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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
Genre	Hard rock
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
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal	4/10
Metal Hammer (GER)	5/7
Rock Hard	7.0/10
Music Waves (FRA)	2/5

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.

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. 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 "When You Came into My Life" by Meine, Rudolf Schenker, Titiek Puspa and James F. Sundah

Personnel

Scorpions

• Klaus Meine – lead vocals
• Rudolf Schenker – rhythm guitar, 6 & 12-string acoustic guitars, EBow, backing vocals
• Matthias Jabs – lead guitar, rhythm guitar, 6 & 12-string acoustic guitars, slide guitar
• Ralph Rieckermann – bass

Additional musicians

• Curt Cress – drums, percussion
• 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

Certifications

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.
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. ^ "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. ^ "Scorpions Pure Instinct" (PDF). Billboard. 30 November 1996. p. 53.
23. ^ "Certification Award Levels" (PDF). IFPI. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 January 2007. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
24. ^ "Scorpions bares its soul". News Straits Times. 19 April 1999. p. 3. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
25. ^ "Platinum Award for the sales of 50'000 copies of Pure Instinct". Archived from the original on 6 December 2020. Retrieved 4 February 2021.

External links

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

• 1996 albums
• Scorpions (band) albums
• Atlantic Records albums
• East West Records albums