The Scorpions : Fly To The Rainbow (Expanded Edition)

I LOVE YOU, LITTLE GIRL,

COME TO SEE ME TODAY

 Fly to the Rainbow 

is the second 

studio album 

by the German

 Rock Band 

The Scorpions

 released on

  November,1st 1974

 by RCA Records.

 This was the band's

 first release

 with guitarist 

Uli Jon Roth 

and bassist 

Francis Buchholz,

 and the only one

 to include drummer

 Jürgen Rosenthal.

Background

In support of the

 Lonesome Crow 

album,

 The Scorpions 

toured as the opening act

 for the British

 rock band 

UFO. 

At the end of the tour, 

The Scorpions

 lead guitarist 

Michael Schenker 

was asked to

 fill an open position

 as UFO's guitarist 

and accepted

 the position.

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

 replacing 

Michael as well as

 drummer 

Jürgen Rosenthal, 

keyboardist 

Achim Kirschnig 

and

 bass guitarist 

Francis Buchholz.

 The new lineup 

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…"

Metal Hammer

 included it on

 their list of 

"50 most hilariously 

ugly rock and

 metal album

 covers ever".

Live Performances

Six songs from

 Fly to the Rainbow

 were regularly 

performed live 

by The Scorpions: 

the title track, 

"Speedy's Coming",

 "They Need a Million",

 "This Is My Song", 

and

 "Drifting Sun".

 "Far Away" 

was already 

performed by 

early lineups with 

Michael Schenker, 

since at least 1973.

 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 afterwards, 

The Scorpions

 dropped these songs 

from their setlist. 

Between 1980 and 1999,

 nothing from 

Fly to the Rainbow 

appeared in 

The Scorpions concerts.

Following a 

one-off performance

 of 

They Need a Million

 on June,7th 1999 

at Patinoire de Kockelscheuer, 

Luxembourg, 

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.

TRACKLIST

Speedy's Coming

They Need a Million

Drifting Sun

Fly People Fly

This Is My Song

Far Away

Fly to the Rainbow

Steamrock Fever [*]

Dark Lady [*]

I'm Goin' Mad [*]

He's A Woman, She's A Man [*]

Robot Man [*]

Pictured Life [*]

In Trance [*]

Speedy's Coming

 (Live)

Fly To The Rainbow

 (Live)

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