Editing Scorpions (band) (section)

===Later years (1993–2009)===
In 1993, the Scorpions released ''[[Face the Heat]]''. Bass was handled by Ralph Rieckermann. For the recording process, the band brought in producer [[Bruce Fairbairn]]. The album's sound was more metal than melodic. Neither the heavy metal single "Alien Nation" nor the ballad "Under the Same Sun" came close to matching the success of "Wind of Change". ''Face the Heat'' was a moderate success. In 1995, a new album, ''Live Bites'', was produced. The disc documented retro live performances from their Savage Amusement Tour in 1988, all the way through the Face the Heat Tour in 1994. While the album had a technologically cleaner sound in comparison to their best-selling live album, ''World Wide Live'', it was not as successful.

Prior to recording their 13th studio album, 1996's ''[[Pure Instinct]]'', drummer Herman Rarebell left the band to set up a recording label. [[Curt Cress]] took charge of the drumsticks for the album before Louisville, Kentucky-born [[James Kottak]] took over permanently. The album had many ballads. Still, the album's singles "Wild Child" and the soothing [[Rock ballad|ballad]] "[[You and I (Scorpions song)|You and I]]" both enjoyed moderate success.

1999 saw the release of ''[[Eye II Eye]]'' and a significant change in the band's style, mixing in elements of pop and techno. While the album was slickly produced, it was not received well by fans. The video to the album's first European single, "To Be No.&nbsp;1", featured a [[Monica Lewinsky]] look-alike which did little to improve its popularity.

The following year, the Scorpions had an artistic collaboration with the [[Berlin Philharmonic]] that resulted in a 10-song album named ''[[Moment of Glory]]''. The album went a long way toward rebuilding the band's reputation after the harsh criticism of ''Eye II Eye''. However, critics accused them of following on the coattails of [[Metallica]]'s similar collaboration (''[[S&M (Metallica album)|S&M]]'') with the [[San Francisco Symphony]] which had been released the previous year, even though the orchestra had first approached the Scorpions with the idea in <!-- wikilinked 2 paras ago -->1995.

[[File:Scorpions (10) cropped.jpg|thumb|left|Scorpions at [[Gods of Metal]] in 2007]]
In 2001, the Scorpions released ''[[Acoustica (Scorpions album)|Acoustica]]'', a live unplugged album featuring acoustic reworkings of the band's biggest hits, plus new tracks. While appreciated by fans, the lack of a new studio album was frustrating to some, and ''Acoustica'' did little to return the band to the spotlight.

In 2004, the band released ''[[Unbreakable (Scorpions album)|Unbreakable]]'', an album that was hailed by critics as a long-awaited return to form. The album was the heaviest the band had released since ''Face the Heat''. Whether a result of poor promotion by the band's label or the long time between studio releases, ''Unbreakable'' received little airplay and did not chart. Scorpions toured extensively behind the album and played as "Special Guests" with [[Judas Priest]] during the 2005 British tour—these were the Scorpions' first dates in the UK since 1999.

In early 2006, the Scorpions released the DVD ''1 Night in Vienna'' that included 14 live tracks and a complete [[rockumentary]]. In LA, the band spent about four months in the studio with producers James Michael and [[Desmond Child]] working on a [[concept album]] titled ''[[Humanity: Hour I]]'', which was released in late May 2007,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bravewords.com/news/60273 |title=> News > New SCORPIONS Album Title, Artwork Revealed |website=Bravewords.com |access-date=23 April 2014}}</ref> and was followed by the "Humanity World Tour".

[[File:Skorpparit ankkarokkaavat.jpg|thumb|Scorpions performing at [[Ankkarock]] in [[Vantaa]], [[Finland]] in 2007]]
In 2007, the band collaborated with two of their signature tracks in the video game series, ''Guitar Hero''. "No One Like You" was featured on the ''Rocks the '80s'' version of the game while "Rock You Like A Hurricane" was released on ''Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock''.

On 14 May 2007, the Scorpions released ''Humanity – Hour I'' in Europe. ''Humanity – Hour I'' became available in the U.S. on 28 August on [[Universal Music Group|New Door Records]], entering the ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' charts at number No.&nbsp;63.

In a September 2007 podcast interview, Meine said the album was not so much a "concept album", but rather a collection of songs with a common theme. "We didn't want to make another record with songs about boys chasing girls. I mean, come on, give me a break," Meine said.<ref>{{cite web|year=2007 |title=Klaus Meine podcast interview |publisher=Stuck in the 80s |url=http://blogs.tampabay.com/80s/2007/09/scorpions-inter.html |access-date=26 November 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071119085220/http://blogs.tampabay.com/80s/2007/09/scorpions-inter.html |archive-date=19 November 2007 }}</ref>

Asked in 2007 if the band was planning to release a ''Humanity – Hour II'', Meine replied:
{{blockquote|That is what everybody is asking. There might be. Who knows? Right now we are at the beginning of the world tour. It is exciting to play the new songs and they go very well with the classics. It is exciting that there is a whole new audience out there. There are many longtime fans but there are a lot of young kids. We just played in London and in Paris and there were young kids rocking out to songs that were written way before they were born. It is amazing. I don't want to think about ''Hour II'' right now because ''Hour I'' is so exciting. It is very inspiring to see how much the audience enjoys this new music.<ref>{{cite web | year=2007 | title=Interview with Klaus Meine | publisher=Classic Rock Revisited | url=http://www.classicrockrevisited.com/Interviews/07/scorpions07.htm | access-date=17 November 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071114032915/http://www.classicrockrevisited.com/Interviews/07/scorpions07.htm <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 14 November 2007}}</ref>}}

On 20 December 2007, the Scorpions played at a concert for the elite of Russia's security forces in the [[Kremlin]]. The concert was a celebration of the 90th anniversary of the founding of the [[Cheka]]—predecessor of the [[KGB]]. The band claimed they thought they were performing a Christmas concert. They said their concert was by no means a tribute to the Cheka, communism, or [[Human rights in the Soviet Union|Russia's brutal past]]. Members of the audience included [[Vladimir Putin]] and [[Dmitry Medvedev]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ocnus.net/artman2/publish/International_3/Scorpions_Give_Spies_a_Perestroika_Ballad.shtml |title=Scorpions Give Spies a Perestroika Ballad |website=Ocnus.net |access-date=20 October 2011}}</ref>

On 22 February 2009, the band received Germany's [[ECHO (music award)|ECHO Honorary Award]] for lifetime achievement at Berlin's [[O2 World (Berlin)|O2 World]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=114860|title=Scorpions performs at Germany's ECHO Awards|date=22 February 2009|access-date=22 February 2009|work=Blabbermouth.net}}</ref>