Savage Amusement is the tenth studio album by the German hard rock band Scorpions, released in 1988. It peaked at No. 5 in the US[10] and was certified platinum by the RIAA on June 20, 1988.[11] It was the last Scorpions record to be produced by Dieter Dierks.

Savage Amusement
Studio album by
Released18 April 1988[1]
Recorded1987–1988
StudioDierks Studios, Stommeln,
Scorpio Sound Studios, Hannover, West Germany
Genre
Length37:19
LabelHarvest/EMI (Europe)
Mercury (US)
ProducerDieter Dierks
Scorpions chronology
Love at First Sting
(1984)
Savage Amusement
(1988)
Crazy World
(1990)
Singles from Savage Amusement
  1. "Rhythm of Love"
    Released: May 1988[6]
  2. "Believe in Love"
    Released: August 1988
  3. "Passion Rules the Game"
    Released: February 1989
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[7]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal5/10[8]
Rock Hard8.0/10[9]

Cover art

edit

The cover shows a woman wearing a black dress on a dark blue background. With her right hand she hides her eyes; thus, only her mouth and nose are visible. The cover of Savage Amusement is notable, however, for the fact that instead of the lady's right leg, a scorpion tail is seen. The typical band logo is shown on the upper left, while the title of the album is found in the lower right corner, in red, and underlined (also in red).

Track listing

edit

All lyrics are written by Klaus Meine, except where noted; all music is composed by Rudolf Schenker, except where noted

No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Don't Stop at the Top"Meine, Herman Rarebell 4:03
2."Rhythm of Love"  3:47
3."Passion Rules the Game" Rarebell3:58
4."Media Overkill"  3:32
5."Walking on the Edge"  5:05
6."We Let It Rock... You Let It Roll"  3:38
7."Every Minute Every Day"  4:21
8."Love on the Run"Meine, Rarebell 3:35
9."Believe in Love"  5:20
2015 bonus tracks (50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
10."Taste of Love" (Demo Song)Rarebell 4:35
11."Edge of Time" (Demo Version)  3:40
12."Fast and Furious" (Demo) Matthias Jabs3:08
13."Dancing in the Moonlight" (Demo Version of "Dancing with the Moonlight") Jabs3:07
14."Living for Tomorrow" (Demo Song)  3:37
15."I Can't Explain" (The Who cover)Pete TownshendTownshend3:20

Personnel

edit
Scorpions
Additional musicians
  • Lee Aaron – backing vocals on "Rhythm of Love"
  • Peter Baltes – intro vocals on "Every Minute Every Day"
Production
  • Dieter Dierks – producer, engineer, mixing on tracks 2 and 9
  • Ian Taylor, Gerd Rautenbach – engineers
  • Mike Shipley – mixing on tracks 2 and 9
  • Nigel Green and Scorpions – mixing at Battery Studios, London
  • Howie Weinberg – mastering at Masterdisk, New York

Charts

edit
Chart (1988) Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[12] 18
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[13] 25
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[14] 24
Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts)[15] 1
French Albums (SNEP)[16] 16
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[17] 4
Italian Albums (Musica e Dischi)[18] 17
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[19] 32
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[20] 5
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[21] 2
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[22] 5
UK Albums (OCC)[23] 18
US Billboard 200[24] 5

Certifications

edit
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[25] Platinum 100,000^
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[26] Gold 34,906[26]
France (SNEP)[27] Gold 100,000*
Germany (BVMI)[28] Gold 250,000^
Malaysia[29] Gold 20,000[29]
Sweden (GLF)[30] Gold 50,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[31] Gold 25,000^
United States (RIAA)[32] Platinum 1,000,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

edit
  1. ^ "RIAA certifications". Recording Industry Association of America.
  2. ^ Rivadavia, Eduardo (18 September 2015). "Scorpions Albums Ranked Worst to Best". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 9 April 2021. This technology-overloaded LP briefly suited some pop metal tastes; After stumbling with the pop metal-focused 'Savage Amusement,'
  3. ^ Begrand, Adrien (27 May 2004). "Scorpions: Box of Scorpions, PopMatters". PopMatters. Retrieved 30 May 2021. it was little more than just another empty hair metal album
  4. ^ "SCORPIONS - Savage Amusement (50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)". metalitalia.com (in Italian). 6 November 2015. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
  5. ^ Rothe, Dominik (26 December 2018). "Scorpions - Savage Amusement • Blast From The Bast". metal.de (in German). Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  6. ^ Strong, Martin Charles (1995). The Great Rock Discography. p. 721. ISBN 9780862415419.
  7. ^ Weber, Barry. "Scorpions Savage Amusement review". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  8. ^ Popoff, Martin (1 November 2005). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. pp. 319–320. ISBN 978-1894959315.
  9. ^ Schäfer, Wolfgang (1988). "Review Album: Scorpions - Savage Amusement". Rock Hard (in German). No. 27. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  10. ^ "Savage Amusement Billboard Albums". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 25 November 2013. Retrieved 15 November 2012.
  11. ^ "RIAA Searchable Database: search for Scorpions". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  12. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Scorpions – Savage Amusement" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  13. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 8604". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  14. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Scorpions – Savage Amusement" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  15. ^ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 166. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  16. ^ "Le Détail des Albums de chaque Artiste – S". Infodisc.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 22 October 2014. Retrieved 25 March 2024. Select Scorpions from the menu, then press OK.
  17. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Scorpions – Savage Amusement" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  18. ^ "Classifiche". Musica e Dischi (in Italian). Retrieved 25 March 2024. Set "Tipo" on "Album". Then, in the "Artista" field, search "Scorpions".
  19. ^ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  20. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Scorpions – Savage Amusement". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  21. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Scorpions – Savage Amusement". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  22. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Scorpions – Savage Amusement". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  23. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  24. ^ "Scorpions Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  25. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Scorpions – Savage Amusement". Music Canada. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  26. ^ a b "Scorpions" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  27. ^ "French album certifications – Scorpions – Savage Amusement" (in French). InfoDisc. Retrieved 19 January 2020. Select SCORPIONS and click OK. 
  28. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Scorpions; 'Savage Amusement')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  29. ^ a b "Malaysia Goes International" (PDF). Billboard. 14 December 1991. p. 79 & 83.
  30. ^ "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 1987−1998" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 May 2011. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  31. ^ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards ('Savage Amusement')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  32. ^ "American album certifications – Scorpions – Savage Amusement". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 19 January 2020.