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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
ReleasedMarch 1984
Recorded1983–1984
StudioDierks Studios, Stommeln, West Germany
Genre
Length40:55
LabelHarvest/EMI (Europe)
Mercury (US)
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: February 1984
  2. "Still Loving You"
    Released: June 1984 (US)
  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
AllMusic
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal7/10
Forces Parallèles
Rock Hard7.5/10
Rolling Stone

Love at First Sting is the ninth studio album by German rock band Scorpions. It was released in March 1984 on Harvest/EMI in Europe and Mercury in the US. 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, hard rock, and glam metal.

Background and recording

The album was recorded in 1983 and 1984 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. 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 "Rock You Like a Hurricane" reached number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the same year; "Still Loving You" 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. 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.

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