Love at First Sting

Occupation

• Vocals: Klaus Meine
• Guitar: Rudolf Schenker
• Guitar: Matthias Jabs
• Bass: Francis Buchholz
• Drums: Herman Rare Bell

Love at First Sting (English for " love at first sting " ) is the ninth studio album by the German hard rock band Scorpions. It was released in May 1984 and was the most successful in the U.S. album of the group. It includes songs like Bad Boys Running Wild Rock You Like a Hurricane, Coming Home, Big City Nights and Still Loving You.

• 2.1 Bad Boys Running Wild
• 2.2 Rock You Like a Hurricane
• 2.3 I'm Leaving You
• 2.4 Coming Home
• 2.5 The Same Thrill
• 2.6 Big City Nights
• 2.7 As Soon as the Good Times Roll
• 2.8 Crossfire
• 2.9 Still Loving You
• 2:10 singles

• 3.1 criticism
• 3.2 Commercial success

Background

Production

In the early summer of 1983, the Scorpions went with her producer Dieter Dierks, first to Stockholm in the Polar Studios to record the album. According to guitarist Rudolf Schenker, from the beginning to the target to surpass the great success of the previous album Blackout. But in production, there were disagreements between Dierks and the band, especially with drummer Herman Rare Bell and bassist Francis Buchholz. Once in Sweden, neither the desired guitar sound or the desired atmosphere could be achieved within the band, work in Sweden was terminated without result. The album was then, as already recorded most of the previous albums of the band, in Dierks Studio near Cologne in Stommeln.

Music and lyrics

The songs make stylistically heavily on the previous blackout. Only the guitar sound has evolved even further for the nine songs. The songs are musically not as hard as the majority of his predecessor. For all instrumentation of the songs Rudolf Schenker was responsible, while Klaus Meine all texts to the arrangements written in the first two songs ( Bad Boys Running Wild and Rock You Like a Hurricane ) with the support of Herman Rare Bell. The Scorpions sing on Love at First Sting nightlife ( Bad Boys Running Wild, Big City Nights ), life on the road (Coming Home), the attachment to the rock music ( Rock You Like a Hurricane, The Same Thrill ) and also the love ( I'm Leaving You, Still Loving You).

Album Cover

Decorated in black and white original cover of the album, which was photographed by Helmut Newton, shows a couple in an embrace in which the man tattooed the woman. This cover was in the U.S. replaced by a Newton also photographed in black and white band photo because it was there considered to be too suggestive.

Tour

The Love -at -First Sting World Tour began on 23 January 1984 with a concert in Birmingham, UK, and once went around the world to the appearance before 15,000 fans at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo on February 7, 1985. Among the concerts in 1984 were 2.2 million visitors.

In the U.S., the band released within about four months ( March to July 1984), well over eighty concerts and played in the biggest halls. For example, attracted some 60,000 visitors to the three concerts that took place at Madison Square Garden in New York. In Chicago, they gave three concerts at the Rosemont Horizon, and two concerts at the Forum in Los Angeles viewers before each 16,000. The band Bon Jovi played at most of the concerts in the United States as the opening act.

In Europe, they met twice at the Hammersmith Odeon in London, in Paris at the Palais Omnisports de Paris -Bercy in front of 15,500 spectators and in Munich's Olympiahalle before 12,000 visitors, each with Joan Jett in the opening act. In Japan, the Scorpions made ​​jointly with Whitesnake, Bon Jovi and MSG as a stadium tour. In January 1985, she appeared at the Rock -in- Rio festival in front of 470,000 fans as headliners.

Content and Title List

Bad Boys Running Wild

The first track of the album begins with a short guitar intro by Matthias Jabs, followed by the guitar by Rudolf Schenker, the drums of Rare Herman Bell and the bass of Francis Buchholz. The song describes the power of a group of " bad guys " ( bad boys ), the " out on the streets " run around and " be wild" ( running wild ), if you do not play along with their games ( if you do not play along with Their games), and which one should better go out of the way ( and you better get out of Their way).

Rock You Like a Hurricane

→ see also Main article: Rock You Like a Hurricane

Rock You Like a Hurricane is one of the most successful Scorpions songs. It was the third single from the album and peaked in the United States ranked 25th, the UK 78th and France 17th place The song is about the morning after a long concert night (It's early morning, the sun comes out, last night was shaking and pretty loud ) and the continuous life on tour, because the narrator is always in the evening must return to the stage to perform.

I'm Leaving You

The slower tracks I'm Leaving You, to which the band turned a music video without a single release, is about a man who has to tell his wife that he is leaving ( I'm leaving you). However, this does not mean separation, but only the obligation of the man in the evening to go to work. He asks his wife not to be sad (you shouldn't feel so blue) and that she should have him in their thoughts until he comes back to her ( keep me in your mind till I come back to love ya ).

Coming Home

Coming Home was the last single from the album, the song is about life on tour. The piece begins with a quiet guitar riff. First, the morning is described on the day of a concert (Every morning when i wake up yawning I'm still far away ) on which the trucks to the scene of ride (trucks quietly rolling through the early morning to the place we play) and the band already dreaming to go on stage ( dream we're going out on stage ) to feel like home (it feels like coming home ). It follows the rocking part of the song with the concert appearance, during which singer Klaus Meine the audience gives instructions like " Jump on the seats, stretched out his hands in the air, give me a shout, let me introduce you out there listening " ( Jump on the seats, put your hands in the air, give me a shout, let me hear you out there ). My commented on the song in Metal Hammer: "When we come back from a tour of America, the song Coming Home, of course, Germany has a very deep meaning. But for us, this means that the stage in every city in which we play is our home. Whether in Paris, San Antonio, Texas or Hanover. "

The Same Thrill

This song is rarely played at concerts and was otherwise taken into account in any project and on any compilation of the band. It is about the career decision for the Rock ' n' Roll. So My recalls in the song to his teacher, who asked him what he wanted to do in the future (I remember when my teacher said: "? How you wanna make your life" ), and he replied: "I can play guitar " (I can play guitar ). He opted for the rock music because there was no other profession that could give him the same thrill as the Rock ' n ' Roll (to get the same thrill like rock 'n ' roll ).

Big City Nights

Big City Nights heard as the second single from the album of the best known songs of the group. It reached the top 76 of the charts in the UK. In the song it comes to big city nights ( big city nights ) and a man looking for a woman ( there's no girl that's burning the ice away from my heart ). Published in 1998 a compilation of the Scorpions, which was titled with Big City Nights.

As Soon as the Good Times Roll

In this song the love is used for rock music in order not to let it get the hard everyday life. Core message of the song is that you should let it get nothing and with rock music ever again to get the drive to life, because the bad times go when the good times come ( hard times go as soon as the good times roll ).

Crossfire

Here we find the only political song of the band on this album. It's about a young man who suddenly finds himself along with other soldiers in the war. He wonders why politicians can not understand that no one will survive (that no one will survive ) and why people are forced into this situation that does not want to fight ( we do not wanna fight ) and love life ( we love our life).

Still Loving You

As a conclusion follows a ballad, which appeared as the first single from the album. The song composed by Rudolf Schenker his own words already in 1976. Greatest success eventually hit in Switzerland, where the song could penetrate up to # 3 and in France with 2nd place 1992 a remix album, which was named after this song and also a remix of the same includes. Still Loving You is about the heartbreak of a man who, despite the separation of his wife still in love with this. He wants to start with her ​​again from scratch (If we'd go again all the way from the start) so that it can correct the mistakes he has made before ( I would try to change things did killed our love).

Singles

The first single from the album was the ballad Still Loving You, which has positioned itself in Germany at number 14 and thus to the wind of change and Send Me An Angel is the most successful single of the band in their home country. In Switzerland there was a placement at No. 3 In France, the single was sold about 1.7 million copies, making it one until today the best-selling singles in the country. On the B - side of the single, the song was from the album Love Holiday Drive. Further singles followed to Big City Nights with Bad Boys Running Wild as a B- side, Rock You Like a Hurricane with Coming Home, and another single, in the latter the A-side and Rock You Like a Hurricane took the B-side.

Reception

Criticism

• The skirt Guide wrote about the album: "Due to the great combination of excellent music and talented singing is Love at First Sting undoubtedly one of the best albums that have the Scorpions ever released Some even hold the work for one of the best releases of the entire decade.. "

• Uwe Lerch of the magazine Rock Hard rated the album with the words: " Not really convinced me the latest work of the Hanoverian Compared to the previous album Blackout is the new disc more Americanized and aims well back to precious metal in the States .. from. Overall .. the typical Scorpions sound Who groups like Def Leppard or Heavy Pettin is represented on Love at First Sting, but sounds much more rounded than the previous discs. dropped can access here. 7.5 Only one. "

• Christof glue wrote in 2009 in Scene magazine Metal Hammer, the album was indeed " smooth as a blackout, but with untrügerischem flair for catchy songs and great melodies. " Furthermore, he praises it as "exceptional album ."

Commercial success

However until 1986, the album went according to a report in the youth magazine Bravo in the U.S., about 4.5 million times over the counter. Accordingly, it is the best selling album in the United States the group to this day. Worldwide, the album has been to 2001, more than 6 million copies. The album was recorded in the USA on the launch day due to 600,000 pre-orders in gold and platinum and debuted at # 6 on the Billboard 200, where it was listed over 60 weeks. A few months later it reached there multi-platinum and triple platinum in June 1995. In Germany, the album was certified gold and reached there as well at # 6 on the charts. In addition, Love at First Sting placed at number 19 in Austria and in Switzerland at position 9