|
I
had my first encounter with a UFO just about 31 years ago. And I don’t
mean with a spaceship from a very distant planet but the British band
UFO. UFO released their first album in 1971 titled “UFO1”, but my
first UFO-encounter came in 1975 with their fantastic release; “Force
It”. Since then UFO has released classic albums such as; “No
Heavy Pettin’” (1976), “Lights Out” (1977), “Obsession”
(1978), and “Making Contact” (1983).
My
favourite UFO albums could very well be “Mechanix” (1982) and
“Covenant” (2000). “You are here” from 2004 is also a very solid album
so therefore my expectations were high when I purchased this brand new
CD, titled “The Monkey Puzzle”.
The
music is a bit more laid back than what I’m used to from UFO, and
I’m left a tad disappointed. Their music has always been very groovy
but this time they are a bit too groovy in my humble opinion. Of course
you can still find very typically old fashioned “Heavy-Rock” on this
release.
Just
take a listen to track number 2 “Heavenly Body”…this song contains
a guitar riff that most Metal bands out there would kill for. On this
track singer, Phil Mogg delivers his best performance in years. This
track is written by guitarist Vinnie Moore and Phil Mogg… and talking
about Vinnie Moore… his guitar playing is out of this world. It’s jaw-dropping, the emotion that
oozes out of this man’s playing. I really like his style and he really
delivers the goods.
We
get 11 songs and most of them are good and okay, but a few of them are
not above average in my opinion. Well… the more I listen to this album
the more I like it but it doesn’t reach the heights of their classic
albums I’ve mentioned above. However it’s still a solid release.
UFO-haters
should avoid this album but fans of this classic British band should
definitely get this album to their UFO-collection.
|
