From the corner of a Metalhead
In March 2024, the German Ministry of Culture and a Unesco commission putBerlin’s techno sceneon the country’s list of intangible cultural heritage. But besides techno, Germany has a long tradition in rock and metal music. Rock and roll began in West Germany in the mid-60s. Later it developed into punk, hard rock and metal music
One of my favorite German hard rock/metal bands is Scorpions. They are living legends. I am not exaggerating. Rolling Stone magazine called them “Heroes of Heavy Metal” and MTV presented them as “Ambassadors of Rock”. They have their star on Hollywood’s Rock Wall, they have won many music awards (including three World Music Awards), and they are in the permanent exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. If you have not heard of them, you must have been living under a rockThe Scorpions were formed in Hannover, Germany in 1965 by guitarist Rudolf Schenker, who has been the only permanent member of the band ever since. Besides Schenker, their singer and frontman, Klaus Meine, has appeared on all of their studio albums. Schenker and Meine are also the main composers and lyricists.
Let’s see what the numbers say: their albums have been sold in more than 100 million copies worldwide; their song “Wind of change” has reached more than 1 billion views on Youtube, “Send me an angel” has more than 383 million views and, my favorite, “I’m still loving you” has more than 84 million views; they have played more than 5000 concerts in more than 80 countries.
And they still rock!
The second favorite German metal band is the less known Helloween. They are often referred to as the “Fathers of Power Metal”. Helloween was formed in 1984 in Hamburg, Germany. The only original members of the band are guitarist Michael Weikath and bassist Markus Grosskopf. Currently they have two vocalists, of which Michael Kiske has previously sung in this band. They are recognized as one of the most influential metal bands in Europe. Helloween has released 16 studio albums, 14 gold and 6 platinum records with over 10 million copies sold worldwide. They were inducted into the Metal Hall of Fame in 2023. They work closely with the band Gamma Ray (Pumpkin United) because their styles match and also Gamma Ray’s guitarist Kai Hansen is a former member of Helloween. Personally I prefer Kiske’s voice and my favorite songs are “I want out” and “Helloween” performed by him. If you like ballads, I recommend the song “Silence” sung by Michael Kiske and Amanda Somerville.
The third and most favorite German band Is Rammstein. But more about them in my next blog… or blogs
