Pure Instinct

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.

Pure Instinct
Cover photo by Gered Mankowitz
Studio album by Scorpions
Released	21 May 1996
Studio	Scorpio Sound Studio, Hannover, Germany Wisseloord Studios, Hilversum, Netherlands Magic Moments Studio, New York City, New York, US Goodnight LA, Los Angeles, California, US
Length	51:04
Label	East West (International), Atlantic (US)
Producer	Erwin Musper Keith Olsen Scorpions
Scorpions chronology
Face the Heat (1993) Pure Instinct (1996) Eye II Eye (1999)
Singles from Pure Instinct
"You and I" / "She's Knocking at My Door" Released: 1996 "Does Anyone Know" / "Stone in My Shoe (live)" Released: 1996 "Wild Child" Released: 1996 (US only) "When You Came into My Life" Released: 1996 "Where the River Flows" Released: 1997
Alternative cover photo by Michel Comte

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal	4/10[2]
Metal Hammer (GER)	5/7[3]
Rock Hard	7.0/10[4]
Music Waves (FRA)	2/5[5]

The cover art for this album, as with several earlier Scorpions albums, was replaced with an alternative cover for some releases due to the nudity on the original cover.[6] This is the only Scorpions album on which session musician Curt Cress plays drums. The album has more ballads than non-ballads. The song "You and I" gained some popularity and was often played in Scorpions concerts.

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Klaus Meine, except where noted.

No.	Title	Music	Length
1.	"Wild Child"	Rudolf Schenker	4:19
2.	"But the Best for You"	Meine	5:26
3.	"Does Anyone Know"	Meine	6:03
4.	"Stone in My Shoe"	Schenker	4:42
5.	"Soul Behind the Face"	Schenker	4:14
6.	"Oh Girl (I Wanna Be with You)"	Schenker	3:56
7.	"When You Came into My Life" (lyrics by: Meine, Schenker, Titiek Puspa, James F. Sundah)	Meine, Schenker, Puspa, Sundah	5:13
8.	"Where the River Flows"	Schenker	4:16
9.	"Time Will Call Your Name"	Schenker	3:21
10.	"You and I"	Meine	6:16
11.	"Are You the One?"	Schenker	3:15

Japanese edition bonus track

No.	Title	Music	Length
12.	"She's Knocking at My Door"	Schenker	3:21

Pure Instinct single-only tracks

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Kiss of Borrowed Time" (from the "When You Came Into My Life" CD-single)	Meine	3:39
2.	"You and I" (special single mix from the "You and I" CD-single)	Meine	4:21

Personnel

Scorpions

• Klaus Meine – lead vocals
• Rudolf Schenker – rhythm guitars, backing vocals
• Matthias Jabs – lead guitars, backing vocals
• Ralph Rieckermann – bass, backing vocals
• Curt Cress – drums, percussion

Additional musicians

• Pitti Hecht - percussion
• Luke Herzog, Koen van Bael - keyboards

Production

• Erwin Musper – producer, engineer, mixing
• Keith Olsen – producer of tracks 1 and 7
• Evelien Tjebbes, Attie Bauw, Peter Kirkman – assistant engineers
• George Marino – mastering at Sterling Sound, New York

Charts

Album Year Chart Position 1996 German Albums Chart[7] 8 Finnish Albums Chart[8] 10 French Albums Chart[9] 11 Swiss Albums Top 100[10] 15 Austrian Top 40 Albums[11] 20 Oricon Japanese Albums Chart[12] 28 Belgian Ultratop (Wallonia)[13] 37 Swedish Albums Chart[14] 38 Dutch MegaCharts[15] 95 Billboard 200 (US)[16] 99

Singles Year Title Chart Position 1996 "Wild Child" Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks (US)[16] 19 "You and I" German Singles Chart[17] 22 Swiss Singles Top 75[18] 23 French Singles Chart[19] 23 Austria Top 40 Singles[20] 34 Swedish Singles Chart[21] 37 "Does Anyone Know" German Singles Chart[22] 81 "When You Came into My Life" German Singles Chart[23] 97 1997 "Where The River Flows" German Singles Chart[24] 97

Year-end charts

Chart (1996)	Position
German Albums Chart[25]	55

Certifications

Country	Organization	Year	Sales
Germany	BVMI	1996	Gold (+ 250,000)[26]
France	SNEP	1996	Gold (+ 100,000)[27]
Finland	IFPI Finland	1996	Gold (+ 25,000)[28]

References

1. Weber, Barry. "Scorpions Pure Instinct review". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
2. Popoff, Martin (1 August 2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. pp. 387–388. ISBN 978-1-894959-62-9.
3. Scöwe, Andreas (May 1996). "Scorpions – Pure Instinct". Metal Hammer (in German). Retrieved 20 June 2017.
4. Glas, Stefan (1996). "Review Album: Scorpions - Pure Instinct". Rock Hard (in German). No. 101. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
5. Loloceltic (7 May 2011). "Scorpions Pure Instinct review". Music Waves (in French). Retrieved 15 April 2020.
6. Jeffrey Easton. "Metal Exiles interview with Klaus Meine'". metalexiles.com. Archived from the original on 21 April 2010. Retrieved 21 April 2010.CS1 maint: unfit url (link)
7. "Album – Scorpions, Pure Instinct". Charts.de (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
8. "Scorpions – Pure Instinct (album)". Finnishcharts.com. Media Control Charts. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
9. "Le Détail des Albums de chaque Artist: search for Scorpions". Infodisc.fr. Archived from the original on 6 May 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
10. "Scorpions – Pure Instinct". Hitparade.ch (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
11. "Scorpions – Pure Instinct (album)". Austriancharts.at (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
12. "スコーピオンズ - スコーピオンズのアルバム売り上げランキング". Oricon. Retrieved 28 September 2012.
13. "Scorpions – Pure Instinct". Ultratop (in French). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
14. "Scorpions – Pure Instinct (album)". Swedishcharts.com. Media Control Charts. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
15. "Scorpions – Pure Instinct (album)". GfK Dutch Charts (in Dutch). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
16. "Pure Instinct Billboard Albums". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
17. "Single – Scorpions, You and I". Charts.de (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
18. "Scorpions – You and I". Hitparade.ch (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
19. "Scorpions – You and I (chanson)". Lescharts.com (in French). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
20. "Scorpions – You and I (song)". Austriancharts.at (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
21. "Scorpions – You and I (song)". Swedishcharts.com. Media Control Charts. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
22. "Single – Scorpions, Does Anyone Know". Charts.de (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
23. "Single – Scorpions, When You Came into My Life". Charts.de (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
24. "Single – Scorpions, Where The River Flows". Charts.de (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
25. "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
26. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Scorpions)" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
27. "Les Certifications depuis 1973 : search for Scorpions" (in French). Infodisc.fr. Archived from the original on 21 June 2010. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
28. "Tilastot: Scorpions". Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 1 December 2012.

External links

• Official album page
• "You and I" video
• "When You Came into My Life" video