Have read about these guys for ages, but never really gave them a try. In my mind, I had the impression they could be filed under Just Another 70s Rock Band. What made them stand out from their hard rock contemporaries of the day?
Have read about these guys for ages, but never really gave them a try. In my mind, I had the impression they could be filed under Just Another 70s Rock Band. What made them stand out from their hard rock contemporaries of the day?
"Force It" or "Lights Out" or anything up til "The Wild, The Willing, and the Innocent"...My faves are the two I mentioned and "Obsession"
Originally Posted by klothos
This !
Think great melodies with hooks to die for & one of the best guitarists of his generation ! Oh & Phil Mogg is damn fine vocalist .
I can't think of any 80's rock band that hasn't cited them as a major influence .
I like the studio albums but nothing beats the legendary live album, Strangers in the Night. Like a lot of hard rock bands, their game elevated on stage and the energy of those live tracks is astounding.
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart
There ya go... I think Force It is my fav. It's been 30 years since I've listened to them though so that's just what I kind of remember...
Yup, "Strangers In The Night" is one of the great hard rock live albums of all time in my opinion, and where I would start if I were looking to explore UFO. My favorite studio album is "Lights Out".
Steve Sly
Well, for me, UFO really is one of those bands where you should start with the first album and work forwards so as to understand the huge change they went through when MS joined. That said I actually prefer their early spacey albums without Schenker. Because when it came to hard rock back then there were loads of other hard rock and metal bands out there who, in my opinion, were doing it much better than UFO in the mid/late 70s i.e. Priest, Motorhead, Rainbow, Sabbath, Uriah Heep, Wishbone Ash, Whitesnake, Lizzy, Queen, Scorpions, BOC to name but a few.
I'm surprised, because this is right down your alley. Aside from their very earliest stuff, I would describe them as having a hard rock attitude with pop sensibilities, and I don't mean that as a slight. The combination worked perfectly for them. They were what Def Leppard aspired to be. May fav studio albums are Phenomenon and Obsession. Of course, the live album is superb. One of the best ever.
Roger, start at Phenomenon and move forward from there. The pre-Schenker LPs are really not very good at all.
LOL - I guess thats what I meant, too -- I usually ignore 1 and 2 although they both merit a "one-time-only" listen.
Strangers In The Night is the one essential UFO album.
I saw UFO at a small club around 1976. They were great. The opening act was extremely loud, and possibly the worst live band I've ever seen. They were called....Rush...
I saw UFO a lot around the time of Phenomenon and Force It, without knowing much about them. It is as though they were the most un-hyped band in history. I remember: Michael Schenker posing a lot on stage, reminiscent of Overend Watts; Danny Peyronnel, possibly their best known musician at the time, playing a key-tar; and being given cotton wool earplugs at one show - I do not know if this was a gimmick or a genuine concern of the promoters. They were extremely good live of course and the (now famous) songs became familiar before hearing the albums. Another thing I remember is that many bands in the clubs at the time were blues-rock or progressive, but UFO had their own refined style.
I nearly forgot the OP. Start near the beginning and work forward is my advice.
Member since Wednesday 09.09.09
There's a budget set of all the classic Chrysalis albums.
Michael Schenker, Phil Mogg, Pete Way and "Strangers in the Night".
I am also a fan of Mick Bolton's era. A great unsung guitar hero. "Flying" is an excellent album of spacey guitar jams.
Good thing that band Rush never became popular!
And now you know... the rest of the story.
C'mon, Fred. You just like it for the cover.Btw, Rick, I do have a UFO around here somewhere.
Hmmm, ok. Maybe I still haven't found the right songs yet. I hate to admit that so far, I'm not thrilled by them. I tried Doctor, Doctor, Too Hot to Handle, Love To Love, Chains, Chains. Meh.
Lonely Heart, Cherry, Only You Can Rock Me were alright, but none (so far) really grabbed me by the throat with an immediate
"I Love this!" Guess this still leaves me on the fence for now.
Try "This Kids" and "Let it Roll".
I like the studio version of This Kids because of the instrumental Between The Walls(featuring Ten Years After keyboardist Chick Churchill on Mellotron).
That's more or less correct for the later 70's albums, which I find everyday laymen rock
Instead of these, you may want to check out their first two or three (including the live), where they play a very imperfect space-rock , not far away from Hawkwind or some Nektar albums...
my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.
Here's some advice to avoids at all costs(sorry Trane). Maybe like Nektar when they were in grade-school. Very very very very very imperfect...
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