Virgin Killer

Virgin Killer is the fourth album on which Scorpions bind hard rock’s aggression to Uli Jon Roth’s classical, fluent guitar sense. Klaus Meine’s singing carries soaring melody, and the band’s playing carefully builds the shading of each song, not just speed. From the bite of the opener “Pictured Life” and the drive of “Catch Your Train” to the momentum of “Backstage Queen,” the fantasy of “Polar Nights” and the lyricism of “Yellow Raven,” it shows a breadth of expression particular to the Roth era, with aggressive riffs and delicate melody moving freely within one record. Carrying a sharp, experimental face unlike the poppier, arena-minded later Scorpions, it already conveys the band’s strong melodic sense clearly. As a record from the period when Roth’s character is most vividly reflected, it is an important work showing the fullness of early Scorpions — an engaging album where hardness and a classical aesthetic coexist.