Love drive
| Love drive | ||||
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| Scorpions studio album | ||||
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Publication |
February 25, 1979 |
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| Label (s) | EMI Records | |||
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Format (s) |
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Title (number) |
8th |
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running time |
36 min 30 s |
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Studio (s) |
September to December 1978 in the Dierks Studios near Cologne |
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Lovedrive is the sixth studio album by the German hard rock band Scorpions , released in late February 1979. It is the band's first album after saying goodbye to Uli Jon Roth , on which the guitarist Matthias Jabs worked, who to this day as lead guitarist decisively shapes and influences the style of the group and occasionally appears as a composer. Jabs has been replaced on three of the eight songs (according to official information three, unofficially it should be, in addition to Loving You Sunday Morning , four songs) by the former Scorpions lead guitarist Michael Schenker , who during the recording of the album, and the subsequent tour, was a member of the group again. The album contains numerous live classics by the band and is one of the band's most popular works, both with the fans and for the group itself. With Coast to Coast , it contains the second and to date last instrumental track ever on a studio album by the band has been published.
Origin, characteristics and meaning
Production history
After Uli Jon Roth left the band after the Scorpions tour through Japan in April 1978, the group first had to find a new lead guitarist. For example, an advertisement was placed in Melody Maker with the words “Looking for heavy guitarists for worldwide activities”, to which more than 140 guitarists applied. One of these candidates was the Hanoverian Matthias Jabs, who was finally hired by the group as a new band member and introduced as the new guitarist at the Summertime Festival in the summer of 1978 . "In the new constellation, the songs were suddenly no longer tailored so strongly to the solo guitarist and therefore sounded much more band-oriented," says Rudolf Schenker, describing the group feeling at the time. “That brought us a big step forward. Lovedrive paints a very precise picture of the band in that phase. The album as a whole is incredibly strong, even though it didn't have a Top 20 hit. ”In the midst of the ongoing production, Schenker's younger brother Michael Schenker , who was already lead guitarist on Scorpions' debut Lonesome Crow (1972), appeared and eventually played three of the eight songs played the solo guitar instead of Matthias Jabs (Michael left the Scorpions in 1973 to join the English band UFO , which he turned his back on in 1978). At the start of the Germany tour in February 1979, he was even announced as a new old band member. However, the band was reluctant to forego the performance of jabs. “Of course I was disappointed, but on the other hand I could understand this decision because Michael and Rudolf are brothers,” Jabs comments on his emotions at the time. However, Michael Schenker announced that he would leave the group again during the current tour, which is why Jabs finally became a permanent solo guitarist of the band. "Michael is more of a lone fighter, that doesn't always make it easy to deal with him," said Michael's brother, commenting on the situation. "In the long run, he just wasn't Scorpions capable."
Musical style
The replacement of lead guitarist Uli Jon Roth after the Tokyo Tapes (1978) by Matthias Jabs is clearly noticeable in the guitar style of this album. This is due on the one hand to the clearly different playing styles of the two musicians Jabs and Roth and certainly also in the different musical role models of the two. Since Roth has been very dominant both as a songwriter and as a lead guitarist within the band's musical chemistry, this exchange of personnel is clearly noticeable from the very first song. Jabs' guitar style is much more melodic than Roth's, which is reflected in the musical style of the group. This is especially noticeable with songs like Always Somewhere . Although Michael Schenker can be heard instead of jabs in some of the songs represented here, this difference is much less obvious. Rather, the entire album looks more like a concert-like production of one piece in terms of the different string line-ups. The turbulent cast crisis that was associated with the recording of this album is difficult or impossible to notice on the album.
Songwriting and characteristics of the lyrics
As far as the authors of the individual titles are concerned, the three main authors will clearly emerge here for the next 15 years or so: Rudolf Schenker as the composer of all the arrangements on this album, while the lyrics come from either Klaus Meine or Herman Rarebell or Meine and Rarebell together (more detailed information on the individual authors: see "List of titles" here at the bottom right). A “partial concept” develops from the album title Lovedrive through many of the lyrics, since a lot of the songs are actually about love. The last song Holiday can be understood as a kind of "invitation" to this "love trip" due to the text. However, it is not known whether this interpretation was intended by the band.
Album cover
There are also two different cover motifs for the album Lovedrive . The original picture shows a man and a woman in evening wear in the back seat of a limousine. The man apparently grabbed the woman's bare breast. The man's chest and hand are connected by a large piece of pink chewing gum that runs diagonally through the picture. This image was created by Storm Thorgerson and his design company Hipgnosis . This motif was also the trigger for some controversy and was therefore replaced for some publications by a much simpler artwork, which shows a blue scorpion "sitting" on the Scorpions logo against a black background.
tour
On the tour for the album, which took place in 1978 and 1979, the Scorpions played with AC / DC , Ted Nugent and Rainbow, among others .
Attention on the setlist
The songs on this album have been used for concert set lists above average. For example, six of the eight Lovedrive songs were played for the 2006 concert at Wacken Open Air . During the three-year Humanity World Tour (2007 to 2009) all of the tracks from this album except Can't Get Enough were performed. For comparison: From the then current album, Humanity - Hour I (2007), six out of twelve songs were played on the entire tour. On the setlist of their farewell tour came Loving You Sunday Morning , Coast to Coast , Is There Anybody There? and Holiday most of the songs from the Lovedrive record, in addition to four songs from the then current album Sting in the Tail .
Criticism, sales and awards
The album marks the important success for the band in the USA. The English New Musical Express summed it up with the words "These guys make Generation X look like beginners". As a review of the album, Stereoplay wrote: “On their best album Lovedrive , the Scorpions from Hanover pull out all the rock stops. In the title track, the band around singer Klaus Meine kindled a huge rock hurricane. Is There Anybody There? impresses with its delayed rhythm and distinctive melody. The highlight is the ballad Holiday , in which the heavy rockers expose the soft core under the rough shell ”. Melody Maker also awarded it one of the best heavy metal albums of the year. The cover motif was named the most successful artwork of the year by the men's magazine Playboy .
To date, the album has sold over 4 million copies worldwide.
Content and title list
| Track list |
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Loving You Sunday Morning
With this song, which is characterized by its fast riffs and the frequent changes in mood as well as the z. The record begins with a number that is quite “extensively” structured by Scorpions standards. The text is about the longing of a man who, due to conversations with acquaintances, lives with the fear of losing his loved one ( people tell me that I'm gonna lose you, our love will die ). In the course of the song, the husband asks his wife whether there is anything to it ( so tell me is it true, right or wrong ). If this is true, the man declares his willingness to change his life for his beloved ( so I will change my life ), should he really run the risk of losing the woman. The title also addresses the constant distance that exists between the man and the woman. While the man goes to work for his wife six days a week ( working hard to get it on for you every day and night ), while his thoughts are with his wife the whole time ( you were on my mind love everyday ) and he is now Coming home on Sunday ( I'm coming home ) to "actively" love his wife (i.e. in the presence of his beloved) ( Loving you sunday morning ).
Another piece of meat
In this song, which is quite fast even by Scorpions standards, the drummer Herman Rarebell - who not only composed the lyrics but also the arrangement together with Rudolf Schenker - tells a special story. In the song he describes a young woman who he met in Japan - more precisely in Tokyo - ( Met her down at that Tokyo place ) and who offered him her love because she would know him as a superstar ( she told me: “You ' re a star and I know you ” ). One day she took him out to a boxing event ( next day she took me out to a rough kick boxing show ) where she was screaming for more blood while he couldn't take all the violence ( I couldn't stand it ). The woman replied that he should not pull off a show ( do not put on a show ) that he was for it "just another piece of meat" ( another piece of meat ). The song was the third and final release from the album.
Always somewhere
This song also describes a man's feeling of longing. While he is in other cities ( Arrive at seven the place feels good ), because he has to play concerts, he tries to call his lover ( I call your number ), but she is busy ( the line ain't free ). He would like to tell her that he loves her wherever he is and that he will come back to love her again ( always somewhere miss you where I've been ... , ... I'll be back to love you again ). Similar to Loving You Sunday Morning , the constant distance and the longing between man and woman due to the man's musical existence are also discussed here. In the 2015 Scorpions documentary "Forever and a Day", Klaus Meine tells how he wrote the lyrics for this song for his wife Gabi Meine.
Coast to Coast
This track is (apart from Meines Kurzes Hauchen in the middle part) the last instrumental number of the band, which was released on one of their studio albums. It has been part of the group's live repertoire since its release, and singer Klaus Meine often plays the guitar on this song. Several times in the new millennium (including at the Wacken Open Air 2006) they played the song with their former guitarist Michael Schenker, with whom they also recorded the song in the studio. The title Coast to Coast can be interpreted as a musical accompaniment to a “love trip”. The piece was officially composed by Rudolf Schenker.
Can't get enough
Can't Get Enough is one of the most entertaining songs in the entire Scorpions discography. The song describes the author's passion for rock music ( I need sounds loud and rough ), which he needs like the bee the honey . This is more important to him than gold and money ( more than gold and money ). Loud and rough music is the stuff that turns him on the most and that he just can't get enough of ( I can't get enough ). Later in the text, this statement is no longer projected onto the singer alone, but onto the entire band ( we can't get enough ).
Is There Anybody There?
From a purely musical point of view, this number is one of the musically most unusual Scorpions songs, as it is a somewhat reggae-like arrangement that is supported by melodic vocal parts. Hardly any other title in the band has been released in alternative versions as often as Is There Anybody There? . The text is about a man who cannot handle his emotions properly and wishes to find a woman he can fall in love with.
Love drive
Shortly before the end of the album comes the title track and the first single from the album, in which the striking line of text I like to show why scorpions got a sting ("I would like to show why scorpions have a sting") appears. The song describes a "love ride" between man and woman that takes place on wheels of fire . Here the different meanings of the word drive are played with. So on the one hand it is a drive ( lovedrive ), on the other hand it says later in the text you are driving me crazy ( you DRIVE me crazy ).
Holiday
This song forms the melancholy conclusion of the album and is the second and last pure ballad on Lovedrive after Always Somewhere . The piece was composed by Schenker (music) and Meine (text). As the song progresses, the man asks his beloved if she would like a little vacation ( you'd like a holiday ).
Single releases
A total of three singles were released from the album in 1979: The title track Lovedrive with Holiday as the B-side, Is There Anybody There? together with Can't Get Enough and Another Piece of Meat with Always Somewhere as B-side.
50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition bonus tracks
- 9. ´Cause I Love You [Demo Version] 4:31
- 10. Holiday [Demo Version] 9:34
Live In Japan 1979 DVD - 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition
- 1. Intro 0:50
- 2. We'll Burn The Sky 7:27
- 3. Lovedrive 4:48
- 4. Life's Like A River 4:04
- 5. Fly To The Rainbow 2:28
- 6. Is There Anybody There? 4:07
- 7. Another Piece Of Meat 3:15
- 8. Can't Get Enough 6:23
- 9. Kojo No Tsuki 3:09
- 10. The Story Of "Lovedrive" [interviews with Klaus Meine, Rudolf Schenker, Matthias Jabs and Herman Rarebell] 46:57
Other song versions and live recordings
First of all, it should be mentioned that no other Scorpions record has as many different song versions as Lovedrive , which also speaks for the dominance of this album in the band's history. The Scorpions compilation Best of Rockers N 'Ballads , released in 1989, featured a remix of the song Is There Anybody There? released, which was released in the same year as a single single under the name Long Version . The ballad remix album Still Loving You , released in 1992, featured new versions of Is There Anybody There? , Always Somewhere and Holiday . For their acoustic project Acoustica , they released acoustic versions of the songs Always Somewhere and Holiday on the album of the same name . The accompanying concert DVD also contained Loving You Sunday Morning and Is There Anybody There? .
The live album World Wide Live , released in 1985, accommodated live recordings of Loving You Sunday Morning , Coast to Coast , Holiday , Another Piece of Meat and a Can't Get Enough split into two parts . The 2009 USB stick A Night to Remember - Live in Essen contains the titles Loving You Sunday Morning , Is There Anybody There? , Holiday , Coast to Coast , Lovedrive and Another Piece of Meat (the last three mentioned with Michael Schenker as guest guitarist).
Cover versions
- Another Piece Of Meat was released by The Michael Schenker Group (1997 live version); Diary (2001); Metalium (2001) and Four Year Beard (2008) covered.
- Coast To Coast was covered by Disbelief (2001) and Gashead (2003).
- Holiday was covered by Paul Shortino (2004).
- Is There Anybody There? was covered by JBO (2000-German version: Is there anyone there?) and Rough Silk (2000).
- Lovedrive was covered by Taime Downe (2004).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Lovedrive Tour 1978 - 1979 on the official band homepage ( Memento of the original from April 14, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Overview Scorpions single Lovedrive on the band's official homepage ( memento of the original from December 15, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Overview Scorpions-Single Is There Anybody There? on the official band's homepage ( memento of the original from December 15, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Overview Scorpions single Another Piece of Meat on the band's official homepage ( Memento of the original from December 15, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Overview Scorpions Single Is There Anybody There? (Long Version) on the official band's homepage ( Memento of the original from December 15, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
