I have a confession to make - I’ve never been a particular fan of Michael Schenker. Frankly I have struggled to see what all the fuss was about for a lot of his output. That’s the sort of comment that’s liable to see me being taken down the back of the beer tent at festivals like Steelhouse or Stonedead and being beaten to death by Zimmer frame (either by the punters or the bands)…
His older brother is the rocking core of the Scorpions, with Michael’s contribution to their history being limited to their debut Lonesome Crow back in 1972 (which is hardly their high watermark) and a brief return for Lovedrive - which is more arguably the beginning of their peak run (and certainly the peak of their dodgy album covers period). Hardly seminal contributions there…
…Now UFO is a different matter. Despite his almost accidental involvement with the British Hard Rock veterans stepping in for Bernie Marsden when Scorpions opened for UFO in Germany, (which is why kids you always make sure you have your passport on you at all times on the road), it cannot be argued that he was there for the hugely successful Chrysalis run of albums in the late 70’s that pretty much spawned every Hard Rock with a tinge of Metal band ever since, as they was all pretty darned top notch. That said, he’s not been a reliable member of the band, frequently missed shows or stormed offstage (OK, so Axl Rose has an influence too) and has been back and forth like a yoyo ever since.
His own 80’s onwards MSG project has also been a bit hit and miss – so that’s lots of hits in the early 80’s, with the biggest miss being rebranding it from the Michael to the McCauley Schenker Group in the late 80’s in order to make room for another ego. That’s ironically the project’s most successful period, but pitching as it did to the big loud American audience of the period didn’t really sound like Schenker. Don’t get me wrong, McCauley is a great singer and frontman, but it jarred for me at the time. These two had a good three album run until the industry hiccoughed and went nuts for plaid shirts and B.O. for a while, but they would work together again.
Really it wasn’t until his first return to UFO for 1995’s superlative Walk On Water that the fortunes of both Schenker and UFO revived. When he’s in that band, things tend to click and that’s my point – his best work seems to be in the fractious environment of UFO where the songwriting friction with Phil Mogg causes sparks to fly, but often solidifying into pure gold, but they’ve officially retired. Maybe…
So, when I saw this latest MSG offering in our slush pile, I ignored it. However, our editor asked nicely, and with no small amount of trepidation, here I am. And it’s been a long time since I listened to an MSG record… I haven’t really followed his solo output since the 80’s, so from the opening bars of the title track I am rather pleasantly surprised.
For a start musically this is a rather surprisingly tight delivery. When I have seen him live, I’ve often been disappointed that the edginess he had in the past has been a bit lacking, but he’s managed to capture the essence of his distinctive guitar sound on this album very succinctly and clearly has surrounded himself with an instrumental line up with the chemistry to fit his temperamental groove. They play seamlessly and smoothly together, and it’s the backbone of this record.
Controversially, I firmly believe his skills as a songwriter, arranger and producer were stronger than those of his fretwork. He may have cut the original guitar hero silhouette with his trademark Gibson Flying V, but I actually don’t think his guitar work was that much to write home about for much of his portfolio. Again, I am wrong-footed here with Don’t Sell Your Soul. Schenker is not a showy shredder, but this record has some beautifully soulful and well-crafted riffage driving these songs, and when he does solo, he does it very well it’s because it’s a thoughtful and emotive harmonic experience, that elevates the song significantly, not an exercise in shredding for shred’s sake.
On many records where Michael is pushed as the unique selling point it often feels like there are a couple of tracks that have taken all the focus, with too much filler surrounding them, but this record again takes me by surprise by delivering 11 consistently good Hard Rock bangers, many of which would have worked brilliantly for UFO. I can’t say it strongly enough – these 11 tracks all work and work very well. The band groove and feel is consistent, the signature guitar sound is so clearly him and the singing is top notch.
Vocally this is also a surprise. There’s a smorgasbord of singers this time out, with Skid Row’s Erik Grönwall taking the bulk of the work but sharing the mike. Mystic Prophecy’s Roberto Dimitri "Lia" Liapakis is there taking a few turns (not surprising given he covered for Grönwall live during some serious illness recently when this album was being written), but the biggest surprise for me is the return of Robin McCauley.
I had not appreciated that these two had continued to collaborate over the intervening decades, but the songs where McCauley takes the lead stand out loud and proud, and that’s no mean feat as all the vocal work on here is exceptionally good. I may have struggled with their initial collaboration at the time, but these two work well together and this time out it fuses the best of both their trademark sounds beautifully, with Sixstring Shotgun in particular being the kind of floor filler that would have minted them very nicely back in the days when people actually paid money for music.
I wasn’t expecting this to be good. I certainly wasn’t expecting it to be exceptional. Wrong and happy about it. 9/10
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