1059. UFO / Phenomenon. 1974. 3/5

After a couple of early albums that had UFO searching for its own cause and window into the music world, the band hired German up and comer Michael Schenker to play guitar and suddenly the world was their oyster. While the changing influence that set the band up for the remainder of the decade of the 1970’s was yet to completely morph into being, this first album with the new line up is where it all began to happen.

The first two songs sound like a strange coming together of the Eagles and other likeminded groups, which even for early UFO would have been strange given their blues roots rather than country rock. The old phrase “not that there’s anything wrong with that” is easily used in this case, but it just doesn’t fit the profile of the young up-and-coming band that so many groups that were a part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal less than a decade later were citing as influences in their music. “Too Young to Know” and “Crystal Light” are both good songs, and no doubt if I was old enough to have come into UFO in 1974 rather than over a decade later I can see where I would probably enjoy them more. The same can be said of “Space Child” because it has qualities of Bowie as well, but I didn’t get into UFO for songs like these ones.
“Built For Comfort” is an old Willie Dixon cover, and is noticeable immediately as a blues intransigence. I think the band does a great job with it, but blues isn’t really what I came here for (which is ironic given the earlier albums in the UFO discography). However Phil Mogg’s vocals are great and Schenker’s guitar the perfect blues partner. “Lipstick Traces” settles back in that vein as well, with Schenker’s guitar gently flowing its way through its instrumental piece in style. The album closer “Queen of the Deep” also stays in a mid-range tempo, but the greater urgency of Mogg’s vocals and Schenker’s guitar create a more energetic emotion to the songs than the others mentioned here, and as a result it creates an atmosphere that has made it worthwhile to find your way to the end of the album.
The real album entertainers are still the star attractions all these years later. “Doctor Doctor” immediately lifts and transforms the album when it comes on in the first half, not just because of the uplifting tempo and more energetic vocals but because of Michael Schenker’s immediate impact when he decides to let his guitar do the talking. “Rock Bottom” does the exact same thing after another slight lull in the tempo of the album. Schenker’s brilliant soloing through the back third of the song is worth the price of admission alone, and for me is what is missing from most of the songs here. These are the two songs that have probably survived the longest and the best from the album, and it is still easy to hear why whenever you put Phenomenon on because they are the ones that make your ears prick up and notice that something out of the ordinary is happening.
There is a lot to like about this album, and the band sounds terrific. Andy Parker and Pete Way are excellent in the rhythm section, moody when necessary but breaking out when the songs played require it. Phil Mogg’s vocals are in peak condition, and Michael Schenker shows the early signs of why he was so highly regarded from such a young age.

When it comes down to it, I fell in love with UFO for the faster and harder songs, the ones where Michael Schenker shredded with delight. He does so here on the two songs mentioned above, and they still sound just brilliant. The rest of the album I can take or leave depending on my mood. Most is likely to send me off to sleep rather than revitalise and energise me, and while that might be good in places it doesn’ make me as fond of this album as others are of it.

Rating: “With all darkness closin' in, will the light reveal your soul”. 3/5