Oddly enough, I'm not a long time fan of his but I have been giving him a lot of listens lately. I recently bough the first MSG album that has Armed and Ready on it. When I first heard that song, I thought it was an unreleased Priest song as Gary Barden reminds me a lot of Halford sometimes. I've owned the second MSG album on CD for several years and it's awesome. Cozy Powell! I just picked up Built to Destroy and I found it less than stellar. They songwriting is a bit poppy and the production is terrible. A friend sent me Assault Attack with Graham Bonnet on vocals and it's pretty good.
Beyond the Lights Out album, I never really got into UFO at all. I do like his playing on Scorpion's Lonesome Crow and Lovedrive.
I remember hearing some of the McCauley Schenker back when it came out, but don't remember liking it.
Discuss.
Michael Schenker
-
incubus2432
- Senior Member
- Posts: 4174
- Joined: Sat Jul 17, 2004 11:26 am
Re: Michael Schenker
I'm not much of a MSG fan but give my best of UFO cd a listen quite a bit. Not much else for me to discuss. 
Re: Michael Schenker
I've been a UFO fan for a long time. My favorite is the live album classic, "Strangers In The Night," which I've listened to enough times over the years that I'm sure it's part of my DNA now. Schenker is such a fluid and explosive lead guitarist. I love him for his tone and rhythm playing too, but his leads are unbelieveable. Check out "Rock Bottom" from the live record. It's one of those great moments where a talented player has a tight band and a screaming amp, and every note is just perfect. Sean, if I remember correctly, you're a Kiss fan, so a good comparison might be Ace Frehley's solo on "Shock Me" live.
UFO is my favorite of Schenker's bands because of the songs and the bandmates. Pete Way is a longtime favorite bassist for me - he's not complicated, but heavy and right there on the groove. Perfect for his band, and the songs are better for his approach (in the same way Adam Clayton of U2 and Cliff Williams of AC/DC are perfect for their bands). I like Phil Mogg's vocals, and Paul Raymond is the perfect combination utility player - rhythm guitar, hammond organ, and harmony vocals. I like "Perfect Strangers" (the live album) best, but I also like the studio stuff - "Force It," "No Heavy Petting," the best-of, etc.
I had the cassette tape of MacAuley-Schenker band back in the mid-80's and remember it being all right, but not grabbing me like UFO. Same for the Michael Schenker Band stuff (although my brother, who's into heavier stuff than me, in general, just loves that stuff).
It would have been interesting to see what might have happened if he hadn't left the Scorpions. Personally, I love the old UFO so much, I'll tend to say it was beneficial for both bands, but who knows....
UFO is my favorite of Schenker's bands because of the songs and the bandmates. Pete Way is a longtime favorite bassist for me - he's not complicated, but heavy and right there on the groove. Perfect for his band, and the songs are better for his approach (in the same way Adam Clayton of U2 and Cliff Williams of AC/DC are perfect for their bands). I like Phil Mogg's vocals, and Paul Raymond is the perfect combination utility player - rhythm guitar, hammond organ, and harmony vocals. I like "Perfect Strangers" (the live album) best, but I also like the studio stuff - "Force It," "No Heavy Petting," the best-of, etc.
I had the cassette tape of MacAuley-Schenker band back in the mid-80's and remember it being all right, but not grabbing me like UFO. Same for the Michael Schenker Band stuff (although my brother, who's into heavier stuff than me, in general, just loves that stuff).
It would have been interesting to see what might have happened if he hadn't left the Scorpions. Personally, I love the old UFO so much, I'll tend to say it was beneficial for both bands, but who knows....
-
loendmaestro
- Intermediate Member
- Posts: 1495
- Joined: Mon Dec 22, 2003 12:53 pm
- Contact:
Re: Michael Schenker
Well put dean712!
I was never really sold on the MSG stuff, real weak IMHO but the Schenker era UFO stuff is fantastic. Phenomenon, Force It, & No Heavy Petting are classics. Even with Leo Lyons' flat production. Has a great raw quality to it. Schenker was at his peak, but the whole band was really impressive. Phil Mogg - great street-poet type of singer, Pete Way - crazy *** Pete Way, definitely the heart of UFO and one of my fave bassists too, & Andy Parker - no neck, no nonsense. Once Paul Raymond came into the fold it was a perfect match.
Strangers In The Night is one of the best live albums of all time (though there was a bit of overdubbing done....like most great live albums). As stated above the live version of Rock Bottom is a classic & let's not forget the live version of 'Love To Love' -- it simply smokes the studio version. That outro solo STILL makes the hair on my arms stand up & I've listened to that record probably 1000 times....
Lights Out & Obsession were much better produced, courtesy of Ron Nevison, but by that time the cracks were starting to show & the songwriting had gone downhill. Though Lights Out is a pretty OK record.
I like Mike's work on Lonesome Crow & Lovedrive too. You can definitely hear the "youth" in his playing on Lonesome Crow, & call me silly, but to me his solos on Lovedrive really mirror the personal demons he was battling then. The almost sound like a cry for help...
God I love UFO though! SO underrated.
And as a side note, Phenomenon, Force It & No Heavy Petting were recently remastered & reissued with bonus tracks. And a couple of years ago Chrysalis reissued/remastered Strangers In The Night with it's proper original running order. Though I have to say, hearing that record open up with Hot N' Ready as opposed to Natural Thing just sounds wrong!
I was never really sold on the MSG stuff, real weak IMHO but the Schenker era UFO stuff is fantastic. Phenomenon, Force It, & No Heavy Petting are classics. Even with Leo Lyons' flat production. Has a great raw quality to it. Schenker was at his peak, but the whole band was really impressive. Phil Mogg - great street-poet type of singer, Pete Way - crazy *** Pete Way, definitely the heart of UFO and one of my fave bassists too, & Andy Parker - no neck, no nonsense. Once Paul Raymond came into the fold it was a perfect match.
Strangers In The Night is one of the best live albums of all time (though there was a bit of overdubbing done....like most great live albums). As stated above the live version of Rock Bottom is a classic & let's not forget the live version of 'Love To Love' -- it simply smokes the studio version. That outro solo STILL makes the hair on my arms stand up & I've listened to that record probably 1000 times....
Lights Out & Obsession were much better produced, courtesy of Ron Nevison, but by that time the cracks were starting to show & the songwriting had gone downhill. Though Lights Out is a pretty OK record.
I like Mike's work on Lonesome Crow & Lovedrive too. You can definitely hear the "youth" in his playing on Lonesome Crow, & call me silly, but to me his solos on Lovedrive really mirror the personal demons he was battling then. The almost sound like a cry for help...
God I love UFO though! SO underrated.
And as a side note, Phenomenon, Force It & No Heavy Petting were recently remastered & reissued with bonus tracks. And a couple of years ago Chrysalis reissued/remastered Strangers In The Night with it's proper original running order. Though I have to say, hearing that record open up with Hot N' Ready as opposed to Natural Thing just sounds wrong!
Re: Michael Schenker
UFO smokes, and agree that they are highly under rated. Putting Michael Schenkers tone and playing on the table just makes Jimmy Page look boring and predictable IMHO. These weren't guys trying to rehash the blues, they were there to rock,and put out a lot of great material. I'm glad he left the Scorpions, as they needed to do their own thing, and Michael his.
-
leftyguitars
- Advanced Member
- Posts: 2818
- Joined: Sun Feb 20, 2005 1:44 am
- Contact:
Re: Michael Schenker
Last year UFO were headlining one of the biker festivals that I am involved with. One of my jobs was to pick them up from their hotel and bring them to the gig. I've never seen anyone as 'intoxicated' as they were that night. The bass player passed out half way through the set! Now that's rock 'n' roll for you!
"If only quilted maple grew on trees!"
http://www.leftyguitars.co.uk
http://www.leftyguitars.co.uk
-
phlemmy
Re: Michael Schenker
Being drunk is Pete Way's M.O. Must be something in the name.leftyguitars wrote:Last year UFO were headlining one of the biker festivals that I am involved with. One of my jobs was to pick them up from their hotel and bring them to the gig. I've never seen anyone as 'intoxicated' as they were that night. The bass player passed out half way through the set! Now that's rock 'n' roll for you!
My current guitar player was in a band with Way in the late 80s in LA. he said he drank incessantly.
Re: Michael Schenker
Speaking of Pete Way, what was the deal with Fastway? Did he actually play on that album, or did he back out of that band before they recorded? I get conflicting stories on this, and was wondering, since we brought him up, what the deal with Fastway was?
-
phlemmy
Re: Michael Schenker
I've never heard that he didn't do the debut LP. I liked that one and Waiting for the Roar. To think that Dave King is singing for Flogging Molly now blows my mind.
-
phlemmy
Re: Michael Schenker
I forgott oadd that the soundtrack to trick or treat, performed by Fastway, was really good too.phlemmy wrote:I've never heard that he didn't do the debut LP. I liked that one and Waiting for the Roar. To think that Dave King is singing for Flogging Molly now blows my mind.
