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Rating: The 1976 was a pivotal year for the Scorpions because, thanks to the release of this album, they managed to reconfirm the great success of “In Trance” and establish themselves definitively around the world, especially in Japan, a country where they also received good feedback with the previous work. "Virgin Killer" is undoubtedly one of the masterpieces of '70s Hard-Rock due to its instrumental and overall execution (sounds and voices) and the impact and strength of the tracks and their placement within the album.
"Virgin Killer" opens with a piece that is not extremely hard, "Pictured Life", but the riffs by Roth and the unique melody of the lyrics, especially in the chorus, immediately capture the listener's attention. A must in the Scorps' repertoire. With the following track "Catch Your Train", things change, the rhythm is faster, Meine's voice becomes rougher and angrier, Roth's guitar, as will be throughout the album, carves the track, resulting in a compelling, fierce, captivating song that makes you want to sing at the top of your lungs. My favorite track, and one of the most successful of the work. "In Your Park" slows the album down and mainly serves to allow for a breather after a striking start. Slow, sweet, and melodic, a classic ballad, it is beautifully rendered by Meine's calm and cleaner voice, and by the inescapable solos of Roth and Schenker, which impart a decisively romantic and melodic effect.
Track 4, "Backstage Queen", raises the decibels compared to its predecessor but doesn't reach the levels of the first two tracks, and the song flows with few jolts in a fast-paced hard rock that finds its zenith in the sung part. And so we arrive at the Title Track, "Virgin Killer". Truly extraordinary track that stands out from the rest of the album, fiery guitars with heavy riffs, the drum in the background quickly keeping the rhythm, but Meine in particular stands out with an outstanding performance, screams and shouts scattered in large quantities in the track, a very angry sung part, and it is this component that distinguishes "Virgin Killer" (track), indeed the blend of very hard riffs, guitar and vocal solos make the entire track a very powerful Heavy Metal, almost a forerunner of future times in its execution speed in the combo universe. "Hell Cat" is deeply marked by the guitars and their virtuosity, but above all, as in the previous track, by an even angrier and more diabolical Meine, in full harmony with the title. The following track "Crying Days" slows down the album’s tempo, but it is not a ballad. Characterized by a long initial guitar solo, the song lives in Meine's rather nostalgic narrative, which imparts this atmosphere to the entire track, ending with a repetitive and sweet "You and me".
"Polar Nights" is crossed by fantastic and impossible Guitar Solos signed by the Roth-Jencker duo, but, a noteworthy feature, this is the only song where Roth himself, also the composer of the track, provides the vocals, being practically a jack-of-all-trades in this instance. Finally, "Yellow Raven", sad, moving, introspective, slow, and sweet, closed by Roth's guitar scales concludes an extraordinary album, the best of the Scorps, or perhaps second only to "In Trance".
It is noteworthy that the cover depicting a young virgin was censored in many countries.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Pictured Life (03:25)
Ooh! Dark meditation,
Your second sight can show my light
In a crystal ball.
Sweet are the days, intoxication
Crow-black the nights caging my mind
Behind the wall.
Into the rock through walls of red dreams
Into the rock to find the cream
Into the rock through walls of red dreams
Pictured life from yesterday.
Ooh! Dark meditation,
Deep down inside a stream of light
Begins to flow.
Sweet are the days, intoxication
Crow-black the nights caging my mind
Behind the wall.
Into the rock through walls of red dreams
Into the rock to find the cream
Into the rock through walls of red dreams
Pictured life from yesterday.
Pictured life, pictured life
Pictured life from yesterday ...
02 Catch Your Train (03:38)
Wake up man it's late but not too late,
It's six o'clock like everyday!
Get your things run and forget the rain,
Take powerpills don't miss your train!
And you'd like to be another
A different guy and a better lover
For your love, for your life check your way.
And you like the Rock'n'Roller
A different life and Whisky Cola
But don't be low keep your own style
And catch your train!
Don't be lazy man and work off your ass,
He's the boss you've gotta do what he says!
Catch your train, run and forget those ways,
Keep it cool it's not too late!
And you'd like to be another
A different guy and a better lover
For your love, for your life check your way.
And you like the Rock'n'Roller
A different life and Whisky Cola
But don't be low keep your own style
And catch your train!
03 In Your Park (03:45)
In the night there is
A gentle voice of silence
So low and quiet
She'll catch me 'cos I've been longing.
I want to walk in your park
Cos I'm alone,
I want to walk in your heart
Where are you? I don't know...
I look around and see
The sunshine in the morning.
- Shadows in the night like angels by your side in the alley... -
On my journey I change the time,
Leave everything behind me.
- Shadows in the night like angels by your side in the alley... -
I want to walk in your park
Cos I'm alone,
I want to walk in your heart
Where are you? I don't know...
Let me walk, let me walk in your heart!
04 Backstage Queen (03:13)
Hey little Donna, sweet little Donna I know
You wanted my love and I gave it to you
Hey little Donna, sweet little Donna you know
Goodbye is hello, 'cos I'm on the road
Take it easy, don't get me wrong,
Just keep me in your dreams
Take it easy, life goes on
My little backstage queen
Hey little Donna, sweet little Donna so good
My feeling with you was all very true
Hey little Donna, sweet little Donna you know
Goodbye is hello, 'cos I'm on the road
Take it easy, don't get me wrong,
Just keep me in your dreams
Take it easy, life goes on
My little backstage queen
Hey little Donna
Sweet little Donna
Goodbye Donna
05 Virgin Killer (03:44)
Cry like you feel,
Try like you feel, feel it..!
Try to escape,
Cry to escape, escape it..!
It's so hard to run away
He's a virgin killer
No, no, no, can't you see?
No, no, no, can't you see?
You're a demon's, you're a demon's,
You're a demon's desire!
Death on the screen,
Sadistic magazines, watch out
Suicides ev'ryday,
Political ways, get it
Well, you can't find new ways
But he's a virgin killer
No, no, no, can't you see?
No, no, no, can't you see?
You're a demon's, you're a demon's,
You're a demon's desire!
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,
Cos he's a virgin killer
No, no, no, can't you see?
No, no, no, can't you see?
You're a demon's, you're a demon's,
You're a demon's desire!
06 Hell-Cat (02:58)
Music: Ulrich Roth
Lyrics: Ulrich Roth
Fire in her eyes ... burn ...
Perfume of the skies ...
Fingers cold as ice ... freeze ...
Devil in disguise!
Well, she's a, she's a, she's a
You know that she's a hell-cat, hell-cat, hell-cat, hell-cat
(She's gonna scratch up your mind ...)
You know that guy with piccadilly-eyes
Was talking to the French boy
But didn't realize.
Banana-long-boat-eating
An' he tried to get a wife
But he couldn't stay alive
Well, you know that lad with the rubber-dad
Paints his fingers yellow, blue, and red.
An' you also know that she's a liar
Knowing only her desire ...
07 Crying Days (04:40)
Force yourself to use your brain,
The only way to gain,
A lot of things are just a lie
This world we love comes down in pain
With hate and bloody games
A question-mark up in the sky
Look, you can't keep away
And you can't hide
Tomorrow, yesterday, today...
Some people say, we'll do it better
Some people say, everything's good
Some people sing, let's come together
But nobody has ever brought it through
Maybe you and me...
09 Yellow Raven (05:00)
The yellow raven sipped the air
Of thunder and of rain
The yellow raven sipped the air
Gentle lies kissing the rain
Where do you go, fantastic dreambird?
Take me away to somewhere
Take me away from here!
Where do you go, fantastic dreambird?
Answer to my yearning
Take me away from here!
The firebird began to cry
When the music died away
The firebird began to cry
And smoke was slowly drifting by
Where do you go, fantastic dreambird?
Take me away to somewhere
Take me away from here!
Where do you go, fantastic dreambird?
Answer to my yearning
Take me away from here
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