UFO had retooled and re-thought their music after the release of their first two albums, and with the addition of Michael Schenker on guitar had become a more hard rock based band than a synth based band. The addition along the way of Paul Raymond who could double on both rhythm guitar and keyboards gave the five piece all the weaponry they needed to become one of the best live bands in the world at the time.
One the back of their seventh album, and a run of five albums that are still considered the best the band released, UFO recorded several gigs on their US tour run to put together as a live album. What then followed was the perfect reflection of UFO’s career to this point in time. It has their most bombastic elements, it has their best songs. More than anything it showcases how terrific this band must have been in the live setting, and how each part of the band was so intrinsic in making the sound that was UFO. And unlike their individual studio albums along the way, here there is not a weak moment. It is pure unadulterated UFO.
I knew a few UFO songs from a Michael Schenker anthology double album I had bought a few months earlier before I found this double vinyl in my favourite second hand record store, and bought it on the spot. I didn’t know the band or its music very well but I knew Schenker and that he had been in this band, so I was keen to get home and give it a listen. It didn’t take long to realise that I had come across some real gold, and album that to this day I still get excited about whenever I put it on or hear it at a friend’s house.
From the outset there is so much to love here. The brilliant guitar riff to start off “Natural Thing”, the perfect segue and the harmony vocals of Mogg and Way in “Out in the Street”, and then into the classic UFO tracks “Only You Can Rock Me” and “Doctor Doctor”. The magnificence that is the live version of “Love to Love” with Mogg’s wonderful vocals and the brilliant guitar of Schenker stealing the show. Then there is the bombastic version of “Lights Out” that is as heavy a song that UFO perform which is followed by the extended version of “Rock Bottom” to allow Schenker to further showcase his brilliance on the guitar. Between this come all of the other hits that UFO had written up until this time, and nothing misses out. It would be difficult to come up with any weak points, or of any other songs that could replace those that are on this album already.
In a way this album ruined the studio albums of UFO for me once I got around to getting them, because I knew these songs perfectly by the time I heard them, but I knew the live version of the songs not the studio versions, and quite simply the live versions are far superior than their studio cousins. So when I started getting the early albums and listening to them I found that they didn’t quite have the same energy and momentum that the songs showed on this album. Over time of course that faded and I was able to enjoy them as much as any other of their work, but there is never a time that I put this on that I don’t love everything on this so much more.
The CD version has added back in two songs that start the concert, “Hot and Ready” and “Cherry”, and also reordered the playlist so that it is closer to what UFO played on this tour. I would normally have said “that’s great!”, but now for me it ruins the flow of the album just a little, because you miss that great start of the guttural guitar riff that leads into “Natural Thing” that for me was the perfect start on my vinyl copy. Now you don’t get to hear that until track five, and the album lacks a punch as a result.
I have often on this podcast made mention of the fact that I sometimes have trouble with live albums that chop and change the running order of the concerts they have been taken from, that as a preference I would like to have the songs in the order they were played at the gig, rather than what did happen quite a bit during the 1970’s, where the order on the album was changed to have the songs fit better on the vinyl. This for me is not one of those instances. Because I owned the vinyl version first, I am so used to that running order when I listen to it, that I have a lot of trouble with the order that is on the re-released CD version, which has the tracks back in almost concert running order. The opening four tracks on the vinyl – “Natural Thing”, “Out in the Street”, “Only You Can Rock Me” and “Doctor Doctor”, which is Side A of the first of the double vinyl – is the only way to listen to these songs.
The band is on fire, and each of them is just terrific on this album. Paul Raymond being able to switch between the organ and keyboards onto rhythm guitar to add a fullness to the live sound is fantastic and invaluable in the live environment. Pete Way on bass fills the bottom end out nicely, while Andy Parker’s drumming is fantastic. Phil Mogg’s vocals are superb, and he gives these versions of their songs a great kick. The star for me is still Michael Schenker, who despite his own feelings on the versions of the songs offered here again proves what a maestro he was with his instrument in his hands. His solos still steal the show on more occasions than not. His soloing on “Love to Love” is extraordinary, and the riffs throughout on “Lights Out”, “Doctor Doctor”, “Natural Thing” and “Only You Can Love Me” are superb. But “Love to Love” is something special. The combination between the synth keyboard and guitar, the beautiful bass of Pete Way and drumming of Andy Parker, and Phil Mogg’s vocals make this live version of this song superior in every way from the studio version.
I mentioned earlier that I had heard the Michael Schenker Group early albums while in high school, and then I picked up a Schenker best of double LP at Illawarra Books and Records in my first year of uni, and first came across a few tracks from UFO. Not long after this, I found this album in the same second hand store, and bought it immediately. And I have honestly not stopped playing it in the 36 years since that day. As soon as I heard the first side of the first album, I was hooked. Trapped. Ensconced. It was Schenker who grabbed me – but how can you ignore the rest of the band? Each of them was just as instrumental to their success as their lead guitarist. I had this taped on a C90 cassette and it remained in my car for years, an easy go-to when I got in to drive somewhere and needed some musical company.
Not everyone will agree with me, but with the departure of Schenker from the group during this tour, UFO lost some of its lustre. They released plenty more albums, many of which are very good, but none of which could touch the pure joy and amazement of this live album.
There have been some brilliant and unforgettable live albums released over the years. Think Iron Maiden’s “Live After Death”, think Slayer’s “Decade of Aggression: Live”, think Deep Purple’s “Made in Japan”. For me, this is the equal of those albums. It is truly one the great live albums released by hard rock and heavy metal bands, and for me it is the pinnacle of this band’s career, a defining moment that not only showed off their excellence but sadly proved to be the end of their golden years with the moving on of Schenker to other projects.
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