Love at First Sting

Love at First Sting
A man and a partially nude woman locked in an embrace, with the man giving the woman a tattoo on her thigh.
Cover photo by Helmut Newton
Studio album by
Scorpions
ReleasedFebruary 1984 (1984-02) (US)
Recorded1983[1]
StudiosDierks (Stommeln, West Germany)
Genres
Length40:55
LabelHarvest/EMI
ProducerDieter Dierks
Scorpions chronology
Blackout
(1982)		 Love at First Sting
(1984)		 Savage Amusement
(1988)
Singles from Love at First Sting
  1. "Rock You Like a Hurricane"
    Released: 27th March 1984[2]
  2. "Still Loving You"
    Released: June 1984 (US)[3]
  3. "Big City Nights"
    Released: August 1984 (UK)
  4. "I'm Leaving You"
    Released: November 1984 (US)
Alternate "clean" cover
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusicStarStarStarStarHalf star[4]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal7/10[5]
Forces ParallèlesStarStarStarStar[6]
Rock Hard7.5/10[7]
Rolling StoneStarStarStar[8]

Love at First Sting is the ninth studio album by German hard rock/heavy metal band Scorpions. It was released in February 1984 by Mercury Records in the US[9][10] and in March 1984 by Harvest Records in the UK.[3] The album contains "Rock You Like a Hurricane", "Still Loving You", and "Big City Nights", three of the band's most famous songs.

Music

The album's music has been described as heavy metal,[11] hard rock,[11] and glam metal.[12]

Background and recording

The album was recorded at Dierks Studios in Stommeln, West Germany. Initial sessions took place in Stockholm's Polar Studios in the Summer of 1983 with ex-Rainbow members Jimmy Bain on bass and Bobby Rondinelli on drums, but nothing made it to the final album.[13]

It became the group's most successful album in the US, where it peaked at number 6 on the Billboard 200 chart in 1984,[14] and went double-platinum by the end of the year, reaching triple-platinum status in 1995.[15] The song "Rock You Like a Hurricane" reached number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the same year;[14] "Still Loving You" reached number 64 on the same chart,[14] number 14 in Germany,[16] and number 3 in the French[17] and Swiss[18] 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. Despite the record company having shown the original cover art to retailers without any concerns, a complaint by Walmart in the US after the album was released resulted in PolyGram 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.[19][20][21]

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Klaus Meine except where noted; all music is composed by Rudolf Schenker except where noted.

Side one
No.TitleLyricsLength
1."Bad Boys Running Wild"
3:54
2."Rock You Like a Hurricane"
  • Meine
  • Herman Rarebell
4:11
3."I'm Leaving You" 4:16
4."Coming Home" 4:58
5."The Same Thrill" 3:30
Side two
No.TitleLength
6."Big City Nights"4:08
7."As Soon as the Good Times Roll"5:01
8."Crossfire"4:31
9."Still Loving You"6:26
2015 bonus tracks (50th anniversary deluxe edition)
No.TitleMusicLength
10."Coming Home" (Demo Version) 3:17
11."Living at Night" (Demo Song) 4:14
12."First Sting Jam" (Demo)
1:25
13."Anytime (You Want It)" (Demo Song) 5:16
14."Still Loving You" (Demo Version) 5:46
2015 bonus CD live at Madison Square Garden, New York City, 7 June 1984 (50th anniversary deluxe edition)
No.TitleLength
1."Countdown"1:58
2."Coming Home"3:11
3."Blackout"3:48
4."Bad Boys Running Wild"4:11
5."Loving You Sunday Morning"4:45
6."Big City Nights"5:14
7."Coast to Coast"4:58
8."Still Loving You"5:52
9."Rock You Like a Hurricane"4:20
10."The Zoo"8:05
11."Dynamite"6:41

Personnel

Scorpions

Production

  • Dieter Dierks – producer, mixing
  • Gerd Rautenbach – engineer, mastering
  • Kochlowski/Missmahl/Pieczulski – cover design

Charts

Chart (1984) Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[22]19
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[23]15
Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts)[24] 4
French Albums (SNEP)[25] 4
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[26]6
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[27] 25
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[28]48
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[29]17
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[30]9
UK Albums (Official Charts)[31]17
US Billboard 200[32]6

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[33] 2× Platinum 200,000^
France (SNEP)[34] Platinum 400,000*
Germany (BVMI)[35] Gold 250,000^
Japan (RIAJ)[34] Gold 100,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[34] Gold 25,000^
United States (RIAA)[36] 3× Platinum 3,000,000^

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

References

  1. ↑ Popoff, Martin (2013). "Love at First Sting". Scorpions: Top of the Bill. Toronto, Canada: Power Chord Press. pp. 190–192. ISBN 978-0981105796.
  2. ↑ "News" (PDF). Record Mirror. 21 January 1984. p. 6. Retrieved 21 June 2024 – via World Radio History. The Scorpions bring out a new single 'Rock You Like a Hurricane' on January 30. It comes from an album 'Love at First Sting' which is released a couple of weeks later on February 13. The German heavy metal group start their world tour in Birmingham next week.
  3. 1 2 Strong, Martin Charles (1995). The Great Rock Discography. Canongate Press. p. 721. ISBN 9780862415419.
  4. ↑ Weber, Barry. "Scorpions Love at First Sting review". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  5. ↑ Popoff, Martin (1 November 2005). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 319. ISBN 978-1894959315.
  6. ↑ Gaguet, Guillaume. "Scorpion Love At First Sting review". Forces Parallèles. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  7. ↑ Lerch, Uwe (1984). "Review Album: Scorpions – Love at First Sting". Rock Hard (in German). No. 5. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  8. ↑ Loder, Kurt (26 April 1984). "Album Reviews: Scorpions – Love at First Sting". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 14 October 2007. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  9. ↑ "Off The Beaten Track" (PDF). Radio & Records. No. 515. Los Angeles. 6 January 1984. p. 50. ISSN 0277-4860. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
  10. ↑ Grein, Pau (4 February 1984). "SLOW MONTH: Little Superstar Album Product On Labels' February Schedule" (PDF). Billboard. p. 4. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
  11. 1 2 Rivadavia, Eduardo (27 March 2015). "Top 50 Classic Heavy Metal Albums". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  12. ↑ Popoff, Martin (2014). The big book of hair metal : the illustrated oral history of heavy metal's debauched decade. Minneapolis, MN. pp. 63, 91. ISBN 978-1-62788-375-7. OCLC 891379313.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  13. ↑ "SCORPIONS Guitarist Doesn't Rule Out Recording New Album With MICHAEL SCHENKER, ULI JON ROTH". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. 3 August 2005. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  14. 1 2 3 "Love at First Sting Billboard Albums". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Archived from the original on 25 November 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  15. ↑ "RIAA Searchable Database: search for Scorpions". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  16. ↑ "Single – Scorpions, Still Loving You". Charts.de (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  17. ↑ "Scorpions – Still Loving You (Chanson)". Lescharts.com. Media Control Charts. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  18. ↑ "Scorpions – Still Loving You". Hitparade.ch (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  19. ↑ Jeffrey Easton. "Metal Exiles interview with Klaus Meine'". metalexiles.com. Archived from the original on 21 April 2010. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
  20. ↑ Nuzum, Eric (2001). Parental Advisory: Music Censorship in America. New York City: HarperCollins. pp. 78, 245. ISBN 978-0688167721.
  21. ↑ Nuzum, Eric. "1980's Censorship Incidents". Archived from the original on 5 October 2003. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
  22. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Scorpions – Love at First Sting" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  23. ↑ "Top RPM Albums: Image 6752a". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  24. ↑ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 166. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  25. ↑ "Le Détail des Albums de chaque Artiste – S". Infodisc.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 22 October 2014. Retrieved 25 March 2024. Select Scorpions from the menu, then press OK.
  26. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Scorpions – Love at First Sting" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  27. ↑ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  28. ↑ "Charts.nz – Scorpions – Love at First Sting". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  29. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Scorpions – Love at First Sting". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  30. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Scorpions – Love at First Sting". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  31. ↑ "Official Albums Chart on 18/3/1984 – Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  32. ↑ "Scorpions Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  33. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – Scorpions – Love at First Sting". Music Canada.
  34. 1 2 3 "Scorpions - Love at First Sting" (PDF). Billboard. 27 April 1985. p. 53.
  35. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Scorpions; 'Love at First Sting')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  36. ↑ "American album certifications – Scorpions – Love at First Sting". Recording Industry Association of America.
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