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
Released	2 January 1979
Recorded	May–August 1978
Studio	Dierks Studios, Stommeln, West Germany
Genre	Hard rock, heavy metal
Length	36:30
Label	Harvest (Europe) Mercury (US, Canada)
Producer	Dieter 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
"Is There Anybody There?" / "Can't Get Enough" Released: 1979 "Is There Anybody There?" / "Another Piece of Meat" Released: May 1979 (UK) "Lovedrive" / "Coast to Coast" Released: August 1979 (UK) "Another Piece of Meat" / "Always Somewhere" Released: March 1979 "Loving You Sunday Morning" / "Coast to Coast" Released: November 1978 "Lovedrive" / "Holiday" Released: 1978
Alternative cover

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Forces Parallèles	[2]
Classic Rock	[3]

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,[4] 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.[5]

Lovedrive ranked No. 25 on IGN's 2007 list of the Top 25 metal albums.[6]

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".[7][8] 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,[9] with later pressings of the album bearing a simple design of a blue scorpion on a black background.[10][11] 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."[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 '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."[9]

Track listing

Side one

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
1.	"Loving You Sunday Morning"	Klaus Meine, Herman Rarebell	Rudolf Schenker	5:36
2.	"Another Piece of Meat"	Rarebell	R. Schenker, Rarebell	3:30
3.	"Always Somewhere"	Meine	R. Schenker	4:56
4.	"Coast to Coast" (instrumental)		Michael Schenker, R. Schenker	4:42

Side two

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
5.	"Can't Get Enough"	Meine	R. Schenker	2:36
6.	"Is There Anybody There?"	Meine, Rarebell	R. Schenker	3:58
7.	"Lovedrive"	Meine	R. Schenker	4:49
8.	"Holiday"	Meine	M. Schenker, R. Schenker	6:32

2015 Bonus tracks (50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
9.	"'Cause I Love You" (demo version)	Meine	R. Schenker	4:31
10.	"Holiday" (demo version)	Meine	M. Schenker, R. Schenker	9:34

2015 Bonus DVD: Live in Japan 1979 / Documentary (50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
1.	"Intro"			0:50
2.	"We'll Burn the Sky"	Monika Dannemann	R. Schenker	7:27
3.	"Lovedrive"			4:48
4.	"Life's Like a River"	Corina Fortmann	Ulrich Roth, R. Schenker	4:04
5.	"Fly to the Rainbow"	U. Roth	M. Schenker, U. Roth	2:28
6.	"Is There Anybody There?"			4:07
7.	"Another Piece of Meat"			3:15
8.	"Can't Get Enough"			6:23
9.	"Kojo No Tsuki"	Rentarō Taki, B. Tsuchii	arranged by Scorpions	3:09
10.	"Documentary: The Story of Lovedrive" (Interviews with Klaus Meine, Rudolf Schenker, Matthias Jabs and Herman Rarebell)			46:57

Personnel

Scorpions

• Klaus Meine – lead vocals
• Rudolf Schenker – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
• Matthias Jabs – lead guitar, backing vocals on 3, 5, 6 & 9
• Francis Buchholz – bass, backing vocals
• Herman Rarebell – drums, backing vocals
• Michael Schenker – lead guitar, backing vocals on 1, 2, 4, 7, 8 & 10

Production

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

Charts

Album Year Chart Position 1979 German Albums Chart[12] 11 Swedish Albums Chart[13] 32 UK Albums Chart[5] 36 Billboard 200 (United States)[14] 55

Singles Year Title Chart Position 1979 "Is There Anybody There / Another Piece of Meat"[5] UK Singles Chart 39 "Lovedrive"[5] 69

Certifications

Country	Organization	Year	Sales
Germany	BVMI	1984	Gold (250,000)[15]
USA	RIAA	1986	Gold (500,000)[4]
France	SNEP	1993	Gold (100,000)[16]

References

1. Weber, Barry. "Scorpion - Lovedrive review". AllMusic. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
2. Gaguet, Guillaume. "Scorpion Lovedrive review". Forces Parallèles. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
3. {{cite web | url = https://www.loudersound.com/reviews/scorpions-lovedrive-album-of-the-week-club-review%7C title = Scorpions: Lovedrive - Album Of The Week Club Review | access-date = 2019-10-15
4. "Scorpions Gold and Platinum Awards". RIAA. Retrieved 27 May 2017.
5. "Scorpions Official Charts". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
6. "Top 25 Metal Albums". IGN. 19 January 2007. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
7. Toney, Michael. Tales from the Stage, Volume 1. Lulu.com. ISBN 9781105726569. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
8. "Michael Schenker comments on the Lovedrive album". www.skylight.gr. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
9. Jeffrey Easton. "Metal Exiles interview with Klaus Meine'". metalexiles.com. Archived from the original on 21 April 2010. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
10. Palmer, Andrew (28 December 1999). "Rock You Like a Piece of Meat". Village Voice. Retrieved 13 May 2008.
11. Steven Cerio. "Interview with Storm Thorgerson". Archived from the original on 6 February 2012. Retrieved 24 January 2008.
12. "Album – Scorpions, Lovedrive". Charts.de (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
13. "Scorpions - Lovedrive (album)". Swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
14. "Lovedrive Billboard Albums". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 25 November 2013. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
15. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Scorpions)" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
16. "Les Certifications depuis 1973 : search for Scorpions" (in French). Infodisc.fr. Archived from the original on 21 June 2010. Retrieved 27 October 2012.