''Face the Heat'' is the twelfth studio

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

released by the German

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

band

Scorpions Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always end ...

in 1993. It was produced by the band and the late

Bruce Fairbairn Bruce Earl Fairbairn (December 30, 1949 – May 17, 1999) was a Canadian record producer. He was active as a producer from 1976 to 1999, and is considered one of the best of his era. His most successful productions are ''Slippery When Wet'' an ...

and released on the

Mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

label. This album marked their status as a sort of political band with the song "Alien Nation", which was about the

re-unification of Germany German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...

. This album had a contemporary touch to it, as the band were then going with the current trends, before later returning to their original style in ''

Unbreakable Unbreakable may refer to: * '' Unbreakable: My Story, My Way'', a book written by Jenni Rivera * Unbreakable (horse) (1935–1962), a Thoroughbred racehorse and sire Film and television * ''Unbreakable'' (film series), a trilogy directed by M ...

'' in 2004. This is the last album to feature drummer

Herman Rarebell Herman Rarebell (born 18 November 1949 as Hermann Josef Erbel) is a German musician, best known as the drummer for the hard rock band Scorpions from 1977 to 1995, during which time he played on eight studio albums. Aside from playing drums, Rare ...

, and the first with Ralph Rieckermann on bass guitar. "Under the Same Sun" was played during the ending credits of the 1994 film ''

On Deadly Ground ''On Deadly Ground'' is a 1994 American environmental action adventure film directed, co-produced by, and starring Steven Seagal, and co-starring Michael Caine, Joan Chen, John C. McGinley and R. Lee Ermey. It is Seagal's only directorial effort ...

''. "Alien Nation" was

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

by the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

heavy metal band

Mastercastle Mastercastle is a heavy metal band formed in 2008 in Italy by the guitar player Pier Gonella and the singer Giorgia Gueglio. History Mastercastle was founded in January 2008 by the guitar player Pier Gonella and the singer Giorgia Gueglio. The ...

, recorded by

Pier Gonella Pier Gonella (born Pierangelo Gonella) is an Italian guitarist, composer, arranger, producer and founding member of the heavy metal band Mastercastle and the black metal band Necrodeath. Biography Pier Gonella began playing guitar at the age ...

at MusicArt Studios and released as Japanese bonus track of their album '' The Phoenix''. "Lonely Nights" was later included in the 2017 compilation album '' Born to Touch Your Feelings: Best of Rock Ballads''.

Track listing

Personnel

;Scorpions *

Klaus Meine Klaus Meine (born 25 May 1948) is a German singer and songwriter, best known as the longtime frontman of the hard rock band Scorpions. Meine and guitarist Rudolf Schenker are the only two members of the group to appear on every Scorpions album, ...

– lead vocals, backing vocals, arrangements on "Woman" *

Rudolf Schenker Rudolf Schenker (born 31 August 1948) is a German guitarist and founder of the hard rock band Scorpions. He is the rhythm guitarist, primary songwriter and longest-serving original member of the band. He is also the CEO/owner-manager of the Sco ...

– rhythm guitars,

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in ...

EBow The EBow, short for electronic bow or energy bow, is an electronic device used for playing string instruments, most often the electric guitar. It is manufactured by Heet Sound Products, of Los Angeles, California. It was invented by Greg Heet i ...

, backing vocals *

Matthias Jabs Matthias Jabs (born 25 October 1955) is a German guitarist and songwriter. He is best known for being the lead guitarist in the hard rock band Scorpions. He has played on all but the first five Scorpions studio albums starting with ''Lovedrive ...

– lead guitars,

talk box A talk box (also spelled talkbox and talk-box) is an effects unit that allows musicians to modify the sound of a musical instrument by shaping the frequency content of the sound and to apply speech sounds (in the same way as singing) onto the sou ...

– drums, percussion *Ralph Rieckermann – bass guitar ;Additional musicians *

John Webster John Webster (c. 1580 – c. 1632) was an English Jacobean dramatist best known for his tragedies '' The White Devil'' and ''The Duchess of Malfi'', which are often seen as masterpieces of the early 17th-century English stage. His life and car ...

– keyboards *Luke Herzog – additional keyboards on "Woman" and "Lonely Nights", arrangements on "Woman" *

Helen Donath Helen Jeanette Donath (née Erwin; born July 10, 1940) is an American soprano with a career spanning fifty years. Biography She was born in Corpus Christi, Texas and studied there at Del Mar College. Later she studied in New York with Paola Nov ...

– opera voice on "Ship of Fools" * Rhian Gittins – girl's voice on "Nightmare Avenue" *

Paul Laine Paul Robert Laine is a Canadian musician. He began his professional career as a solo artist, then was the singer of Danger Danger out of New York for eleven years, then fronted his own band, Shugaazer. Laine now has a band called "Darkhorse, ...

, Mark LaFrance – backing vocals *

, Mark Hudson – backing vocals on "Under the Same Sun" ;Production *Bruce Fairbairn – producer, arrangements with Scorpions *

Erwin Musper Erwin Musper (born 11 December 1948, The Hague) is a Dutch music producer and former keyboardist/singer for Dutch bands Windmill and Partner. Musper is also an internationally acclaimed mixer, producer and engineer of acts such as Anouk, Doe M ...

– engineer, mixing at

Wisseloord Studios The Wisseloord Studio is a recording studio in Hilversum, Netherlands. It was officially opened on 19 January 1978 by Prince Claus of the Netherlands, Prince Claus. The studios were founded by electronics company Philips, to enable their PolyGram ...

, Hilversum, Netherlands *Mike Plotnikoff – engineer *

George Marino George Marino (April 15, 1947 – June 4, 2012) was an American mastering engineer known for working on albums by rock bands starting in the late 1960s. Biography Marino was born on April 15, 1947, in the New York City borough The Bronx. He at ...

– mastering at Sterling Sound, New York *Hubert Kretzschmar – cover photography

Charts

Album

Singles

Certifications and sales

References

{{Authority control 1993 albums Scorpions (band) albums Albums produced by Bruce Fairbairn Mercury Records albums