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
Released21 May 1996
Studio
Genre
Length51:04
LabelEast West (International), Atlantic (US)
Producer
Scorpions chronology
Face the Heat
(1993)
Pure Instinct
(1996)
Eye II Eye
(1999)
Singles from Pure Instinct
  1. "You and I" / "She's Knocking at My Door"
    Released: 1996
  2. "Does Anyone Know" / "Stone in My Shoe (live)"
    Released: 1996
  3. "Wild Child"
    Released: 1996 (US only)
  4. "When You Came into My Life"
    Released: 1996
  5. "Where the River Flows"
    Released: 1997
Alternative cover photo by Michel Comte
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal4/10[2]
Metal Hammer (GER)5/7[3]
Rock Hard7.0/10[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

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All lyrics are written by Klaus Meine, except "When You Came into My Life" by Meine, Rudolf Schenker, Titiek Puspa and James F. Sundah

No.TitleMusicLength
1."Wild Child"Schenker4:19
2."But the Best for You"Meine5:26
3."Does Anyone Know"Meine6:03
4."Stone in My Shoe"Schenker4:42
5."Soul Behind the Face"Schenker4:01
6."Oh Girl (I Wanna Be with You)"Schenker3:56
7."When You Came into My Life"Meine, Schenker, Puspa, Sundah5:13
8."Where the River Flows"Schenker4:16
9."Time Will Call Your Name"Schenker3:21
10."You and I"Meine6:16
11."Are You the One?"Schenker3:15
Japanese edition bonus track
No.TitleMusicLength
12."She's Knocking at My Door"Schenker3:21
Pure Instinct single-only tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Kiss of Borrowed Time" (from the "When You Came into My Life" CD-single)Meine3:39
2."You and I" (special single mix from the "You and I" CD-single)Meine4:21

Personnel

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Scorpions
Session musician
Additional musicians
  • Pitti Hecht – percussion
  • Luke Herzog, Koen van Bael – keyboards
Production
  • Erwin Musper – producer, engineer, mixing
  • Keith Olsen – producer of tracks 1
  • Evelien Tjebbes, Attie Bauw, Peter Kirkman – assistant engineers
  • David Foster – Producer, Arranger, Keyboards of tracks 7 (uncredit on this album, but single is credited)
  • Claude Gaudette – Keyboards of tracks 7 (uncredit on this album, but single is credited)
  • David Reitzas, Felipe Elgueta – engineer of tracks 7 (uncredit on this album, but single is credited)
  • Chris Lord-Alge – mixing of tracks 7 (uncredit on this album, but single is credited)
  • George Marino – mastering at Sterling Sound, New York

Charts

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Chart (1996) Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[7] 20
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[8] 37
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[9] 95
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[10] 10
French Albums (SNEP)[11] 11
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[12] 8
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[13] 28
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[14] 4
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[15] 38
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[16] 15
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)[17] 18
US Billboard 200[18] 99

Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[19] Gold 25,000[19]
France (SNEP)[20] Gold 100,000*
Germany (BVMI)[21] Gold 250,000^
Indonesia[22] Platinum 50,000[23]
Malaysia[24] 6× Platinum 150,000[24]
Portugal (AFP)[22] Gold 20,000^
Singapore (RIAS)[22] Gold 7,500[23]
South Korea (KMCA)[22] Gold 15,000[23]
Thailand[25] Platinum 50,000[25]

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

References

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  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.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  7. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Scorpions – Pure Instinct" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  8. ^ "Ultratop.be – Scorpions – Pure Instinct" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  9. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Scorpions – Pure Instinct" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  10. ^ "Scorpions: Pure Instinct" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  11. ^ "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.
  12. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Scorpions – Pure Instinct" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  13. ^ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  14. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Scorpions – Pure Instinct". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  15. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Scorpions – Pure Instinct". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  16. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Scorpions – Pure Instinct". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  17. ^ "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  18. ^ "Scorpions Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  19. ^ a b "Scorpions" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  20. ^ "French album certifications – Scorpions – Pure Instinct" (in French). InfoDisc. Retrieved 13 January 2022. Select SCORPIONS and click OK. 
  21. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Scorpions; 'Pure Instinct')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
  22. ^ a b c d "Scorpions Pure Instinct" (PDF). Billboard. 30 November 1996. p. 53.
  23. ^ a b c "Certification Award Levels" (PDF). IFPI. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 January 2007. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  24. ^ a b "Scorpions bares its soul". News Straits Times. 19 April 1999. p. 3. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
  25. ^ a b "Platinum Award for the sales of 50'000 copies of Pure Instinct". Archived from the original on 6 December 2020. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
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