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Virgin Killer

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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 KISS, 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 Paul Stanley impersonation. Klaus 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.

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 "We loved and protected children and did not sleep with them" ("Wir liebten und beschützten die Kinder damals und schliefen nicht mit ihnen").

The cover generated controversy: the album could only be sold sealed in black plastic in several countries and the cover was replaced in some countries with an alternative cover art depicting the band members. The original is named in various "worst album cover" lists: Cracked magazine online named it the #1 "Worst Album Cover of All-Time," while Gigwise.com lists it as #2 on its March 2008 "The 50 Most Controversial Album Covers of All Time!" list. Similarly, it was named (by UGO Networks) one of the "Weirdest Album Covers," and placed #6 on the "All-Time Worst Album Covers" list made by two.one.five magazine.

This would not be the last time that the band attracted controversy with its album covers. Their next album, Taken by Force, originally featured cover art that depicted "children playing with guns at a military cemetery in France and some people found that offensive." Their 1979 album Lovedrive featured a "bizarre artwork" that depicts "a woman on the back seat of a car with bubblegum over her breast." Both covers were replaced by an alternate design. Vocalist Klaus Meine 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," contrasting guitarist Rudolf Schenker's earlier statement, "We're using this only to get attention."

Internet censorship

Main article: Internet Watch Foundation and Misplaced Pages

Template:Wikinewspar3 In May 2008, the US-based social conservative site WorldNetDaily reported the cover image on Misplaced Pages to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. An officer of the Concerned Women for America, a conservative Christian advocacy group, commented, "By allowing that image to remain posted, Misplaced Pages is helping to further facilitate perversion and pedophilia." EContent magazine subsequently reported the Misplaced Pages community's 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". In December 2008, the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), a UK-based non-government organization, added the Misplaced Pages 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". As a result, people using many major UK ISPs were blocked from viewing the entire article by the Cleanfeed system, and a large part of the U.K. was blocked from editing Misplaced Pages owing to the means of blocking in use. Following discussion, representations by the Wikimedia Foundation (who host the Misplaced Pages website), and public complaints, 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.

Track listing

Side one

  1. "Pictured Life" (Meine, Roth, Schenker)  – 3:21
  2. "Catch Your Train" (Meine, Schenker)  – 3:32
  3. "In Your Park" (Meine, Schenker)  – 3:39
  4. "Backstage Queen" (Meine, Schenker)  – 3:10
  5. "Virgin Killer" (Roth)  – 3:41

Side two

  1. "Hell Cat" (Roth)  – 2:54
  2. "Crying Days" (Meine, Schenker)  – 4:36
  3. "Polar Nights" (Roth)  – 5:04
  4. "Yellow Raven" (Roth)  – 4:58

Credits

Covered songs

Charts

Year Chart Position
1976 Japanese Album Chart 32

See also

References

  1. "Uli Jon Roth Says 'Virgin Killer' Album Cover Makes Him Cringe". Blabbermouth.net. 2006-04-03. Retrieved 2008-05-12.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference sz was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Buck was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. "The 15 Worst Album Covers of All-Time" by Ben Dennison, Cracked
  5. "The 50 Most Controversial Album Covers Of All Time!", Gigwise.com, March 19, 2008
  6. "Virgin Killer" in Weirdest & Worst Album Covers, UGO Networks
  7. "The All-Time Worst Album Covers", two.one.five magazine
  8. Cite error: The named reference RothRules was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. Palmer, Andrew (1999-12-28). "Rock You Like a Piece of Meat". Village Voice. Retrieved 2008-05-13.
  10. Weber, Barry. "Scorpions". Allmusic. Retrieved May 13, 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  11. Cite error: The named reference twp was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. Cite error: The named reference title was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. "FBI investigates 'Wikipedophilia'", WorldNetDaily, May 7, 2008
  14. "Misplaced Pages Weighs Information Against Indecency" by Jessica Dye, July/August 2008 issue ofEContent
  15. ^ Arthur, Charles (2008-12-08). "Misplaced Pages row escalates as internet watchdog considers censoring Amazon US over Scorpions image". Guardian News and Media Limited. Retrieved 2008-12-08.
  16. "Misplaced Pages child image censored". BBC News. 2008-12-08. Retrieved 2008-12-08. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  17. AP: Misplaced Pages article blocked in UK over child photo
  18. "Censorship in the United Kingdom disenfranchises tens of thousands of Misplaced Pages editors", Wikimedia Foundation press release, December 7, 2008
  19. ZDNet cites "floods of angry users".
  20. "IWF statement regarding Misplaced Pages webpage". Internet Watch Foundation. Retrieved 2008-12-09.
  21. Siva, Shan. "Interview with Gus G. of Firewind". Battlehelm.com. Retrieved May 12, 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  22. "Between Heaven and Hell". Allmusic. Retrieved May 12, 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  23. Mezzera, Riccardo. "A Tribute to the Scorpions review [[:Template:It icon]]". Truemetal.it. Retrieved May 12, 2008. {{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help); Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  24. "A Tribute to the Scorpions". Allmusic. Retrieved May 12, 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)

External links

Scorpions
Studio albums
Live albums
Cover albums
Compilations
Singles
Videos
Tours
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