New UFO and Ted Nugent albums
 

Both UFO and Ted Nugent have new albums out, and they are both really good.

UFO's new album, Sharks, is more like their great Walk On Water album from 1995 than their last album (Covenant). Good stuff - really classy Hard Rock (and Schenker IS in the band).

Nugent's album, Craveman, is his best since Cat Scratch Fever 25 years ago! It's got some SERIOUS attitude, and some great riff-rock (what Nugent is known for). There are a couple recycled riffs on the album (one intentionally), but with 14 songs on the album that is easily forgiven.


(If you're interested, I played one of the UFO songs on show #45, and have a review of that album up now. I'll have more UFO songs on upcoming shows, and will have several songs from the Nugent album as well. A review of Craveman will be up in a week or so. Just go to the site in my sig.)

It's good to see some Hard Rock legends putting out solid albums!

I will definitely be picking up Sharks. I have been very impressed with the last few UFO releases at this stage of their career - they can still ROCK their ass off! And as a longtime fan, I couldn't be happier.

I'm really digging these albums. I was listening to the Nugent on the way to work today, and it is easily his best since Cat Scratch Fever 25 years ago!

UFO's album is pretty damn good, too.

So has anyone else here picked up either of these albums yet?

I need to get the UFO one. Do you get preview/review copies of albums? I can't get a response from Shrapnel and have no idea who does the PR (probably Shrapnel).

Guess I'll have to resort to buying the damn thing :)

After reading all the reviews comparing Sharks to WOW I pulled that album out last Friday. For some reason it just doesn't seem as exciting as others seem to think it is I guess. Certainly better than Covenant, but I don't know if I like it as much as Moog/Way's Edge of the World or Chocolate Box. Been a while since I listened to those though. I was a fan of UFOs work in without Schenker as well. I think there's a lot of great stuff on Mechanix, Making Contact, High Stakes, Wild Willing and Innocent, etc. though I think those albums are often derided in UFO circles. I did listen to the song you had on you show #45 and I wasn't all that impressed. I'm hoping the rest of it is better.

Mordred

Wow, man!

It's like 1976 all over again!

Good to hear..I'm psyched to listen to both of these!

Although I have enjoyed tracks that each band has produced over the years I am not a particular fan of either. I have heard good things about the new Nuge and mixed things about the new UFO.

I did hear say that there is another recent Mogg-related release that is "better"....<ul><li><A HREF="http://www.nogard.com/Track/artist_so4.html" target="_blank">Record company pages</a><li><A HREF="http://www.nogard.com/Track/catalogue_track/$of_dwsp.html" target="_blank">Real Audio clips</a><li><A HREF="http://www.jeffkollman.com/discography_signof4.html" target="_blank">Jeff Kollman site</a><li><A HREF="http://www.philmogg.com/" target="_blank">Phil Mogg site</a><li><A HREF="http://www.strangers-in-the-night.com/signof4.htm" target="_blank">Press release & review</a> [fan site]</li></ul>

I don't get promos from Shrapnel, but I do get promos from a couple indie labels.


Guess so. ;) (Hell, if you want more UFO albums in the future buying this one will help make that happen.)


Personally, I love Walk On Water. It is a grown up, classy Hard Rock album. The tour was great, too.

I love those early 80's UFO albums with Paul Chapman on guitar. Mechanix, Making Contact, and The Wild The Willing and The Innoncent were all great albums.

I just like Walk On Water more. There is a song (maybe two) on Sharks that reminds me of the Chapman era.

For me, what really works about Walk On Water and Sharks is that you see an aging band that isn't trying to pretend that the guys in the band are all still 29 or 30 years old. (Deep Purple is the same way these days.) They are still playing kick ass Hard Rock with solid melodies, but lyrically they've grown up. And the class shown on these two albums (Sharks and Walk On Water) is just unmatched.

The Nugent album, on the other hand, is good for the opposite reason - Ted refuses to grow up, but it works for him because - well... because he's Ted. Musically Craveman is a great album, and it fits right in with albums like Ted Nugent, Free For All, Cat Scratch Fever, and Weekend Warriors.

I'll have a review of the Nugent album up by Monday (maybe by Sunday). The UFO review is up now (see the site on my sig).

Buying an album doesn't bother me, I was just wondering if anybody had ever had luck contacting Shrapnel. The other benefit regarding freebies is that it guarantees that I'll write a review for it. Otherwise I'm usually just too damn lazy :)

I put on WoW again last night and I have to say the first two songs are amazing. They catch your attention like a swift kick in the teeth. The rest of the album doesn't seem to have that, but there are a few moments.

I agree about the mature band thing. Frankly I'm amazed that they're still around and together (although they probably won't be next month :)). Pretty damn impressive, and one of the reasons UFO is in my top 3 list of greatest rock bands. And I did read the review of Sharks. I'm hitting Best Buy this evening... i'll see if they have it in.

Mordred

As far as I'm concerned, anything with UFO and Michael Schenker is brilliant. But I too really liked the non-Schenker UFO albums. My favorite is probably "Misdemeanor". Yeah, it's a little "commercial" at times, but I thought the songwriting was strong and the musicianship top-notch. Anyone know whatever happened to Atomik Tommy M?

Speaking of UFO, whatever happen to orignal guitarist Mick Bolton? I have the first two earliest albums and I thought his guitar playing was fantastic. Songs liked "Timothy", "Prince Kajuku/The Coming of Prince Kajuku", and "C'mon Everybody" just blew me away. Yeah, I liked Schenker too, but I picked Bolton as my personal favorite UFO's guitarist.

I think Mick Bolton is now a Haberdasher just outside London.























;)


Honestly, I'm not sure if he ever did anything musical of consequence again.

Allmusic has a few non-UFO listings for a Mick Bolton, but none of them are guitar so I'm pretty sure it's different guys.

I'm actually quite surprised that someone likes the old space rock stuff. Some of it isn't that bad (I like Prince Kajuku/Coming of... and a few others) I've just never heard anyone profess a liking for that sort of thing. Amazing how much the band changed when Schenker joined up.