The UFO Discography And Listening Party Thread

[Podaar]

Yup. Tha's what we called it afore all these fancy new motor cars comed abou' an brung learnin' ta da mashes.

[TAC]

Interesting you classed this in a UFO countdown but I have no problem with that at all.

The only reason it's not called UFO is because, without Schenker, it could not be called UFO. That was part of the agreement to get him to come back in the 90's.

It's as much a UFO album as High Stakes and Misdemeanor, both of which will also be represented here.

I also had Jerusalem on my master countdown list. If I went 40 deep, it'd likely have made it.



If I did my count right, 19 of Kade's Top 30 were Schenker tunes which is 5 more Schenker tunes than me.

[TAC]

Next!

OK...


UFO

27 Who's Fooling Who (The Monkey Puzzle)

The Vinnie Era has a lot of great tunes, and they are not heavy rockers either. Who's Fooling Who is one of them.

The acoustic intro, paired with Paul Raymond's keyboards set the stage for a real tasty track. The first verse and chorus are sung without the rhythm section. A nice touch. And right before the first chorus starts Paul hits a note right at :46 that is perfectly timed. And that chorus is exquisite.

As the band joins in, Vinnie goes electric, but Paul, still dances around with the perfect keyboard line.
I mentioned in the Stranger In Town writeup, but there's something about Andy's ride cymbal that blends perfectly with Paul's keys and Vinnie's guiter. The second chorus bears that out.

Vinnie's solo is incredible, and Vinnie wonderfully closes out the song after the final chorus.

This is a song with great mood and feeling. A real gem.


26 Fool's Gold (Covenant)

I loved Covenant right away, as I mentioned when we did the album ITT. But it was Fool's Gold that jumped off the CD for me. This song is loaded with great moments.
It's hard to believe this song is only 5:36 long.

Starts out with a really tasteful intro from Schenker. During the vocal intro what really stands out are Pete Way's bass note bends, the first at :29.

Phil's lyrics are filled with great imagery in this opening part. "The ghosts of the disappeared". Nice!

The song then goes full on band. Aynsley Dunbar's drumming stands out as always, but it's Kevin Carlson's keyboard part that stands out.

Michael's solo runs just over a minute, but he uses so many different lines in it, but it all blends together perfectly. Michael closes out the track with another ridiculous flurry.


30 History Of Flames
29 Stranger In Town
28 Call My Name/All Over You
27 Who's Fooling Who
26 Fool's Gold




Michael Schenker


28 The Dogs Of War  (Built To Destroy)

Built To Destroy is an interesting album. At first, it was great to have Gary Barden back, but the production on the original was so bad, it was tough to really appreciate the songs. The remasters are better, but this album still could use some help.

One track I always like was The Dogs Of War. Though it starts out pretty straightforward, there's some nice treatments from Michael in the beginning. I like Barden on this song..on this album actually.

The chorus is strong and memorable. The first solo starts at 2:04 and it is amazing. Unfortunately the album's sound sucks ass, but this solo somehow still shines as the beast that it is. At 2:44, after the ripping solo, he strikes this amazing tone as the song cycles back to the verse.

I'm Kadestamping the US Remaster. The solo is longer, though the sound is worse.





27 Good Times  (Spirit On A Mission)


The first of a number of Doogie tracks is Good Times.
Listening to the track, there's not much to point out at various spots. It's a relatively poppy track, with great lyrics and a fantastic vocal.
The imagery in the lyric is something everyone growing up can relate to. And there's a warmth in Doogie's vocal that really conveys the emotion of looking back.

Even with an unspectacular solo, this is a simple and brilliantly written song.


26 Land Of Thunder (Bridge The Gap)

This song comes out of the gate with a driving rhythm from Michael. Doogie joins with a great vocal with some effective phrasing. After a very brief prechorus, the song flexes its muscle with a fantastic chorus featuring Doogie's strong vocal lines supported by Michael underneath.

Michael takes it for a nice 40 second solo before returning to that addicting chorus.

Doogie really shows his strength in this track.



30 Bittersweet
29 Cry For The Nations
28 The Dogs Of War
27 Good Times
26 Land Of Thunder

[Stadler]

Loving the Schenker selections so far.   Those two Dougie records (Bridge and Spirit) are so FRIGGIN' good.

[wolfking]

Loving the Schenker selections so far.   Those two Dougie records (Bridge and Spirit) are so FRIGGIN' good.

Haha, yep.

[wolfking]

I'll listen through these ones tonight.  Love those two Doogie picks also.  Good Times stuck out for me but I personally love the solo section on that song.  Land of Thunder is pure Malmsteen IMO, great tune.

[ProfessorPeart]

Since I ended up changing my tune on Seven Deadly, I gave The Visitor another go last night.

Nope. Same result as the first time. Couldn't get halfway through the album before I pulled the rip cord. That album just does not work for me. Still need to give Monkey another go.

[TAC]

Since I ended up changing my tune on Seven Deadly, I gave The Visitor another go last night.

Nope. Same result as the first time. Couldn't get halfway through the album before I pulled the rip cord. That album just does not work for me. Still need to give Monkey another go.

That's interesting.

[wolfking]

UFO

27 Who's Fooling Who (The Monkey Puzzle)

The Vinnie Era has a lot of great tunes, and they are not heavy rockers either. Who's Fooling Who is one of them.

The acoustic intro, paired with Paul Raymond's keyboards set the stage for a real tasty track. The first verse and chorus are sung without the rhythm section. A nice touch. And right before the first chorus starts Paul hits a note right at :46 that is perfectly timed. And that chorus is exquisite.

As the band joins in, Vinnie goes electric, but Paul, still dances around with the perfect keyboard line.
I mentioned in the Stranger In Town writeup, but there's something about Andy's ride cymbal that blends perfectly with Paul's keys and Vinnie's guiter. The second chorus bears that out.

Vinnie's solo is incredible, and Vinnie wonderfully closes out the song after the final chorus.

This is a song with great mood and feeling. A real gem.

This album was a pleasant surprise when revisiting.  Much much better than I remembered.  This one was a standout.  The chorus is bloody excellent, very somber, and melodic.

The verses have a nice groove and the transition into the chorus with the full band is fabulous.  As you say Tim, the mood of the whole thing is great.  I like the half time feel of the solo on this one.  Breathes nicely and lets Vinnie shine.  Great song.  His subtle whammy bar work back into the chorus is classy too.

26 Fool's Gold (Covenant)

I loved Covenant right away, as I mentioned when we did the album ITT. But it was Fool's Gold that jumped off the CD for me. This song is loaded with great moments.
It's hard to believe this song is only 5:36 long.

Starts out with a really tasteful intro from Schenker. During the vocal intro what really stands out are Pete Way's bass note bends, the first at :29.

Phil's lyrics are filled with great imagery in this opening part. "The ghosts of the disappeared". Nice!

The song then goes full on band. Aynsley Dunbar's drumming stands out as always, but it's Kevin Carlson's keyboard part that stands out.

Michael's solo runs just over a minute, but he uses so many different lines in it, but it all blends together perfectly. Michael closes out the track with another ridiculous flurry.

Covenant for me was a massive grower, this song included.  This one was hard for me to get into.  I've grown to enjoy it however.  I like the prog elements of it.  Schenker does some really tasteful stuff in the instrumental section.  I love his Iron Maiden type section at 3:57 and the whole thing I even get a DT vibe from, cool shit.  It's an interesting song for me.

Michael Schenker


28 The Dogs Of War  (Built To Destroy)

Built To Destroy is an interesting album. At first, it was great to have Gary Barden back, but the production on the original was so bad, it was tough to really appreciate the songs. The remasters are better, but this album still could use some help.

One track I always like was The Dogs Of War. Though it starts out pretty straightforward, there's some nice treatments from Michael in the beginning. I like Barden on this song..on this album actually.

The chorus is strong and memorable. The first solo starts at 2:04 and it is amazing. Unfortunately the album's sound sucks ass, but this solo somehow still shines as the beast that it is. At 2:44, after the ripping solo, he strikes this amazing tone as the song cycles back to the verse.

I'm Kadestamping the US Remaster. The solo is longer, though the sound is worse.

I've only listened to this album once and I thought it was shit.  I'll revisit it eventually though.  Listening to this song again now, it's not bad, but not wowing me.  The chorus is pretty decent enough, I don't mind it.  That solo at 2:04 is ripping though.

27 Good Times  (Spirit On A Mission)


The first of a number of Doogie tracks is Good Times.
Listening to the track, there's not much to point out at various spots. It's a relatively poppy track, with great lyrics and a fantastic vocal.
The imagery in the lyric is something everyone growing up can relate to. And there's a warmth in Doogie's vocal that really conveys the emotion of looking back.

Even with an unspectacular solo, this is a simple and brilliantly written song.

I loved the mood and feel of this one right away.  It was a nice change from the group of heavy songs that come before it.  The lyrics are definitely fun and instantly makes you think of past loves and friendships and drunken nights for me.  The chorus is simple but effective.  Doogie as you say mate, does have a fantastic vocal here.  But yeah, I LOVE the mood of this solo.  I love at the beginning how the drums kind of get going but hold back but then at 2:13 it finally gets going.  Great stuff if you ask me.

26 Land Of Thunder (Bridge The Gap)

This song comes out of the gate with a driving rhythm from Michael. Doogie joins with a great vocal with some effective phrasing. After a very brief prechorus, the song flexes its muscle with a fantastic chorus featuring Doogie's strong vocal lines supported by Michael underneath.

Michael takes it for a nice 40 second solo before returning to that addicting chorus.

Doogie really shows his strength in this track.

The riffing at the start is nice and intense.  The pre chorus is a nice touch but that chorus soars.  I get such a Malmsteen vibe from the chorus.  At 1:51, again that is so Yngwie and his type of songwriting.  Schenker lets rip and I absolutely love at 2:20 those major blues notes in there, so classy.  Great tune.

[TAC]

Built To Destroy has a couple of issues. Mainly, the production was AWFUL. There are decent songs, but they're buried in shit.


I like The Dogs Of War, has a nice chorus and some nice Schenker parts.



Fool's Gold hooked me right away. That intro is really cool, and I had no idea where they were taking it. I loved when it really got going. The solo spots has Schenker doing a number of things over a cool (for UFO) rhythm underneath. Mentioning Dream Theater is a bit generous, but the section is definitely notable.


I'll post the next batch when I get home from work tonight.

[wolfking]

I didn't quite mean DT from a technical point of view, more like the feel between the changing parts in that section.  The transitions just remind me of them.

[TAC]

UFO



25 On With The Action  (No Heavy Petting)

A popular song ITT, On With The Action proves you can write an epic that is only 5:00 minutes long.

For some reason, I really never took notice of Schenker's intro until much later on. It was during a live performance that it really stood out.

This song has some of Phil's coolest lyrics. He paints an incredible scene with all of the characters and debauchery.
One of my main reasons for liking No Heavy Petting is because I think Phil sounds great on it. Vocally, it might be my favorite album of his.

It also might be my favorite Schenker album. And Michael is amazing on this too. Love what he's doing underneath the chorus. He has such a unique tone.

You can totally lose yourself in this solo, especially in its first 30 seconds before Michael starts ripping. And that short fading outro shows some real feeling and restraint. I wish it went on another 20 seconds.


24 Gone In The Night  (No Place To Run)

Gone In The Night is another great lyric.

Love Paul's intro setting the stage for a smoky tale. Nice piano during the verses. Again, Chapman hazes through the prechorus with some great tones.

Paul Chapman turns in a great solo here at the end of the track. I could easily take another 20 seconds of that.

It's a short tune but it oozes all kinds emotion. A classic and overlooked track.


23 Name Of Love (Misdemeanor)

Misdemeanor is filled with great tracks. There's some great melodic hard rock here on display with Name Of Love. To me, it's almost a perfectly written song.

Starting out with a nice simple riff, with the verse, along with a nice bassline from Paul Gray, slowly building to to the prechorus.
Great imagery from Phil here:
"Every night I spend alone
I've never been so low
And this room is closing in
If I die, who will know"

I think the chorus is catchy as hell.

There's a nice mini solo at 2:45 that is almost Schenker like leading to the really cool part at 3:10. The main solo kicks in with all its glory at 3:38. This is probably my favorite Tommy solo on the album. He doesn't rely on just shredding in this song. What he does at 3:43 makes me stand up and take notice. And those notes at 3:56 leading back to the final chorus..wow!

Great song!



30 History Of Flames
29 Stranger In Town
28 Call My Name/All Over You
27 Who's Fooling Who
26 Fool's Gold
25 On With The Action
24 Gone In The Night
23 Name Of Love



Michael Schenker


25 Dance For The Piper  (Bridge The Gap)

To me, Dance For The Piper is all about that first verse. Straightforward beat and real nice guitar line by Michael. But it's Doogie that knocks it out of the park. To me, that vocal in the verse totally earworms me.

After the Dance For The Piper part, at :50 the song hits a great spot. "The "That's why they call me, I will be the last man standing" part. Love that.

The song has a great solo before nicely winding down into the last abbreviated verse. And I love where Michael picks up a short outro at 3:23.  A great way to end this fantastic album.



24 Samurai   (Assault Attack)


Michael comes right out of the gate with a great melodic intro.

The verse is ok, but the chorus has some serious punch.

Love the doubled (tripled?) guitars to lead into the solo at 2:20. The solo is fantastic, with Chris Glen and Ted McKenna showing off their tightness, especially at 3:00.

And the song ends with the great melodic lines that it opened with.
This song really goes by in a flash and feels much shorter than its five minutes. It just has that wonderful Schenker guitar sound that I can't get enough of.



30 Bittersweet
29 Cry For The Nations
28 The Dogs Of War
27 Good Times
26 Land Of Thunder
25 Dance For The Piper
24 Samurai

[wolfking]

Whoa! Slow down Tim.  I'll try and add my thoughts on these tomorrow.

[TAC]

OK..

I don't have anything pre-written at this point so I might get something up Friday afternoon, but then it'll be on Monday.

[wolfking]

Tim, did you just get the standard edition of Immortal, or did you get one of the deluxe versions?

[TAC]

I just got the regular CD. Are their deluxe versions? What do you get with them?

[Stadler]

More specifically for me, do any of the deluxe versions have additional songs?

[TAC]

More specifically for me, do any of the deluxe versions have additional songs?

That would be the only reason I'd get a deluxe version. I didn't know there was one. I preordered the regular one.

And I'm liking it a lot.

[wolfking]

I just got the regular CD. Are their deluxe versions? What do you get with them?

There is a CD/Bly Ray version with Live at Bang Your Head 2019 concert.  That one is No good for me but there's also an earbook with a double cd of the same show.  If I had a Blu Ray I'd probably get the 4CD but might just get the standard.

I don't think there's any actual extra songs on album.

[TAC]

I just got the regular CD. Are their deluxe versions? What do you get with them?

There is a CD/Bly Ray version with Live at Bang Your Head 2019 concert.  That one is No good for me but there's also an earbook with a double cd of the same show.  If I had a Blu Ray I'd probably get the 4CD but might just get the standard.

Ooh..that sounds interesting. I'm always a sucker for a live album. Gotta check the price.

[wolfking]

I just got the regular CD. Are their deluxe versions? What do you get with them?

There is a CD/Bly Ray version with Live at Bang Your Head 2019 concert.  That one is No good for me but there's also an earbook with a double cd of the same show.  If I had a Blu Ray I'd probably get the 4CD but might just get the standard.

Ooh..that sounds interesting. I'm always a sucker for a live album. Gotta check the price.

85 bucks for me here.  If it was a DVD I'd already have it ordered.  Bugger.  Could buy a blu Ray player I guess. 

[TAC]

That's too much $$.  Amazon doesn't have it. I can probably find the show online somewhere.

[wolfking]

That's too much $$.  Amazon doesn't have it. I can probably find the show online somewhere.

Yeah, it's a bit excessive. 

[devieira73]

I bought Immortal CD+BD on Nuclear Blast USA, but now it seems that it’s not avaible at the store.

[wolfking]

Tim, is the Headstone live album worth getting?

[TAC]

Tim, is the Headstone live album worth getting?

I have the original Headstone, which I featured ITT. But that is not what is now being sold as Headstone. Supposedly, it's the final UFO show on April 15, 1983. But the setlist does not match the live album. Not even close. Lonely Heart and Doing It All For You are included, but they weren't even played on that tour.

On the live album, only Blinded By A Lie is included from Making Contact..

It's a collection of live tracks from God knows when, packaged as the last show. I've never bothered to buy it., I'd prefer to settle on a bootleg from that tour. Rockpalast is probably the best live document of the Chapman Era. Regenerator Live 1982 is also good. That's Hammersmith '82.

[wolfking]

Tim, is the Headstone live album worth getting?

I have the original Headstone, which I featured ITT. But that is not what is now being sold as Headstone. Supposedly, it's the final UFO show on April 15, 1983. But the setlist does not match the live album. Not even close. Lonely Heart and Doing It All For You are included, but they weren't even played on that tour.

On the live album, only Blinded By A Lie is included from Making Contact..

It's a collection of live tracks from God knows when, packaged as the last show. I've never bothered to buy it., I'd prefer to settle on a bootleg from that tour. Rockpalast is probably the best live document of the Chapman Era. Regenerator Live 1982 is also good. That's Hammersmith '82.

Thanks mate, I won't bother with it then. 

[Lowdz]

£32 here in the uk but out of stock at Amazon. I have voucher from Xmas that will just about cover it. Hmm.

[ProfessorPeart]

Can I just say I am baffled by the talk of disappointment over having a Blu-ray over a DVD? For years I have been cursing the very fact that DVD's still even exist. At best, they will give you a resolution of 720x480. A 1080p TV is 1920x1080. DVD's look like hot garbage on my tv. Not to mention that about the only TV's you can buy now are 4K. That's 3840x2160. I can't even imagine how hideous a DVD would look like on that, let alone my Blu-rays which is why I usually buy BD/4K combo packs to future proof myself, at least until 8K or whatever comes about.

Sorry, rant over. Don't even get me started on 4K TV's. They have no business existing as the content is so limited. I need to stop.

[TAC]

Michael looks a bit wasted, but here are the guitarists in my all time band:





Love this too!

[wolfking]

Michael looks a bit wasted, but here are the guitarists in my all time band:

A bit wasted?? 

[wolfking]

UFO



25 On With The Action  (No Heavy Petting)

A popular song ITT, On With The Action proves you can write an epic that is only 5:00 minutes long.

For some reason, I really never took notice of Schenker's intro until much later on. It was during a live performance that it really stood out.

This song has some of Phil's coolest lyrics. He paints an incredible scene with all of the characters and debauchery.
One of my main reasons for liking No Heavy Petting is because I think Phil sounds great on it. Vocally, it might be my favorite album of his.

It also might be my favorite Schenker album. And Michael is amazing on this too. Love what he's doing underneath the chorus. He has such a unique tone.

You can totally lose yourself in this solo, especially in its first 30 seconds before Michael starts ripping. And that short fading outro shows some real feeling and restraint. I wish it went on another 20 seconds.

Well, I've expressed my love for this one, being so high on my list and all.  It's incredible.

24 Gone In The Night  (No Place To Run)

Gone In The Night is another great lyric.

Love Paul's intro setting the stage for a smoky tale. Nice piano during the verses. Again, Chapman hazes through the prechorus with some great tones.

Paul Chapman turns in a great solo here at the end of the track. I could easily take another 20 seconds of that.

It's a short tune but it oozes all kinds emotion. A classic and overlooked track.

Had to go back to listen this one.  Surprising pick Tim.  Not really feeling this one, as most of this album.  Chapman does some cool shit though.  His melodies in the chorus are very cool.  That's quite a catchy chorus I will say.  His solo is great too.  The verses actually have a real Australian old school rock vibe, like Aussie Crawl, Little River Band, Sherbet and reminds me of old Countdown type music like that. (Music tv show in the 70's)

23 Name Of Love (Misdemeanor)

Misdemeanor is filled with great tracks. There's some great melodic hard rock here on display with Name Of Love. To me, it's almost a perfectly written song.

Starting out with a nice simple riff, with the verse, along with a nice bassline from Paul Gray, slowly building to to the prechorus.
Great imagery from Phil here:
"Every night I spend alone
I've never been so low
And this room is closing in
If I die, who will know"

I think the chorus is catchy as hell.

There's a nice mini solo at 2:45 that is almost Schenker like leading to the really cool part at 3:10. The main solo kicks in with all its glory at 3:38. This is probably my favorite Tommy solo on the album. He doesn't rely on just shredding in this song. What he does at 3:43 makes me stand up and take notice. And those notes at 3:56 leading back to the final chorus..wow!

Great song!

This is a great song.  This is one that is definitely my style and wouldn't be out of place on my list.  You mentioned before Tim, but heaps of Rush 80's sounds going on in this one for me.  That solo is magic and love the keys underneath.  Love that buildup to 3:38.  I really love Phil's vocals on this album actually.

Michael Schenker


25 Dance For The Piper  (Bridge The Gap)

To me, Dance For The Piper is all about that first verse. Straightforward beat and real nice guitar line by Michael. But it's Doogie that knocks it out of the park. To me, that vocal in the verse totally earworms me.

After the Dance For The Piper part, at :50 the song hits a great spot. "The "That's why they call me, I will be the last man standing" part. Love that.

The song has a great solo before nicely winding down into the last abbreviated verse. And I love where Michael picks up a short outro at 3:23.  A great way to end this fantastic album.

While not my fav song on the album, I think this is my fav performance from Doogie on the album.  His vocals on the verses especially are fucking amazing.  Nice and heavy this one too.  Lots of Dio vibes in this song.  Love the double time into the solo.  Mentioned before but I love that section at 2:22.  So heavy and Michael using tasty blues licks, so good.

24 Samurai   (Assault Attack)


Michael comes right out of the gate with a great melodic intro.

The verse is ok, but the chorus has some serious punch.

Love the doubled (tripled?) guitars to lead into the solo at 2:20. The solo is fantastic, with Chris Glen and Ted McKenna showing off their tightness, especially at 3:00.

And the song ends with the great melodic lines that it opened with.
This song really goes by in a flash and feels much shorter than its five minutes. It just has that wonderful Schenker guitar sound that I can't get enough of.

Great to see a song from this album on your list Tim considering your views on it.  I can never get over the production on this album, it's perfect, and Schenkers tone is amazing.  That chorus is indeed excellent, Graham does great work here.  I love that transition back into that groovy verse.  It's a interesting solo section with tasty melodies at the start.  That driving rhythm you mention is so powerful.

[TAC]

24 Gone In The Night  (No Place To Run)

Had to go back to listen this one.  Surprising pick Tim.  Not really feeling this one, as most of this album.  Chapman does some cool shit though.  His melodies in the chorus are very cool.  That's quite a catchy chorus I will say.  His solo is great too.  The verses actually have a real Australian old school rock vibe, like Aussie Crawl, Little River Band, Sherbet and reminds me of old Countdown type music like that. (Music tv show in the 70's)

Sherbet??


This is a cool song. Nice and classy.

24 Samurai   (Assault Attack)

Great to see a song from this album on your list Tim considering your views on it. 

There's two more songs coming from it! And yes the production is indeed perfect.

[Stadler]

The production IS very good; I have a hard time with Bonnet on that record.  He's recorded very "hot" so you hear a lot of breathing and what not (something happens sometimes with David Coverdale).  Takes away some of the enjoyment for me.   But Michael sounds AMAZING.

[wolfking]

Ended up just ordering the standard edition of Immortal.  Hopefully have it by the end of the week.