Scorpions
Virgin Killer

THE REVIEW

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.