Scorpions "Virgin Killer"

Virgin Killer is the fourth studio album by German rock band Scorpions. It was released in 1976 and was the band's first album to attract attention outside Europe. The title is described as being a reference to time as the killer of innocence. The original cover featured a nude prepubescent girl, which stirred controversy in the UK, US and elsewhere. As a result, the album was re-issued with a different cover in some countries.

In December 2008, the image again gave rise to controversy when the British Internet Watch Foundation placed certain pages from Wikipedia on its internet blacklist, since it considered the image to be "potentially illegal" under the Protection of Children Act 1978. This resulted in much of the UK being prevented from editing Wikipedia, and significant public debate on the decision. The decision was reversed by the IWF after four days of blocking.

The success of Virgin Killer was similar to other Scorpions albums featuring Uli Jon Roth as lead guitarist; it "failed to attain any serious attention in the United States" but was "quite popular in Japan" where it peaked at number 32 in the charts. The album was another step in the band's shift from psychedelic music to hard rock. Critic Vincent Jeffries of Allmusic contends in hindsight that the album was "the first of four studio releases that really defined the Scorpions and their urgent metallic sound that was to become highly influential". He also counts the title track and "Pictured Life" among the "all-time Scorpions standouts". Among the band members, Uli Jon Roth considers Virgin Killer and the previous release In Trance as his favourite Scorpions albums.

Track 1 by Klaus Meine, Rudolf Schenker & Uli Jon Roth.
Tracks 2, 3, 4, and 7 by Klaus Meine & Rudolf Schenker.
Tracks 5, 6, 8, and 9 by Uli Jon Roth.

In Europe, the album was released in October 1976 and in the USA in February 1977. Its U.S. release date was delayed so as to not compete with the band's then-current album "In Trance", which did arrive in the U.S. in early 1976. 

In 2008, the Wikipedia page for the album was blocked in the UK, as censors deemed it featured child pornography. The Internet Watch Foundation reversed the decision three days later.

Recording information:


Recorded on 32 tracks at Dierks Studios in Cologne, (West) Germany.