Scorpions "Fly To The Rainbow (2007, CD, RCA, Japan, Remastered, Mini-LP)"

Fly to the Rainbow is the second studio album by German hard rock band Scorpions, released in 1 November 1974 in the United States.

In support of their Lonesome Crow album, Scorpions appeared as the opening act for the British rock band UFO. At the end of the tour, Scorpions lead guitarist Michael Schenker was asked to fill an open position as UFO's guitarist and accepted the role. Schenker's departure temporarily resulted in the breakup of the band but Rudolf Schenker and later Klaus Meine ultimately merged with the band Dawn Road which consisted of guitarist Ulrich Roth filling Michael's role, as well as drummer Jürgen Rosenthal, and bass guitarist Francis Buchholz. The new line up resumed under the Scorpions name and recorded Fly to the Rainbow.

Three songs were co-written with departing guitarist Michael Schenker as part of an agreement with the Scorpions for leaving them and joining UFO in April of that year.

When asked to comment on the cover art to the album, the band's former lead guitarist 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…"

Six songs from Fly to the Rainbow were regularly performed live by 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, Scorpions dropped these songs from their setlist. Between 1980 and 1999, nothing from Fly to the Rainbow appeared in Scorpions concerts. Following a one-off performance of They Need a Million on 7 June 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:

1. Speedy's Coming 03:33  
2. They Need a Million 04:50  
3. Drifting Sun 07:40  
4. Fly People Fly 05:02   
5. This Is My Song 04:14   
6. Far Away 05:39   
7. Fly to the Rainbow 09:32

Time:   40:30  

Tracks 1, 2, 5 by Klaus Meine & Rudolf Schenker.

Track 3 by Uli Jon Roth.

Track 4 by Klaus Meine & Michael Schenker.

Track 6 by Klaus Meine, Rudolf Schenker & Michael Schenker.

Track 7 by Uli Jon Roth & Michael Schenker.

Issued in a LP style card sleeve.

Recording information:

- Recorded at Musicland Studios; Munich, Germany in April, 1974.

- Mixed at Studio Maschen, Hamburg, Germany, end of June, 1974.