Virgin Killer - Misplaced Pages

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{{pp-semi-vandalism|small=yes}}  {{Infobox Album |  | Name = Virgin Killer | Type = Studio album | Artist = ] | Cover = Virgin Killer.jpg | Caption = The controversial original album cover. The cracked glass effect is part of the image. | Released = 1976 | Recorded = 1976 | Genre = ], ] | Length = 34:45 | Label = ] | Producer = ] | Reviews = *] {{Rating|4|5}} | Last album = '']''<br />(1975) | This album = '''''Virgin Killer'''''<br />(1976) | Next album = '']''<br />(1977) | Misc = {{Extra album cover 2 | Upper caption = Alternate cover | Type = Studio | Cover = Virgin Killer alternate cover.jpg | Lower caption = The replacement cover released in some countries. }} }} '''''Virgin Killer''''' is the fourth studio album by the ] ] band ]. It was released in 1976, and was the first album of the band to attract attention outside Europe.<ref name="twp">{{Citation | last = Yasui | first = Todd Allan| title = The Sign of the Scorpions; The West German Metal Meisters' Tour de Force | newspaper = ] | pages = F3 | date = August 30 1988}}</ref> The title is described as being a reference to ], as the killer of ].<ref name="title">{{cite web |title=Scorpions Guitarist: We Wanted To 'Make A Masterpiece For Our Own History' |url=http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/BlabberMouth.Net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=82038 |publisher=] |date=] |accessdate=2008-05-12}}</ref> The original cover, featuring a naked ] girl, stirred controversy in the UK, US, and elsewhere. As a result, the album was reissued with a different cover in some countries. In December 2008, the image again gave rise to controversy, when the ] ] placed certain pages from ] on its internet blacklist, since it considered the image to be "potentially illegal" under ].<ref name="efluxmedia">{{cite web |url=http://www.efluxmedia.com/news_UK_Censors_Wikipedia_Article_with_Nude_Girl_Album_Cover_30919.html |title=UK Censors Misplaced Pages Article with Nude Girl Album Cover |author=Eric Blair |format= |work= |accessdate=2008-12-09}}</ref> This resulted in ], and significant public debate of the decision. The decision was reversed by the IWF after four days of blocking.<ref name="IWF"/> ==Reception== ''Virgin Killer'' shared the same fate as the other Scorpions albums featuring lead guitarist ]: it "failed to attain any serious attention in the United States" but was "quite popular in Japan"<ref>{{cite web |author=Weber, Barry |title=Scorpions |url=http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:3ifuxqr5ldke~T1 |publisher=] |dateformat=mdy |accessdate=May 12 2008}}</ref> where it peaked at number 32 in the charts.<ref>{{cite web |author=Sharpe-Young, Garry |title=Scorpions discography |url=http://www.rockdetector.com/discography,7799.sm |publisher=] |dateformat=mdy |accessdate=May 12 2008}}</ref> The album was another step in the band's shift from ] to ].<ref name="Buck">{{cite book |last=Berelian |first=Essi |editor=Buckley, Peter & Buckley, Jonathan (eds.) |title=The Rough Guide to Rock |publisher=Rough Guides |year=2003 |location=London |page=909 |isbn=1843531054}}</ref> Critic Vincent Jeffries of ] contends in hindsight that the album was "the first of four studio releases that really defined the Scorpions and their urgent metallic sound that was to become highly influential."<ref>{{cite web |author=Jeffries, Vincent |title=''Virgin Killer'' review |url=http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:w9fqxqy5ldae |publisher=] |dateformat=mdy |accessdate=May 12 2008}}</ref> He also counts the title track and "Pictured Life" among the "all-time Scorpions standouts." Among the band members, Uli Jon Roth considers ''Virgin Killer'' and the previous release '']'' as his favourite Scorpions albums.<ref name="RothRules"/> ==Cover art== The original cover art for the album depicted a naked ten-year-old girl named Jaqueline,<ref name="sz">Martin Zips: ], December 11, 2008 {{De icon}}</ref> with a shattered glass crack effect obscuring her ]. The image was designed by Steffan Böhle,<ref>{{cite web |title=Das Rock Hard-Magazin feiert 250. Ausgabe im Großformat {{De icon}} |url=http://www.dpv.de/network/html/1585/rock_hardmagazin_feiert_250_ausgabe.html |publisher=Dpv.de |date=] |accessdate=2008-05-12}}</ref> who was then the product manager for ].<ref name="RothRules">{{cite web |author=Syrjälä, Marko |title=Interview with Uli Jon Roth |url=http://www.metal-rules.com/zine/content/view/748/0/ |publisher=Metal-rules.com |dateformat=mdy |accessdate=May 12 2008}}</ref> ] was the bassist for the band and, in an interview conducted in early 2007, recollects that the model depicted on the cover was either the daughter or the ] of "the guy who did the cover design."<ref>{{cite web |author=Syrjälä, Marko |title=Interview with Francis Buchholz |url=http://www.metal-rules.com/zine/content/view/791/ |publisher=Metal-rules.com |dateformat=mdy |accessdate=May 12 2008}}</ref> The photograph was taken by Michael von Gimbut.<ref>{{cite album-notes |title=In Trance Virgin Killer: The Back to Black Collection |albumlink= |bandname=Scorpions |year=2000 |notestitle= |url= |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |pages= |format= |publisher=Axe Killer Music |publisherid=3056462 |location=France |mbid=}}</ref> The band's rhythm guitarist ] offers the following description of the circumstances behind the album cover: <blockquote>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.' On the song 'Virgin Killer', time is the virgin killer. But then, when we had to do the interviews about it, we said 'Look, listen to the lyrics and then you'll know what we're talking about. We're using this only to get attention. That's what we do.' Even the girl, when we met her fifteen years later, had no problem with the cover. Growing up in Europe, sexuality, of course not with children, was very normal. The lyrics really say it all. Time is the virgin killer. A kid comes into the world very naive, they lose that naiveness and then go into this life losing all of this getting into trouble. That was the basic idea about all of it.<ref name="title" /></blockquote> In a separate interview, Schenker also notes that he thought the cover art was a "great thing" and that he had "pushed the band to really stay behind it" as he felt that people would "think differently" when they looked at the lyrics and realized that the cover art was only being used as "a symbol of the lyrics."<ref>{{cite web |author=Trunk, Russell A. |title=Scorpions: Yet Another Sting In The Tale! |url=http://www.annecarlini.com/ex_interviews.php?id=805 |publisher=Annecarlini.com |dateformat=mdy |accessdate=May 12 2008}}</ref> In a 2008 interview, Schenker added "We would never again do something like this".<ref name="sz"/> The band's former lead guitarist ] notes that the cover art of the "old Scorpion albums" were "usually done by other people."<ref name="RothRules"/> He has since expressed regret over the original album cover: <blockquote>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. The record company came up with the idea, I think. The lyrics incidentally were a take-off on ], whom we had just supported on a tour. I was fooling around and played the riff of the song in the rehearsal room and spontaneously improvised 'cause he's a virgin killer!' trying to do a more or less way-off-the-mark ] impersonation. ] immediately said 'that's great! You should do something with it.' Then I had the unenviable task of constructing a meaningful set of lyrics around the title, which I actually managed to do to some degree. But the song has a totally different meaning from what people would assume at first. Virgin Killer is none other than the demon of our time, the less compassionate side of the societies we live in today — brutally trampling upon the heart and soul of innocence.<ref>{{cite web |title=Uli Jon Roth Says 'Virgin Killer' Album Cover Makes Him Cringe |url=http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=50508 |publisher=] |date=] |accessdate=2008-05-12}}</ref></blockquote> In 2008, photographer Michael von Gimbut emphasized that his wife, the model's mother and sister and three female assistants had been present during the shooting and stated "Back then, we loved and protected the children and did not sleep with them" ("Wir liebten und beschützten die Kinder damals und schliefen nicht mit ihnen").<ref name="sz"/> The cover generated ]: the album could only be sold sealed in black plastic in several countries<ref name="sz"/> and the cover was replaced in some countries with an alternate cover art depicting the band members.<ref name="Buck"/> The original is named in various "worst album cover" lists: '']'' magazine online named it the #1 "Worst Album Cover of All-Time,"<ref> by Ben Dennison, '']''</ref> while ] lists it as #2 on its March 2008 "The 50 Most Controversial Album Covers of All Time!" list.<ref>, ], March 19, 2008</ref> Similarly, it was named by ] as one of the "Weirdest Album Covers,"<ref> in Weirdest & Worst Album Covers, ]</ref> and placed #6 on the "All-Time Worst Album Covers" list made by ''two.one.five'' magazine.<ref>, two.one.five magazine</ref> This would not be the last time that the band attracted controversy with their album covers. Their next album, '']'', originally featured cover art that depicted "children playing with guns at a military cemetery in France and some people found that offensive."<ref name="RothRules"/> Their 1979 album '']'' featured a "bizarre artwork" that depicts "a woman on the back seat of a car with bubblegum over her breast."<ref name="Buck"/> Both covers were replaced by an alternate design.<ref name="VV">{{cite web |author=Palmer, Andrew |title=Rock You Like a Piece of Meat |url=http://www.villagevoice.com/music/9951,218547,11369,22.html |date=] |publisher=] |accessdate=2008-05-13}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Weber, Barry |title=Scorpions |url=http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:3ifuxqr5ldke~T1 |publisher=] |dateformat=mdy |accessdate=May 13 2008}}</ref> Vocalist ] explains that the band's penchant for controversial cover art stems from a desire "to go over the edge" and not "to offend some people or make the headlines that would be stupid."<ref name="twp"/> ===Internet censorship=== {{Main|Internet Watch Foundation and Misplaced Pages}} {{wikinewspar3|British ISPs restrict access to Misplaced Pages amid child pornography allegations|Wikimedia, IWF respond to block of Misplaced Pages over child pornography allegations|IWF reverses censorship of Misplaced Pages}} In May 2008, the US-based social conservative site '']'' reported the cover image on Misplaced Pages to the ]. An officer of the ], a conservative Christian advocacy group, commented, "By allowing that image to remain posted, Misplaced Pages is helping to further facilitate perversion and pedophilia."<ref>, '']'', May 7, 2008</ref> ''EContent'' magazine subsequently reported the ] internal debate as concluding, "Prior discussion has determined by broad consensus that the Virgin Killer cover will not be removed", and asserted that Misplaced Pages contributors "favor inclusion in all but the most extreme cases".<ref> by Jessica Dye, July/August 2008 issue of''EContent''</ref> In December 2008, the ] (IWF), a ]-based ], added the ] article ''Virgin Killer'' to its internet blacklist due to concerns over legality of the image, which had been assessed as the lowest level of legal concern: "erotic posing with no sexual activity".<ref name="rating">{{cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/dec/08/amazon-internet-censorship-iwf|title=Misplaced Pages row escalates as internet watchdog considers censoring Amazon US over Scorpions image|last=Arthur|first=Charles|publisher=Guardian News and Media Limited|date=2008-12-08|accessdate=2008-12-08}}</ref> As a result, people using many major UK ]s were blocked from viewing the entire article by the ] system,<ref>{{cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Misplaced Pages child image censored |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7770456.stm|work= |publisher=] |date=2008-12-08 |accessdate=2008-12-08}}</ref><ref></ref><ref name="rating"/> and a large part of the U.K. was blocked from editing Misplaced Pages due to the means of blocking in use. Following discussion, representations by the Wikimedia Foundation (who host the Misplaced Pages website),<ref>, ] press release, December 7, 2008</ref> and public complaints,<ref> cites "floods of angry users".</ref> the IWF reversed their decision three days later, and confirmed that in future they would not block copies of the image that were hosted overseas.<ref name="IWF">{{cite web|url=http://www.iwf.org.uk/media/news.archive-2008.251.htm|title=IWF statement regarding Misplaced Pages webpage|work=]|accessdate=2008-12-09}}</ref> ==Track listing== ===Side one=== #"Pictured Life" (Meine, Roth, Schenker) – 3:21 #"Catch Your Train" (Meine, Schenker) – 3:32 #"In Your Park" (Meine, Schenker) – 3:39 #"Backstage Queen" (Meine, Schenker) – 3:10 #"Virgin Killer" (Roth) – 3:41 ===Side two=== #"Hell Cat" (Roth) – 2:54 #"Crying Days" (Meine, Schenker) – 4:36 #"Polar Nights" (Roth) – 5:04 #"Yellow Raven" (Roth) – 4:58 ==Credits== *] – ] *] – ], ], ] on "Hell-Cat" and "Polar Nights" *] – ], ] *] – ], ] *] – ], ] *] – ], ] *] – ], ] ==Covered songs== *"Pictured Life" was covered by the ] ] band ] on their debut album '']'' in 2002.<ref>{{cite web |author=Siva, Shan |title=Interview with Gus G. of Firewind |url=http://www.battlehelm.com/interviews/firewind.htm |publisher=Battlehelm.com |dateformat=mdy |accessdate=May 12 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=''Between Heaven and Hell'' |url=http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:gifexqqaldhe |publisher=] |dateformat=mdy |accessdate=May 12 2008}}</ref> *"Crying Days" was covered by ] ] band ] as a bonus track on their 2001 album '']''.<ref>{{cite web |author=Alexander Melzer |title=''Secret of the Runes'' review |url=http://www.metal-observer.com/articles.php?lid=1&sid=1&id=470 |publisher=Metal-observer.com |dateformat=mdy |accessdate=May 12 2008}}</ref> *"Polar Nights" was also covered by Therion on the various artist compilation ''A Tribute to the Scorpions''.<ref>{{cite web |author=Mezzera, Riccardo |title=''A Tribute to the Scorpions'' review {{it icon}} |url=http://www.truemetal.it/reviews.php?op=albumreview&id=1774 |publisher=Truemetal.it |dateformat=mdy |accessdate=May 12 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=''A Tribute to the Scorpions'' |url=http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:j9fyxqr0ldhe |publisher=] |dateformat=mdy |accessdate=May 12 2008}}</ref> ==Charts== {| border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=2 width="550px" !Year !Chart !Position |- |1976 |Japanese Album Chart |#32 |- |} ==See also== *] ==References== {{reflist|2}} ==External links== * {{Scorpions}} ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ]