MICHAEL SCHENKER

It is rarely a good idea to go back. Things never seem the same the second time around, and magic moments are instinctively disinclined to be repeated. "My Years With UFO" is an album of re-recorded songs from Michael Schenker's glory days with UFO, with a generous helping of star guests contributing vocals and additional guitars. The legendary guitarist has been on good form in recent times, with two strong MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP albums ("Immortal" and "Universal", released in 2021 and 2022 respectively) pointing to a late-career surge of creativity. But ageing musicians will have their moments of nostalgia, and this is a fairly straightforward attempt to roll back the years, with a little help from talented friends. If you like Schenker, UFO or both, this is a very pleasant way to spend an hour. At its best, "My Years With UFO" kicks up as much dirt as its original source material.

First things first: you absolutely cannot fuck with these songs. Essentially the same group of songs that populated UFO's none-more-classic live album "Strangers In The Night" (1979),  this is an exercise in gritty, hard rock songwriting, played with muscle and sweat, just as originally intended. Unfussily produced and enjoyably raw, there is nothing much wrong with any of these performances, and Schenker himself is clearly having the time of his life as he revisits songs and solos that have lost none of their charisma over the years. He must have let rip for several minutes on "Rock Bottom" countless times, but here he still plays with a force and fluidity that are purely inspirational. HELLOWEEN's Kai Hansen does a good job of keeping up with his fellow German, but even he must admit that there is only one master of that song.

Elsewhere, singers and songs are matched up with shrewd precision. Dee Snider was born to sing "Natural Thing", and he attacks every line with his customary whirlwind energy, turning the whole thing into a rowdy, yob rock singalong. Similarly, few could inject "Love To Love" with as much drama as a noticeably on-form Axl Rose, and his graceful but gutsy vocal is only matched by Schenker's updated histrionics. What a song that is, even 50 years later. Joey Tempest does a similarly fine job with a beefed-up "Only You Can Rock Me", and the fresh combination of Slash And ex-SKID ROW singer Erik Grönwall proves itself to be a smash hit at the first time of asking. To cap it all off, RATT legend Stephen Pearcy gets snotty and wired on a particularly dirty version of "Shoot, Shoot". RATT rule. Schenker rules. UFO are gods. This has been fun.