UFO's Lights out

"When punk met prog"

Back in 1977, when the winds of change began to sweep - and decisively in the case of progressive rock, there has never been a true second coming, the scene's consigned to quasi-underground status - the music industry and the supposed pretense and pomp of progressive rock was swiftly losing favour and the raw aggression of punk rock was gaining ascendancy, this British hard rock band called UFO pulled off a marriage of sorts between the two. Yes, a bit of punk and a bit of prog whilst really being neither, just out-of-the-ordinary hard rock.

You won't get the quintessence of punk here but the proto-NWOBHM title track captures the aggression of the punk side of rock in spades. You won't get prog here but Love To Love and Try Me capture its elaborate grandeur. The upshot of the punk revolution has been that for some reason, aggressive music cannot be beautiful nor vice versa. At least, it is reasonable to presume that the same band cannot portray aggression and beauty, that's what the critics tell you at any rate. And yet, at the very point in time that this unhealthy divergence and resultant one dimensionality was taking root in the rock scene, good ol' UFO proved everyone who cared to hear wrong. And a lot of people must have heard it for it reached the 23rd spot at the American Billboards. So how did they pull off this Jekyll and Hyde act?

The answer is deceptively simple: the breadth of its two key members at the time, frontman Phil Mogg and guitarist Michael Schenker. Mogg has a voice not unlike Procol Harum's Gary Brooker or Supertramp's Rick Davies...polite, mild and unmistakably British. Not too compatible with hard rock, you say. Surprise, surprise, he manages to pull off the hard rockers efficiently. He may be at his best when he's able to bring forth his sincerity but he's able to step out of his comfort zone and thrive at that. If anything, his sincerity gets transferred to some extent even to the hard rockers so that he doesn't degenerate into annoying tough guy vocals. It's a different matter of course if you can't get enough of tough guy vocals, me, I am fine with Mogg. This is what drives along songs as starkly different from each other as “Try Me” and “Too Hot To Handle”, with “Just Another Suicide” and the cover of American band “Love's” song “Alone Again Or” (heard of Love before? Me neither!) falling in a grey area. If the experience doesn't feel schizophrenic, it's down to Mogg. However, when all said and done, Mogg just needs that little bit of flair. He's efficient, competent and convincing but there's something extra I look for for a good hard rock album to become great.

And that's where Mad Michael enters the frame. The prodigiously talented guitarist who has since become the perennial underachiever of rock comes along playing in the most natural fashion and with supreme confidence a style entirely his own. I can hear a little bit of Iommi, a little bit of Gilmour and maybe Brian May but Schenker doesn't sound like he's trying to play like either of them, he only sounds like Schenker from the get-go. Whether his association with Scorpions has to do with it I cannot tell but he developed early on a distinct proto metal edge so when it came to playing fast and heavy, he was consistently ahead of the rest in the game. Take a look at that riff on the Lights Out chorus. Monster riffs? You got it. Lightning fast solos? You got it (be mindful though that I didn't have Alan Holdsworth in mind when I said lightning fast, let's not lose perspective!). And then come the ballads and you think the young fella will be out of his element and he has a pleasant surprise in store for you, wonderfully understated and yet intense and passionate and using shredding in small bursts where necessary for emotional effect (Love to Love). This means that even in the rather chamber rock-like trappings of said song or Try Me (Out In The Street from their 1975 album Force It is another example), Schenker's guitarwork is not only effective but captivating and enthralling. As Wild, Willing and Innocent proves, without Schenker, UFO were still competent and more than capable of getting the job done, but he gave them the vital edge that made Lights Out such a standout record.

And what of the individual tracks? The good news is there is not a weak moment in here, all tracks are eminently likable at the very least. Maybe “Electric Phase” and “Getting Ready” don't live up to the high standards of “Too Hot To Handle” or the title track, but there's nothing the tracks lack of their own. My favourite is probably “Love To Love”. It may seem odd to pick a somewhat long, grandly decked up ballad as the favourite from an album that rocks really hard when it rocks hard, but it's masterfully done, Mogg always pushing the right buttons and eschewing the temptation to overemote with Michael first bringing forth a gentle, caressing impression and then closing with a fiery climax...a conclusion befitting of the grand build up the song gets. From the rockers, it's got to be the title track. “Too Hot To Handle” is very catchy and infectious but I have to bow to that invincible riff! The production is perfect for the music too, clear and even a little lush but never lacking punch. Add the artwork with the grimy steam locomotive in the background and you have a winner!

After this, UFO would never be the same. They should have moved onto bigger things but infighting crippled them and after the relatively limp Obsession, they split (or rather, Michael parted ways with them). Before doing so, they gave us one of the best live rock albums from the 70s, “Strangers In The Night”. That's as good a place as this to start with UFO and hopefully it will not be the finish either and this killer album will make the prospect of checking out the rest of their albums - at least the ones with Schenker –

too tempting to resist!!!!!

Author – Madan

Steve Hackett's Spectral Mornings

“Not your typical solo guitar album"

Don't know who Steve Hackett is? One time Genesis guitarist, that's who. I am afraid even that introduction would not be very illuminating if you are not a prog rock fan and haven't heard about Genesis before reading this. But that's the best I can manage.So...why Spectral Mornings? Because as the title says, it's not the

typical solo guitar album. Steve Hackett is, contrary to what some might tell you, an accomplished and inventive guitarist and displays considerable proficiency on both electric and acoustic guitar. Sure, he may not give Guthrie Govan sleepless nights but where else in progressive rock from the 70s do you hear such eveloped electric guitar as on the Genesis song "Dancing With The Moonlit Knight"? And yet, this album is - like all the Hackett albums I have listened to - more songwriting oriented rather than demonstrating the limits of his abilities. Now, isn't that unusual?



Not if you know the story behind Hackett's departure from Genesis. He left because he was brimming with ideas and could not put them - not all of them at any rate - on the Genesis albums. As Tony Banks and Phil Collins took most of the credits in the wake of Peter Gabriel's departure after 1974's Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, Hackett felt restricted and decided to go solo so that he could be free to express his own musical vision. And it is evident that it's a vision that's

surprisingly divergent from that of Genesis.



For instance, "Every Day" is a breezy, driving rocker that will put a smile on your face, completely unlike anything Hackett did with Genesis. "Clocks" and Tigermoth" on the other hand point to the influence of King Crimson on Hackett (and Robert Fripp does seem to have been an influence on Hackett's playing as such too), bringing forth dark and foreboding sounds.The title track harks back to "Firth of the fifth" - still justly his most famous and cherished contribution - in its drawn out, pensive, yet inspiring contemplation and "Virgin and The Gypsy" can somewhat be traced back to "Blood On The Rooftops" or "Entangled". In a nutshell, if you want a Genesis-clone album from Hackett, "Voyage Of The Acolyte" is what you're looking for; "Spectral Mornings" is Hackett all the way.



Now, what goes in the album's favor? Hackett's playing for starters.Always tasteful yet never lacking flair - he has probably the best guitar tone in the prog rock world too, by the way - varied and yet able to repeat himself for impact, switching seamlessly between acoustic and electric and never sounding contrived or forced on either. In fact, nothing in his playing ever sounds contrived,it flows as naturally as can be and cannot fail to create a pleasing impression.



But that's not the only thing that seals the issue. I still have to tell you why this is different from typical solo guitar albums. The answer is: clear, tight songwriting. It's clear than on Spectral Mornings more than any of his other solo albums - truthfully though, I am not familiar with his 80s output and am going with the general consensus that Spectral Mornings is better than those - Hackett knew exactly what he was doing. Not something that can be said, for instance, of his more recent albums like Darktown or Wild Orchids.His playing is more accomplished now than it was in the late 70s (Spectral Mornings came out in 1979) and he is able to traverse a range of styles so wide nobody could have imagined possible for him when he had left Genesis. But the songs don't make the kind of impact they do on Spectral Mornings. Spectral Mornings is not about what Hackett can do on guitar and therefore every song is purposeful and is enriched of mood and thrust from inception. They are also short – not long at any rate - and don't overstay their welcome, just sufficiently expanded however to not sound rushed. And short, by the way, does not imply generic and lacking in boldness. “Clocks” has probably one of the most effective drum solos in rock; so apt is the placement of the solo that you wouldn't even notice it's a drum solo, it makes for the perfect conclusion of the song.



Notice also the effectiveness of the placement of the songs. "The Red Flower of Tai Chi Blooms Everywhere" - redundant on its own – softens you up for the monstrous "Clocks" and "Lost Time In Cordoba" does likewise in the run up to "Tigermoth". All bookended by the two best tracks, the breezy opener "Every Day" and the majestic conclusion of the title track. This means that even though at least three tracks - Red Flower, Cordoba and Ballad of the Decomposing Man - are borderline filler, it doesn't hinder your listening experience.



I have reservations on the selection and usage of vocalists here.Hackett has generally made rather quirky choices of vocalists, so much so that fans like me would much prefer his own flat and expressionless delivery - at least it's not distracting! About the only choice I can completely approve of is Steve Walsh for "Narnia" off "Please Don't Touch" and maybe band mate Collins on "Stars of Sirius". Here too, the vocals on “Tigermoth” rather spoil the effect created thus far by the track and I only get by with the vocals on “Every Day” and “Virgin” and “The Gypsy” because they are just about adequate and harmless. Thankfully, at least half the album is instrumental so the vocals don't pull down the album by much.



To conclude, this won't ever be among the most spectacular demonstrations of proficiency on guitar you will hear but it is an emphatic statement of masterful songwriting from a very talented guitarist. Definitely worth checking out.

Author – Madan