Lovedrive

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Lovedrive
Studio album by Scorpions
Released February 25, 1979
Recorded Dierks Studios, Cologne, Germany, September–December 1978
Genre Heavy metal, hard rock
Length 36:30
Label Harvest/EMI (Europe)
Mercury (US)
Producer Dieter Dierks
Scorpions chronology

Taken by Force
(1977)		 Lovedrive
(1979)		 Animal Magnetism
(1980)
Michael Schenker chronology
Strangers in the Night
(1979)		 Lovedrive
(1979)		 The Michael Schenker Group
(1980)
Singles from Lovedrive
  1. "Is There Anybody There? / Can't Get Enough"
    Released: 1979
  2. "Is There Anybody There? / Another Piece of Meat"
    Released: May 1979 (UK)
  3. "Lovedrive / Coast to Coast"
    Released: August 1979 (UK)
  4. "Another Piece of Meat / Always Somewhere"
    Released: 1979
  5. "Loving You Sunday Morning / Coast to Coast"
    Released: March 1979
  6. "Lovedrive / Holiday"
    Released: 1980
Alternative cover
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]

Lovedrive is the sixth studio album by the German heavy metal band Scorpions, released in 1979. Considered by some critics to be the pinnacle of their career,[2] Lovedrive was a major evolution of the band's sound, exhibiting their "classic style" that would be later developed over their next few albums. Containing such fan favourites as "Loving You Sunday Morning", "Always Somewhere", "Holiday" and the instrumental "Coast to Coast", Lovedrive firmly cemented the "Scorpions formula" of hard rock songs mixed with melodic ballads.

Lovedrive reached No. 55 on the US charts, demonstrating that the band was gathering an international following. The RIAA certified the record as Gold on 28 May 1986,[3] and the album ranked 25 on IGN's list of the top 25 metal albums.[4]

Matthias Jabs & Michael Schenker

This is the first album to feature Matthias Jabs on lead guitar, and by extension, the first record to feature the band's "classic" lineup. Jabs replaced Uli Jon Roth, who went on to form his own band, Electric Sun.

Michael Schenker, younger brother of rhythm guitarist Rudolf, who had just split from UFO, recorded the solo guitar parts on "Another Piece Of Meat", "Coast To Coast" and "Lovedrive". At the beginning of their German tour in February 1979 it was announced that Michael had rejoined the band. Scorpions had reluctantly parted with Matthias Jabs again. However, during the tour Michael once again informed his bandmates of his impending departure, which led to Jabs' return.

The album's credits are incorrect in that Michael Schenker also played leads (in addition to Jabs) on Loving You Sunday Morning. The first fill in the first verse (and possibly other fills), and more significantly, the main solo (around 3:08), are by Schenker. Jabs plays the 2nd solo later on in the track, along with various other runs and fills.

Cover art

The cover depicted a man and woman in formalwear seated in the back of a car, with one of the woman's breasts exposed and connected to the man's hand by stretched bubblegum. The back cover featured the same man and woman, but holding a photograph of the band and her breasts completely exposed (without the gum). It was created by Storm Thorgerson of the design firm Hipgnosis. It caused some controversy upon the album's release and was subsequently banned,[5] with later pressings of the album bearing a simple design of a blue scorpion on a black background.[6][7] The album's artwork was named "Best album sleeve of 1979" by Playboy magazine.[citation needed]

Recalling the cover photo with the girl and the car, Thorgerson remarked: "Not exactly the most politically correct scene you've ever seen. I thought it was funny, but women read a different inflection into it now."[7]

In a 2010 interview, singer Klaus Meine commented on the album cover, stating: "We just did not know it would be a problem in America, it was just sex and rock 'n' roll. It is odd that in America some of these covers were a problem, because in the 80's when we would tour here, we always had boobs flashed to us at the front of the stage. Nowhere else in the world, just here. We just did not think it would be a problem to put out a record like Lovedrive in America. Deadly Sting: The Mercury Years was banned at Wal Mart and Pure Instinct was banned as well."[5]

This is one of the few Scorpions album covers that was initially edited upon release in many places because of its controversial nature, only to have the original uncensored art restored for the remaster series.

Track listing

Side one
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "Loving You Sunday Morning"  Rudolf Schenker, Klaus Meine, Herman Rarebell 5:36
2. "Another Piece of Meat"  Schenker, Rarebell 3:30
3. "Always Somewhere"  Schenker, Meine 4:56
4. "Coast to Coast"  Schenker 4:42
Side two
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
5. "Can't Get Enough"  Schenker, Meine 2:36
6. "Is There Anybody There?"  Schenker, Meine, Rarebell 3:58
7. "Lovedrive"  Schenker, Meine 4:49
8. "Holiday"  Schenker, Meine 6:32

Personnel

Band members
Production
  • Dieter Dierks - producer, engineer, mixing
  • Steve Fallone - mastering
Guest Members
  • Michael Schenker - lead guitar on Loving You Sunday Morning, Another Piece of Meat, Coast to Coast, Lovedrive & Holiday

Charts

Album

Year Chart Position
1979 German Albums Chart[8] 11
Swedish Albums Chart[9] 32
UK Albums Chart[10] 36
Billboard 200 (North America)[11] 55

Singles

Year Title Chart Position
1979 "Is There Anybody There / Another Piece of Meat"[12] UK Singles Chart 39
"Lovedrive"[13] 69

Certifications

Country Organization Year Sales
Germany BVMI 1984 Gold (+ 250,000)[14]
USA RIAA 1986 Gold (+ 500,000)[3]
France SNEP 1993 Gold (+ 100,000)[15]

References

  1. ↑ Weber, Barry. "Scorpion Lovedrive review". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2012-09-29. 
  2. ↑ "Allmusic review of the album". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2007-05-18. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 RIAA Gold and Platinum Search for albums by Scorpions. Retrieved on 2011-02-22.
  4. ↑ "Top 25 Metal Albums". IGN. 19 January 2007. Retrieved 2012-09-30. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Jeffrey Easton. "Metal Exiles interview with Klaus Meine'". metalexiles.com. Archived from the original on April 21, 2010. Retrieved April 21, 2010. 
  6. ↑ Palmer, Andrew (1999-12-28). "Rock You Like a Piece of Meat". Village Voice. Retrieved 2008-05-13. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Steven Cerio. "Interview with Storm Thorgerson". Retrieved January 24, 2008. 
  8. ↑ "Album – Scorpions, Lovedrive". Charts.de (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 2012-10-03. 
  9. ↑ "Scorpions - Lovedrive (album)". Swedishcharts.com. Media Control Charts. Retrieved 2012-10-03. 
  10. ↑ "The Official Charts Company - Lovedrive by The Scorpions Search". The Official Charts Company. 6 May 2013. 
  11. ↑ "Lovedrive Billboard Albums". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2012-10-03. 
  12. ↑ "Scorpions - Is There Anybody There/Another Piece Of Meat Chart Stats". Chart Archive.org. Retrieved 2012-10-03. 
  13. ↑ "Scorpions - Lovedrive Chart Stats". Chart Archive.org. Retrieved 2012-10-03. 
  14. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Scorpions)" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 2011-02-22. 
  15. ↑ "Les Certifications depuis 1973 : search for Scorpions" (in French). Infodisc.fr. Retrieved 2012-10-27. 
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