Sometime in 1993, after the departures of Lawrence Archer and Clive Edwards.............the unthinkable happened. Michael Schenker was touring once again with UFO. And it was with the classic line-up of '77-'78: Mogg, Way, Raymond and Parker. Schenker had gone through many motions and line-ups with his own Michael Schenker Group. But in 1993 he was re-united with UFO. In 1994, they started recording the re-union album Walk On Water (1995) which was released originally in Japan, then three years later in the rest of the applicable world.
The sound of Walk On Water is stunning. It brought back their classic era producer Ron Nevison who once again worked his magic. Indeed, the years apart saw Schenker bringing his heavier MSG sound back to the UFO fold while Mogg instantly recaptured his chemistry with him. Paul Raymond even brought back his Hammond Organ which resulted in a modern sounding album but with a subtle retro-70s vibe. The opening number "Self Made Man" is a totally modern metal piece with a very melodic chorus. Schenker's coda solo to the song utilizes a skip happy Mixolydian mode which is quite catchy. The second song "Venus" is an emotionally explosive rocker. "Darker Days" is a powerful modern rocker that tastefully captures a bit of their past '70s vibe. The last new cut is "Dreaming Of Summer" which is in the position of being the epic semi-ballad along the lines of "Looking Out for Number One" (from the 1978 Obsession album). Very dreamy song indeed. The disc ends with new renditions of classic hits like "Doctor, Doctor" and "Lights Out." They were not meant to replace the old versions but for UFO to reconsilidate themselves (as well as the Japanese record executives).
Subsequent tours saw UFO apart and together again the next three years. Since one condition of the UFO re-union was a legal one that mandated Schenker had to be in the band for the name "UFO" to be used, Phil Mogg and Pete Way continued their own efforts as Mogg/Way while Paul Raymond did his own projects and Schenker continued with Michael Schenker Group. Raymond did work on the Mogg/Way Chocolate Box (1999). Andy Parker, who had not been involved in the music business for some time, was not quite the explosive drummer he once was and returned to managing his family's textile business in England. For the 1995 tour, UFO recruited explosive drummer Simon Wright (of AC/DC and Dio fame).
Mogg/Way released the very good Edge Of the World (1997) and the supurb Chocolate Box. Schenker was quite busy with MSG's Written In the Sand (1996), the reflective Story of Michael Schenker (1998) double-live CD, the heavy Unforgiven (1999), Unforgiven Live and his all-electric instrumental masterpiece Adventures Of the Imagination (2000).
l to r: Paul Raymond, Michael Schenker, Simon Wright, Pete Way, Phil Mogg (1995)
UFO onstage 1998, Schenker, Way, Mogg
With those projects out of the way, UFO reconciled and put out the very heavy Covenant (2000). Sans Raymond but with world class drummer Aynsley Dunbar (of Journey fame) in tow, they went at it at Mike Varney's helm. (Varney and Dunbar also worked on separate Schenker and Mogg/Way projects.) The album as a whole seems to have a creative energy and output from Schenker, as if he carried over his juices from Adventures of the Imagination. The solo sections reflect that in "Smell of Money", "The World And His Dog", "Cowboy Joe", "Midnight Train" and "Fool's Gold." What's interesting about the latter cut is that it starts as a ballad and transforms into a very fast heavy metal rocker. Normally those decisions are questionable but when it comes to Schenker/Mogg, you can bet it's going to work. And "Serenade" is a pretty song, possibly the "Venus" of this opus, where Schenker pulls in a dreamy acoustic solo sequence, something he did quite frequently on his prior solo records while giving Mogg another foil to express his soulful and melodic vocals.
In 2002, with the same line-up, UFO released Sharks. The production was much creamier, the songs very strong as usual. At this point, by my lights, the emotional and creative context of the Schenker-Way-Mogg core reached its ultimatum. While their chemistry is so great that they will never write duds, it was apparent that their was much more enthusiasm in MSG's Beware Of Scorpions and UFO were always state of the art. Their music fit in with the times even if in their own way. UFO might never hit the truly mega-big time, but they're fortunate in that their fans around the world are still around after all these years. They have also blessed us fans not only with supurb UFO re-union albums, their solo efforts are also worthy collections to add to the CD changer. And moreover, UFO fans are fortunate in ways that fans of the Beatles, Doors, Thin Lizzy, Uriah Heep and others are not (and I love those bands too!). UFO are seemingly here again. But if not, the next Mogg/Way or Michael Schenker Group disc would be worth looking forward to........that is until their next re-union album.
