LOVEDRIVE heralded the beginning or a new era. After the band’s first Japan tour, Uli Jon Roth left the Scorpions to start his solo project Electric Sun. His successor was Matthias Jabs, a young guitar player from the group’s hometown Hannover. In the studio, the band was also joined by Michael Schenker, who had just left UFO. He contributed the lead guitar to “Lovedrive”, “Coast to Coast” – one of the very few instrumentals the Scorpions have recorded – and “Another Piece of Meat”.

The album was therefore recorded with three outstanding guitar players and the result was truly astonishing. The album was the first to feature all the hallmarks of classic Scorpions-recordings: An almost perfect mixture of beautiful ballads, great song writing, hard and aggressive riffs and powerful grooves that would be their unique contribution to rock music for many years to come. Songs such as the romantic ballad “Holiday” or the guitar driven, heavy stomping instrumental “Coast to Coast” are still crowd favourites and regular parts of their live sets.

LOVEDRIVE was the first Scorpions album to enter the Billboard 200, topping out at No. 55, making it the most successful album so far and a harbinger of even greater things to come. It featured yet another great, though also controversial, cover, designed by Storm Thorgerson from the London based design company Hipgnosis.