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{{Infobox Album | <!-- See Misplaced Pages:WikiProject_Albums -->
| Name = Virgin Killer
| Type = Studio album
| Artist = ]
| Cover = Virgin Killer.jpg
| Caption = The controversial original album cover. The shattered glass effect is part of the image.
| Released = 1976
| Recorded = 1976
| Genre = ], ]
| Length = 34:45
| Label = ], ] <small>(reissue)</small>
| Producer = ]
| Reviews =
*] {{Rating|4|5}}
| Last album = '']''<br />(1975)
| This album = '''''Virgin Killer'''''<br />(1976)
| Next album = '']''<br />(1977)
| Misc = {{Extra album cover 2
| Upper caption = Alternate cover
| Type = Studio
| Cover = Virgin Killer alternate cover.jpg
| Lower caption = The replacement cover released in some countries.
}}
}}

'''''Virgin Killer''''' is the fourth studio album by the ] ] band ]. It was released in 1976, and was the first album of the band to attract attention outside Europe.<ref name="twp">{{Citation | last = Yasui | first = Todd Allan| title = The Sign of the Scorpions; The West German Metal Meisters' Tour de Force | newspaper = ] | pages = F3 | year = 1988 | date = Aug 30 1988}}</ref> The original cover, featuring a naked prepubescent girl, stirred controversy in the United States and elsewhere. It was subsequently reissued with a different cover.

{{toclimit|limit=2}}
== Reception ==

''Virgin Killer'' shared the same fate as the other Scorpions albums featuring lead guitarist ]: it "failed to attain any serious attention in the United States" but was "quite popular in Japan"<ref>{{cite web |author=Weber, Barry |title=Scorpions |url=http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:3ifuxqr5ldke~T1 |publisher=] |accessmonthday=May 12 |accessyear=2008}}</ref> where it peaked at number 32 in the charts.<ref>{{cite web |author=Sharpe-Young, Garry |title=Scorpions discography |url=http://www.rockdetector.com/discography,7799.sm |publisher=] |accessmonthday=May 12 |accessyear=2008}}</ref> The album was another step in the band's shift from ] to ].<ref name="Buck">{{cite book |last=Berelian |first=Essi |editor=Buckley, Peter & Buckley, Jonathan (eds.) |title=The Rough Guide to Rock |publisher=Rough Guides |date=2003 |location=London |page=909 |isbn=1843531054}}</ref> Critic Vincent Jeffries of ] contends in hindsight that the album was "the first of four studio releases that really defined the Scorpions and their urgent metallic sound that was to become highly influential."<ref>{{cite web |author=Jeffries, Vincent |title=''Virgin Killer'' review |url=http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:w9fqxqy5ldae |publisher=] |accessmonthday=May 12 |accessyear=2008}}</ref> He also counts the title track and "Pictured Life" among the "all-time Scorpions standouts." Among the band members, Uli Jon Roth considers ''Virgin Killer'' and the previous release '']'' as his favourite Scorpion albums.<ref name="RothRules"/>

== Cover art ==

The original cover art for the album depicted a naked ] girl. The image was designed by ],<ref>{{cite web |title=Das Rock Hard-Magazin feiert 250. Ausgabe im Großformat {{De icon}} |url=http://www.dpv.de/network/html/1585/rock_hardmagazin_feiert_250_ausgabe.html |publisher=Dpv.de |date=] |accessdate=2008-05-12}}</ref> who was then the product manager for ].<ref name="RothRules">{{cite web |author=Syrjälä, Marko |title=Interview with Uli Jon Roth |url=http://www.metal-rules.com/zine/content/view/748/0/ |publisher=Metal-rules.com |accessmonthday=May 12 |accessyear=2008}}</ref> ] was the bassist for the band and, in an interview conducted in early 2007, recollects that the model depicted on the cover was either the daughter or the ] of "the guy who did the cover design."<ref>{{cite web |author=Syrjälä, Marko |title=Interview with Francis Buchholz |url=http://www.metal-rules.com/zine/content/view/791/ |publisher=Metal-rules.com |accessmonthday=May 12 |accessyear=2008}}</ref> The photograph was taken by Michael von Gimbut.<ref>{{cite album-notes |title= |albumlink= |bandname=Scorpions |year=2000 |notestitle= |url= |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |pages= |format= |publisher=Axe Killer Music |publisherid=3056462 |location=France |mbid=}}</ref> The band's rhythm guitarist ] offers the following description of the circumstances behind the album cover.

{{cquote|We didn't actually have the idea. It was the record company. The record company guys were like, 'Even if we have to go to jail, there's no question that we'll release that.' On the song 'Virgin Killer', time is the virgin killer. But then, when we had to do the interviews about it, we said 'Look, listen to the lyrics and then you'll know what we're talking about. We're using this only to get attention. That's what we do.' Even the girl, when we met her fifteen years later, had no problem with the cover. Growing up in Europe, sexuality, of course not with children, was very normal. The lyrics really say it all. Time is the virgin killer. A kid comes into the world very naive, they lose that naiveness and then go into this life losing all of this getting into trouble. That was the basic idea about all of it.<ref>{{cite web |title=Scorpions Guitarist: We Wanted To 'Make A Masterpiece For Our Own History' |url=http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/BlabberMouth.Net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=82038 |publisher=] |date=] |accessdate=2008-05-12}}</ref>}}

In a separate interview, Schenker also notes that he thought the cover art was a "great thing" and that he had "pushed the band to really stay behind it" as he felt that people would "think differently" when they looked at the lyrics and realized that the cover art was only being used as "a symbol of the lyrics."<ref>{{cite web |author=Trunk, Russell A. |title=Scorpions: Yet Another Sting In The Tale! |url=http://www.annecarlini.com/ex_interviews.php?id=805 |publisher=Annecarlini.com |accessmonthday=May 12 |accessyear=2008}}</ref> The band's former lead guitarist ] notes that the cover art of the "old Scorpion albums" were "usually done by other people."<ref name="RothRules"/> He has since expressed regret over the original album cover.

{{cquote|Looking at that picture today makes me ]. It was done in the worst possible taste. Back then I was too immature to see that. Shame on me — I should have done everything in my power to stop it. The record company came up with the idea, I think. The lyrics incidentally were a take-off on ], whom we had just supported on a tour. I was fooling around and played the riff of the song in the rehearsal room and spontaneously improvised 'cause he's a virgin killer!' trying to do a more or less way-off-the-mark ] impersonation. ] immediately said 'that's great! You should do something with it.' Then I had the unenviable task of constructing a meaningful set of lyrics around the title, which I actually managed to do to some degree. But the song has a totally different meaning from what people would assume at first. Virgin Killer is none other than the demon of our time, the less compassionate side of the societies we live in today — brutally trampling upon the heart and soul of innocence.<ref>{{cite web |title=Uli Jon Roth Says 'Virgin Killer' Album Cover Makes Him Cringe |url=http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=50508 |publisher=] |date=] |accessdate=2008-05-12}}</ref>}}

The cover generated ] and was replaced in some countries with an alternate cover art depicting the band members.<ref name="Buck"/> It would not be the last time that the band attracted controversy with their album covers. Their next album '']'' originally featured cover art that depicted "children playing with guns at a military cemetery in France and some people found that offensive."<ref name="RothRules"/> Their 1979 album '']'' featured a "bizarre artwork" that depicts "a woman on the back seat of a car with bubblegum over her breast."<ref name="Buck"/> Both covers were replaced by an alternate design.<ref name="VV">{{cite web |author=Palmer, Andrew |title=Rock You Like a Piece of Meat |url=http://www.villagevoice.com/music/9951,218547,11369,22.html |date=] |publisher=] |accessdate=2008-05-13}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Weber, Barry |title=Scorpions |url=http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:3ifuxqr5ldke~T1 |publisher=] |accessmonthday=May 13 |accessyear=2008}}</ref> Vocalist ] explains that the band's penchant for controversial cover art stems from a desire "to go over the edge" and not "to offend some people or make the headlines that would be stupid."<ref name="twp"/>

==Track listing==
===Side one===
# "Pictured Life" (Meine, Roth, Schenker) – 3:21
# "Catch Your Train" (Meine, Schenker) – 3:32
# "In Your Park" (Meine, Schenker) – 3:39
# "Backstage Queen" (Meine, Schenker) – 3:10
# "Virgin Killer" (Roth) – 3:41
===Side two===
# "Hell Cat" (Roth) – 2:54
# "Crying Days" (Meine, Schenker) – 4:36
# "Polar Nights" (Roth) – 5:04
# "Yellow Raven" (Roth) – 4:58

==Credits==
*] – ]
*] – ], ] on "Hell-Cat" and "Polar Nights"
*] – ], ]
*] – ], ]
*] – ], ]
*] – ], ]
*] – ], ]

== Covered songs ==

* "Pictured Life" was covered by the ] ] band ] on their debut album '']'' in 2002.<ref>{{cite web |author=Siva, Shan |title=Interview with Gus G. of Firewind |url=http://www.battlehelm.com/interviews/firewind.htm |publisher=Battlehelm.com |accessmonthday=May 12 |accessyear=2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=''Between Heaven and Hell'' |url=http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:gifexqqaldhe |publisher=] |accessmonthday=May 12 |accessyear=2008}}</ref>
* "Crying Days" was covered by ] ] band ] as a bonus track on their 2001 album '']''.<ref>{{cite web |author=Alexander Melzer |title=''Secret of the Runes'' review |url=http://www.metal-observer.com/articles.php?lid=1&sid=1&id=470 |publisher=Metal-observer.com |accessmonthday=May 12 |accessyear=2008}}</ref>
* "Polar Nights" was also covered by Therion on the various artist compilation ''A Tribute to the Scorpions''.<ref>{{cite web |author=Mezzera, Riccardo |title=''A Tribute to the Scorpions'' review {{it icon}} |url=http://www.truemetal.it/reviews.php?op=albumreview&id=1774 |publisher=Truemetal.it |accessmonthday=May 12 |accessyear=2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=''A Tribute to the Scorpions'' |url=http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:j9fyxqr0ldhe |publisher=] |accessmonthday=May 12 |accessyear=2008}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
*

{{Scorpions}}

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Revision as of 18:17, 28 November 2008