Over the past year, I've slowly been acquiring classic UFO albums and digging further into their catalog and just now, somewhat serendipitously, I was called upon to review the new Best Of UFO (1974-1983) collection, as it saw its April 2008 release.
I was happy to hear a great sequencing of songs when I first popped on the album, and a pristine remastering job! The comp kicks off with the 6 1/2-minute scorcher, "Rock Bottom", from the time when the band lost their trippy space rock sound of old (another era of UFO I like a lot for different reasons) and picked up the aforementioned German guitar guru, Michael Schenker who gave them a more straight-ahead rock sound for their 1974 Shenker-debut album, Phenomenon. If this song doesn't hook you, then you may want to check your pulse, for perhaps you've expired!
The comp continues on chronologically with rocker after rocker, certain to turn the uninitiated listener into UFO believer by mid-disc. The Schenker-era tracks roll, including the highlights "Shoot Shoot", "Lights Out", and "Too Hot To Handle", from the 6 classic Schenker-era albums, punctuated with "Doctor Doctor" from the highly successful live album, "Strangers In The Night" which would go down as Schenker's last with the band, at least for many years, as he stormed out of the studio as the live album was being mixed. Schenker has returned and quit the band since then almost a countless number of times. It's rumored that he's not the easiest guy in the world to get along with.
The remaining seven tracks out of the healthy nineteen total are all after 1978 and all post-Schenker. Surprisingly enough, the songs never lose steam and the band keeps firing on all cylinders pretty much right up until 1983 when UFO realized they weren't selling any records. They disbanded (but not forever) and made way for the next generation of rockers on whom UFO undeniably left their stamp.
Article comments
1 - franklyn
tasty!