HE ADMITS HE’S more about songwriting than guitar chops, but it would be unfair to exclude Rudolf Schenker from a hard-rock guitarist list. As the main force behind Scorpions’ 56-year run, he’s kept the group focused on delivering enthralling hard-rock hits such as “Big City Nights” and “Rock You Like a Hurricane,” as well as arena-rock power ballads like “Send Me an Angel” and “Still Loving You.” He’s even turned in some stellar solo work on a few of those tracks, as well as on the band’s worldwide hit “Wind of Change.” In a band known for having its share of great lead guitarists, Rudy holds his own.
Given their success, it’s easy to forget that the Scorpions were at one time both a hungry and decidedly edgy band. After enduring lineup hiccups in the early 1970s when Rudolf’s brother Michael left to join UFO, they hired aggressively cosmic guitarist Uli Jon Roth and developed into a storming hard-rock band with 1975’s In Trance. A year later they followed that with Virgin Killer. Both of these developments would ultimately dovetail into 1979’s landmark Lovedrive album, their most focused and groundbreaking work of the decade.