Virgin Killer is the fourth studio album by the German heavy metal band Scorpions. It was released in 1976, and was the first album of the band to attract attention outside Europe. The original cover, featuring a naked prepubescent girl, stirred controversy in the United States and elsewhere; it was subsequently reissued with a different cover. Virgin Killer shared the same fate as the other Scorpions albums featuring lead guitarist Uli Jon Roth: it "failed to attain any serious attention in the United States" but was "quite popular in Japan" where it peaked at number 32 in the charts. The album was another step in the band's shift from psychedelic music to hard rock. Critic Vincent Jeffries of Allmusic contends in hindsight that the album was "the first of four studio releases that really defined the Scorpions and their urgent metallic sound that was to become highly influential." He also counts the title track and "Pictured Life" among the "all-time Scorpions standouts." Among the band members, Uli Jon Roth considers Virgin Killer and the previous release In Trance as his favourite Scorpion albums.

Track Listing [320k MP3]

    "Pictured Life" (Meine, Roth, Schenker) – 3:21
    "Catch Your Train" (Meine, Schenker) – 3:32
    "In Your Park" (Meine, Schenker) – 3:39
    "Backstage Queen" (Meine, Schenker) – 3:10
    "Virgin Killer" (Roth) – 3:41
    "Hell Cat" (Roth) – 2:54
    "Crying Days" (Meine, Schenker) – 4:36
    "Polar Nights" (Roth) – 5:04
    "Yellow Raven" (Roth) – 4:58

Klaus Meine – lead vocals
Ulrich Roth – lead guitar, lead vocals on "Hell-Cat" and "Polar Nights"
Rudolf Schenker – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Francis Buchholz – bass, backing vocals
Rudy Lenners – drums, percussion