Lovedrive

Lovedrive
Studio album by Scorpions
Released January 15, 1979
Recorded Dierks Studios, Cologne, Germany, September–December 1978
Genre Hard rock, Heavy Metal
Length 36:30
Label Harvest/EMI (Europe)
Mercury (US)
Producer Dieter Dierks
Scorpions chronology
Tokyo Tapes (live)
(1978)		 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
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Forces Parallèles[2]

Lovedrive is the sixth studio album by the German band Scorpions, released in 1979. Considered by some critics to be the pinnacle of their career,[3] Lovedrive was a major evolution of the band's sound, exhibiting their "classic style" that would be later developed over their next few albums. Lovedrive cemented the "Scorpions formula" of hard rock songs combined with melodic ballads.

Lovedrive was the band’s first album to be released by Harvest/EMI following the band's departure from label RCA, and proved a major commercial breakthrough, reaching number 55 on the Billboard Top 200, which none of their previous five albums had dented at all. The RIAA certified the record as Gold on 28 May 1986,[4] and the album also proved a breakthrough in the UK where it was the first Scorpions album to chart and peaked at number 36.[5]

Lovedrive ranked 25 on IGN's 2007 list of the top 25 metal albums.[6]

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 lead guitars on "Loving You Sunday Morning",[7] "Another Piece Of Meat," "Coast To Coast" , "Holiday"[8] and "Lovedrive." At the beginning of their German tour in February 1979 it was announced that Michael had rejoined the band. Scorpions reluctantly parted with Matthias Jabs. However, two months later, in April, whilst the band was touring in France, Michael quit and this led to Jabs' immediate return.

Cover art

The cover depicted a well dressed man and woman (which vaguely resemble the fictional characters Lucy and Ricky Ricardo) 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 left breast 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,[9] with later pressings of the album bearing a simple design of a blue scorpion on a black background.[10][11] The album's artwork was named "Best album sleeve of 1979" by Playboy magazine.

Recalling the cover photo with the woman 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."[11]

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."[9]

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"  R. Schenker, Rarebell 3:30
3. "Always Somewhere"  R. Schenker, Meine 4:56
4. "Coast to Coast"  R. Schenker 4:42
Side two
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
5. "Can't Get Enough"  R. Schenker, Meine 2:36
6. "Is There Anybody There?"  R. Schenker, Meine, Rarebell 3:58
7. "Lovedrive"  R. Schenker, Meine 4:49
8. "Holiday"  R. Schenker, Meine 6:32

Personnel

Band members
Production

Charts

Album

Year Chart Position
1979 German Albums Chart[12] 11
Swedish Albums Chart[13] 32
UK Albums Chart[14] 36
Billboard 200 (North America)[15] 55

Singles

Year Title Chart Position
1979 "Is There Anybody There / Another Piece of Meat"[16] UK Singles Chart 39
"Lovedrive"[17] 69

Certifications

Country Organization Year Sales
Germany BVMI 1984 Gold (+ 250,000)[18]
USA RIAA 1986 Gold (+ 500,000)[4]
France SNEP 1993 Gold (+ 100,000)[19]

References

  1. ↑ Weber, Barry. "Scorpion Lovedrive review". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2012-09-29.
  2. ↑ Gaguet, Guillaume. "Scorpion Lovedrive review". Forces Parallèles. Forces Parallèles. Retrieved 2014-10-28.
  3. ↑ "Allmusic review of the album". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2007-05-18.
  4. 1 2 RIAA Gold and Platinum Search for albums by Scorpions. Retrieved on 2011-02-22.
  5. ↑ UK Album Charts: Scorpions
  6. ↑ "Top 25 Metal Albums". IGN. 19 January 2007. Retrieved 2012-09-30.
  7. ↑ <https://books.google.com.sg/books?id=jReaBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA44&lpg=PA44&dq=michael+schenker+plays+on+loving+you+sunday&source=bl&ots=kW-oJgqia1&sig=zYN5fCk4jDrKoDm8vcHqcc_9EZw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwij4ve20rrLAhXPJI4KHSMwAqoQ6AEIPTAG#v=onepage&q=michael%20schenker%20plays%20on%20loving%20you%20sunday&f=false>
  8. ↑ <"http://www.skylight.gr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5944:michael-schenker-comments-on-the-lovedrive-album&catid=48:music-news&Itemid=18">
  9. 1 2 Jeffrey Easton. "Metal Exiles interview with Klaus Meine'". metalexiles.com. Archived from the original on April 21, 2010. Retrieved April 21, 2010.
  10. ↑ Palmer, Andrew (1999-12-28). "Rock You Like a Piece of Meat". Village Voice. Retrieved 2008-05-13.
  11. 1 2 Steven Cerio. "Interview with Storm Thorgerson". Retrieved January 24, 2008.
  12. ↑ "Album – Scorpions, Lovedrive". Charts.de (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 2012-10-03.
  13. ↑ "Scorpions - Lovedrive (album)". Swedishcharts.com. Media Control Charts. Retrieved 2012-10-03.
  14. ↑ "The Official Charts Company - Lovedrive by The Scorpions Search". The Official Charts Company. 6 May 2013.
  15. ↑ "Lovedrive Billboard Albums". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2012-10-03.
  16. ↑ "Scorpions - Is There Anybody There/Another Piece Of Meat Chart Stats". Chart Archive.org. Retrieved 2012-10-03.
  17. ↑ "Scorpions - Lovedrive Chart Stats". Chart Archive.org. Retrieved 2012-10-03.
  18. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Scorpions)" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 2011-02-22.
  19. ↑ "Les Certifications depuis 1973 : search for Scorpions" (in French). Infodisc.fr. Retrieved 2012-10-27.
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