Michael Schenker

stoutblock

stoutblock

"If it sounds good, it is good." Duke Ellington
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Is this guy a great guitarist or what? Listening to the albums he made with UFO in the 70s and he sure sounds like a guitar God with this band! Maybe it's because I was in high school and college when these albums came out but when I listen to these albums I have a hard time thinking Metal Rock has ever been done any better.

Phenomenon, Force It, No Heavy Petting, Lights Out and Obsession are full of awesome guitar licks and powerful metal rock. Man what a tight band and Michael takes it over the top! :guitar:
 
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Flying-V Master......his brief stint with his brother in Scorpions on Lonesome Crow is sheer brilliance before he left for UFO in 1972. A few songs also on Lovedrive from 1979, also amazing skills.

But yea he basically put UFO on the map....I also am a huge fan of his MSG albums.
 
Catcher10 said:
Flying-V Master......his brief stint with his brother in Scorpions on Lonesome Crow is sheer brilliance before he left for UFO in 1972. A few songs also on Lovedrive from 1979, also amazing skills.

But yea he basically put UFO on the map....I also am a huge fan of his MSG albums.
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Yeah, I am familiar with the work he did with his brother and his MSG stuff but these early albums with UFO are just killer. I know he also helped Phil Mogg write many of these songs to show off his riffs and most every one of them are better compositions than most other metal rock from the era. Love to Love is a masterpiece and the live version on Strangers is guaranteed to get any party hopping!

I can't help but wonder if there ever would have been a Spinal Tap (as we know it) if MS had not joined UFO?

I am also impressed with the early UFO vinyl, it is all cut very well (i think by Chrysalis?) and the remaster CDs in 2008 by Parlophone are exceptionally well done.
 
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You beat me to the punch, Stout! After our considerably longer-than-expected thread re: UFO's Official Bootleg Box Set and ensuing discussion of all things UFO and MS, I was gettin' ready to launch a Michael Schenker appreciation thread.

He was a major contributor to Scorpions' first LP @ age 17. He effectively pushed UFO as a band to arena-level, headlining cards. He could alternate between pentatonic, diatonic, and chromatic legato runs with easy and possessed masterful fluidity of tone. Excellent rhythmic sense, too.
 
^^^ what he said ^^^

Like a lot of the good ones, he has had his share of life adventures but in the last few years he is finally starting to get some appreciation. I just wish I could say that I have seen him live...

Can't seem to find the bootleg stuff but has anyone heard the Hot and Live disc #1 or the BBC stuff?
 
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I love all of the remastered UFO CD's with the bonus tracks. Particularly the Dave Edmunds produced demo version of "Oh My" on "Phenomenon" which Schenker totally rocks. A very underrated guitarist to be sure.
 
Lonesome Crow is in my top ten albums right now. Schenker's work is incredible on that record. Speaking of Dave Edmunds, his guitar playing with Love Sculpture is pretty incredible, also.
 
bobsvinyl said:
Speaking of Dave Edmunds, his guitar playing with Love Sculpture is pretty incredible, also.
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Absolutely. And pretty friggin' good on the album Twangin', his work on Lowe's LPs, and the Rockpile album Seconds Of Pleasure.
 
I was there at the Chicago show recorded on Strangers In The Night. When Mogg shouts out "Lights Out Chicago" I can hear myself screaming ! LOL
 
I didn't appreciate UFO much until I saw them open up for Blue Oyster Cult. I think Strangers In The Night came out around that time and the local rock station played the whole album late one night, and I loved it. I bought the re-release of that album immediately... about 2 years ago I think. The disappointing thing was that the song Strangers In The Night isn't even on that album. :D
 
Edmunds is another underrated player as well. His version of "The Stumble" is my favorite of the many, many artists who have covered it. I'll have to check out Love Sculpture....
 
For me UFO have always been at the top of my hard rock list....Some of those songs have progressive elements: longer songs, melodic, atmospheric, dynamic pace and a variation of tempos. They are not just the same beat pattern as most hard rock/metal can be.

This is probably my favorite album which is a compilation of both UFO on LP 1 and MSG on LP 2.

MS_Anthology.jpg
 
beans said:
The disappointing thing was that the song Strangers In The Night isn't even on that album. :D
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If you're referring to the number penned by songwriter Bert Kaempfert and made famous by Frank "The Voice" Sinatra in '66, I'm not sure I'd agree, although imagining UFO ply its way through such a torch number is an interesting notion. Now, if Johnny Cash had included it in the American Recordings sessions, well that's another matter; he'd likely have made it his own, same as he did w/ so many other covers.

PS: I can almost hear Mogg getting the Kaempfert-penned number right, but am having difficulty hearing Schenker's part. :D
 
Man it is great to find out that there are a bunch of us here that like MS as much as I do. I just think he has a style that is totally addictive. His sense of timing and the way he mixes it up by getting loose and then tightening it back up again. Can't help but play air guitar when I listen to any of his albums.
 
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