1169. Michael Schenker Group / Universal. 2022. 4/5

It has been two months now since the release of Michael Schenker’s new album. Schenker of course is a legend, and whether you know him as the guitarist for UFO in the 1970’s, or for his own band through the 80’s and beyond, or his all-too-short stints in Scorpions with his brother Rudolph, you will know of his prowess on the guitar and how influential he has been as a result. It’s hard to believe that many, probably myself included, felt that he had reached his peak thirty years ago, and that his album output could possibly exceed what he had produced to that point of his career, or that his success could exceed what he had achieve to that point. Indeed after some surprisingly good outings in recent years with the Michael Schenker Fest albums "Resurrection" (2018) and "Revelation" (2019), and then his 50th anniversary album “Immortal” just last year, there was nothing to suggest that the new album from the Michael Schenker Group “Universal” wouldn’t be more of the same.
Ronnie Romero again features on vocals on this album, and is also still the lead singer on tour, which recently included the summer festival season throughout Europe and will continue through the US after this. Now while Ronnie has a great set of pipes on him, it is interesting to note two things in this regard; firstly he is still sharing vocal duties with other guest singers on this album, all of whom (in my opinion) out do his own contributions to songs on this album. And secondly, for other reasons, during last year’s tour to promote the “Immortal” album, former lead vocalist Robin McAuley filled in, and from all reports was a hit.
Working again with producer Michael Voss seems to be something that Schenker is also comfortable with. In describing their working relationship recently, Schenker was quoted as saying “Michael Voss is happy to wait until I have worked out an idea and takes the time to really get to know the song, simultaneously developing ideas for the vocals. Then we work out the drums, bass and some keyboard parts together. He always has plenty of great ideas up his sleeve.”

While both Ronnie and Michael are real talents, they are only part of a wonderful line up that includes vocalists Michael Kiske (Helloween) and Ralf Scheepers (Primal Fear), drummers Simon Phillips (Toto, The Who), Brian Tichy (Whitesnake, Foreigner), Bobby Rondinelli (Rainbow) and Bodo Schopf (Eloy), as well as legendary bassists Bob Daisley (Black Sabbath), Barry Sparks (Malmsteen, Dokken) and Barend Courbois (Blind Guardian, Zakk Wylde), along with Tony Carey on keyboards.
If you’ve enjoyed Schenker’s recent albums then you will find that this follows a similar pattern. Opening with the brooding ‘Emergency’ and the more melodic build of ‘Under Attack’ there is a definite trend towards the sound that slightly resembles that from the MSG albums on the 1980’s. They aren’t quite as anthemic or bright and energetic, but there are some concurrent similarities.
Following on from this comes the pointed and poignant tribute of “Calling Baal” into “A King Has Gone”, a tribute to Ronnie James Dio and particularly to the classic Rainbow album “Rising”. “Calling Baal” is an instrumental intro into the main track, and features Tony Carey on keyboards in a callback to his intro to that album that he played on, the opening keyboard solo of the song “Tarot Woman”. It’s a nice touch by Schenker to invite him to play on these two tracks given he played on the album it is paying tribute to. This is then extended to the appearance of Bobby Rondinelli on drums, who did not play on the “Rising” album but played for Rainbow in their latter 1980’s years, as well as the legend that is Bob Daisley, who again didn’t play on this particular album but did so on its follow up “Long Live Rock n Roll”. Thes three former Rainbow members give this song a nice touch of nostalgia, ably sung by Helloween’s Michael Kiske. Great stuff.
This is followed by “The Universe”, a soft ballad that sees Gary Barden and Ronnie Romero share the duet. ‘Long Long Road’ picks things up again, before the vocals of Ralph Scheepers return on ‘Wrecking Ball’, one again providing probably the real highlight of the album.
The final four songs all provide good moments. ‘Yesterday is Dead’ has a great riff and solo combination that Schenker does so well, before ‘London Calling (No not the Clash song – imagine that!) pays homage to the 80’s UK rock bands that put hard rock in the mainstream. It’s a great song that is probably lifted by Schenker’s solo again, another real treat. ‘Sad is the Song’ that follows gives off a Rainbow vibe especially in the verses which are vaguely Eastern, and in Schenker’s guitar work again. The album is concluded by the red hot fretwork of ‘Au Revoir’, the paciest song offering here and another of the best, and again really draws from that 1980’s MSG legacy.
The album features two bonus tracks, something in this day and age that barely matters given all formats seem to include them, so they may as well be considered album tracks. ‘Turn Off the World’ which with that opening guitar is actually one of the best on the album, while ‘Fighter’ is a mid-tempo rocker that would be worth inclusion just for the solo. So... let’s just say they are the final two tracks of the album instead, shall we?

I still get sucked into anything that has the name of Michael Schenker attached to it. It’s an addiction. Those albums for the 1980’s by the Michael Schenker Group, and the albums from the 1970’s with UFO, still contain some of the best riffage I’ve ever heard, and it is all from this man. So I always want to check out what he’s up to in the current day. And in recent times that has been a slightly paying off gold mine, because there have been some terrific moments over the albums he has released with all of his friends over recent years. And that continues on this album. I felt last year’s “Immortal” album had some good moments, and some average moments. It was, perhaps, a bit uneven. “Universal” is a much better compilation of tracks and players. Ronnie Romero and Michael Voss combine much better here in their vocals and songs, and Michael definitely delivers on a more aggressive scale when it comes to his guitaring. In fact, Schenker’s guitaring here is still just as brilliant as it ever was, and I think it is because he has started to look back a bit to those glory days, and realised that not only is that still what people are coming for, but that he is still capable of creating riff and solos of that calibre. And despite the fact that he has some great guests here, who all deliver as you would expect, it can’t work if the Schenker guitar is not on centre stage and the number one part of the mix. “Universal” is that album, and it is great to hear.

1038. Michael Schenker Fest / Resurrection. 2018. 4/5

Michael Schenker has been shredding his guitar for half a century now, and for much of it he has been doing it superbly. He has been in different bands with different musicians and band mates, and at times his work has been astounding. But how do you keep producing material that your fans are interested in without having it sound like the same stuff over and over again? Or is that exactly what you try and do?

With the formation of Michael Schenker Fest, what is being presented to us is a collection of songs that under any other circumstances may be seen as a fair result, though without the kind of excitement or intensity that would make it stand out from the crowd. Perhaps that is what it is anyway. But what does inspire here is the band that centres on Schenker himself also has Ted McKenna (drums) and Chris Glen (bass) from the original incarnation of the Michael Schenker Group from the early 1980’s, and they all bring that old feeling back to this album. It’s feels like a comfortable pair of shoes, you can slip into this album and feel like you are in your comfort zone.
As if that isn’t enough, just to sweeten the pot even more, we have not one, not two, not three but FOUR former vocalists who have collaborated and recorded with Schenker through the years, all here to not only perform on individual songs but to even come together and do some of the songs together. And THAT is more than enough to give this album a listen.
OK, so you have to know coming in that you are just not going to get those most memorable and brilliant guitar riffs and fireworks that you got from Schenker in his days with UFO and Scorpions and those early days of MSG. Don’t even try and kid yourself that that is going to happen. But if you come in with an open mind and you just allow the music to wash over you, I think you’ll find this is actually better than you first imagine. Because I came in wanting this to be a shred-fest and it isn’t, and it coloured my initial judgement. Once I got away from that and just listened to the album for the fun of it, I found it was terrifically enjoyable, and that Schenker’s guitar work may be toned down from his glory days but it is still excellent nonetheless. As a counterpoint, take the instrumental “Salvation” which comes at the rear of the album. THIS will straight away take you back to those MSG days, of the magic of “Into the Arena” and “Captain Nemo”. This is a great song and showcases Schenker’s best. Once you have heard this and enjoyed it, you can then focus on the rest of the album. Because there are some good moments here, and at times it sounds similar to some of those best songs we know from the band back in the 1980’s.
It’s interesting that the songs which Graham Bonnet sings on have a somewhat slower and stilted feel to them, more in the style that some of his other solo material has headed than his best MSG material. I was most looking forward to the songs he participated in. “Night Moods” fits this perfectly. “Everest” segues in from the previous song and is immediately a better fit for Bonnet’s vocals. Gary Barden has at times had problems in a live environment, but in the studio he still has the pipes to do the job. In many ways he is still the quintessential MSG vocalist and he still sounds that way in his songs here, and they sound most like the old MSG songs. “Messin’ Around” and “Livin’ a Life Worth Livin’” are his contributions here and they do exactly that. Robin McAuley may not have the same singing style as he did thirty years ago, but he still has the energy and drive in his vocals that lend themselves to the songs in a great way. His two songs are probably my favourite on the album, probably because they are the fastest and only songs with a double kick throughout. He has the opening track “Heart and Soul” which also features Metallica’s Kirk Hammett on guitar which adds to the great guitar sound it exudes, and Robin’s other track is “Time Knows When It’s Time” which also sounds great and utilises his vocal range to its utmost. In amongst all of this, current Temple of Rock vocalist Doogie White does his work well. Having worked with Schenker on that project in recent years he is obviously comfortable in his setting, and his songs, “Take Me to the Church”, “The Girl with the Stars in Her Eyes” and “Anchors Away” still have that touch of his previous band’s work in them. Then you have the complete collaboration songs, where all four vocalists combine to add their vocal chords to the same progression. The second song “Warrior” and the closing track “The Last Supper” both feature the entire ensemble, and it’s great to hear everyone together and enjoying themselves so much.

As is usually the case with some who is as revered as Schenker is in the metal music community, and who continues to record music beyond what could be considered his ‘golden years’, opinion on this album will come down to how much you allow sentiment to alter your perception. If you love Schenker’s music and also enjoy the vocalists who are on show here, then you will really enjoy what this album has to offer. As long as you aren’t expecting to hear anything ground-breaking and are happy to accept that, you will find this collaboration is worthy of your time, and an enjoyable experience.

Rating:  “We are all the same, no one is to blame, and we live on to tomorrow”  4/5

877. Michael Schenker's Temple of Rock / Spirit on a Mission. 2015. 2.5/5

Spirit on a Mission is the third album released by Michael Schenker's Temple of Rock, a stable group of old friends that have come together to record and tour and generally enjoy each other's company (or so I assume). No doubt the labelling of the group with Schenker's name attached is to ensure that people who know and respect him and his previous work (i.e. people like me) realise he is still out there doing his thing, and will therefore seek it out. Well once again this method has worked, and another Schenker-related project finds its way to my stereo.

You cannot argue with the quality of the band itself. Former Scorpions members, drummer Herman Rarebell and bass guitarist Francis Buchholz are known quantities, having been plying their trade for 40 years all over the world. Guitarist and keyboardist Wayne Findley has been in various Schenker projects before, while lead singer Doogie White has not only sung with Schenker, but with Blackmore and Malmsteen, so he knows a good guitarist when he sees one. Michael Schenker himself needs no introduction. The group of musicians is second to none. So why is there little excitement in the music they produce here?
Perhaps excitement is the wrong word. There doesn't seem to be a lot of enthusiasm for the task at hand, or any inspiration. That may seem unfair, given the careers most of these gentlemen have had in the music industry, and certainly given the score of brilliant songs and albums that Schenker has co-written and played on. At some point you have to have run out of ideas, and in recent times that waning has appeared to occur.
It's not a complete loss, but doesn't it sound to you like they are just going through the motions on some tracks? "Live and Let Live" opens the album harmlessly, "Communion" is very blues rock based, "Vigilante Man" has good pieces but no range of emotion in either vocals or music. "Rock City" is very tame, a song that in days or yore would have been a lot more raucous and out there, and here is played like a nursery rhyme. "Saviour Machine" sounds like a heavy riff machine, but one with the silencer on to snuffle out that hard rock edge. "Something of the Night" kicks in more like what you are looking for, with Schenker riffing hard and continuing once Doogie comes in. Here's that passion and energy, finally! Certainly the best song on the album by a long shot. While "All Our Yesterdays" remains back in the pack, "Bulletproof" has some promise, but really just becomes nagging, as Doogie's vocals seem to go in a different direction from what the song demands. "Let the Devil Scream" and "Good Times" both seem to me to be at the wrong tempo and intensity, and while I have grown to take them as they are over multiple listens, i can't help but feel with a tweak here and there they would have been much better. The album concludes with "Restless Heart" and "Wicked", which again have the best of intentions without providing that vital ingredient that would have made them memorable rather than just this side of average.
There have been times in his career when you assume Schenker has been looking to crack the radio market, because his trademark guitar riffs and solos were pared back so much that you would wonder whether he was playing on the album at all. In a away this album is a bit like that. The riffs through the verse and chorus parts of each song are generic, not flashy, and certainly not showing any real Schenker trademarks. Sure, in the standard solo sections that come in the middle of the songs, and the fade out at the ends, there comes a little bit of the lead guitar work, but even it doesn't SOUND like Michael Schenker, it pretty much comes across as an every day, lead-guitar-by-numbers kind of stuff. It is completely unfair to judge and compare, but you really want some of the power and originality that came from those 1970's UFO days and the 1980's MSG days. The rhythm section does its job but doesn't create much else. Doogie croons over the top and sounds fine for the most part, but there's nothing passionate about it, no Phil Mogg or Graham Bonnett energy.

This is a very safe album, one that doesn't extend itself too much into experimentation, and to be honest after 50 years in and around the music business who can blame Schenker for that. The fact that he and his band mates are still out there writing and recording new music every couple of years, while a band like Metallica has released two albums of new material in almost two decades, at least gives them plenty of brownie points. If only this album made you feel like banging your head or moving around more, rather than settling back in your comfy arm chair and being lulled off to sleep, it would be more likely to entice me to play it more often in the future.

Rating:  Let the devil scream.  2.5/5.