Radio Metal has published an interview with guitarist Matthias Jabs of German hard rock legends SCORPIONS. An excerpt follows:

Q: You declared that you wanted to stop your career because you didn’t want to fade out, to disappoint your fans. Do you feel that in a few years, you won’t be able, physically, to play live with the same impressive energy you have on stage right now?

A: "I don’t have any problem. I’m the youngest of us three Germans, but Klaus and Rudolf are 63. But the THE ROLLING STONES are still on the road, and they’re doing great. Our idea is to be in top form until the very last show. We don’t want to stretch it too far. At the moment, we’re in form, we’re fit. We want to be remembered as a band that’s very active on stage, not just standing there playing. I’m sure I’ll still be able to play the stuff when I’m 85, but the question is, would I want to run around that much! I think it’s a good decision. We’ll play all 2012, although we haven’t yet decided on the final show. I think it will happen at some point in 2013."

Q: At the opposite, some bands don’t want to stop and will play until they die. We can barely imagine guys like Lemmy (MOTÖRHEAD) and OZZY OSBOURNE stopping their career. What do you think of that?

A: "I think some bands should have already stopped. It’s not always great to see them. I’m not really excited when I see somebody who was much better twenty years ago. Some bands don’t have the energy to convince me now, they should have stopped some time ago. For Lemmy and Ozzy, of course, it’s their life. But for us, it’s also our life, but we want to end our career on a high note."

Q: What bands do you have in mind when you say they are not convincing on stage nowadays?

A: "I don’t want to mention any names, because I don’t want to put anybody down! It’s my personal opinion, therefore I don’t want to tell you. It would come across as meaning I don’t like them anymore. I just think we’ve seen enough of them."

Read the full interview at this location.

Scorpions will be releasing an album of reworked band classics on November 4th via Sony, entitled Comeblack, as a CD and double-vinyl. Amazon.de has audio samples of the entire the album at this location (scroll down) and a band introduction video (in German) here.

Comeblack will include the following tracklisting:

Re-recordings:

'Rhythm Of Love'

'No One Like You'

'The Zoo'

'Rock You Like A Hurricane'

'Blackout'

'Still Loving You'

'Wind Of Change'

Covers:

'Tainted Love' (SOFT CELL)

'Children Of The Revolution' (T. REX)

'Across The Universe' (THE BEATLES)

'Tin Soldier' (SMALL FACES)

'All Day And All Of The Night' (THE KINKS)

'Ruby Tuesday' (THE ROLLING STONES)

Check out the re-recorded version of their 1984 classic ballad 'Still Loving You', featuring a duet with French 2009 Pop Idol Winner Amandiner Bourgeois below: