I always had UFO as one of my favorite bands… And I say more: Some (yes, in plural!) of their albums easily appear among the top ten or twenty discs in the whole history of Hard Rock. However, for some reason that I’m unable to explain, I ignored what they recorded after the seventies. I’ve never listened to what they did after Mechanix (1982).
When I saw that they released an album in the beginning of 2012, my first reaction was to think: “Wow! Those guys still exist?” And them: “Okay, let’s see what they are doing…”
After a long time dawdling (other discs were always jumping the line), I ashamed my face and put it to play.
Regretful! Not by having listened to, but by having waited so long. The oldies are still rocking! And obviously, some style’s change has been realized after a so large gap time. The mainly one is a huge approximation with the Blues. Also, the lyrics are more serious and in some cases a little gloomy. I confess that I prefer their reckless face from the seventies, now they are too sobers. Wonderland, for example, talks about monkey all the time and gets really annoying.
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| Oingo Boingo? Any similarity is just a coincidence. |
The cover reminds a lot the arts from Oingo Boingo and isn’t very inspiring. But the opening track, Fight Night, is enough to make you forget that freak skull. UFO pulls a great Hard Rock and Phil Mogg shows why he is still one of the best vocalists in activity. Keeping the quality, Mojo Town brings a Vinnie Moore more objective and not so virtuoso (and thankfully, this feature persists throughout the album).
The Last Stone Rider is the highlight of Seven Deadly. However, after that the band gets out of the rails. Steal Yourself is a song that I didn’t like (Angel Station too), and curiously they’re two ballads songs (or at least, almost there). Is worth to remember that ballads were a great specialty from UFO among the seventies (Try Me and Love to Love are a proof of it).
There is a limited version of Seven Deadly containing two bonus tracks: Other Men’s Wives and Bag O’Blues. Both could be into the original disc, or perhaps substituting some filler songs. It seems that the business side predominated.
Anyway, I admit that Seven Deadly was a pleasant surprise. I wasn’t expecting so much from UFO.
“I want to burn your house down; sit right here, and watch you drawn.”
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FACTSHEET:
Artist: UFO
Year: 2012
Album: Seven Deadly
Genre: Hard Rock
Country: England
Members: Andy Parker (drums), Lars Lehmann (bass), Paul Raymond (keyboards and guitar), Phil Mogg (vocals), Vinnie Moore (guitar).
TRACKS:
1 - Fight Night
2 - Wonderland
3 - Mojo Town
4 - Angel Station
5 - Year of the Gun
6 - The Last Stone Rider
7 - Steal Yourself
8 - Burn Your House Down
9 - The Fear
10 - Waving Good Bye
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