UFO

So, I picked up both of those Chrysalis Years box sets a few months back and I've been picking through them gradually.

What's the deal with everyone assuming that Michael Schenker made this band? Granted, they changed a bit stylistically without him, but MS wasn't exactly a stranger to smoothing out his sound in the 80s either.

On Misdemeanor now and really enjoying this stuff as muc has I did their 70s stuff.

Any fans on the board?

I must confess that I still don't own a UFO album. They're a band I keep planning on investigating further, but I always get sidetracked by other things.

SPV also put out one of those 5 disc "Album Classics" sets for them with almost all of the "reunion" albums they put out. Everything I've heard off of that set is excellent. Very gritty hard rock and they're still doing it very well.

Not sure I can recommend an era for them given that everything I've heard has been pretty awesome all around.

I'll probably grab whatever I can find when I run across it during one of my ill-advised excursions to FYE.

MetallicSeminarian wrote:

I must confess that I still don't own a UFO album. They're a band I keep planning on investigating further, but I always get sidetracked by other things.

Buy their classic live album - Strangers In The Night. If you like that, you'll like their other albums.

Also worth checking out is their 1995 comeback album Walk On Water. It includes two excellent re-recordings of UFO classics:

I like UFO.  My collection started with Phenomenon and ended with Making Contact.  Until I picked up You Are Here... and to be honest didn't like the way Phil Moggs voice had aged.  In complete agreement that this band is not purely defined by the contributions of Mr. Michael Schenker. Strangers in the Night is not only a great place to start but IMO an essential live album.

I have this essential comp that I listen to every now and then. Never felt the urge to dig any deeper.

Strangers was my intro to the band; I wore that tape down good.

MetallicSeminarian wrote:

I must confess that I still don't own a UFO album. They're a band I keep planning on investigating further, but I always get sidetracked by other things.

Same here. I used to listen to local radio sports dj Mark Madden (a huge fan of the band) and he always used UFO as his bumper music. The stuff he used was pretty good. One of these days I'll get around to them more.

Love UFO!! The first two are total space rock, love it! Then the classic '70s albums, love it! After that they are okay but not as good as they were. They really did miss MS IMHO.

The only two UFO albums I own are Walk On Water and Sharks.

Both are excellent. Gritty, but with big riffs and hooks, and good production.

Witchfinder wrote:

Buy their classic live album - Strangers In The Night.  If you like that, you'll like their other albums.

Witchfinder speaks the truth, this is THE UFO album.

I am huge UFO fan, like most fans I prefer the Schenker era, but all their albums featured some good to excellent songs.

The latest couple have been phenom. Vivian does MS justice. And the live footage I've seen is IMPRESSIVE. Mogg has a lot of energy left in him, dude rocks.

UFO was a band that initally took me a little while to get into, but what I own I love. My introduction to them was actually their original live LP from 72. Which to this day is still one of my favorites. The Schenker era is golden, but after he left I wasn't too crazy about it, though I do own Misdemeanor.

I don't know if anyone else hears this in it, but in the more recent albums, I'm hearing a lot of similarity between Ian Gillan's voice and Mogg's. I don't mean to compare them negatively. Mogg just sounds VERY different these days. Plenty of power in the voice though.

Yay I managed to find this topic again (how does UFO not fall under the heavy metal/hard rock umbrella?!).

Anyway, I just plunged deeper into UFO. I bought their Covenant CD from Amazon, and it comes with a live bonus disc. But more importantly I also ordered a 5-in-1 album collection that includes Phenomenon, Force It, No Heavy Petting, Lights Out and Obsession. For cheap.

It's going to be awesome, because I know I will love UFO and I've never heard these albums (save for Phenomenon, which I've borrowed in the past, but even that was at least 15 years ago).

It also means I have all the Schenker-era studio albums by this band, since I already had Walk on Water and Sharks. Anything else by this band I should get? And any thoughts on the albums I just bought - I'll hype myself up for the day they actually arrive in mail.

Lari wrote:

Yay I managed to find this topic again (how does UFO not fall under the heavy metal/hard rock umbrella?!).

Anyway, I just plunged deeper into UFO. I bought their Covenant CD from Amazon, and it comes with a live bonus disc. But more importantly I also ordered a 5-in-1 album collection that includes Phenomenon, Force It, No Heavy Petting, Lights Out and Obsession. For cheap.

It's going to be awesome, because I know I will love UFO and I've never heard these albums (save for Phenomenon, which I've borrowed in the past, but even that was at least 15 years ago).

It also means I have all the Schenker-era studio albums by this band, since I already had Walk on Water and Sharks. Anything else by this band I should get? And any thoughts on the albums I just bought - I'll hype myself up for the day they actually arrive in mail.

I really like and would recommend You Are Here. It has solid songs and playing(very tasteful solos by Vinnie More)... It's the one that got me back into UFO.


Saw them on this tour as well. Mr. Freeze live was MASSIVE!!! Of course, I was only one person back from the stage in that tiny club. I think they played the whole album that night.

Lari wrote:

Yay I managed to find this topic again (how does UFO not fall under the heavy metal/hard rock umbrella?!).

Anyway, I just plunged deeper into UFO. I bought their Covenant CD from Amazon, and it comes with a live bonus disc. But more importantly I also ordered a 5-in-1 album collection that includes Phenomenon, Force It, No Heavy Petting, Lights Out and Obsession. For cheap.

It's going to be awesome, because I know I will love UFO and I've never heard these albums (save for Phenomenon, which I've borrowed in the past, but even that was at least 15 years ago).

It also means I have all the Schenker-era studio albums by this band, since I already had Walk on Water and Sharks. Anything else by this band I should get? And any thoughts on the albums I just bought - I'll hype myself up for the day they actually arrive in mail.

Phenomenon- A really good album but the band was going thru a transitional stage, a few songs sound like the so called space rock sound the band had recorded on their first two albums with guitarist Mick Bolton. Their are a couple of tracks that point their way to the future of UFO, 'Rock Bottom; which features an extended solo by Schenker and 'Doctor Doctor'

Force It- A killer album where the band has not only found their sound, but perfected the balance between heaviness and melody.

No Heavy Petting- Another excellent album and Phil Mogg's lyrics become more personal and universal at the same time, one of the best storytellers of his genre

Lights Out- Belongs in every collection

Obsession- was the first UFO I ever owned and still remains a favorite

This is one of the tunes Madden used as his opening theme :






I like it !

They've had quite a few GREAT guitar players.  
 
Mick Bolton had a killer tone on those space rock albums
Schenker is Schenker.....a personal favorite since 1975
Paul Chapman is good but not as riff oriented as Schenker (IMHO)
Mc Clendon is very under-rated and has a broader range of style than any of them
Archer was never given the shot he needed.
Vinnie Moore was a surprise fit.   Too bad he lacks the songwritng skills found on some of his predecessors.

All (IMHDO)

I got the Covenant today. One spin later I am not quite as awestruck as I was with Sharks the first time I heard it.

I have all their albums. Huge fan here. I've loved every version of this band. Still making excellent music all these years later.

The first UFO album for me was The Wild, the Willing and the Innocent. Will always be a favourite. Having heard that I was lucky to be able to trade/borrow the earlier Schenker era stuff. Lights Out was the first one I upgraded to CD, followed soon thereafter by Strangers in the Night.