Virgin Killer

Infobox Album |
Name = Virgin Killer
Type = Studio album
Artist = Scorpions


Caption = The controversial original album cover. The shattered glass effect is part of the image.
Released = 1976
Recorded = 1976
Genre = Hard rock, heavy metal
Length = 34:45
Label = Polydor, Capitol (reissue)
Producer = Dieter Dierks
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|4|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:zjuvadzkv8w8~T1 link]
Last album = "In Trance"
(1975)
This album = "Virgin Killer"
(1976)
Next album = "Taken by Force"
(1977)
Misc = Extra album cover 2
Upper caption = Alternate cover
Type = Studio


Lower caption = The replacement cover released in some countries.

"Virgin Killer" is the fourth studio album by the German heavy metal band Scorpions. It was released in 1976, and was the first album of the band to attract attention outside Europe.Citation | last = Yasui | first = Todd Allan| title = The Sign of the Scorpions; The West German Metal Meisters' Tour de Force | newspaper = The Washington Post | pages = F3 | year = 1988 | date = Aug 30 1988] The original cover, featuring a naked prepubescent girl, stirred controversy in the United States and elsewhere. It was subsequently reissued with a different cover.

Reception

"Virgin Killer" shared the same fate as the other Scorpions albums featuring lead guitarist Uli Jon Roth: it "failed to attain any serious attention in the United States" but was "quite popular in Japan" [cite web |author=Weber, Barry |title=Scorpions |url=http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:3ifuxqr5ldke~T1 |publisher=Allmusic |accessmonthday=May 12 |accessyear=2008] where it peaked at number 32 in the charts. [cite web |author=Sharpe-Young, Garry |title=Scorpions discography |url=http://www.rockdetector.com/discography,7799.sm |publisher=Rockdetector |accessmonthday=May 12 |accessyear=2008] The album was another step in the band's shift from psychedelic music to hard rock.cite book |last=Berelian |first=Essi |editor=Buckley, Peter & Buckley, Jonathan (eds.) |title=The Rough Guide to Rock |publisher=Rough Guides |date=2003 |location=London |page=909 |isbn=1843531054] Critic Vincent Jeffries of Allmusic contends in hindsight that the album was "the first of four studio releases that really defined the Scorpions and their urgent metallic sound that was to become highly influential." [cite web |author=Jeffries, Vincent |title="Virgin Killer" review |url=http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:w9fqxqy5ldae |publisher=Allmusic |accessmonthday=May 12 |accessyear=2008] He also counts the title track and "Pictured Life" among the "all-time Scorpions standouts." Among the band members, Uli Jon Roth considers "Virgin Killer" and the previous release "In Trance" as his favourite Scorpion albums.

Cover art

The original cover art for the album depicted a naked prepubescent girl. The image was designed by Steffan Böhle, [cite web |title=Das Rock Hard-Magazin feiert 250. Ausgabe im Großformat De icon |url=http://www.dpv.de/network/html/1585/rock_hardmagazin_feiert_250_ausgabe.html |publisher=Dpv.de |date=2008-12-02 |accessdate=2008-05-12] who was then the product manager for RCA Records.cite web |author=Syrjälä, Marko |title=Interview with Uli Jon Roth |url=http://www.metal-rules.com/zine/content/view/748/0/ |publisher=Metal-rules.com |accessmonthday=May 12 |accessyear=2008] Francis Buchholz was the bassist for the band and, in an interview conducted in early 2007, recollects that the model depicted on the cover was either the daughter or the niece of "the guy who did the cover design." [cite web |author=Syrjälä, Marko |title=Interview with Francis Buchholz |url=http://www.metal-rules.com/zine/content/view/791/ |publisher=Metal-rules.com |accessmonthday=May 12 |accessyear=2008] The photograph was taken by Michael von Gimbut. [cite album-notes |title=. In Trance Virgin Killer: The Back to Black Collection |albumlink=http://www.amazon.com/Trance-Virgin-Killer-Black-Collection/dp/B00004RBKN/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1213235893&sr=1-2 |bandname=Scorpions |year=2000 |notestitle= |url= |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |pages= |format= |publisher=Axe Killer Music |publisherid=3056462 |location=France |mbid=] The band's rhythm guitarist Rudolf Schenker offers the following description of the circumstances behind the album cover.

In a separate interview, Schenker also notes that he thought the cover art was a "great thing" and that he had "pushed the band to really stay behind it" as he felt that people would "think differently" when they looked at the lyrics and realized that the cover art was only being used as "a symbol of the lyrics." [cite web |author=Trunk, Russell A. |title=Scorpions: Yet Another Sting In The Tale! |url=http://www.annecarlini.com/ex_interviews.php?id=805 |publisher=Annecarlini.com |accessmonthday=May 12 |accessyear=2008] The band's former lead guitarist Uli Jon Roth notes that the cover art of the "old Scorpion albums" were "usually done by other people." He has since expressed regret over the original album cover.

The cover generated controversy and was replaced in some countries with an alternate cover art depicting the band members. It would not be the last time that the band attracted controversy with their album covers. Their next album "Taken by Force" originally featured cover art that depicted "children playing with guns at a military cemetery in France and some people found that offensive." Their 1979 album "Lovedrive" featured a "bizarre artwork" that depicts "a woman on the back seat of a car with bubblegum over her breast." Both covers were replaced by an alternate design.cite web |author=Palmer, Andrew |title=Rock You Like a Piece of Meat |url=http://www.villagevoice.com/music/9951,218547,11369,22.html |date=1999-12-28 |publisher=Village Voice |accessdate=2008-05-13] [cite web |author=Weber, Barry |title=Scorpions |url=http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:3ifuxqr5ldke~T1 |publisher=Allmusic |accessmonthday=May 13 |accessyear=2008] Vocalist Klaus Meine explains that the band's penchant for controversial cover art stems from a desire "to go over the edge" and not "to offend some people or make the headlines [as] that would be stupid."

Track listing

ide one

# "Pictured Life" (Meine, Roth, Schenker) – 3:21
# "Catch Your Train" (Meine, Schenker) – 3:32
# "In Your Park" (Meine, Schenker) – 3:39
# "Backstage Queen" (Meine, Schenker) – 3:10
# "Virgin Killer" (Roth) – 3:41

ide two

# "Hell Cat" (Roth) – 2:54
# "Crying Days" (Meine, Schenker) – 4:36
# "Polar Nights" (Roth) – 5:04
# "Yellow Raven" (Roth) – 4:58

Credits

*Klaus Meine – lead vocals
*Ulrich Roth – lead guitar, lead vocals on "Hell-Cat" and "Polar Nights"
*Rudolf Schenker – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
*Francis Buchholz – bass, backing vocals
*Rudy Lenners – drums, percussion
*Achim Kirschning – synthesizer, keyboards
*Dieter Dierks – arrangement, production

Covered songs

* "Pictured Life" was covered by the Greek power metal band Firewind on their debut album "Between Heaven and Hell" in 2002. [cite web |author=Siva, Shan |title=Interview with Gus G. of Firewind |url=http://www.battlehelm.com/interviews/firewind.htm |publisher=Battlehelm.com |accessmonthday=May 12 |accessyear=2008] [cite web |title="Between Heaven and Hell" |url=http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:gifexqqaldhe |publisher=Allmusic |accessmonthday=May 12 |accessyear=2008]
* "Crying Days" was covered by Swedish symphonic metal band Therion as a bonus track on their 2001 album "Secret of the Runes". [cite web |author=Alexander Melzer |title="Secret of the Runes" review |url=http://www.metal-observer.com/articles.php?lid=1&sid=1&id=470 |publisher=Metal-observer.com |accessmonthday=May 12 |accessyear=2008]
* "Polar Nights" was also covered by Therion on the various artist compilation "A Tribute to the Scorpions". [cite web |author=Mezzera, Riccardo |title="A Tribute to the Scorpions" review it icon |url=http://www.truemetal.it/reviews.php?op=albumreview&id=1774 |publisher=Truemetal.it |accessmonthday=May 12 |accessyear=2008] [cite web |title="A Tribute to the Scorpions" |url=http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:j9fyxqr0ldhe |publisher=Allmusic |accessmonthday=May 12 |accessyear=2008]

References

External links

* [http://www.the-scorpions.com/english/discography/records/virgin_killer.asp Scorpions - The Official Site: Lyrics and samples from the Virgin Killer album]