He had, however, done this in a slightly haphazard way. He started the decade off in the McAuley Schenker Group with singer Robin McAuley, before joining the short-lived supergroup Contraband which included Tracii Guns, Share Pedersen and Bobby Blotzer and released one self-titled album. He then rejoined UFO for their “Walk on Water” album before leaving again during the tour that followed. His response was to reform a new version of his Michael Schenker Group, who then recorded the album “Written in the Sand” album, and then during the tour for that album recorded “The Michael Schenker Story Live” for release in 1997. He then helped out his old band UFO by going out on tour with them again and then releasing another MSG album “The Unforgiven”, and then another live album on the tour that followed titled “The Unforgiven World Tour”.
So with so many feet in so many doors, what was the catalyst for him to then put out a solo album within this mix? I’m not sure of the actual answer to this, but the difference about this album from all of those others I’ve mentioned is that this is a completely instrumental album, no vocals, no vocalist. And perhaps it was just a way for him to get away from writing and composing songs as a part of a group and came back to him just writing stuff for himself. Whatever the reason may have been, the album came out early in the year 2000 to almighty... thud.
How do you review an instrumental album? I’m sure I have posed this question before – and no one came to the rescue to offer me any advice. It isn’t an easy job, and in the case of this album, it is also a very short session. For starters, the rhythm section is excellent, with John Ondor on bass guitar and the ever present Aynsley Dunbar on drums. Both do a sterling job of keeping the songs going so Schenker can shred when he wants over the top.
The opening twosome of “Achtung Fertig, Los!” (which translates as ‘ready, set, go’) and “Open Gate” do a great job of setting the album up. Both do remind me of Joe Satriani and his “Surfing with the Alien” album but without the incredible speed and jammed tight riffing that that album has in places. These are both very comfortable songs to listen to, with some great guitaring from Schenker but without overdoing anything. They are just welcoming and comforting instrumental pieces to listen to.
There are two extremely long songs on this album, which on first glance you would be thinking “why the hell are they so long?!” The first is “Three Fish Dancing”, which because of its length is like a Dream Theater song in that there are so many changes or ‘suites’ in the track that it never loses interest. Indeed, if you put this on and just listen to it without judging, at times you may well think you are listening to Dream Theater. But then, Michael Schenker is quite the genius on guitar, and his rhythm section is also well above competent. This is followed by the short burst of “Michael Schenker Junior”, no doubt composed for his son, but which doesn’t reach the heights of what has come before it.
The second of the long stretch songs comes next with “Aardvark in a VW Smoking a Cigar”. Now while this is still a good song and very listenable, it doesn’t work as well as the previous long haul track, there’s a bit more clear guitar on this one rather than riffage and is a different styled song all together. “I Want to be with You” actually feels like a romantic power ballad track musically that you would expect with the title that is has. You can even hear the places where you could slot in lyrics if you wanted to.
“Old Man with Sheep on Mars” kicks off with a more pleasing riffage from Schenker’s rhythm guitar and is blended pleasingly with his lead soloing over the top. Then comes the almost Gary Moore-like clear rhythm and electric lead guitars of “At the End of the Day”. This is a beautifully unique song, with no drums, just the guitars through the entirety of the track. And the album closes with the experimentally interesting “Hand in Hand”, with Schenker dovetailing different guitar movements into one song, again disposing of the drums, and creating a synth like spectacle with only his guitar.
I had been sporadically buying Schenker’s albums through the 90’s decade, often on a whim when I walked into Utopia Records in Sydney with cash burning a hole in my pocket, which occasionally occurred in those latter years of the 90’s. I had his live album from “The Unforgiven” tour and another less well known one, but tracking what he was doing from one year to the next was a difficult proposition once Hot Metal magazine had gone under.
Then the internet arrived (for me at least) and the multiple file sharing programs came online, and just using a search string allowed you to find your favourite artists and albums they had released. And that was where I first discovered this album in 2001 and decided to download it. There’s no doubt that I discovered a lot of music I would never have found in those early years of the 2000’s by this method.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from this, especially when I finally realised that this was an instrumental album. That initially put me off, as I had been hoping for fully formed songs with a great vocalist and then those wonderful Schenker riffs and solos. Or, at the very least, some great instrumentals like he had done in the past such as the legendary “Into the Arena” and “Captain Nemo”. That wasn’t to be, but I soon discovered that the material he had written here was still amazingly good and of course focused mostly on his guitaring in a fashion that showcased its best qualities. I don’t think I am alone in thinking that both “Three Fish Dancing” at 14 minutes and “Aardvark in a VW Smoking a Cigar at almost the same are far too long. Cut them into three and come up with some other names similar to these, and you still have an album worth listening to, because there are basically 3 to 5 change up with in each of these songs that could indeed be regarded as songs within songs. Though 54 minutes might also be a bit long in that respect. 40-45 minutes might have been the ideal. But to be completely honest, when you are listening to it, it doesn’t matter on the length of the track, because they are all so interesting.
I dare say that I haven’t listened to this much at all since I first got it in that downloading session, and spent a couple of weeks having it on rotation at the time. I did a review for this on my “Music from a Lifetime” blog almost 20 years ago, so it is safe to say I haven’t been back to it since, before these past couple of weeks. I had one listen and enjoyed it, and then went on eBay to find a cheap CD copy to add to my collection and to listen to more, which I duly did. And listening to it through my stereo on CD is a much better option than on a computer through those tinny speakers. And as per my review 20 years ago, this has really grown on me again. It is pleasant and enjoyable tunes to listen to, and a surprise overall.
If someone was asking me for recommendations for albums to listen to in order to get into Michael Schenker’s work, this would not be one I would choose. There are far better and more exciting albums out there for that. But, if you are already a fan of Michael Schenker and his work, and you haven’t heard this, then I WOULD recommend hearing it, at least once. This is quite an amazing album, one that has that recognisable Schenker riffing throughout, and is still music to the ears. In many ways, this is one of my favourite albums by the grand master of the guitar. There is no trying to please bandmates or record companies. This is all for him, and it is all the better for it.
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