Scorpions "Virgin Killer" Album Cover Art Part of History of Controversial Album Covers

Scorpions Album Covers Debates: Child Pornography, Misogyny, and Sexual Themes

Wikinews has reported that Wikipedia has been censored in the United Kingdom due to allegations presented by the Internet Watch Foundation, which instituted procedures about a "potentially illegal indecent image" (the cover art of the German heavy metal rock band Scorpions' 1976 album "Virgin Killer"). The actions of the IWF have caused at least six Internet Service Providers in the United Kingdom to have operation problems and may have affected up to 1200 websites.

The "potentially illegal indecent image," a nude prepubescent girl on the cover of "Virgin Killer," is considered by many an example of child pornography and caused controversy when it was first released. Not only is the girl nude but many believe she is posed provocatively. A cracked glass image appears over the young girl's genitals (and is part of the original album cover art). The album was released with a picture of the band on the cover in most countries.

But "Virgin Killer" was not the only Scorpions album of a sexual nature to cause controversy. The German rockers seemed to have a knack for it. Preceding "Virgin Killer" had been the questionable black-and-white cover art on 1975's "In Trance," where a woman seems to be in the throes of passion with a guitar emanating from her lower regions.

The "Virgin Killer" tempest was resurrected one studio and one live album later when the band released "Lovedrive" in 1979. The originial cover art on "Lovedrive" depicted two well-dressed individuals in the back seat of what appears to be a luxury car. The man in the picture had just taken his hand aware from the bare breast of his female companion, as is attested to by the thinning string of pink bubble gum that connects his hand with her exposed breast. The album cover of "Lovedrive" was changed to that of a forward facing crystal scorpion prostrate atop the band's name.