Rock Bottom Feat Kai Hansen Mcauley Schenker Group Msg

Rock Bottom Feat Kai Hansen Album: Rock Bottom - EP (2024)
by Mcauley Schenker Group Msg

This song was first released on the Album: Phenomenon (1974) by UFO.

Co-written by vocalist/lyricist Phil Mogg and then lead guitarist Michael Schenker, "Rock Bottom" was recorded initially for the 1974 Phenomenon album, on which it runs to 6 minutes 22 seconds. It was also released as a single - a format that could not possibly do it justice - the live version from Strangers In The Night is unquestionably the definitive. This album was recorded on the band's 1978 US tour and was released on the Chrysalis Label in January the following year.

Running to 11 minutes 8 seconds, "Rock Bottom" is the high point, with Schenker demonstrating awesome speed and technique, but this is more than a mere guitar solo; towards the end, Paul Raymond on keyboards provides a thrilling racing effect with the mercurial German, who, incredibly, was said to be unhappy with the recording. Others beg to differ. In 2004, Classic Rock magazine rated UFO's Strangers In The Night double album the #2 live rock album of all time behind only Thin Lizzy's Live And Dangerous.

In September 2008, when asked what had inspired the song lyrically, Phil Mogg said it was a horror film, but that he had forgotten its title. It is possible though that he was influenced subconsciously by the traditional song/poem "The Unquiet Grave", which contains the phrase "one kiss of your clay-cold lips." Mogg uses the same phrase "one sweet kiss on your clay-cold lips" (which is likewise to be taken literally) although in a different context.

It took a while for Phil Mogg to settle on a set of lyrics for this song. An early performance reveals how he sang completely different words early on.

In an interview with Michael Schenker, he explained that this song had a very spontaneous conception. "We were just sitting there looking for an additional song, and when I played 'Rock Bottom,' the riff, that's when Phil jumped up and said, 'That's it! That's it!'" said Schenker. "So we started putting it together and putting it into form."

Speaking about the freeform nature of this song and how he improvises it during live performances, Schenker told us: "'Rock Bottom' has that piece in the middle of free expression, and it's perfect for me because I love pure self-expression. It's a really, really good part to play over that particular chord there, and it leaves a lot of space to come up with a whole bunch of creative ideas. Over the years, the solos have changed. I keep the basic structure of it, but there is a lot of space to put new 'sparks' on here and there and keep it fresh.

It's always enjoyable to play over and over and over, because I can be very creative with it on the spot. That's a very fascinating, enjoyable part of music for me."

This version was released in 2024 by Kai Michael Hansen (born 17 January 1963). Kai is a German musician who is the founder, lead guitarist and vocalist of power metal band Gamma Ray. He is also one of the co-founders of another power metal band Helloween, which he was a part of from 1983 to 1989 and rejoined in 2016. He is a prominent figure in power metal and has sold millions of albums worldwide. He is regarded as "the godfather of power metal", having founded two seminal bands in the genre. In 2011, he joined the band Unisonic featuring former Helloween vocalist Michael Kiske. Hansen and Kiske reunited with Helloween in 2017 for a world tour with all current members, celebrating the 30-year anniversary of release of the albums Keeper of the Seven Keys Parts I and II.

Kai Hansen was born in Hamburg in 1963. At the age of ten, Kai developed an interest in music and began to play wash-drums. His parents however, didn't like the noise and bought him an acoustic guitar instead. He took a six-months course in classical guitar and following it, formed his first band with his classmates after he bought an electric guitar, a white Ibanez Les Paul.

For almost 20 years, Hansen has played ESP Guitars. He first started using them during his days with Helloween after hearing testimonials of ESP from artists such as George Lynch and Kirk Hammett of Metallica. Before Helloween, he had owned a white Ibanez guitar, and a Gibson Les Paul, then saved up for a Marshall amplifier by delivering newspapers. His main ESPs are red and pink ESP Custom guitars based on Jackson's Randy Rhoads model and two custom V models based on the classic Gibson Flying V shape.

During the early 1990s, Hansen had used Stratocaster models. On his autobiography on the Gamma Ray website, he claims his first electric guitar was a white Ibanez Les Paul copy On the recent tour with Gamma Ray he has been seen using a Korina Epiphone flying V with EMG pickups.

Hansen has used, and still uses, Engl amplifiers since the recording sessions of Keeper of the Seven Keys: Part II.

Seventeen a nature's queen, know what I mean?
Twenty-one, a long one
You can see the numbers run
Now you look so peaceful, lyin' there asleep
With the wings of God above you
Before the spirits meet

Rock bottom, rock bottom, rock bottom
Rock bottom, rock bottom, rock bottom

Shadow earth is closin' in above the lamps in your street
Lucifer goes walkin' down for you to meet
Minutes pass so slowly by the hands on your clock
Heaven's door, just no way in
You can knock

Rock bottom, rock bottom, rock bottom
Rock bottom, rock bottom, rock bottom

With all darkness closin' in
Will the light reveal your soul?
Just one sweet kiss on your clay cold lips
Long, long sleep you'll never know
Where do we go, where do we go
Where do we go from here?

Seventeen a nature's queen, know what I mean?
Twenty-one, a long one
You can see the numbers run
Now you look so peaceful, lyin' there asleep
With the wings of God above you
Before the spirits meet

Rock bottom, rock bottom, rock bottom
Rock bottom, rock bottom, rock bottom