Michael Schenker was still a teenager when Phenomenon, his first album with UFO, was released in 1974. Now, 50 years later, he’s joined by an array of guest stars as he revamps 11 classic tracks from his time with the band in the 70s – the period in which he emerged as a guitar hero to rival Ritchie Blackmore.
Michael’s buddies from Guns N’ Roses appear separately; Axl Rose sings beautifully, and with restraint, on the epic ballad Love To Love, while Slash rips it up on Mother Mary alongside Swedish singer Erik Grönwall, recently of Skid Row.
The other guest singers include Joe Lynn Turner, Dee Snider and Biff Byford, the latter belting out This Kids with absolute authority.
UFO’s original versions remain definitive. That much is a given. But in all of these remakes, Schenker’s guests perform at a high level. And as for the mad axeman himself, the term ‘phenomenon’ still applies.
