Renowned as one of the world’s greatest electric guitar virtuosos, by the kind of people who know about such things, Uli Jon Roth’s achievements include pioneering the intimidatingly technical “neoclassical metal” genre – and inventing his own 35-fret Sky Guitar, adding a whole higher octave to the instrument. In 1998, he was invited to join one of the earliest editions of Joe Satriani’s renowned G3 guitar geek-out tours.
Now, however, the German fretmaster is reining things in – marginally – with Scorpions Revisited, a double album and world tour which sees the 60-year-old reviving his early days with the Scorpions, the rock giants he recorded five albums with, before quitting in 1978.
A few hours after leaving the stage at London's Roundhouse – where he performed alongside a fleet of legends at a concert commemorating the first anniversary of Cream bassist Jack Bruce's death – the rock star spoke with The National from his home in rural Wales.
The biggest criticism of fast guitar players is that they play a lot of notes, but say little.
It’s horrible a lot of the time. A lot of “shredders” just don’t have a clue about music, it’s just a senseless display of arpeggios up and down, and I’ve got very little time for that. It’s off-putting to people who just want to enjoy music. What good is it if I’m not getting through to people because it’s self indulgent? Not that I’ve never been self-indulgent – I have been, but I didn’t mean to be. You don’t want someone to hold a speech and say 1,000 words without any meaning, far better to say one sentence that really hits you.
Using that analogy, you could say your Sky Guitar is adding to the dictionary.
It just extends the range, not even the vocabulary. If you make the analogy of looking through a widow, you can only see a certain angle. With the Sky Guitar it’s like my window is an octave higher, and lower – my window is nearly twice as wide as on a normal electric guitar. But the main action is still in the centre of the picture.
Why did you decide to revisit Scorpions material at this stage in your career?
I was talked into it. Two of my friends had the same idea at the same time. At first I thought it was a little odd, but then I consented to a tour and I really started to enjoy delving that far back into my own past. Most of it I had very little connection with anymore, and I realised there’s something to be learnt from this. [Lead singer] Klaus [Meine] likes it, so we must have done something right.
Don’t you find the material primitive compared with your later work?
Primitive is not the right word – it is less complex, but some of the greatest pieces are. Every night I love to play All Along the Watchtower. That's only a three-chord scenario, but, my goodness, there's magic in it. Primitive is slightly derogatory – I like the word primal, where something consists of less elements, but that which it consists of has a lot of strength and force.
Scorpions became huge. Did you ever regret leaving?
No, that’s so long behind me. I couldn’t regret it, had I stayed in the band I would not have been happy. Because I wanted to explore music in a different way, and in a commercial environment that was not possible.
Do you feel the band sold out on its early ideals?
No, they were always more commercially-minded than I was. They wanted the big success and got it. If I would have stayed in the band, I would have felt like selling out, but they’re in it in a different way for different reasons, and they stayed truthful to their journey.
Do you hear your influence in the younger generation of players?
I know because people come up to me and tell me it. It appears to be a whole generation, the list of names is endless. That’s nice to know.
What makes a great guitarist?
I go for people who are very versatile, but only if that versatility doesn’t come at the price of being clear and congruent. I like to see and hear and feel a personality when I listen to a guitar player, something distinctive and unmistakable, something that moves me. Very often it doesn’t. It’s not often that I go “Oh, wow.”
• Uli Jon Roth is live Thursday November 5 from 9pm at Heroes, Crowne Plaza Abu Dhabi; and Friday November 6 from 9pm at The Music Room, Majestic Hotel Tower, Bur Dubai. Tickets cost Dh100
rgarratt@thenational.ae
Drivers’ championship standings after Singapore:
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - 263
2. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari - 235
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes - 212
4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull - 162
5. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari - 138
6. Sergio Perez, Force India - 68
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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Company name: baraka
Started: July 2020
Founders: Feras Jalbout and Kunal Taneja
Based: Dubai and Bahrain
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: $150,000
Current staff: 12
Stage: Pre-seed capital raising of $1 million
Investors: Class 5 Global, FJ Labs, IMO Ventures, The Community Fund, VentureSouq, Fox Ventures, Dr Abdulla Elyas (private investment)
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Farasan Boat: 128km Away from Anchorage
Director: Mowaffaq Alobaid
Stars: Abdulaziz Almadhi, Mohammed Al Akkasi, Ali Al Suhaibani
Rating: 4/5
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Tips for newlyweds to better manage finances
All couples are unique and have to create a financial blueprint that is most suitable for their relationship, says Vijay Valecha, chief investment officer at Century Financial. He offers his top five tips for couples to better manage their finances.
Discuss your assets and debts: When married, it’s important to understand each other’s personal financial situation. It’s necessary to know upfront what each party brings to the table, as debts and assets affect spending habits and joint loan qualifications. Discussing all aspects of their finances as a couple prevents anyone from being blindsided later.
Decide on the financial/saving goals: Spouses should independently list their top goals and share their lists with one another to shape a joint plan. Writing down clear goals will help them determine how much to save each month, how much to put aside for short-term goals, and how they will reach their long-term financial goals.
Set a budget: A budget can keep the couple be mindful of their income and expenses. With a monthly budget, couples will know exactly how much they can spend in a category each month, how much they have to work with and what spending areas need to be evaluated.
Decide who manages what: When it comes to handling finances, it’s a good idea to decide who manages what. For example, one person might take on the day-to-day bills, while the other tackles long-term investments and retirement plans.
Money date nights: Talking about money should be a healthy, ongoing conversation and couples should not wait for something to go wrong. They should set time aside every month to talk about future financial decisions and see the progress they’ve made together towards accomplishing their goals.
The specs: 2018 Mercedes-Benz E 300 Cabriolet
Price, base / as tested: Dh275,250 / Dh328,465
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder
Power: 245hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 370Nm @ 1,300rpm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.0L / 100km
Cryopreservation: A timeline
- Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
- Ovarian tissue surgically removed
- Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
- Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
- Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Barbie
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SOUTH%20KOREA%20SQUAD
%3Cp%3E%0D%3Cstrong%3EGoalkeepers%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EKim%20Seung-gyu%2C%20Jo%20Hyeon-woo%2C%20Song%20Bum-keun%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EDefenders%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EKim%20Young-gwon%2C%20Kim%20Min-jae%2C%20Jung%20Seung-hyun%2C%20Kim%20Ju-sung%2C%20Kim%20Ji-soo%2C%20Seol%20Young-woo%2C%20Kim%20Tae-hwan%2C%20Lee%20Ki-je%2C%20Kim%20Jin-su%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EMidfielders%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPark%20Yong-woo%2C%20Hwang%20In-beom%2C%20Hong%20Hyun-seok%2C%20Lee%20Soon-min%2C%20Lee%20Jae-sung%2C%20Lee%20Kang-in%2C%20Son%20Heung-min%20(captain)%2C%20Jeong%20Woo-yeong%2C%20Moon%20Seon-min%2C%20Park%20Jin-seob%2C%20Yang%20Hyun-jun%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStrikers%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EHwang%20Hee-chan%2C%20Cho%20Gue-sung%2C%20Oh%20Hyeon-gyu%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
If you go
The flights
There are direct flights from Dubai to Sofia with FlyDubai (www.flydubai.com) and Wizz Air (www.wizzair.com), from Dh1,164 and Dh822 return including taxes, respectively.
The trip
Plovdiv is 150km from Sofia, with an hourly bus service taking around 2 hours and costing $16 (Dh58). The Rhodopes can be reached from Sofia in between 2-4hours.
The trip was organised by Bulguides (www.bulguides.com), which organises guided trips throughout Bulgaria. Guiding, accommodation, food and transfers from Plovdiv to the mountains and back costs around 170 USD for a four-day, three-night trip.
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%E2%80%98FSO%20Safer%E2%80%99%20-%20a%20ticking%20bomb
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