The fortunes of UFO have been extremely mixed
since the initial departure of the then-wunderkind guitar
maestro Michael Schenker back in 1979. Although they enjoyed
an initial period of commercial and artistic success with
Schenker´s immediate successor (Paul Chapman), their
declining popularity led to the dissolution of the band in
1983. Since vocalist Phil Mogg reformed UFO in 1985 - as the
sole original member remaining at that time - the band have
continued to struggle for popularity and to some extent credibility.
The reformation of the "classic" line up in 1995
seemed too good to be true and indeed that was the case. After
a disasterous gig in 2002 in Manchester, England, Schenker
quit once more, leaving the band free to recruit yet another
replacement.
Enter Vinnie Moore. A well-established neoclassical guitar
maestro with a string of solo instrumental albums to his name,
at first glance he seemed an unlikely choice for the UFO sound.
Vinnie was not the only new recruit: Jason Bonham joined the
band on drums for the new album too. The addition of two well-established
and acclaimed musicians to the fold boded well for the future,
but the big question is, does the album deliver?
"You Are Here" starts promisingly enough. When
Daylight Goes To Town opens the album, a song very
much in the classic UFO mould - big on riffs, melodies and
feel, here nicely enhanced by some slide guitar and great
backing vox by none other than Jason Bonham! The production
is impressive too - everything is clear and balanced in the
mix, the drums sound great and Phil Mogg´s vocals are
as good as they get. Sonically this trend continues throughout
and producer Tommy Newton deserves some credit in making this
album sound very classy indeed, although the apparent absence
of Paul Raymond´s understated, but often vital keyboards
is a bone of contention.
Cold Black Coffee continues encouragingly,
Jason´s opening ballistic drum salvo leads into a complex,
groove-laden Moore riff, with a great solo to boot. So far
so good. And this is where the problems start. The next two
songs (The Wild One and Give
It Up) are OK - not bad but nothing special - and then
the remainder of the album for the most part simply merge
into a miasma of mediocrity with very little to distinguish
the songs from one another.
The exceptions are Sympathy,
a reasonable power ballad and Mr. Freeze,
which does at least hold the interest with a great middle-eight
section and wonderful solo from Vinnie. However, given UFOs
distinguished past, these highlights (such as they are) are
in real terms mere tasters of what should have been a much
more satisfying dish. Certainly there are no songs equivalent
to classics like Hot ´N´ Ready, or Love To Love,
or Long Gone here.
For dyed-in-the-wool shredheads, Vinnie Moore´s playing
here will be most disappointing. There are only rare flurries
of frantic arpeggios here and for the most part, the playing
is rather anonymous. Frankly earlier albums with Laurence
Archer and "Atomik" Tommy McLendon contained more
frantic fretboard activity than "You Are Here" and
this too is a point of some contention. I am far from being
a fan of speed fo speed´s sake, but I cannot understand
why someone who can play a million notes a second suddenly
wants to be John Lee Hooker...! Shred fans wishing to hear
what Phil Mogg is capable of with a virtuoso player are referred
to the first Mogg/Way album, "Edge Of The World",
where George Bellas helps the Mogg-Way nexus to produce what
was, IMHO, the best UFO album (in all but name name) since
1983´s Making Contact.
All in all, "You Are Here" is a disappointing
and frustrating album. The production is good and there are
a ew highlights, but not enough for the discerning listener
to be satisfied. However, it will be most interesting to see
if the potential that is evident in this incarnation will
be better realised during the forthcoming tour. I sincerely
hope so - the legend of UFO certainly deserves it.
Review by Stephen Leon
