Blackout | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 8 March 1982 [1] | |||
Studio | Villa San Pecaïre (Saint Jacques, Grasse, France) with Dierks Recording Mobile Dierks Studios (Stommeln, West Germany) | |||
Genre | Hard rock, heavy metal | |||
Length | 36:44 | |||
Label | Harvest/EMI | |||
Producer | Dieter Dierks | |||
Scorpions chronology | ||||
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Singles from Blackout | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [2] |
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal | 10/10 [3] |
Forces Parallèles | [4] |
Rolling Stone | [5] |
Blackout is the eighth studio album by the German rock band Scorpions. It was released in 1982 by Harvest and EMI Records.
In the US, the album was certified gold on 24 June 1982 and platinum on 8 March 1984 by RIAA. [6] Rolling Stone ranked Blackout as 73rd on their list of "The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time" in 2017. [7]
After losing his voice during the writing of the album, [8] lead singer Klaus Meine had to undergo surgery on his vocal cords and was uncertain as to whether or not he would be able to record. Demos of the material were recorded with singer Don Dokken from Dokken, a then-unknown band from Los Angeles. [9] However, none of those recordings are featured on the album and Dokken is only credited with backing vocals. [10]
In Kerrang! issue 12, guitarist Rudolf Schenker said that he could not choose between his guitar solos on "China White" so the US and European releases differed in this detail.
A self-portrait of artist Gottfried Helnwein [8] is featured on the cover of the album. Schenker portrays this character in the "No One Like You" music video.
All music composed by Rudolf Schenker except where noted
No. | Title | Lyrics | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Blackout" | Klaus Meine, Herman Rarebell, Sonja Kittelsen | 3:49 |
2. | "Can't Live Without You" | Meine | 3:47 |
3. | "No One Like You" | Meine | 3:57 |
4. | "You Give Me All I Need" | Rarebell | 3:39 |
5. | "Now!" | Meine, Rarebell | 2:35 |
No. | Title | Lyrics | Length |
---|---|---|---|
6. | "Dynamite" | Meine, Rarebell | 4:12 |
7. | "Arizona" | Rarebell | 3:56 |
8. | "China White" | Meine | 6:59 |
9. | "When the Smoke Is Going Down" | Meine | 3:50 |
Total length: | 36:44 |
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
10. | "Blackout" (Demo Version) | Meine, Rarebell, Kittelsen | 4:03 | |
11. | "Running for the Plane" (Demo Song) | Meine | 4:07 | |
12. | "Sugar Man" (Demo Song) | Meine | Schenker, Matthias Jabs | 4:22 |
13. | "Searching for the Rainbow" (Demo Song) | Meine | 3:56 |
Scorpions
Others
Production
Chart (1982) | Peak position |
---|---|
Canada Top Albums/CDs ( RPM ) [11] | 11 |
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [12] | 45 |
Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts) [13] | 12 |
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [14] | 10 |
Japanese Albums (Oricon) [15] | 47 |
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [16] | 12 |
UK Albums (OCC) [17] | 11 |
US Billboard 200 [18] | 10 |
Chart (2015) | Peak position |
---|---|
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC) [19] | 27 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Canada (Music Canada) [20] | Platinum | 100,000^ |
Mexico (AMPROFON) [21] | Gold | 100,000 [21] |
United States (RIAA) [22] | Platinum | 1,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Scorpions are a German hard rock band formed in Hanover in 1965 by guitarist Rudolf Schenker. The lineup from 1978 to 1992 was the most successful incarnation of the group, and included Klaus Meine (vocals), Rudolf Schenker, Matthias Jabs, Francis Buchholz (bass), and Herman Rarebell (drums). The band's only continuous member has been Schenker, although Meine has appeared on all of Scorpions' studio albums, while Jabs has been a consistent member since 1978, and bassist Paweł Mąciwoda and drummer Mikkey Dee have been in the band since 2003 and 2016, respectively.
Unbreakable is the fifteenth studio album by German hard rock band Scorpions, released in 2004. In this release, Scorpions return to the style of music of their most successful albums, after experimenting with many different concepts and influences in the 1990s. This was the first album with Paweł Mąciwoda on bass guitar. Despite critical acclaim and extensive touring of the album, Unbreakable was not a big hit on the charts.
Love at First Sting is the ninth studio album by German rock band Scorpions. It was released in February 1984 by Harvest and EMI Records in Europe and Mercury Records in the US. The album contains "Rock You Like a Hurricane", "Still Loving You", and "Big City Nights", three of the band's most famous songs.
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 and was certified platinum by the RIAA on June 20, 1988. It was the last Scorpions record to be produced by Dieter Dierks.
Lovedrive is the sixth studio album by the German rock band Scorpions, released in 1979. Considered by some critics to be the pinnacle of their career, Lovedrive was a major evolution of the band's sound, exhibiting their "classic style" that would be later developed over their next few albums. Lovedrive cemented the "Scorpions formula" of hard rock songs combined with melodic ballads.
Still Loving You is a compilation album by the German hard rock band Scorpions.
Fly to the Rainbow is the second studio album by the German rock band Scorpions, released on 1 November 1974 by RCA Records. This was the band's first release with guitarist Uli Jon Roth and bassist Francis Buchholz, and the only one to include drummer Jürgen Rosenthal.
Face the Heat is the twelfth studio album released by the German hard rock band Scorpions in 1993.
Donald Maynard Dokken is an American musician, best known as the lead singer and founder of glam metal band Dokken. He is known for his vibrato-laden, melodic vocal style which has made him an influential figure in American heavy metal/glam metal.
Live Bites is a live album by the German hard rock band Scorpions, released in 1995.
Eye II Eye is the fourteenth studio album by the German hard rock band Scorpions, released in 1999. It is a radical departure in that Eye II Eye is much more pop-oriented than their previous work, which alienated some fans, despite the single "Mysterious" reaching number 26 on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. It is the first studio Scorpions album to feature James Kottak on drums and also the final Scorpions studio album to feature Ralph Rieckermann on bass guitar.
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.
Crazy World is the eleventh studio album by the German hard rock band Scorpions, released on 6 November 1990. The album peaked at No. 21 on the Billboard 200 chart for albums in 1991. That same year, the song "Wind of Change" reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and "Send Me an Angel" reached No. 44 on the same chart. It also has the only Scorpions track to credit bassist Francis Buchholz as a writer, "Kicks After Six". This album was the band's first album in a decade and a half to not be produced by Dieter Dierks.
Pure Instinct is the thirteenth studio album by the German hard rock band Scorpions, released in 1996. Reviewers criticized the album for having too many ballads and not enough hard rock or even rock.
World Wide Live is a live album by German rock band Scorpions, released in 1985. The original audio recording was produced by Dieter Dierks. A VHS was released at the same time with footage of Scorpions' world tour.
"No One Like You" is a song by German rock band Scorpions. It was written by band members Rudolf Schenker (guitar) and Klaus Meine (vocals) and released as the lead single from the band's eighth studio album Blackout (1982). It was produced by Dieter Dierks and was recorded at Dierks Studios.
Humanity: Hour I is the sixteenth studio album by German hard rock band Scorpions, which was released in Europe on 14 May 2007 and in the United States and Canada on 28 August 2007. Humanity: Hour 1 is a concept album based on a loose storyline by Desmond Child and futurist Liam Carl, which predicts a world torn apart by a civil war between humans and robots. This apocalyptic nightmare serves as a warning shot to all humanity, whose only hope of survival is to reclaim our humanity.
Sting in the Tail is the seventeenth studio album by German hard rock band Scorpions. It was released on 19 March 2010 in Europe and on 23 March in North America. At the time it was intended to be a farewell album, released prior to their farewell tour.
Comeblack is a compilation of songs recorded by German hard rock band Scorpions; and is intended as a comeback album, following their farewell tour. Released after the successful 2010's Sting in the Tail, half of the album features re-recorded versions of their own classic songs and the other half cover versions of 1960s and early 1970s popular rock songs. It was announced on 3 October 2011, with a planned global release date of 4 November and a US release on 24 January 2012. Comeblack was also released for streaming online by AOL Music on 23 January 2012. The album was released by Sony Music Entertainment and available in both CD and vinyl formats.
Return to Forever is the eighteenth studio album by German rock band Scorpions. It was released in Europe on 20 February 2015. The album marks the final release of the band to feature the Unbreakable-era lineup with longtime drummer James Kottak leaving the band in September 2016, being replaced by former Motörhead drummer Mikkey Dee.