The Zoo (Scorpions song)

"The Zoo"
Single by Scorpions
from the album Animal Magnetism
Released March 1980
Recorded December 1979 - February 1980
Genre Hard rock
Length 5:28
Label Harvest/EMI (Europe)
Mercury (US)
Writer(s) Rudolf Schenker, Klaus Meine
Producer(s) Dieter Dierks

"The Zoo" is a song by the German hard rock band Scorpions. It was written by group members Rudolf Schenker (guitar) and Klaus Meine (vocals). The song also features a talkbox later on in the song.

Background

Schenker wrote much of the music during the band's first tour of the United States in 1979. When Meine first heard Schenker's riff, it reminded him of the band's earlier visit to a street in New York City humorously referred to as a "zoo".[1] Meine later composed the song's lyrics, which contain references to city streets, especially New York's 42nd Street.

The song has been featured on a few Scorpions "Best-Of" compilations, including Deadly Sting, Bad for Good: The Very Best of Scorpions, the box set Box of Scorpions, and a re-recorded version for the Comeblack album.

Reception

Although the song was released as a single in 1980, it commercially underperformed with limited chart success, peaking at #75 in the UK. Even so, it is a critically acclaimed heavy metal song, one critic noting that "The Zoo" is both "ominously slow and melodically accessible" with a key element being the "Berlin burlesque vocal melody".[1]

References

  1. 1 2 Popoff, Martin (2002), The Top 500 Heavy Metal Songs of All Time, ECW Press, p. 192, ISBN 1-55022-530-8
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