Love at First Sting

Love at First Sting
Studio album by Scorpions
Released March 27, 1984
Recorded 1983–1984, Dierks Studio, Stommeln-Cologne, Germany
Genre Heavy metal
Length 40:55
Label EMI (Europe)
Mercury (US)
Producer Dieter Dierks
Scorpions chronology
Blackout
(1982)
Love at First Sting
(1984)
Savage Amusement
(1988)
Alternate "clean" cover
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]
Rolling Stone

Love at First Sting is the ninth studio album by the German heavy metal band Scorpions, released in 1984 (see 1984 in music). Love at First Sting became the most successful album of the band in the USA where it peaked at number 6 on the Billboard 200 chart in 1984 and went triple platinum. The song "Rock You Like a Hurricane" reached number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the same year, "Still Loving You" reached number 64 on the same chart, number 14 in Germany, number 2 in the French and Swiss Top 50. This album is notable in that it was one of the first digitally recorded heavy metal albums ever released.

Contents

Cover art

The original cover art created by Helmut Newton[2] features a man and a partially nude woman locked in an embrace, with the man giving the woman a tattoo on her thigh. Despite the record company having shown the original cover art to retailers without any concerns, a complaint by Wal-Mart after the album was released resulted in PolyGram Records issuing a "clean" cover for use in several department store chains. The alternative cover was designed to be less controversial by simply showing a photo of the band members, which was the same photo on the inner sleeve.[2][3][4]

Recording sessions

The album was recorded in 1983 and 1984 at Dierks Studios near Cologne Germany.

Track listing

All lyrics written by Klaus Meine except where noted, all music composed by Rudolf Schenker.

Side One
No. Title Lyrics Length
1. "Bad Boys Running Wild"   Meine, Herman Rarebell 3:56
2. "Rock You Like a Hurricane"   Meine, Rarebell 4:12
3. "I'm Leaving You"     4:17
4. "Coming Home"     4:59
5. "The Same Thrill"     3:31
Side Two
No. Title Length
1. "Big City Nights"   4:09
2. "As Soon as the Good Times Roll"   5:03
3. "Crossfire"   4:36
4. "Still Loving You"   6:27

Personnel

Produced by Dieter Dierks.

Note

Charts

Album

Billboard (North America)

Year Chart Position
1984 The Billboard 200 #6

Singles

Billboard (North America)

Year Song Chart Position
1984 "Rock You Like a Hurricane" Billboard Hot 100 #25
1984 "Still Loving You" Billboard Hot 100 #64

RIAA Certification

Certification Date
Gold April 30, 1984
Platinum April 30, 1984
Double-platinum October 25, 1984
Triple-platinum July 8, 1995

References

  1. ^ Love at First Sting at Allmusic
  2. ^ a b Jeffrey Easton. "Metal Exiles interview with Klaus Meine'". metalexiles.com. Archived from the original on April 21, 2010. http://web.archive.org/web/20100421000657/http://www.metalexiles.com/_mgxroot/page_11070.html. Retrieved April 21, 2010. 
  3. ^ Nuzum, Eric (2001). Parental Advisory: Music Censorship in America. pp. 78, 245. ISBN 0-688-16772-1. 
  4. ^ Nuzum, Eric. "1980's Censorship Incidents". http://www.ericnuzum.com/banned/incidents/80s.html. Retrieved Jan 19 2009. 

External links