# Love at First Sting

Professional ratings :
| Review scores ||
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | |
| Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal | 7/10 |
| Forces Parallèles | |
| Rock Hard | 7.5/10 |
| Rolling Stone | |
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.

## Music

The album's music has been described as heavy metal, hard rock, and glam metal.

## Background and recording

The album was recorded at Dierks Studios in Stommeln, West Germany. Initial sessions took place in Stockholm's Polar Studios in the Summer of 1983 with ex-Rainbow members Jimmy Bain on bass and Bobby Rondinelli on drums, but nothing made it to the final album. Love at First Sting is notable in that it was one of the first digitally recorded heavy metal records ever released.
It became the group's most successful album in the US, where it peaked at number 6 on the Billboard 200 chart in 1984, and went double-platinum by the end of the year, reaching triple-platinum status in 1995. The song "Rock You Like a Hurricane" reached number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the same year; "Still Loving You" reached number 64 on the same chart, number 14 in Germany, and number 3 in the French and Swiss single charts.

## Artwork

The original cover art was created by Kochlowski, which is a German graphic design company, and features a photo shot by renowned German photographer Helmut Newton. Despite the record company having shown the original cover art to retailers without any concerns, a complaint by Walmart in the US after the album was released resulted in PolyGram Records issuing a "clean" cover for use in several department store chains. The alternative cover was designed to be less controversial by simply showing a photo of the band members, which was the same photo as the one on the inner sleeve.

## Track listing

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

## Personnel
### Scorpions

* Klaus Meine – lead and backing vocals
* Rudolf Schenker – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2, 3, 8), lead guitar (6, 7, 9)
* Matthias Jabs – lead guitar, rhythm guitar (6, 7, 9)
* Francis Buchholz – bass, Moog Taurus
* Herman Rarebell – drums

### Production

* Dieter Dierks – producer, mixing
* Gerd Rautenbach – engineer, mastering
* Kochlowski/Missmahl/Pieczulski – cover design

## Charts

| Chart (1984) | Peak position |
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) | 19 |
| Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM) | 15 |
| Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts) | 4 |
| French Albums (SNEP) | 4 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) | 6 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) | 25 |
| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) | 48 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) | 17 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) | 9 |
| UK Albums (OCC) | 17 |
| US Billboard 200 | 6 |

## Certifications

| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
| Canada (Music Canada) | 2× Platinum | 200,000$^^$ |
| France (SNEP) | Platinum | 400,000$^*$ |
| Germany (BVMI) | Gold | 250,000$^^$ |
| Japan (RIAJ) | Gold | 100,000$^^$ |
| Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland) | Gold | 25,000$^^$ |
| United States (RIAA) | 3× Platinum | 3,000,000$^^$ |
| $^*$ Sales figures based on certification alone. $^^$ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |||