Scorpions "Best Of Rockers 'n' Ballads (1989 EMI, West Germany, CDP 566 Y-7 93439 2)"

Best of Rockers 'n' Ballads is a compilation album by the German hard rock band Scorpions, released in 1989. All songs on this album are from their tenure with Mercury Records, from 1979 to 1988, in addition to rare or never-before released material.

The record was released with different track listings in different regions: At all the compilation features several rare or completely unreleased tracks: There are remixes of "Big City Nights", "Lovedrive", "Holiday" and "Is There Anybody There", which were previously unreleased. Also included are two different versions of "Hey You". While the European pressing features a previously unreleased remix of the song, the US and Japanese editions are the only ones featuring the original version, which was released in 1980 as a single. Another rarity was a cover of The Who's "I Can't Explain", which was also included on that same year's Stairway to Heaven/Highway to Hell charity compilation album. The European CD edition also includes one more rarity: the version of "China White", which features a different solo, a solo that was just released on US editions of Blackout before.

The track listing and individual running times differ between the US, European and Asian editions. While the European pressing features 14 or 15 tracks, the original version of "Hey You" is missing and replaced by a remix. The US and Japanese version just feature twelve tracks and omit the re-recorded version of "Is There Anybody There?" as well as "Another Piece of Meat" and "China White", but it includes the longer, original version of "Hey You". The European edition was re-released with the title The Essential Scorpions in 2003.

Track listing

European edition

1. "Rock You Like a Hurricane" Schenker/Meine/Rarebell Love at First Sting, 1984 4:10
2. "I Can’t Explain" Pete Townshend Stairway to Heaven/Highway to Hell, 1989 3:19
3. "Rhythm of Love" Schenker, Meine Savage Amusement, 1988 3:47
4. "Big City Nights (Remix)" Schenker, Meine Previously unreleased (Original version from Love at First Sting) 3:52
5. "Lovedrive" Schenker, Meine Lovedrive, 1979 4:50
6. "Is There Anybody There? (Remix)" Schenker, Meine, Rarebell Previously unreleased (Original version from Lovedrive) 4:16
7. "Holiday (Remix)" Schenker, Meine Previously unreleased (Original version from Lovedrive) 6:50
8. "Still Loving You" Schenker, Meine Love at First Sting 6:25
9. "No One Like You" Schenker, Meine Blackout, 1982 3:54
10. "Blackout" Schenker, Meine, Rarebell, Sonja Kittelsen Blackout 3:49
11. "Another Piece of Meat" Schenker, Rarebell Lovedrive 3:21
12. "You Give Me All I Need" Schenker, Rarebell Blackout 3:37
13. "Hey You (Remix)" Schenker, Meine, Rarebell Previously unreleased (Original version from the "Hey You" single, 1980) 3:43
14. "The Zoo" Schenker, Meine Animal Magnetism, 1980 5:29
15. "China White (US-solo version)* (CD bonus track)" Schenker, Meine Blackout 6:56

Recording information:

"I Can't Explain" recorded at Wisseloord Studios, Holland, 1989, produced by Bruce Fairbairn and engineered and mixed by Erwin Musper; recorded for the "Stairway to Heaven - Highway to Hell" benefit compilation.

All "Lovedrive" songs re-mixed by Steve Thompson and Michael Barbiero at Bearsville Studios, Bearsville, New York, 1989