''Love at First Sting'' is the ninth studio album by German

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

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 ...

. It was released on 27 March 1984 on

Harvest Harvesting is the process of gathering a ripe crop from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper. On smaller farms with minimal mechanization, harvesting is the most labor-i ...

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

in Europe and

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 ...

in the US. The album contains "

Rock You Like a Hurricane "Rock You Like a Hurricane" is a song by the German hard rock band Scorpions, considered their signature song. The song was released as the lead single from their ninth studio album, '' Love at First Sting'' (1984). It was written by Klaus Meine, ...

", "

Still Loving You "Still Loving You" is a power ballad by the German hard rock band Scorpions. It was released in June 1984 as the second single from their ninth studio album, ''Love at First Sting'' (1984). The song reached number 64 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 ...

", and " Big City Nights", three of the band's most famous songs.

Background and recording

The album was recorded in 1983 and 1984 at Dierks Studios in

Stommeln Stommeln is a village (''Stadtteil''), part of the town of Pulheim, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It has a population of 8,462 (2021). Geography Stommeln is situated to the north-west of Cologne. Its most recognisable feature is the old m ...

, West Germany. Initial sessions took place in Stockholm's Polar Studios in the Summer of 1983 with ex-

Rainbow A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows c ...

members

Jimmy Bain James Stewart Bain (19 December 1947 – 23 January 2016) was a Scottish musician, best known for playing bass guitar in the bands Rainbow and Dio. He also worked with Kate Bush and Thin Lizzy frontman Phil Lynott, co-writing on his solo alb ...

on bass and

Bobby Rondinelli Robert Rondinelli (born July 27, 1955) is a rock drummer best known for his work with the hard rock/ heavy metal bands Blue Öyster Cult, Rainbow, Quiet Riot, Black Sabbath, The Lizards, The Handful, and Rondinelli. In July 2013, Rondinelli wa ...

on drums, but nothing made it to the final album. ''Love at First Sting'' is notable in that it was one of the first digitally recorded heavy metal records ever released. It became the group's most successful album in the US, where it peaked at number 6 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart in 1984, and went double-platinum by the end of the year, reaching triple-platinum status in 1995. The song "

" reached number 25 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in the same year; "

" reached number 64 on the same chart, number 14 in Germany, and number 3 in the French and Swiss single charts.

Artwork

The original cover art was created by Kochlowski, which is a German graphic design company, and features a photo shot by renowned German photographer

Helmut Newton Helmut Newton (born Helmut Neustädter; 31 October 192023 January 2004) was a German-Australian photographer. The ''New York Times'' described him as a "prolific, widely imitated fashion photographer whose provocative, erotically charged black-a ...

. Despite the record company having shown the original cover art to retailers without any concerns, a complaint by

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

in the US after the album was released resulted in

PolyGram PolyGram N.V. was a multinational entertainment company and major music record label formerly based in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1962 as the Grammophon-Philips Group by Dutch corporation Philips and German corporation Siemens, to be a ...

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 as the one on the inner sleeve.

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 *

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 guitar, lead guitar on 6, 7 & 9, 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 guitar, rhythm guitar on 6, 7 & 9, backing vocals *

Francis Buchholz Francis Buchholz (born 19 February 1954) is a German musician best known as the bass guitarist of German rock band Scorpions from 1973 until 1992. Since leaving Scorpions he has been a member of Michael Schenker's Temple Of Rock. Biography Born ...

– bass,

Moog Taurus The Moog Taurus is a foot-operated analog synthesizer designed and manufactured by Moog Music, originally conceived as a part of the Constellation series of synthesizers. The initial Taurus I was manufactured from 1975 to 1981; a less popular re ...

, backing vocals *

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 ...

– drums, backing vocals ;Production *

Dieter Dierks Dieter Dierks (born 9 February 1943) is a German record producer, sound engineer, music publisher, studio owner and musician. He became well known as producer of the rock band Scorpions who were signed to him between 1975 and 1988. Before that ...

– producer, mixing *Gerd Rautenbach – engineer, mastering *Kochlowski/Missmahl/Pieczulski – cover design

Charts

Album

Singles

Certifications

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Love At First Sting 1984 albums Scorpions (band) albums EMI Records albums Harvest Records albums Mercury Records albums Albums produced by Dieter Dierks Glam metal albums