Eye II Eye
Eye II Eye is the fourteenth studio album by the German hard rock band Scorpions, released on 9 March 1999 on EastWest. It arrived after Pure Instinct and before Moment of Glory, and it marked a clear change of direction, leaning much more towards pop than anything the band had done before.
It also brought a few firsts and lasts. James Kottak played drums on a Scorpions studio album for the first time, while this was the final one to feature Ralph Rieckermann on bass. "Mysterious" reached number 26 on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, though the softer approach alienated many longtime fans. The curiosity is "Du bist so schmutzig", the only Scorpions song so far recorded largely in German, with a few English lines from Kottak. It's worth hearing as a surprising detour in the band's catalogue.
Eye II Eye: tracklist, credits and charts
15 tracks · 1:08:44Tracklist
- 1MysteriousByron, Jabs, Rieckermann, Schenker, Meine5:28
- 2To Be No. 1Jabs, Wolf, Meine3:57
- 3ObsessionKlaus Meine and Peter Wolf4:09
- 410 Light Years AwayFrederiksen, Jones, Meine, Schenker3:53
- 5Mind Like a TreeSchenker, Wolf, Meine5:34
- 6Eye to EyeRudolf Schenker and Klaus Meine5:05
- 7What U Give U Get BackSchenker, Wolf, Meine5:02
- 8SkywriterRudolf Schenker and Klaus Meine4:55
- 9Yellow ButterflyFrederiksen, Schenker, Meine5:44
- 10Freshly SqueezedSchenker, Wolf, Meine3:58
- 11PriscillaRudolf Schenker and Klaus Meine3:18
- 12Du bist so schmutzigJabs, Schenker, Kottak, Meine3:55
- 13AleyahRudolf Schenker and Klaus Meine4:20
- 14A Moment in a Million YearsKlaus Meine4:58
- 15When You Came Into My Life (new version)Meine, Puspa, Schenker, Sundah4:27
- Produced by
- Peter Wolf, Scorpions
- Recorded at
- Little America Studios (Austria)
- Recorded
- 1998–1999
- Mixed by
- Bill Schnee, Chris Kimsey, Peter Wolf
- Mixed at
- Bill Schnee Studios, Olympic Studios, Little America Studios
- Engineered by
- Paul Ericksen, Christian Leitgeb
- Labels
- EastWest, Koch (US), WEA Japan (Japan)
- Length
- 1:08:44
Line-up
- Matthias Jabs · electric guitar, acoustic guitar, slide guitar, mandolin
- James Kottak · drums (drum set), background vocals, lead vocals
- Ralph Rieckermann · bass guitar, background vocals
- Rudolf Schenker · acoustic guitar, electric guitar, sitar, background vocals
- Klaus Meine · lead vocals, vocals
- Mick Jones · guitar · guest
- Herman Rarebell · background vocals · guest
- Lynn Davis · background vocals · guest
- Kevin Dorsey · background vocals · guest
- Siedah Garrett · background vocals · guest
- James Ingram · background vocals · guest
- Phil Perry · background vocals · guest
- Michelle Wolf · background vocals · guest
- Peter Wolf · piano, keyboard · guest
Singles
- “To Be No. 1” · 1999
- “Mysterious” · 1999
- “10 Light Years Away / Start Me Up” · 1999
- “Eye to Eye” · 1999
- “Aleyah” · 1999
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| German Albums · 1999 | 6 |
| UK Rock & Metal Albums · 1999 | 23 |
| Hungarian Albums · 1999 | 24 |
| Finnish Albums · 1999 | 37 |
| Swiss Albums · 1999 | 49 |
| French Albums (SNEP) · 1999 | 50 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) · 1999 | 84 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification |
|---|---|
| Malaysia | Platinum |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
Released the same week
Also released on 9 March
Every year →More from Scorpions
Full discography →The best of 1999
All of 1999 →More on EastWest
The label →Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia + wikidata; also seen: 1999-04-21 (musicbrainz)
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 21 April 1999 | ignored lone early release dated 1999-03-22 |
| Wikipedia infobox | 9 March 1999 | |
| Wikidata | 9 March 1999 | |
| US release | 22 June 1999 | earliest US date |
| UK / Europe release | 22 March 1999 | earliest UK or European date |
5 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | TH | EastWest | 639842719322 | other |
| 1999 | MY | EastWest | 639842719322 | other |
| 22 March 1999 | XE | EastWest | 639842683029 | original |
| 21 April 1999 | JP | EastWest Japan | 4988029700148 | other |
| 22 June 1999 | US | KOCH Records | 099923805229 | other |
Cover art sources
fanarttv · upscaled: major: best source 1000x1000, upscaled to 1500 (x1.50)
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| fanarttv ✓ | 1000×1000 | upscaled: major: best source 1000x1000, upscaled to 1500 (x1.50) |
| coverartarchive | 500×500 | upscaled |