Scorpions - Virgin Killer

Do you own the original German/French/Japanese pressing, with the banned cover of this seminal 70s hard rock album? If you know this record well... you know the banned cover was only released in limited quantities in Germany, Japan, and France. Never quite understood how it worked out to those 3. I find its not quite as shocking / offensive as some other covers out there. How do you think it stacks up against, what I consider to the best part of their career with Uli, Taken by Force, Fly to the Rainbow, and In Trance?

 

It's third place after Trance and Force. Still a rockin' album, Scorps in their prime.

Cover photo shows no nudity, but subliminally implies everything. Clever cover design work.

 

'Clever' isn't the word I would use to describe a very offensive and immature album cover.

 

I play In Trance and even Fly To The Rainbow more often.

 

Tasteful/inspired cover art was never the Scorps forte. Prolly the weakest LP of the Uli Jon era, imho. And i'm a massive fan going back to the early 80's.

 

I do have the banned cover VK. I had the album in my hands when I was a young teen but didn't buy it because I didn't want to upset my mother. She knew I loved guitars and I explained the album cover to her at a later date. She said it sounded 'childish' but it was alright if I got the album. When I went back to the record shop a week or so later it was gone replaced with the band picture cover. Many years later I found a nice copy online of the banned cover and bought it for nostalgic reasons really. It does sound great as do all German pressed early Scorpion albums I have.

On a side note, since tomorrow is Mother's Day in the states. When I bought Lovedrive and the cover was lying around when I was listening to it, and my mother saw it, and just laughed and said 'what is this!?' I explained, same band as other album cover we talked about but this was their new album and I love the guitars. I can't control what they put on their album covers I just like the music. I told her about Schenker/Jabs on lead and not Roth etc. She chuckled and that was that.
Lovedrive cover I always found comical. VK was just kind of rude and tasteless. Even as a kid I thought that and as a dad of two girls now even more so. But, original cover lack of taste aside IMO , it is a great album.

 

I have the French two-few LP set of In Trance / VK which uses both banned covers on one sweet package .

At least I think it's those two, because I seem to recall Fly to the Rainbow in the collection as well and from a two-fer.

 

Terrible exploititive cover IMO.

 

The cover, and album title, are despicable. But then, like a number of male rock bands, The Scorpions were always no-mark nitwits.

 

I have that but it's FTTR on the flip side. In Trance is my go to Scorps album. I'm quite happy to not have the original VK cover. Great album though.

 

Funny because the Blind Faith cover never hit me as tasteless. Although unusual. Just artsy stuff. In contrast, the VK title (regardless of what the band says the song is about), photo, and implied meaning ..... plus the broken glass, was clearly wrong. It all comes together in a tasteless mess.

 

Love this album and can't really see what the big deal is over the cover art. In my opinion the best studio album of the Uli years.

 

My favorite Scorpions album. Never had the banned cover, nor paid much attention to the controversy surrounding it...the music is fantastic.

 

But the comment was about just the design itself, not the content...or at least that's how I read it.

What do they say it's about?

 

I read online that the song Virgin Killer is about time ... the passage of time and related change. They apparently aren't too keen on the original cover either. At least not now.

 

Here is what I was able to find online:

Uli:

“Looking at that picture today makes me cringe. 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.”

Micheal on the other hand :

“The girl, when we met her 15 years later, had no problem with the cover. Growing up in Europe, sexuality, of course not with children, was very normal. ”

Rudy:

“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.'”

JQ

 

I know a lot of people don't like the cover, and that is fine. It doesn't bother me. The replacement cover is awful, IMO.

The girl's mother was at the photo shoot, and both were fine with it. The resulting artwork is not sexy. It is what it is.

 

What a great album... Pictured Life and Catch your Train all-time killer tracks

 

Along with In Trance, it's one of the best metal albums of the '70s.

I've never understood though why, number 1, they would ever think putting a naked 10 year old girl on the cover of an album would be a good idea and number 2 that it wouldn't get banned, lol.

I'm no prude, but come on guys!

 

Second behind In Trance

As mentioned, Scorpions always had terrible covers for their albums. Part of that is Hipgnosis though. They always did odd cover art. The banned VK isn't Hipgnosis. A what terrible idea that cover was.

 

The way I see it....It's what the band originally wanted. So I would like the original version if possible.

I have the audio fidelity lp. Don't want to put up money for an original german cover.

 

I owned it originally, but don't remember where it was imported from. Kind of wish I kept it, only cause people pay over $100 for these on Ebay!

I put it up there with Taken by Force, Fly to the Rainbow, and In Trance, but not any better than them. Blackout is still my fav album of theirs, and that's without Uli.

 

This actually made me laugh, sort of... Their musicianship is fantastic. And you are certainly in the minority given their consistent record sales now spanning 5 decades. and if for 10 seconds you'd actually bothered to read the lyrics you'd realize you're the one who needs a clue....please turn off the mormon tabernacle choir

Garbage in the streams,
A-bombs in your dreams, look out
Sharks in the pictures,
Exorcist prescriptions, forget it
Try to get away from that,
'cause he's a virgin killer

The SONG is about what we as people are exposed to and, possibly, how that twists people to do bad things....

 

Subliminally would be the last word I'd pick for anything having to do with that cover.

 

The cover is crass and offensive, no doubt. Is it worse than the original cover to Appetite for Destruction, no. That's art....