ULI JON ROTH

ULI JON ROTH



As previously reported, ULI JON ROTH has returned to form with his first real rock record since 1985’s Beyond The Astral Skies. Under A Dark Sky (out August 20th via Marquee Japan, September 23rd via SPV North America) is the first official release in the long-awaited series of Symphonic Legends, which is a cycle of music written by Uli for his all-encompassing Sky Of Avalon project.

Tracklisting:
'S.O.S.'
'Tempus Fugit'
'Land Of Dawn – Techno Man / Land Of Dawn / Lion Wings'
'The Magic Word'
'Inquisition'
'Letter Of The Law'
'Stay In The Light'
'Benediction'
'Light & Shadows'
'Tanz In Die Daemmerung - Destination Twilight / Morgenrot / Searchlights From Hell / Seelenschmerz / Inside The Titanic / Fama Errat / Requiem For The Nations / Morituri / Rex Tremendae / Star Peace / Tanz In Die Da?mmerung / Silence'

To promote the release of the album, Uli Jon Roth & Sky Of Avalon will play a tour of Japan in November, which includes two nights at Sun Plaza Hall, the very venue, which SCORPIONS played 30 years ago, resulting in the recording of their Tokyo Tapes album. To celebrate this anniversary, Uli will play several Scorpions songs from that period during his set. Each of the two concerts will feature a distinctly different program, consisting of music from all periods of Uli's musical journey.

Dates include:

November
7 - Hiroshima, Japan - Club Quattro
9 - Nagoya, Japan - Diamond Hall
10 - Osaka, Japan - Namba Hatch
11 - Tokyo, Japan - Sun Plaza Hall
12 - Tokyo, Japan - Sun Plaza Hall

ULI JON ROTH – Under Dark Guitary Skies



Special Report by Martin Popoff

BW&BK spoke with innovative “sky guitarist” ULI JON ROTH about his new album, Under A Dark Sky, which, in this writer’s opinion, represents the most seamless synthesis of rock and classical ever achieved. No longer ensconced in a mansion on a Welsh cliffside, Uli spoke to us from his new home back in Germany, ready to tour, ready to create anew, and even ready to paint! But as I said, we gather to celebrate a canny and complete hybrid of orchestration with Roth’s unique ethereal form of shred, issued later this month as a new ten track record called Under A Dark Sky…

“Well, that’s of course what I was striving for, to do it in such a way that you don’t even know that it’s a marriage. There are always a lot of challenges whenever I start out on a new venture, because they just seem to arise. And I guess it’s just my nature to try and explore uncharted territory, or where there is a territory that I haven’t chartered enough, I try to go a bit deeper. And this one really is very much kind of a continuation or a child of all the stuff that has gone before; for me it’s a natural progression. Particularly from the Sky Of Avalon to the Symphonic Legends, that I did in ‘95. In between I did all the festivals with the Sky Guitar stuff, where I was exploring the guitar more intensely. I think on this one I tried to, well, maybe not combine the two, but try to have an organic approach, to have the guitar integrated as a full member into the whole thing almost like another voice. And of course the voices are very dominant. I’m privileged to work with such great singers - Liz (Vandall) and Mark (Boals) - and that gave me carte blanche to write no holds barred vocal passages, which they just lapped up, I would have to say. Not many singers could have done that.”

Why this title and why this cover art? What does it denote to you?

“The title is a reflection of what this album is all about. It’s a concept album. I think, when I first came up with the idea for this album, like two years ago, when I wrote a lot of that stuff, to me, it’s a reflection of what goes on in this world today. Not so much in a physical, material sense, but in more of a metaphysical way. I do feel recently that we do live under a dark sky, and we do live in worrying times, and I felt the years before, when we grew up, like the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s, they were a little bit more carefree. And now so many things have happened on the world stage, and so many developments are taking place, that I think give us a lot of cause for concern. A lot of that has always been the case, but we do live in a very strange time, and I think the album reflects that. And for me as an artist, I think it’s my kind of calling - not to use a lofty word - but to kind of voice some of that, in artistic terms. Because that’s what I’m here for, to express things in an artistic way that I feel should be expressed.”

See www.ulijonroth.com for more information. As well, check out BW&BK #113, out later this fall, for the full story on Under A Dark Sky.