Phenomenon

Performer: UFO
Engineer: Mike Bobak
Producer: Leo Lyons
Distributor: Caroline Distribution

Notes: UFO: Phil Mogg (vocals); Michael Schenker (guitar); Pete Way (bass); Andy Parker (drums). Recorded at Morgan Studios, London, England. Up until their 1974 album, PHENOMENON, England's UFO had issued several albums that did little to expand their cult fan base at home, let alone worldwide. But through an early-'70s tour with German metallists the Scorpions, they finally found the missing piece to the puzzle--guitar wizard Michael Schenker. UFO convinced Schenker to leave the Scorpions (which wasn't an easy task, since his older brother Rudolf was a member), and their '74 release sounds like a band reborn. Schenker's stellar playing seems to have lit a fire under the compositions, many of which rank amongst UFO's all-time best--namely the soon-to-be live show-stoppers "Doctor Doctor," and "Rock Bottom" (as evidenced on UFO's classic STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT live set). PHENOMENON set the stage perfectly for such future hit UFO releases as LIGHTS OUT and OBSESSION.

Q (3/95, p.122) - 3 Stars - Good - "...The mix gives Mogg the limelight with Schenker riding free on a barrage of thrusting salvos....[PHENOMENON] cut[s] a fine, upbeat swagger, central to everything that was anathema to the arrival of punk rock..." Mojo (Publisher) (p.121) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Schenker was a new, modern guitar hero whose crunching riffs and clean solos reinvented UFO as a cutting-edge hard rock act." Record Collector (magazine) (p.96) - 4 stars out of 5 -- [C]atchy, riff-laden rockers topped off with Phil Mogg's bluesy howl and Schenker's searing guitar wizardry."

UFO were a British hard rock band who, during the course of their long career, dabbled in blues rock, space rock, metal, and AOR. The band is often cited as a key influence on the NWOBHM. Formed in 1969, UFO pirated away a young Michael Schenker from the Scorpions. The then-fledgling guitar hero graced some of the band's most well-regarded albums, and is credited with helping UFO define their signature sound, before rejoining the Scorpions in the late '70s. The '80s were not kind to UFO, though the band's classic line-up (including Schenker) did re-form for an album and shows in the mid '90s.

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