History Music / ScorpionsBand

* ClassicalMythology: a ShoutOut in "The Sails of Charon".

* ProtestSong: Much in the same vein of {{U2}}, we have "Wind of Change", "Under the Same Sun", "China White" and "Living For Tomorrow". The latter may count as the most triumphant example - it's a plea for unity and laying down arms, played live in Leningrad at the end of the ColdWar.

Scorpions is a German rock band formed in 1965 in Hannover by Rudolf Schenker (vocals/guitar), Lothar Heimberg (bass) and Wolfgang Dziony (drums), which only started to actually take shape four years later with Rudolf's younger brother Michael Schenker and Klaus Meine joining on guitar and vocals, respectively. While touring to promote their debut album, Michael, still an 18-year-old young gun, joined British rock band UFO in 1973 (at the start of their classic phase) and was replaced by Uli Jon Roth, who was a mainstay until 1978, when Matthias Jabs took over. While the bassist and drummer positions have changed over the course of four and a half decades, the Meine-Schenker-Jabs trio stayed on... and the rest is history.

With 7 gold records and 11 platinums in the US (15 golds and 9 platinums in their homeland) and 18 songs charting at the Mainstream Rock Tracks (among which "No One Like You" reached #1), Scorpions are perhaps the most worldwide successful rock band to ever come from a non-English speaking country - even though they would only have a belated recognition in America.

After the release of ''Sting of the Tail'', the band announced the closure of its activities following its subsequent tour. However, they changed their minds.

* AndTheAdventureContinues: "The Best is Yet to Come", closing track of their (presumably) final album, ''Sting in the Tail''.

* DoingItForTheArt: The reason why Uli Jon Roth left the band: he felt they were getting too commercial.
** This rift is documented in "I've Got to be Free", from ''Taken By Force''. What's hilarious is that Roth wrote a song about his disgruntlement, and then ''made Meine sing it''.

* NiceHat: Klaus' trademark backwards beret, and Matthias.
* ThePeteBest: Arguably, Curt Cress, who recorded ''Pure Instinct'', but was replaced by James Kottak soon after.
** Numerous bassists and drummers, before the lineup solidified with Buchholz and Rarebell - and the ones that replaced them before the band settled for Mąciwoda and Kottak.

* LongRunners: They've been around since 1965, and only now considered stopping.

* CoolOldGuy: Can you believe Rudolf's 62?

* GratuitousForeignLanguage: ''Humanity'' has about three translations of the word "goodbye" - In German, French, and Mexican.

* GriefSong: Roth took carrying on in Music/JimiHendrix's tradition so seriously that he took up with Hendrix's ex-girlfriend Monika Dannemann. Danneman contributed the lyrics to "We'll Burn the Sky", which are a lament for a deceased love.

After the release of ''Sting of the Tail'', the band announced the closure of its activities following its subsequent tour. However, they recently [[AndTheFandomRejoiced changed their minds]].

Recently, with the release of ''Sting of the Tail'', the band announced the closure of its activities following its subsequent tour.

!!Scorpions provide examples of the following tropes:

** "Virgin Killer" should rate around an 8, possibly also "Animal Magnetism" and "The Sails of Charon".

** The final studio album

** The story is that they'd actually ''hired'' an adult model for the cover shoot, but when she dropped out at the last second, her younger sister volunteered. They decided to go with it.

* HeyItsThatVoice: [[Music/TheSmashingPumpkins Billy Corgan]] does guest vocals in "The Cross", while [[Music/{{Nightwish}} Tarja Turunen]] sings in "The Good Die Young".
** Klaus himself pulled this with his appearance on {{Avantasia}}'s ''The Wicked Symphony''.
** Don Music/{{Dokken}} did some background vocals on '"Blackout", when Meine had voice problems.

* EpicRiff: "Rock You Like a Hurricane", "Big City Nights", "No One Like You". Heck, even "Still Loving You"'s low-key, distortion-less riff may count.

-->''Stand up and shout\\

[[MetalScream Come on and get it!]]''

-->''The night is calling, I have to go\\

Here I am...''

** Don {{Dokken}} did some background vocals on '"Blackout", when Meine had voice problems.
* Creator/{{Hipgnosis}}: Did the cover art for ''Lovedrive'' and ''Animal Magnetism'', plus Herman Rarebell's 1981 solo album ''Nip in the Bud''.

* BlackSheepHit: Some Brazilian "fans" remember better the songs as featured in ''Acoustica'' than the original versions (unless if they are, at most, power ballads).

* CoverVersion: Big Mama Thornton's "Hound Dog" and LittleRichard's "Long Tall Sally" in ''Tokyo Tapes'', TheWho's "I Can't Explain" for a collection album in the late 80s, {{Queen}}'s "Love of My Life", Music/TheCars' "Drive" and {{Kansas}}' "Dust in the Wind", the latter three from ''Acoustica''.

* GriefSong: Roth took carrying on in JimiHendrix's tradition so seriously that he took up with Hendrix's ex-girlfriend Monika Dannemann. Danneman contributed the lyrics to "We'll Burn the Sky", which are a lament for a deceased love.

* ProtestSong: Much in the same vein of {{U2}}, we have "Wind of Change", "Under the Same Sun", "China White" and "Living For Tomorrow". The latter may count as a MostTriumphantExample - it's a plea for unity and and end to war, played live in Leningrad at the end of the ColdWar.

* ProtestSong: Much in the same vein of {{U2}}, we have "Wind of Change", "Under the Same Sun", "China White", among others.

-----
Members (current formation):

-----
Past members include:

-----
Main discography:

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/scorpions_80.jpg

* HeyItsThatVoice: [[Music/TheSmashingPumpkins Billy Corgan]] does guest vocals in "The Cross", while [[{{Nightwish}} Tarja Turunen]] sings in "The Good Die Young".

* AndTheAdventureContinues: "The Best is Yet to Come", closing track of their ([[OrIsIt presumably]]) final album, ''Sting in the Tail''.

* DudeLooksLikeALady: "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin He's a Woman]], [[OrIsIt She's a Man]]", from ''Taken by Force''.

** The final studio album... OrIsIt?

* HeyItsThatVoice: [[SmashingPumpkins Billy Corgan]] does guest vocals in "The Cross", while [[{{Nightwish}} Tarja Turunen]] sings in "The Good Die Young".

* WhatDidIDoLastNight: Matthias Jabs has stated that "Blackout" (the song) is about this.