Don’t be duped by the PR bluster: “Lights Out is UFO’s seminal breakthrough album.” That honour, natch, goes to 1979 double-live masterwork Strangers In The Night. Additionally, the claim that the title track offers “an urgent portrayal of dystopian London” on a par with The Clash’s White Riot is a claim too far.
Yes, Lights Out (the song) might at its core be about the Notting Hill riots of ’76. Its anti-authoritarian vibe is undeniable. But equally – and you can imagine frontman Phil Mogg saying this, with a wicked glint in his eye – it could’ve been inspired by the singer’s hunt for a Zippo after he unwittingly spilled a can of Stella over his, er, fuse box. Certainly, album cover design supremos Hipgnosis plumped for the electric option, depicting Mogg and guitarist Michael Schenker lurking inside London’s Battersea Power Station.
