Lovedrive

Lovedrive is the sixth studio album by German band Scorpions, released in 1979. Considered by some critics to be the pinnacle of their career,[1] 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
Cover art by Hipgnosis
Studio album by
Scorpions
ReleasedFebruary 1979
RecordedSeptember–December 1978[1]
StudioDierks Studios, Stommeln, West Germany
GenreHard rock, heavy metal
Length36:49
LabelHarvest (Europe)
Mercury (US, Canada)
ProducerDieter Dierks
Scorpions chronology
Taken by Force
(1977)		 Lovedrive
(1979)		 Animal Magnetism
(1980)
Michael Schenker chronology
Strangers in the Night
(1979)		 Lovedrive
(1979)		 The Michael Schenker Group
(1980)
Singles from Lovedrive
  1. "Loving You Sunday Morning"
    Released: March 1979 (US)[2]
  2. "Is There Anybody There?"
    Released: May 1979 (UK)
  3. "Lovedrive"
    Released: August 1979 (UK)
  4. "Another Piece of Meat"
    Released: 1979 (Ger.)
  5. "Holiday"
    Released: 1979 (US)
Alternative cover
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Forces Parallèles[3]
Classic Rock[4]

Lovedrive was the band’s first album to be released by Harvest Records in Europe and Mercury Records in the United States and Canada following the band's departure from RCA. It proved to be a major commercial breakthrough, reaching No. 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,[5] and the album also proved a breakthrough in the United Kingdom where it was the first Scorpions album to chart and peaked at No. 36.[6]

Lovedrive ranked No. 25 on IGN's 2007 list of the Top 25 metal albums.[7]

Line-up changes

This is the first album to feature Matthias Jabs on lead guitar, and thus 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, had just split from UFO. He recorded lead guitars on "Another Piece of Meat", "Coast to Coast", "Holiday", "Loving You Sunday Morning" and "Lovedrive".[8][9][10][11] At the beginning of the Scorpions' German tour in February 1979, Michael rejoined the band and the group reluctantly parted ways with Matthias Jabs. However, in April 1979 while the band was touring in France, Michael quit, which led to Jabs' immediate return after intense negotiations.

Artwork

The original album cover depicted a well dressed man and woman seated in the back of a car, with the woman's right breast 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 with the woman's left breast completely exposed without any gum. It was created by Storm Thorgerson of the design firm Hipgnosis. It caused some controversy in the US upon the album's release,[12] with later pressings of the album bearing a simple design of a blue scorpion on a black background.[13][14] The original uncensored art was restored for the remaster series.

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."[14]

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 '80s 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."[12]

Track listing
Side one
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Loving You Sunday Morning"Klaus Meine, Herman RarebellRudolf Schenker5:36
2."Another Piece of Meat"RarebellRarebell, M. Schenker, R. Schenker3:30
3."Always Somewhere"MeineSchenker4:56
4."Coast to Coast" (instrumental) M. Schenker, R. Schenker4:42
Side two
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
5."Can't Get Enough"MeineSchenker2:36
6."Is There Anybody There?"Meine, RarebellSchenker3:58
7."Lovedrive"MeineM. Schenker, R. Schenker4:49
8."Holiday"MeineM. Schenker, R. Schenker6:32
2015 Bonus tracks (50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
9."'Cause I Love You" (demo version)MeineSchenker4:31
10."Holiday" (demo version)MeineM. Schenker, R. Schenker9:34


2015 Bonus DVD: Live in Japan 1979 / Documentary (50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Intro"  0:50
2."We'll Burn the Sky"Monika DannemannSchenker7:27
3."Lovedrive"MeineM. Schenker, R. Schenker4:48
4."Life's Like a River"Corina FortmannUlrich Roth, Schenker4:04
5."Fly to the Rainbow"RothMichael Schenker, Roth2:28
6."Is There Anybody There?"  4:07
7."Another Piece of Meat"RarebellM. Schenker, R. Schenker3:15
8."Can't Get Enough"  6:23
9."Kōjō no Tsuki"Bansui DoiRentarō Taki, arranged by Scorpions3:09
10."Documentary: The Story of Lovedrive" (Interviews with Klaus Meine, Rudolf Schenker, Matthias Jabs and Herman Rarebell)  46:57

Personnel

Scorpions

Additional personnel

Production

  • Dieter Dierks – producer, engineer, mixing
  • Steve Fallone – mastering

Charts

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
France (SNEP)[21] 2× Gold 200,000*
Germany (BVMI)[22] Gold 250,000^
United States (RIAA)[23] Gold 500,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. Weber, Barry. "Scorpion - Lovedrive review". AllMusic. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  2. Strong, Martin Charles (1995). The Great Rock Discography. p. 721. ISBN 9780862415419.
  3. Gaguet, Guillaume. "Scorpion Lovedrive review". Forces Parallèles. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  4. "Scorpions: Lovedrive - Album Of The Week Club Review". 21 January 2019. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  5. "Scorpions Gold and Platinum Awards". RIAA. Retrieved 27 May 2017.
  6. "Scorpions Official Charts". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  7. "Top 25 Metal Albums". IGN. 19 January 2007. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
  8. Toney, Michael (9 May 2012). Tales from the Stage, Volume 1. Lulu.com. ISBN 9781105726569. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
  9. "Michael Schenker comments on the Lovedrive album". www.skylight.gr. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
  10. "Michael Schenker Sets Record Straight Regarding His Involvement With Scorpions' 'Lovedrive' Album". Blabbermouth.net. 6 November 2019. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  11. "Classics Track-By-Track: Lovedrive". Sentinel Daily. 26 January 2021. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  12. Jeffrey Easton. "Metal Exiles interview with Klaus Meine'". metalexiles.com. Archived from the original on 21 April 2010. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
  13. Palmer, Andrew (28 December 1999). "Rock You Like a Piece of Meat". Village Voice. Retrieved 13 May 2008.
  14. Steven Cerio. "Interview with Storm Thorgerson". Archived from the original on 6 February 2012. Retrieved 24 January 2008.
  15. "Le Détail des Albums de chaque Artiste – S". Infodisc.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 22 October 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2012. Select Scorpions from the menu, then press OK.
  16. "Offiziellecharts.de – Scorpions – Lovedrive" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  17. Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  18. "Swedishcharts.com – Scorpions – Lovedrive". Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  19. "Scorpions | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  20. "Scorpions Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  21. "French album certifications – Scorpions – Lovedrive" (in French). InfoDisc. Retrieved 13 January 2022. Select SCORPIONS and click OK. 
  22. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Scorpions; 'Lovedrive')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
  23. "American album certifications – Scorpions – Lovedrive". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
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