - nothing really unique.Personally I have always loved his tone and the way he plays. You can hear the attitude in his playing. And he was articulate.When I think of all the guitarists whose tone I just loved Jabbs is one of them. Killer overtones and harmonics - even live. And to think he used mostly a Gibson Explorer and Fender Strat.I have a really crappy live recorded video of the Scorps right after he joined the band. Looks terrible but sounds great - kinda like that album cover.
zorrow Posted January 14, 2009 Author Posted January 14, 2009 (...)Personally I have always loved his tone and the way he plays. You can hear the attitude in his playing. And he was articulate.(...)Well, as I said, I've overlooked his lead playing all these years, but after paying attention I'm 100% with you: great tone, attitude and articulation.
RobB Posted January 14, 2009 Posted January 14, 2009 Well, as I said, I've overlooked his lead playing all these years, but after paying attention I'm 100% with you: great tone, attitude and articulation.Absolutely. He had pretty big shoes to fill after Roth/Schenker; not an enviable position for any up-and-comer. He was in a German pop band called "Lady" before he auditioned for Scorps. I remember Mattias saying he was on salary after recording "Lovedrive", still on tour with the band but having to sit offstage for six months while Michael Schenker played lead. Pretty impressive OJT, as you can imagine!THE FOLLOWING IS A RE-TREAD STORY FOR THE NEWBIES. APOLOGIES TO THE VETS WHO'VE HEARD IT ALREADY...In 2000 Scorps/San Jose Symphony played the Cow Palace here in SF, supporting their symphonic rock collaboration record. I was a backline/second monitor-mix audio guy for the show. Great gig for a Hamer-nerd: Smitty, NR's roadie, granted me full access to their guitars for photos. Gillis had a Soldano Decatone 1/2 stack, Watson had a Boogie Triaxis/Line6 PodPro rig. Gillis played his beat-to-hell red Strat and Jeff switched between an LPCustom and a goldtop. Blades used Hamer 4-strings. Gillis did have a Hamer copy of his Strat (with Standard headstock), Jeff had no Hamers to be seen.Anyway, during afternoon rehearsals I asked Scorp's equipment manager if I could get some shots of their gear/guitars to report back to my HFC guitarboard pals. "Absolutely", he replied, "help yourself." So there I was, happily snapping away when Mattias shouts to me, "Hey! Vhat are you DO-INK!?"Me: "I, errrr, I'm taking photos of your gear."He: "Jah!? Vhat for, den?""For a guitar message board. I thought the members would like to know what you're playing through. Your gear manager said it was not a problem...""Jah? Vell, next time you ASK, yes!?""Sure, man, I'll do that."After rehearsal Mattias comes over, very repentantly, and says, "Hey, look, I'm sorry that I yelled. It's just that people are always shooting pictures of our stuff and, you never know, might think they can get an illegal endorsement out of us, or something like that. Okay, yes?""Not a problem, pal. Thanks for that. Break a leg tonight!"Night Ranger killed, had the hometown crowd eating out of their hand. I talked to Kelly Keagy about the "Sister Christian" scene in "Boogie Nights" and he laughed, saying he'll never view that song the same again!Anyways, Scorps played a great show. The ever enigmatic Dr. Fung was right there next to me all night, too. To my delight, they played "We'll Burn The Sky" from "Taken By Force." I like the Scorps/Symphony record much better than Metallica's "S/M", as their more melodic hard rock, IMO, lends itself better to orchestration than Metallica's bludgeon riffolla. Nice to shake hands w/Rudy Schenker, too. He is one tall muthafukka...
Ethan Posted January 14, 2009 Posted January 14, 2009 do you still have the pictures?ps I got this album in high school and played the hell out of it back then...I should get it back out and give it a listen. That melody that comprises what i consider the "chorus" of Coast to Coast sends chills down my back!
RobB Posted January 14, 2009 Posted January 14, 2009 do you still have the pictures? ps I got this album in high school and played the hell out of it back then...I should get it back out and give it a listen. That melody that comprises what i consider the "chorus" of Coast to Coast sends chills down my back! I'll look around my iBook. I still have the prints somewhere, but I need to scan 'em and post them to photobucket. I believe ZR has copies, but not sure if he has jpgs or not. I'll see what I can see what I can see...
zorrow Posted January 15, 2009 Author Posted January 15, 2009 I'm glad I'm not the only one who likes Scorpions here.
Willie G. Moseley Posted January 15, 2009 Posted January 15, 2009 Interviewed both of 'em prior to a show where they opened for Motley Crue. Both eloquent, upbeat and courteous about their craft and their guitars, but Rudolf, as I recall, occasionally subbed German for an English word...and as for me, nicht sprechen sie Deutsch. Backstage, it was interesting to encounter roadies with given names like Horst, Ernst, and Heinrich. FMWOW, I thought Jabs' signature Strat made a lotta sense in more that one facet---2 volumes and one tone, for example, plus unique but not over-extravagant Saturn fretboard inlay.
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