Savage amusement
| Savage amusement | ||||
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| Scorpions studio album | ||||
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Publication |
April 22, 1988 |
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| Label (s) | EMI Records | |||
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Format (s) |
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Title (number) |
9 |
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running time |
37 min 19 s |
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Savage Amusement is the tenth studio album by the German hard rock band Scorpions , which was released in 1988. The production of this album was marked by strong conflicts between the band and the producer Dieter Dierks , whereupon the expiring contract with Dierks was not extended and the band separated from him.
background
production
After the extensive tour the band had completed in recent years, they began work on another album in 1987. Initially, the band's founder and guitarist Rudolf Schenker, who wrote various songs for the planned Scorpions album with his brother and former band member Michael Schenker, planned to include some of the songs on the album. According to Schenker's testimony, however, the producer Dierks refused because he did not have a contract with Schenker's brother and he would have incurred additional costs. The production dragged on and on, which the band always justified with the way the producer at the time worked. So there were not only professional, but also personal differences between Dierks and the band. However, the group was contractually obliged to produce another album with him. The release of the record was postponed several times so that it finally came out almost exactly four years after the last studio album, Love at First Sting .
Album title
As Rudolf Schenker reported in the youth magazine Bravo in December 1987 , there were numerous considerations for the title of this album with different cover ideas. For a long time they had thought of Don't Stop At the Top , for example , but this album title was discarded because the band "didn't want to build a pedestal for themselves". Finally, they agreed on Savage Amusement , with which the matching cover motif is connected.
Album cover
The cover shows a woman wearing a black dress on a dark bluish background. With her right hand she covers her face so that you can only see her mouth and nose. What is striking about the artwork for Savage Amusement , however, is that instead of the lady's right leg, a scorpion's tail can be seen. At the top left you can see the typical band lettering, at the bottom right you can see the title of the album in red letters and clearly underlined.
tour
In 1988 the band began a 12-month world tour, which also took them to Russia.
Track list
- Don't Stop At the Top (Rudolf Schenker, Klaus Meine, Herman Rarebell) - 4:03
- Rhythm of Love (Rudolf Schenker, Klaus Meine) - 3:47
- Passion Rules the Game (Herman Rarebell, Klaus Meine) - 3:58
- Media Overkill (Rudolf Schenker, Klaus Meine) - 3:32
- Walking On the Edge (Rudolf Schenker, Klaus Meine) - 5:05
- We Let It Rock… You Let It Roll (Rudolf Schenker, Klaus Meine) - 3:38
- Every Minute Every Day (Rudolf Schenker, Klaus Meine) - 4:21
- Love On the Run (Rudolf Schenker, Klaus Meine, Herman Rarebell) - 3:35
- Believe In Love (Rudolf Schenker, Klaus Meine) - 5:20
Single releases
The album's first single was Rhythm of Love with the songs We Let It Rock… You Let It Roll and Love On the Run as the B-side. The second single Believe In Love appeared together with the songs Rhythm of Love and Love On the Run and Passion Rules the Game as the last single on the album together with the song Every Minute Every Day .
reception
criticism
The HiFi magazine Audio judged the work as follows: “The German hard rock professionals can build on their worldwide success with this disc. Outstanding from the rough riff monotony, as always, the slow ballads in which Klaus Meines bright, penetrating voice sings soulfully of love and desire. Otherwise: hard, pleasing, tried and tested. "
The Stereoplay wrote: “Almost three years after World Wide Live and as a foretaste of their upcoming world tour, which will also lead to the Soviet Union, the Scorpions present their twelfth album with Savage Amusement . In the powerful opening track Don't Stop At The Top , the band from Hanover points out that they are not willing to be satisfied with what has been achieved so far. The single, Rhythm Of Love, looked for hit parade listings with a catchy melody and a slow beat. Media Overkill criticizes the flood of media and its after-effects such as cabling and satellite television in the appropriate techno sound. Germany's most popular hard rock export demonstrates the full range of its skills on the second half of the record as well. While Every Minute Every Day comes out of the speakers in a rather slow rhythm, We Let It Rock sweeps out of the speakers in the unmistakable Scorpions Drive. Love On The Run tops it all off with unbridled guitar riffs and drum thunderstorms. The calm rock ballad Believe In Love then brings the pulse back to normal. Heavy-heart, what more do you want? "The American All Music Guise to Rock said:" Even if the album may sound a little more polished compared to the previous releases. so too Savage Amusement a fantastic proof of massive music and powerful singing. "
Furthermore, Wolfgang Schäfer wrote the following in the specialist magazine Rock Hard : “Finally the time has come: The Scorpios took five long years to release their" Love At First Sting "successor, with the exception of the live DLP. However, if you were hoping for some great musical changes after that, you might be disappointed. Although you press the accelerator at one point or another ('We Let It Rock ... You Let It Roll', 'Love On The Run'), by and large you rely on the tried and tested ingredients that are there : Good, powerful sound, the same song material as well as top-class musical performances. With Lee Aaron and Peter Baltes they have even been able to win two guest musicians, and with 'Believe In Love' they have created the potential successor to the mega hit 'Still Loving You'. Although "Savage Amusement" is anything but surprising or even novel, it can convince me more than "Love At First Sting". "He awarded eight out of ten possible points.
Christof Leim also commented on the album 2009 in the Metal Hammer as follows: "Stylistically like the predecessor, but produced without rough edges, the record can partly please, but after the two brilliant predecessors it is a small disappointment."
Sales figures
The album sold over 5 million copies worldwide.
Chart positions and awards
The album became number one in Europe and, like the previously released live album World Wide Live , placed at number 4 in the charts in Germany. It was ranked 18th in Austria and the United Kingdom, while Sweden ranked best in 2nd place. In the US, Savage Amusement was awarded platinum by the RIAA . In Canada, it only placed 25th, but was also awarded platinum there. The album also won further awards in Germany (gold) and the United Kingdom (silver).
Other song versions and live recordings
On her ballad remix album Still Loving You , released in 1992, new versions of Belive In Love and Walking On the Edge appeared . For their acoustic album Acoustica (2001), Rhythm of Love was also presented acoustically. However, this version can only be found on the DVD or on the Japanese edition of the album. Since 2009, however, it has also been available in Europe on the Taken B-Side download compilation .
The third live album Live Bites from 1995 contains a live version of Rhythm of Love , the only live recording of a song from this album.
Live video
In 1988, a 45-minute VHS with concert recordings of their tour of Russia for the album Savage Amusement was released under the title To Russia with Love and Other Savage Amusements . This contains the following songs:
- blackout
- Rhythm of Love
- Holiday
- Believe in love
- The zoo
- Walking on the edge
- Long Tall Sally
- Don't stop at the top
- Rock you like a hurricane
- Media overkill
- Passion Rules the Game
- We Let It Rock… You Let It Roll
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Product descriptions of the Scorpions album Savage Amusement on Amazon.de
- ↑ Interview with Rudolf Schenker in Metal Star magazine (1988)
- ↑ Overview of Scorpion's single Rhythm of Love 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 of Scorpion's single Believe In Love 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 of Scorpion's Single Passion Rules the Game 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.
- ^ Review of the Scorpions album Savage Amusement from the archive of the rock magazine Rock Hard homepage
- ^ Album artist 140 - The Scorpions
- ↑ Overview Scorpions album Live Bites on the band's official homepage ( Memento of the original from December 13, 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 video To Russia With Love and Other Savage Amusements on the band's official homepage ( memento of the original from November 18, 2010 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.
