Michael Schenker - My Years With UFO (50th Anniversary Celebration 1972-1978) (2024)

[Hard Rock]

The music of UFO was hugely important to a generation of budding rock stars from around the world in the late 70s. Everyone from Steve Harris of Iron Maiden to Kirk Hammett of Metallica have cited them as a major influence, and the years that Michael Shenker was on lead guitar are the ones most coveted. Schenker was with the band for five albums (arguably their 'classics') and then capped off his tenure before going solo on the legendary live double album Strangers In The Night (1979). After starting out somewhat directionless as a psychedelic jam rock band, UFO focussed on their third studio album Phenomenon (1974), coincidently (or not) the first album Schenker featured on. Although at the time they were sold as hard rock, most of the albums of the period were not particularly heavy by today's standards, but they do include some great lead work and sublime riff after sublime riff, building a rock guitarist's technique play book. For My Years With UFO Schenker has picked a selection of (presumably) his favourites of the period, and with a little help from a few well known friends, re-recorded the tracks for their 50th anniversary. Listening to the original songs with their 50 year old production shows the limitations of era, but these new recordings reveal a bunch of songs still worthy of attention. The production is bright and crisp, and brings a muscular edge to the tracks the originals just didn't have. 'Natural Thing' opens the album, with the gritty vocals of Twisted Sister's Dee Snider, and it is great opener, giving a modern look at a track that still bleeds the hard rock sound of the late 70s. Coincidently, or maybe not, 'Only You Can You Me' has a chorus that sounds like Scorpions (Schenker's previous and next band) and Europe's Joey Tempest has a voice that suits the material well. Joey Lynn Turner of Rainbow fame drives arguably the best known song in the UFO catalogue, 'Doctor Doctor', and does it justice. 'Mother Mary' is the toughest sounding track here, and with Skid Row's recent vocalist Erik Gronwal wailing and guitar legend Slash adding muscle to the six string, it feels like a sound that could fit the repertoire of any modern rock band. For the big ballad 'Love To Love' Schenker even managed to drag the elusive Axl Rose out of his basement to lay down one of the best vocal performances of the album. Vocal great Jeff Scott Soto gets to show off his pipes on 'Lights Out', but oddly his operatic style falls a little short on the songs anthemic chorus, and the power is lost on a song that should be celebrated better. Helloween's Kai Hanson, with his 70s styled voice, does an excellent job of 'Rock Bottom', giving it a vintage feel at the same time as making it sound like it was written yesterday - and at over 11 minutes it becomes one of the true heroes of the album. Everything wraps up nicely with Stephen Pearcy of Ratt lending vocals to 'Shoot Shoot', a great way to close such a great collection of songs. So much can be said about the guest choices on display here, but it is important they don't detract from the true star of the show - which is Schenker himself. His soloing is transcendent as always, and his tone is amazing. Every note is crisp and clean and masterfully played. After 50 years he clearly still loves these songs. The album is by no means a masterpiece, but for fans of both UFO and the virtuoso Schenker it is an excellent way to revisit these songs, and hopefully bring them back into the public eye (ear) for more recent generations. These were important songs in the history of rock, and they deserve to be remembered.