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Animal Magnetism (Scorpions album)

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Animal Magnetism
A girl kneeling and a Doberman Pinscher sitting in front of a man with his hand in the rear pocket of his jeans.
Cover art by Hipgnosis
Studio album by
Scorpions
Released31 March 1980
RecordedOctober 1979 – February 1980
Studio
GenreHard rock, heavy metal
Length39:10
LabelHarvest (Europe)
Mercury (US, Canada)
ProducerDieter Dierks
Scorpions chronology
Lovedrive
(1979) 		Animal Magnetism
(1980) 		Blackout
(1982)
Singles from Animal Magnetism
  1. "Lady Starlight"
    Released: April 1980[1]
  2. "Make It Real"
    Released: May 1980
  3. "The Zoo"
    Released: August 1980
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal10/10[3]
Rolling Stone(favorable)[4]

Animal Magnetism is the seventh studio album by German rock band Scorpions, released in 1980. The RIAA certified the record as Gold on 8 March 1984, and Platinum on 28 October 1991.[5]

In the 2001 remaster edition by EMI, an extra track "Hey You" (rare single), sung by Rudolf Schenker is included (although Klaus Meine sings the chorus). The song was originally recorded during the Lovedrive sessions in 1978 and released two years later as side-A (together with "The Zoo" as side-B). A shorter remix from 1989 was used on the 2001 and 2015 reissues instead of the longer original single version.[6]

"Lady Starlight" is the only song in the entire Scorpions discography so far (as of 2018) to include an arrangement for strings and orchestral winds.

Artwork

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The album cover was created by Storm Thorgerson of the design firm Hipgnosis and, as with earlier Scorpions album sleeves, courted controversy. However, unlike several of their previous album sleeves the controversy did not result in the cover being replaced with an alternate sleeve. Recalling the cover photo, Thorgerson remarked, "That one was funny. I don't think we figured it out. We just knew there was something rude somewhere."[7]

Scorpions bassist at the time, Francis Buchholz, recalls that, "Herman came up with the title for the album Animal Magnetism and we all liked it because it's an interesting title. So we had this guy Storm who was doing album covers for Pink Floyd, I think he did the one with the guy with the flames. So Storm came up with the idea for the Animal Magnetism cover, I personally didn't like it, but the rest of the band loved it. I liked the dog though."[8]

Track listing

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All music composed by Rudolf Schenker, except where noted

Side one
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Make It Real"Herman Rarebell 3:49
2."Don't Make No Promises (Your Body Can't Keep)"RarebellMatthias Jabs2:55
3."Hold Me Tight"Klaus Meine, Rarebell 3:53
4."Twentieth Century Man"Meine 3:00
5."Lady Starlight"Meine 6:15
Side two
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
6."Falling in Love"RarebellRarebell4:09
7."Only a Man"Meine, Rarebell 3:32
8."The Zoo"Meine 5:28
9."Animal Magnetism"Meine, Rarebell 5:56
2001 CD remastered edition bonus track
No.TitleLyricsLength
10."Hey You" (original version on Japanese and US versions of Best of Rockers 'n' Ballads (1989))Meine, Rarebell4:29
2015 bonus tracks (35th anniversary deluxe edition)
No.TitleLyricsLength
10."Hey You" (vocals by Rudolf Schenker)Meine, Rarebell3:48
11."Animal Magnetism" (demo version)Meine, Rarebell4:30
12."American Girls" (demo song)Meine3:29
13."Get Your Love" (demo version of "Heroes Don't Cry")Meine3:42
14."Restless Man" (demo version of "Twentieth Century Man")Meine3:18
15."All Night Long" (demo song)Meine4:59

Personnel

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Scorpions

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Additional musicians on "Lady Starlight"

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  • Allan Macmillan – strings and horns arrangements, conductor
  • Adele Arman, Victoria Richard – violins
  • Paul Arman – viola
  • Richard Arman – cello
  • Charles Elliot – double bass
  • Melvin Berman – oboe
  • George Stimpson, Brad Wamaar – French horns

Production

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  • Dieter Dierks – producer, engineer, mixing
  • David Green – engineer on "Lady Starlight"
  • Steve Fallone – mastering
  • Howie Weinberg – re-mastering for CD

Charts

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Chart (1980) Peak
position
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[9] 76
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[10] 12
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[11] 37
UK Albums (OCC)[12] 23
US Billboard 200[13] 52

Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[14] Gold 50,000^
United States (RIAA)[15] Platinum 1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ Strong, Martin Charles (1995). The Great Rock Discography. p. 721. ISBN 9780862415419.
  2. ^ Weber, Barry. "Scorpions Animal Magnetism review". AllMusic. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
  3. ^ Popoff, Martin (1 November 2005). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. pp. 318–319. ISBN 978-1894959315.
  4. ^ Fricke, David (26 June 1980). "Album Reviews: Scorpions - Animal Magnetism". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 26 June 2007. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
  5. ^ RIAA Gold and Platinum Search for albums by Scorpions. Retrieved on 22 February 2011.
  6. ^ Animal Magnetism (CD Booklet). Scorpions. EMI. 2001. 7 24353 51542 3.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  7. ^ Steven Cerio (24 May 2010). "Interview with Storm Thorgerson". Retrieved 7 May 2015.
  8. ^ Syrjälä, Marko. "Interview with Francis Buchholz". Metal-rules.com. Archived from the original on 14 May 2008. Retrieved 12 May 2008.
  9. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 6956b". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  10. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Scorpions – Animal Magnetism" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  11. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Scorpions – Animal Magnetism". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  12. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  13. ^ "Scorpions Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  14. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Scorpions – Animal Magnetism". Music Canada.
  15. ^ "American album certifications – Scorpions – Animal Magnetism". Recording Industry Association of America.
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