Guitarist Rudolf Schenker from German hard rock legends SCORPIONS spoke to Rock Confidential recently about a number of topics including their recently-released their new album, Humanity - Hour 1. A few excerpts from the chat found here follow:

Rock Confidential: Why was Humanity - Hour 1's North American release delayed so long?

Schenker: "The problem is that finding the right record company is not so easy. We changed management in America. Desmond also didn’t want anything going out too early because he was afraid of leaks on the internet. We had to play it safely. When we signed a contract with management they immediately had to start. I hate this! I would see the album coming out worldwide in August or September. It’s never good to split a release up like this because you lose the power and momentum of impacting each market. The contracts were already done to present the album in Europe because big festivals and big shows were set up in the contract. We mixed the album on the road. After we finished recording the album we immediately had to go on the road to the Kremlin Palace, invited by Putin. From there we went to the Baltic states, Eukrane and then we played in Kazikstan. We had to mix the album online! We had to download it and somehow try to get it to the right speaker system so we could make our comments to Desmond via the Internet. It was very different!"

Rock Confidential: Did it seem more exciting to write this album since you were approaching songwriting so differently?

Schenker: "Of course. That’s very important. I read in an interview with BRYAN FERRY once where the guy asked him what it was like doing his new album. Bryan said, 'Eh, it’s just like always.' That’s the worst thing you can do because if you do that nothing special can come out."

Rock Confidential: Since there was a storyline involved, did you find yourself writing music first of writing lyrics first to fit the story?

Schenker: "It was more teamwork. Somebody would come in with an idea and we’d all work on it and finish it and make it sound like the Scorpions."

Rock Confidential: Some Scorpions songs have always been very personal to some people, especially songs like “Wind of Change.” Do you feel that there are songs on Humanity that people will be able to grab onto like that?

Schenker: "A song that is very strong on the new album is 'Humanity'. It has the same quality as 'Wind Of Change' - musically and lyrically - and has a message in it. If we’re not changing our life then we can end up in a terrible situation. The message behind the album and every song is a very simple message from the sixties: 'Make love, not war.' 'Humanity' is a wake up call."

In other news, the Republic of Malta is reporting Humanity Hour 1 is #7 in their charts..

The worldwide highest chart positions for Humanity-Hour 1 include:

Greece: #1

Russia: #5

Republic of Malta: #7

Argentina: #8

Germany: #9

Japan: #16

France: #16

Switzerland: #27

Finland: #29

Sweden: #36

Austria: #41

Italy: #44

Czech Republic: #47

Spain: #59

Netherlands: #91

Mexico: #97

Thanks ScorpsNews.com.