Sting in the Tail

Sting in the Tail
Studio album by Scorpions
Released	March 14, 2010 (2010-03-14) (see release history)
Recorded	2009
Genre	Heavy metal, hard rock
Length	47:20
Label	Sony Music Germany New Door/UME (US)
Producer	Mikael "Nord" Andersson & Martin Hansen
Scorpions chronology
Humanity: Hour I (2007) Sting in the Tail (2010) Comeblack (2011)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Gears Of Rock
Sleaze Roxx
Metal Assault

Sting in the Tail is the seventeenth studio album by German heavy metal band Scorpions. It was released on March 19, 2010 in Europe (March 14 in Greece) and was released on March 23 in North America. It is likely to be their last studio album.

In an interview with the Songfacts website, Rudolf Schenker explained that their goal was to update their sound from their classic period in the 1980s. He explained: "If you take the best song elements from the '80s albums, and put these on one album, you come up with the Sting in the Tail album. So in this case we tried to re-invent the Scorpions sound from the '80s, using the same DNA after putting in a modern twist, to make it sound like today's music."

The album has a duet featuring the Finnish symphonic metal singer Tarja Turunen, in the song "The Good Die Young".

A tentative title for the album was Humanity: Hour II, however this was eventually scrapped.

First week sales in the United States were 18,500 copies sold placing it at No. 23 on the Billboard 200. In Germany the album debuted at No. 2, but fell in its second week to No. 3, in France at No. 16 and in Greece at No. 1. The album also peaked at Number 2 on the Billboard Rock Charts.

Track listing

1. "Raised on Rock" – 3:57 (Music: Andersson, Hansen / Lyrics: Hansen, Meine)
2. "Sting in the Tail" – 3:12 (Meine, Schenker / Meine)
3. "Slave Me" – 2:44 (Schenker / Meine, Jabs, Bazilian)
4. "The Good Die Young" (feat. Tarja Turunen) – 5:14 (Schenker, Kolonovits / Meine)
5. "No Limit" – 3:24 (Meine, Schenker, Bazilian / Meine, Schenker, Bazilian)
6. "Rock Zone" – 3:17 (Meine, Andersson, Hansen / Meine)
7. "Lorelei" – 4:31 (Schenker, Thomander, Wikström / Meine, Bazilian, Thomander, Wikström)
8. "Turn You On" – 4:25 (Schenker, Andersson, Hansen / Meine)
9. "Let's Rock!" – 3:20 (Bazilian,Meine,Schenker)
10. "SLY" – 5:15 (Meine, Schenker / Meine)
11. "Spirit of Rock" – 3:43 (Schenker, Bazilian / Meine, Schenker, Bazilian)
12. "The Best Is Yet to Come" – 4:34 (Music: Bazilian, Thomander, Wikström / Lyrics: Schenker, Bazilian, Thomander, Wikström)

1. "Dreamers"*** / "Thunder and Lightning" (Schenker, Meine, Kolonovits / Meine)
2. "Too Far"***
3. "Miracle" (regular version)***
4. "The Good Die Young" (new version)***
5. "Thunder and Lightning"*** – bonus track also on Japanese edition

• Bonus tracks on European Premium Edition, which also includes a DVD, featuring:

1. "Sting in the Tail" (live video San Antonio)
2. "The Best Is Yet to Come" (live video Prague)
3. "Sting in the Tail" (video message – EPK)

Personnel

• Klaus Meine – Lead vocals
• Matthias Jabs – Lead guitar, Backing vocals
• Rudolf Schenker – Rhythm guitar, Backing vocals
• Paweł Mąciwoda – Bass, Backing vocals
• James Kottak – Drums, Percussion, Backing vocals

Additional personnel

• Tarja Turunen – Backing vocals on 1st version of "The Good Die Young" and the main vocals on the 2nd version.

Release history

Region	Date
Greece	14 March 2010
Germany	19 March 2010
United Kingdom	22 March 2010
United States	23 March 2010
Brazil	15 April 2010
Japan	22 April 2010

Charts and certifications

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2010)	Peak position
Austria	6
Belgium Flanders	83
Belgium Wallonia	45
Canada	22
Finland	6
France	16
Germany	2
Greece	1
Italy	39
Mexico	33
Netherlands	71
Poland	41
Portugal	21
Spain	30
Sweden	14
Switzerland	6
UK Albums	96
US Billboard 200	23
US Hard Rock Albums	2
US Rock Albums	6

Year-end charts

Chart (2010)	Rank
German Albums Chart	29

Certifications

Region	Certification	Sales/shipments
Germany (BVMI)	Platinum	200,000^
^shipments figures based on certification alone